Rizal govt fails to get TRO to stop reinstatement of mayor

MANILA, Philippines - The bid to stop the reinstatement of Rodriguez town mayor to his post failed when the Court of Appeals denied the petition filed by the Rizal Sangguniang Panlalawigan seeking to stop Malacanang from reinstating Mayor Pedro Cuerpo. In a 10-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Noel Tijam, the CA's Fourth Division said the petitioner through Rizal vice governor Frisco San Juan failed to convince the court of any urgency in issuing a temporary restraining order or a writ of injunction. “Petitioner (Rizal government) did not sufficiently allege facts to support an urgent need to issue a TRO to prevent any great or irreparable injury that it might suffer, or that a preliminary injunction is of paramount necessity so that its application should be resolved at once. Neither has it alleged, much less proven, that serious damage or injury would immediately result if the sought injunctive relief will not be granted," the CA said. Named as respondents in the case were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Cuerpo. The case started when Cuerpo was placed on a six-month preventive suspension by the Rizal provincial government for allegedly illegally raising taxes and fees for the use of Rodriguez’s landfills that serve as dumpsites for most of Metro Manila’s garbage. Cuerpo then barricaded himself for 25 days inside his office at the town hall, thwarting attempts by Vice Mayor Jonas Cruz, as acting mayor, to move into the office. Cuerpo said he stayed in the office of the mayor to protest the provincial government’s suspension order that was extended from 60 days to six months, vowing not to leave the municipal hall until Malacanang resolved his petition. Ermita then signed the order lifting Cuerpo’s suspension pending the final resolution of the appeal he filed with the Office of the President. But the provincial government questioned Malacanang's April 18, 2008 stay order on Cuerpo’s suspension. The Palace order effectively ordered the reinstatement of Cuerpo as Rodriguez municipal mayor and lifted the six months preventive suspension imposed on him by the provincial government, the local government claimed. - GMANews.TV