CA acts on Moreno plea, seeks memos

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

THE Court of Appeals (CA) on Tuesday directed Mayor Oscar Moreno and his accuser to submit their respective memoranda in connection with the local chief executive’s petition against the dismissal order issued by the ombudsman against him.

Moreno has filed a petition for a writ of preliminary injunction from the appellate court after the Office of the Ombudsman slapped him and city treasurer Glenn Bañez with a dismissal order for grave misconduct.

Moreno, Bañez, and their accuser, former Taglimao barangay chairman William Guialani, were directed to submit their respective memoranda to the CA’s 22nd Division five days from Jan. 5.

The CA’s 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the ombudsman’s dismissal order would be in effect only until Jan. 12.

Moreno’s lawyer Bryan Dale Mordeno said the CA also directed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales to submit her memorandum.

The Jan. 5 CA order was signed by Melody Sherry Chan, the CA 22nd  Division’s clerk of court, based on the resolution of Associate Justices Edgardo Camello and Perpetua Atal-Paño. A third member of the  CA Division, Justice Ma. Filomena Singh, was on leave when the resolution was signed.

In the directive, Chan stated that the CA would rule on the petition with or without the memoranda.

Reads part of the directive: “Parties to file their respective memoranda, in lieu of oral arguments, in support of their positions on the prayer for a writ of  preliminary injunction, WPI within a non-extendable period of five days from notice. Thereafter, the prayer for WPI shall be deemed submitted for resolution  with or without said memoranda.”

Guialani’s lawyer Pat Tremor said his client received the same CA resolution on Tuesday.

The stateun Philippine News Agency quoted him as saying that the CA can issue a writ only if an oral argument is heard.

His client Guialani was also quoted as saying, “Instead the CA required us to submit memoranda on the application of Moreno for a writ of preliminary injunction.

“We are apprehensive because instead of the usual oral argument, the CA now requires us to submit memoranda.”

Guialani earlier assailed the CA associate justices’ TRO ruling before the SC even as he asked the High Court to issue a prohibition and grant his petition for a  preliminary injunction.

Tremor, in the PNA report, also belied “reports” that the CA extended the  Nov. 13, 2015 TRO. He did not say were the “reports” came from, and exactly who reported it.

“The CA has no power to issue an extension of the 60-day TRO,” Tremor said.

Last year, the ombudsman ordered the dismissal of Moreno and Banez in connection with the city hall-Ajinomoto Philippines tax settlement. The out-of-court settlement, made without the consent of the city council, lowered the tax assessment from P2.9 million to P300 thousand.