THE Seventh Division of the Sandiganbayan has ordered a 90-day preventive suspension on Iloilo City Rep. Jerry Treñas for the use of P500,000 from the Priority Development Assistance Fund of Senator Loren Legarda for the construction of a press club building when he was then a mayor in 2003.
The lawmaker said he would no longer challenge the anti-graft court’s order.
He, however, denied committing any irregularity, saying he complied with the legal processes in granting the fund.
In a Nov. 7, 2017 complaint, Ombudsman Assistant Special Prosecutor III Jorge Espinal alleged Treñas committed graft for giving “unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference” for releasing P500,000 for the construction of the Iloilo Press Club building in Molo, Barangay San Pablo, Iloilo City 15 years ago.
The money came from Legarda’s pork barrel fund to build the media facility, “which was not an accredited non-government organization of the city.”
The Ombudsman said Treñas violated the Commission on Audit’s Circular No. 96-003 for failure to monitor the implementation of the project and failure to require fund liquidation.
The Sandiganbayan junked Treñas’ argument that he should not be suspended.