BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL
The Office of Aklan Sangguniang
Panlalawigan (SP) on Thursday has asked the regional trial court to dismiss the
civil action filed by the municipal government of Kalibo.
Last April 8, the
municipality of Kalibo represented by mayor William Lachica filed a petition
asking the regional trial court to issue a preliminary injunction and temporary
restraining order (TRO) on the Aklan SP resolution.
Aklan SP Resolution No.
100 series of 2015 declared the General Fund budget of P190.500-million under Appropriation
Ordinance No. 2014-19 and the General Fund-Municipal Economic Enterprise
Development budget for P52.293-million under Appropriation Ordinance No.
2014-020 inoperative in its entirety last March 25, 2015.
On April 16, the Office of
Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan, through Provincial Legal Officer Lee Manares, filed
the urgent motion to deny the issuance of temporary restraining order and the
writ of preliminary injunction in favor of the municipal government of Kalibo
under Special Civil Action Case No. 10046 before Branch 5 of the Regional Trial
Court.
Manares, in his five-page
urgent motion to deny issuance of TRO in favor of municipality of Kalibo, said “the
TRO and/ or injunction cannot amend, modify and repeal the Aklan SP resolution
and could be made as a basis to authorize the disbursement of funds from the
disallowed appropriation ordinances.”
“The courts should avoid
issuing a writ of preliminary injunction which, in effect, would dispose of the
main cause without trial and would to result to a prejudgment of the main
cause,” he added.
On Thursday also, Kalibo Municipal
Legal Officer Buenas Aires Celi Dela Cruz-Rivera pointed out “the issuance of
the Aklan SP resolution is a continuing prohibition on the part of the
Municipal Treasurer not to disburse funds from all the items of appropriations
in the 2015 annual budget of Kalibo. This continuing prohibition constitutes an
urgent and paramount necessity for the issuance of the writ to prevent serious
damage in the operations of Kalibo.”
“The motion mainly resorted
to technicalities when it argued that the alleged act sought to be enjoined by
the municipality of Kalibo was already consummated or accomplished considering
the receipt of Resolution No. 100 series of 2015 which declared the
appropriation ordinances as inoperative in its entirety, is effective and executory,”
part of the six-page opposition filed by the municipal government of Kalibo on
April 16.
Dela Cruz-Rivera further said,
“the non-issuance of TRO will also restrain the town of Kalibo to implement its
projects including national funded infrastructures. The resort to
technicalities will further delay the fate of the operations of the
municipality of Kalibo and will ultimately frustrate public interest.”
AFFECTED PERSONNEL
Some 285 job order
personnel assigned in vital services, including 19 staff from the Municipal
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, 76 Kalibo Municipal Auxiliary
Police, 12 parking aides and 27 personnel of the solid waste management
program, are affected by the ‘reenacted budget’.
Nine personnel in charge
of maintenance of engineered sanitary landfill and 10 Kalahi-CIDDS support
staff will be affected also.
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