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Preliminary injunction from Court of Appeals vindicates Mayor Binay

Photo by Inquirer

Valenzuela City Congressman Win Gatchalian today said Makati Mayor Junjun Binay has again scored another victory after the Court of Appeals’ granted his request for writ of preliminary injunction that effectively extended the temporary restraining order (TRO) against the preventive suspension meted out by the Office of the Ombudsman.

 

Gatchalian said the Appellate Court’s issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction is an indication that the Ombudsman’s case against Mayor Binay is weak. The CA also found merit in the mayor’s complaint that his six-month suspension was done in haste even before probable cause can be established on the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building 2.

 

“The due process deprived by the Ombudsman was given to Mayor Junjun by the Appellate Court twice in a row: first was a TRO, now a preliminary injunction. This latest development vindicates the good mayor who has long been suffering from persecution because he is the son of Vice President Jejomar Binay who happens to be with the opposition and is a presidential front-runner,” explained Gatchalian, who represents Valenzuela City 1st Congressional District.

 

Gatchalian said the injunction issued by the Appellate Court should pave the way for the normalization of operations in the Makati City Hall which was severely affected by the existence of two mayors since the suspension order by the Ombudsman was implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government.

 

“For now, Mayor Binay can focus on his duties as local executive and continue the delivery of basic services to the people of Makati,” said Gatchalian, who was a mayor of Valenzuela City for three consecutive terms.

 

In a resolution written by Justice Jose Reyes Jr., the appellate court’s sixth division said it decided to issue the writ of preliminary injunction “following an assiduous inspection of available data and guided by jurisprudential guideposts.” Other division members, Justices Francisco Acosta and Eduardo Peralta Jr., concurred in the ruling.

 

The court said it is “enjoining” the Office of the Ombudsman, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and their agents and/or representatives from enforcing the Ombudsman’s March 10 order preventively suspending Binay for six months.

 

The court also ordered the respondents “to preserve and respect the status quo before the issuance of the [Ombudsman’s preventive suspension] order.”

 

The writ of preliminary injunction will stop the enforcement of Binay’s suspension during the pendency of the certiorari case he filed in the court on March 12, according to reports. The writ extends the 60-day TRO issued by the court on March 26.