KIKO SMACKS SABIO'S RETURN TO PCGG,
CHIDES PALACE FOR FAILING TO PUT HIM ON PREVENTIVE SUSPENSION

Following the surprise return of embattled Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) chair Camilo Sabio to his post after an indefinite leave, Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko Pangilinan today called on Malacañang to move towards a preventive suspension against the said official.

"When grievous breaches of professional conduct are committed, it is only logical to issue an immediate preventive suspension of a public official. This is also to stop any possibility of tampering with evidence that could be made available to an official because of his or her power. Sabio should have been suspended the moment he admitted to a bribery, not only to show that this government will not tolerate such acts, but also to salvage whatever's left of PCGG's credibility," Kiko said.

Sabio arrived without notice in PCGG last Friday after filing an indefinite leave earlier this year when a Supreme Court panel learned that he tried to influence his brother, Associate Justice Jose Sabio Jr., to rule in the government's favor in a legal dispute over control of power distributor Manila Electric Co. In Sept. 29, President Arroyo appointed Commissioner Narciso Nario as officer-in-charge of the agency. Nario claims that Sabio has no orders from the President to return to his post, but Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Sabio was not fired or relieved of his post and thus needs no official order from the Palace or the Justice Department to return to his post.

"I'd like to think that the Palace will not send out that message that it is condoning this kind of collapse in public service. If no less than your chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Governance is involved in an issue of betrayal in public service, and you let him back in his post unscathed, then what does that say about governance in this country? Dumarami tuloy ang kawatan sa gobyerno dahil imbes na napaparusahan, tila nabibigyan pa ng pabuya sa kanilang katiwalian" Kiko ended.