Mayor in helicopter scam to appeal suspension

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – Tuguegarao City Mayor Jefferson Soriano, whom the Sandiganbayan ordered suspended the other day in connection with the alleged P34-million helicopter scam, said he will appeal his suspension before the anti-graft body.

“I will file a motion for reconsideration regarding the suspension order. We will exhaust all legal remedies,” Soriano, a lawyer himself, told The STAR yesterday.

Soriano, a police general during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was one of those implicated in the helicopter controversy along with former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief director general Jesus Verzosa.

Soriano won the city’s mayoral post in the last May elections, beating former mayor Delfin Ting.

Soriano and Verzosa, who were classmates at the Philippine Military Academy, are facing charges for the alleged anomalous purchase of two Robinson R44 Raven 1 helicopters for the PNP in 2009.

The helicopters were purchased as brand new but investigation showed these were previously owned by the former first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Soriano was the chairman of the PNP bids and awards committee at the time of the allegedly anomalous transaction.