Court rejects Cagayan vice gov’s appeal over 90-day suspension

TUGUEGARAO CITY – Cagayan Vice Gov. Manuel Mamba has failed to convince a judge to reconsider his 90-day suspension over his graft complaint now pending before a Batac City court in Ilocos Norte, according to court documents secured by the Inquirer. 

But it was unclear when he will start serving the court-ordered suspension that is tied to the Cagayan province’s unpaid provincial government infrastructure projects when Mamba was governor.

In a September 2 order, Batac Regional Trial Court (RTC) Felix Salvador of Branch 17 in Batac City, Ilocos Norte, said the court found “no cogent reason” to reverse its July 28 order suspending Mamba pendente lite, or while the graft complaint is under litigation. 

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READ: Cagayan vice governor ordered suspended for 90 days due to graft case

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The Batac court assumed jurisdiction after the prosecution petitioned the Supreme Court to transfer the case from Cagayan courts to prevent undue influence from tainting the trial. 

JLL Pulsar Construction Corp. sued Mamba for graft and malversation for payments the company tried to collect on projects it undertook when Mamba served as Cagayan governor. JLL is a construction company owned by the family of Cagayan Rep. Joseph Lara. 

Mamba allegedly required payments for completed projects to be received by the registered owners, and not their representatives, as a policy to address allegations of substandard construction reportedly detected by an inspection team. 

JLL Pulsar’s money claims against Cagayan amount to P40.34 million (P40,335,842.22). 

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In a 12-page en banc decision dated February 26, 2026, but released only in June, the Commission on Audit upheld the validity of the contractor’s claim as it was backed by a separate ruling of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission (CIAC). 

The Batac Court’s September 2 ruling has been distributed to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) central office and its regional office “for appropriate action.”

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READ: Cagayan governor DQ’d over election spending

Mamba did not answer calls and text messages sent by the Inquirer on Sunday regarding the latest court ruling.

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Cagayan Gov. Edgar Aglipay has yet to comment on the suspension order. When the suspension begins, Board Member Randy Ursulum will serve as the acting vice governor. /coa