THE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday extended for a week the status quo ante order it issued restoring Bulacan Governor Joselito Mendoza in his post over his political rival Roberto Pagdanganan, who was recently declared as duly elected governor by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
At a press briefing, Court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the magistrates failed to rule on the merits of the case and decided to resolve the issue in next week’s en banc session.
“The status quo ante order was extended because they were not able to resolve the issue today. There are still other opinions coming in, but I would like to think that next week will be the decision time already,” he said.
Last March 9, the SC issued a seven-day status quo ante order in favor of Mendoza in the wake of the planned takeover of the provincial Capitol by Pagdanganan.
The High Court noted the supplemental petition filed by Mendoza seeking to stop the takeover following the ruling of the Comelec in issuing a writ of execution.
Earlier, the SC did not grant Mendoza’s petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the Comelec from implementing its resolution declaring Pagdanganan as duly-elected governor of the province.
Mendoza’s failure to obtain a TRO prompted the Comelec to issue a writ of execution dated March 5 declaring that Pagdanganan may already assume the functions of governor, causing grave and irreparable damage to him and to Bulacan electorate. (JCV/Sunnex)