By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
THE Court of Appeals here has ordered the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Interior and Local Government to comment on the petition of Mayor Oscar Moreno and four others for a writ of preliminary injunction in connection with five dismissal orders against them.
If the petition of Moreno’s group is granted, a writ of preliminary injunction would prevent the ombudsman and interior department from implementing the dismissal and disqualification orders prior to the judgment or final order.
The ombudsman and DILG were given 10 days to submit their respective comments.
“In the event that the instant petition is given due course, the said comments shall serve as respondents’ answer thereto,” reads another part of the CA ruling.
The appellate court also directed the ombudsman to resolve Moreno and his group’s motion for reconsideration “with utmost dispatch.”
A copy of the CA 23rd Division’s July 7 resolution showed that Associate Justices Louis Acosta, Edgardo Camello and Oscar Badelles directed Moreno and his group to post a P100-thousand bond each in connection with the cases filed by Antonio Nuñez.
The CA said it would revoke the TRO if Moreno’s group failed to post the P100-thousand bonds within five days from Friday.
“The respondents [ombudsman and DILG] are directed to file their respective comments on the Petition (not motion to dismiss) and to show cause why the application for the issuance of a Writ of Preliminary Injunction (WPI) should not be granted,” reads part of the CA resolution.
Nuñez has accused Moreno, former Misamis Oriental general services officer Elsie Lopoy, former provincial engineer Rolando Pacuribot, former provincial budget officer Elmer Wabe, and former provincial administrative aide Leemar Tinagan of being responsible for the capitol’s lease of heavy equipment without a public bidding when the mayor was still governor.
On Friday, the CA consolidated the cases and issued a 60-day restraining order against the implementation of the ombudsman’s orders to dismiss the respondents from public service and perpetually disqualify them from holding public office. In each of the cases, they were found administratively guilty of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to public interest, serious dishonesty, and gross neglect of duty, resolutions Moreno and the other respondents assailed.
In a decision made at around 5:10 pm on Friday, the appellate court ruled to stop for two months the ombudsman’s three orders on Sept. 6, 2016, and two others on Oct. 6, 2016 and May 5, 2017.
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