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The heat is definitely on.
“The lawyers of Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay on Friday, March 18, threatened to slap Vice Mayor Romulo ‘Kid’ Peña Jr. with charges of usurpation of authority for issuing a memorandum to all city councilors, department heads, and division chiefs informing them that he will be discharging his functions as acting mayor,” reports Mike Frialde on Philstar.com.
Atty. Patricia Alvarez, one of Binay’s lawyers, said, “If he signs (the memorandum) as acting mayor it will be illegal. It will be in violation of the court order.”
The report noted: “The Court of Appeals had issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Office of the Ombudsman’s six-month preventive suspension order against Binay.”
According to Alvarez, “the ruling of the appellate court must be respected and that the acts of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Peña are an ‘insult”’ to the court.”
Alvarez argued, “If the vice mayor does not comply or if the persons enjoined under the CA resolution do not comply with that order, then they will be liable for contempt.”
Photos: News clips
