MAKATI City Mayor Jejomar “Junjun” Binay Jr. on Wednesday morning left City Hall following his failure to secure an immediate temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals (CA) to stop his suspension by the Ombudsman.
The appellate court, at the same time, ordered the Ombudsman and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to justify why it should not stop the preventive suspension slapped against Binay in connection with the graft case filed against him and several others for their alleged involvement in the overpriced construction of the Makati Science High School Building (MSHSB).
In a two-page resolution issued by the CA’s Tenth Division, the court gave the respondents, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, 10 days to comment on the petition filed by Binay seeking the issuance of a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction (WPI), or both, against his suspension.
The resolution was written by CA Associate Justice Melchor Sadang and concurred in by Associate Justices Celia Librea-Leagogo and Amy Lazaro-Javier.
“Without necessarily giving due course to the petition, respondents are required to file their comment thereon, and to show cause in the same comment why petitioner’s prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction should not be granted, within a nonextendable period of 10 days from notice,” the CA said in the resolution.
Binay, on the other hand, was ordered to give his reply, after receiving the copy of the comment, in five days.
“Action on the application for TRO-WPI is held in abeyance pending receipt of the parties’ pleadings,” it added.
The CA said the petition would be deemed submitted for decision after they have received the pleadings or once the prescribed period has expired, or unless the court would require the parties to file their respective memoranda.
In his petition, Binay insisted that he cannot be held accountable for the alleged anomaly since three of the seven construction phases of the MSHSB were done when he was not yet the city mayor.
He argued that his liability in the subsequent construction phases, if there is, was expunged by his re-election in 2013 under the “Aguinaldo Doctrine” or the condonation doctrine.
Binay also branded hearsay the evidence relied upon by the Ombudsman in issuing the suspension order.
He added that the Ombudsman “whimsically and capriciously” established laws and jurisprudence in order to remove him from office.