Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Court hearings on Ordinance 176 proceeds
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Regional Trial Court (RTC) here is set to hear the petition on Ordinance 176 filed by Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio against Vice Governor Joseller "Yeng" Guiao and members of the Provincial Board (PB).
This came shortly after the PB decided to forego with the agreed upon mediation proceedings with Panlilio on the controversial quarry ordinance and instead opted to proceed with the trial of the case earlier filed with the court.
In their letter to RTC Branch 41 Judge Divina Luz Simbulan, Guiao said after the April 17 executive meeting in her courtroom, the PB decided to forego with mediation proceeding on Ordinance 176 and pursue the case.
With this, Simbulan, who earlier decided to inhibit herself from the hearing, is set to raffle off the case to other RTC branches.
On April 4, she suspended the hearing on Ordinance 176 after Panlilio and the PB concurred with her proposal to settle the issue in a dialogue she herself would mediate.
Prior to that, the judge divulged to the lawyers of Panlilio and Guiao that she was an awardee of the Provincial Government's 2007 Most Outstanding Kapampanga Awards (Moka) for Judicial Service. This, she said, compels her to inhibit herself from hearing the case to "obviate any possible suspicion of bias and partiality so that the impartiality of the judiciary would be preserved."
On March 25, Panlilio filed a petition for certiorari before the RTC with prayer for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order (TRO) against Ordinance 176.
The governor made the move following the dismissal by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Court of Appeals (CA) of the cases he earlier filed to contest the legality of the quarry ordinance.
On March 17, Panlilio, through lead lawyer Charlie Yalung, filed the petition to prevent the implementation of Ordinance 176, which he described as unconstitutional and illegal.
Among the respondents in the case were Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr., Guiao and the PB members.
Panlilio also asked Gonzalez "to review the constitutionality and legality of the other provisions of the ordinance considering that the same constituted a tax ordinance that incorrectly and illegally applied as stated in Section 138 of the Local Government Code (LGC)," on tax on sand, gravel, and other quarry products" to the distribution of P300 as regulatory fee.
According to him, the PB did not follow the mandatory requirements of public hearing.
He said Ordinance 176 is "void for granting powers for the municipal mayors."
However, Guiao described Panlilio's move as "another delaying tactics on the implementation of Ordinance 176," which he said a long overdue.
He said the governor's statement is contradictory to his earlier claims that the new quarry scheme is now being implemented, adding that his team is still formulating the implementing rules and guidelines of it. (MHD)
