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Friday, October 20, 2006
Standoff in Makati ends; court stops mayor's suspension
MANILA -- Peace was restored around Makati City Hall Thursday night after the Court of Appeals temporarily reinstated Mayor Jejomar Binay who was suspended for alleged graft, easing a standoff that began when he holed up in city hall with hundreds of followers.
Effective immediately, the Court of Appeals restrain for 60 days Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) from enforcing the suspension of Binay, an opposition leader who has earned President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's ire for allowing street protests against her in his sprawling district, known for its skyscrapers, upscale malls and gated communities.
Binay as of this posting already left City Hall as well as his more than 5,000 supporters who had been conducting vigil for the last two nights while the mayor holed himself up in his office.
Malacañang, through the DILG, on Tuesday ordered the suspension of Binay, his vice mayor and 16 city councilors for allegedly keeping ghost employees on the city payroll.
Binay said the temporary restraining order (TRO) will give them the chance to answer the complaint against him and the 17 other city officials accused of grave misconduct and abuse of authority.
"The battle is not yet over," a triumphant Binay proclaimed before a huge throng of followers in his 23-story city hall.
"We will continue this fight for justice and the truth," he said, waving to the crowd.
Hundreds of Binay's followers, including traffic enforcers and street sweepers, have barricaded the city hall since Tuesday, erecting a stage where actors, singers and dancers performed to lure crowds.
But DILG Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar said the TRO "has no effect on the suspension of Binay because the suspension order had been issued."
He said any order from the court to stop the suspension should have been made before the suspension had taken effect.
The appellate court, on the other hand, did not act on similar petitions filed by Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado and 16 City Council members who were likewise suspended by the DILG.
"This Court is of the view that the urgent prayer for the issuance of TRO is materially justified as we find compelling reasons, from allegations therein contained and materially discussed in the foregoing, that warrant the ex parte issuance of the injunctive writ," said the CA ruling penned by Associate Justice Enrico Lanzanas.
The CA also ordered the Ermita and DILG to file their comments within 10 days and to show grounds why the TRO should be lifted or why a writ of preliminary injunction should not be granted.
Likewise, Binay was ordered to post a bond of P200,000 within five days, to answer for damages that may be sustained by the respondents in the event that the court finally decides that petitioner is not entitled to the relief.
The CA noted that Binay filed his petition for a TRO even before his suspension order was served by the DILG.
Assailed in the petition was the suspension order dated Oct. 16 issued by Ermita, by authority of President Arroyo, ordering Binay's preventive suspension together with the vice mayor and all councilors of Makati City.
Binay said the case should not be continued unless and until public respondents resolve the "prerequisite due process issue" of petitioner's application for bill of particulars and his challenge to the sufficiency of an unverified complaint.
The court noted Binay's arguments that his filing of a motion for reconsideration to the assailed order is pointless and futile exercise, given the alleged patent violation of his constitutional right to due process, if a TRO would not ensue.
"In the event that this Court rules that there is haste in the issuance of the assailed order of preventive suspension, and that it is unreasonable, the effects of the suspension, if enforced or allowed to proceed, cannot be quantified," the CA said.
Binay, who steered the city into being the country's financial district and a stalwart of the United Opposition (UNO), was accused by private complainant Roberto Brillante, a former vice mayor of the city, of conspiring with his allies in the City Council to pocket some P113 million as salaries of 1,235 ghost employees in the City Hall, an accusation that he denied.
Brillante claimed that Binay, Mercado and the City Council reportedly hired the ghost employees in 2005 and also from January to June this year.
However, the complainant failed to identify these individuals, prompting Binay to ask for a bill of particulars so that they could answer the allegations against them.
But before the group of Binay could answer the allegation, Ermita signed the suspension order, ignoring Binay's request to require Brillante to submit the "bill of particulars" to all of the respondents.
Malacañang welcomed the TRO issued by the CA momentarily halting the suspension of the Makati mayor.
Ermita said "it is high time for the hero Andres Bonifacio, the Filipino hero that led the Katipunan against Spaniards in the 1800s, and those emulating him to rest."
The executive secretary issued the statement as he said that it is uncalled for, especially coming from a bishop to enjoin the people to mount protests actions against the administration for supposed injustices like the suspension of Binay.
Bishops Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Deogracias Iñiguez of Caloocan and Julio Labayen of Infanta, Quezon said it is time for the Arroyo government's abuses to be met with "national anger."
The three bishops called for stepped-up protests against President Arroyo and the injustices committed by her administration, the latest being the suspension of the Makati local government officials.
Binay criticized the reported ultimatum asking him to leave the City Hall in three to four days or he would face forced eviction.
He said there are many local government officials like him who have also been suspended, but the Palace does not implement their suspension because they have pending appeals before the CA or the Supreme Court (SC).
Ermita clarified that Binay is not the only mayor who has been suspended by the DILG.
He cited the case of Mayors Braulio Yaranon of Baguio City and Jose Catindig Jr. of Sta. Rosa, Laguna who were not exactly in the opposition but were suspended just the same for various reasons.
He said the Office of the President has disposed of 38 cases of local government officials with 24 being investigated by the DILG and 23 being evaluated by the Office of the President. He said that under the Local Government Code (LGC), the Office of the President is the disciplining authority while the DILG is the investigating authority for cases involving local government officials.
At the Senate, three senators reminded the present administration to allow the rule of law to prevail specifically in the case of Binay.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), for its part, believed that the suspension of opposition mayors in the country like Binay and Pasay City Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad can be perceived as "political in nature."
CBCP president and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said the fact that opposition mayors are the ones being targeted by suspension "is a clear indication that these are all politically motivated."
Lagdameo welcomed the TRO issued by the CA on suspension of Binay "as this would give both parties the chance to study and examine the case thoroughly."
"It's a relief that a TRO was released," he said. (Sunnex)
(October 20, 2006 issue)
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