571 Phil. 373
REYES, R.T., J.:
WHEREFORE, in light of the foregoing, accused Romeo M. Montallana, Romualdo C. Santos, Gerardo R. Villaseñor, and Rodel A. Mesa are hereby suspended from their respective public positions as earlier enumerated, and from any other public office which they may now or hereafter be holding for a period of ninety (90) days from receipt of this resolution, unless a motion for reconsideration is seasonably filed. While the prosecution sought to suspend accused Alfredo N. Macapugay, it appears, however, that he was already dismissed from the service, hence, he can no longer be subjected to this suspension order.In the equally assailed Resolution[11] of October 10, 2007, petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was denied for lack of merit.
Let a copy of this resolution be furnished Honorable Feliciano Belmonte, Quezon City Mayor for implementation of this suspension. He is hereby requested to inform this Court of his action thereon within five (5) days from receipt of this resolution.
The suspension of the accused shall be automatically lifted upon the expiration of the ninety-day period from the time of the implementation of this resolution.
SO ORDERED.[10]
Suspension and loss of benefits. – Any incumbent public officer against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under this Act or under Title 7, Book II of the Revised Penal Code or for any offense involving fraud upon the government or public funds or property, whether as a simple or as a complex offense and in whatever stage of the execution and mode of participation, is pending in court, shall be suspended from office. x x x (Underscoring supplied)A whole slew of cases reinforce this provision of law. In Luciano v. Provincial Governor,[13] the Court pronounced that suspension of a public officer under Section 13 of R.A. No. 3019 is mandatory. This was reiterated in Luciano v. Mariano,[14] People v. Albano,[15] Gonzaga v. Sandiganbayan[16] and Bunye v. Escareal.[17] In the last mentioned case, the Court said:
Adverting to this Court’s observation in Ganzon v. CA, 200 SCRA 271, 272, that the sole objective of an administrative suspension is “to prevent the accused from hampering the normal course of the investigation with his influence and authority over possible witnesses or to keep him off the records and other evidence” and “to assist prosecutors in firming up a case, if any, against an erring official,” the petitioners insist that as no such reason for their suspension exists, then the order suspending them should be set aside as a grave abuse of the court’s discretion.x x x x
The Court finds no merit in those arguments. Section 13 of R.A. No. 3019, as amended, unequivocally provides that the accused public officials “shall be suspended from office” while the criminal prosecution is pending in court.
In Gonzaga v. Sandiganbayan, 201 SCRA 417, 422, 426, this Court ruled that such preventive suspension is mandatory; there are no ifs and buts about it.[18] (Underscoring supplied)
x x x It is now settled that Sec. 13 of Republic Act No. 3019 makes it mandatory for the Sandiganbayan to suspend any public official against whom a valid information charging violation of that law, Book II, Title 7 of the Revised Penal Code, or any offense involving fraud upon government or public funds or property is filed. The court trying a case has neither discretion nor duty to determine whether preventive suspension is required to prevent the accused from using his office to intimidate witnesses or frustrate his prosecution or continuing committing malfeasance in office. The presumption is that unless the accused is suspended he may frustrate his prosecution or commit further acts of malfeasance or do both, in the same way that upon a finding that there is probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed and that the accused is probably guilty thereof, the law requires the judge to issue a warrant for the arrest of the accused. The law does not require the court to determine whether the accused is likely to escape or evade the jurisdiction of the court.[20] (Underscoring supplied)Clearly, there can be no doubt as to the validity of the Sandiganbayan’s suspension of petitioners in connection with the pending criminal case before it. It was merely doing what was required of it by law.
The Court then hastened to clarify that such a view may not be taken as an encroachment upon the power of suspension given other officials, reiterating in the process that a line should be drawn between administrative proceedings and criminal actions in court, that one is apart from the other. x x x[28] (Underscoring supplied)Based on the foregoing, criminal actions will not preclude administrative proceedings, and vice-versa, insofar as the application of the law on preventive suspension is concerned.
Jurisprudential law establishes a clear-cut distinction between suspension as preventive measure and suspension as penalty. The distinction, by considering the purpose aspect of the suspensions, is readily cognizable as they have different ends sought to be achieved.The accused public officers whose culpability remains to be proven are entitled to the constitutional presumption of innocence.[32] The law itself provides for the reinstatement of the public officer concerned and payment to him of the salaries and benefits for the duration of the suspension in the event of an acquittal:
Preventive suspension is merely a preventive measure, a preliminary step in an administrative investigation. The purpose of the suspension order is to prevent the accused from using his position and the powers and prerogatives of his office to influence potential witnesses or tamper with records which may be vital in the prosecution of the case against him. If after such investigation, the charge is established and the person investigated is found guilty of acts warranting his suspension or removal, then he is suspended, removed or dismissed. This is the penalty.
That preventive suspension is not a penalty is in fact explicitly provided by Section 24 of Rule XIV of the Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of the Administrative Code of 1987 (Executive Order No. 292) and other Pertinent Civil Service Laws.Sec. 24. Preventive suspension is not a punishment or penalty for misconduct in office but is considered to be a preventive measure.[31]
Suspension and loss of benefits. – Any incumbent public officer against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under this Act or under Title 7, Book II of the Revised Penal Code or for any offense involving fraud upon the government or public funds or property, whether as a simple or as a complex offense and in whatever stage of the execution and mode of participation, is pending in court, shall be suspended from office. Should he be convicted by final judgment, he shall lose all retirement and gratuity benefits under the law, but if he is acquitted, he shall be entitled to reinstatement and to the salaries and benefits which he failed to receive during suspension, unless in the meantime administrative proceedings have been filed against him.[33] (Underscoring supplied)Sec. 13 of R.A. No. 3019 not a penal
Penal statutes are strictly construed while procedural statutes are liberally construed (Crawford, Statutory Construction, Interpretation of Laws, pp. 460-461; Lacson v. Romero, 92 Phil. 456 [1953]). The test in determining if a statute is penal is whether a penalty is imposed for the punishment of a wrong to the public or for the redress of an injury to an individual (59 Corpuz Juris, Sec. 658; Crawford, Statutory Construction, pp. 496-497). A Code prescribing the procedure in criminal cases is not a penal statute and is to be interpreted liberally (People v. Adler, 140 N.Y. 331; 35 N.E. 644).[35] (Underlining supplied)As We have already established, preventive suspension is not, in actual fact, a penalty at all. It is a procedural rule.
WHEREFORE, x x x.In fine, the preventive suspension against petitioners must be upheld, as the Sandiganbayan committed no grave abuse of discretion.x x x x
The suspension of the accused shall be automatically lifted upon the expiration of the ninety-day period from the time of the implementation of this resolution.
SO ORDERED.[39]