Maliksi asks CA to stop 6-month suspension order

TRECE MARTIRES CITY — Suspended Cavite Gov. Ireneo "Ayong" Maliksi asked the Court of Appeals (CA) yesterday to stop the Office of the Ombudsman from carrying out his six-month suspension order.

In a 43-page petition filed by his lawyer, Rene Lazaro Bondal, Maliksi asked the appellate court to issue a temporary restraining order and a writ of preliminary injunction to Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Victor Fernandez and Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Maliksi said Fernandez suspended him last Aug. 15 without giving him the chance to file a counter-affidavit on the administrative complaint which Vice Gov. Juanito Victor Remulla filed against him in connection with the purchase of P7.5 million worth of rice last October.

Maliksi reiterated his earlier claims that his suspension was politically motivated and had something to do with the impeachment complaint against President Arroyo.

He alleged that his suspension was a "political favor" to the Remullas to dissuade Cavite Reps. Crispin and Gilbert Remulla from signing the impeachment complaint.

Vice Gov. Remulla has filed another complaint against Maliksi alleging graft in the purchase of P2.5 million worth of medicines.

Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Benjardi Mantele, Cavite police director, clarified yesterday that they have not received any order to force Maliksi out of the provincial Capitol here where he has holed up since his preventive suspension order was issued.

"We are just here to (maintain) peace and order based on the laws of the land, and we adhere to the chain of command," he said.

Mantele made the clarification as talk circulated yesterday that the police, upon the orders of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, would bodily carry Maliksi out of the Capitol.

Maliksi, however, told The STAR that two men suspected to be soldiers tried to snatch him after yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony, resulting in a scuffle at the Capitol lobby.

But Mantele belied Maliksi’s claim, saying that only policemen are authorized to secure the area.

The impasse at the Capitol has left provincial employees in a quandary.

A department head revealed that the Land Bank of the Philippines is no longer honoring checks signed by Maliksi upon the instructions of Remulla.

Maliksi’s supporters staged a rally in front of the Office of the Ombudsman along Agham Road in Quezon City yesterday, denouncing the alleged intervention of President Arroyo in the governor’s suspension.

The rallyists belonging to the Alyansa ng Mamamayan ng Kabite (Alma Kab) urged Fernandez to "reconsider" the six-month suspension order.

"We appeal to the sense of justice and fair play of the Ombudsman," said Nena Olvina, adding that the expeditious manner with which the suspension order was issued "makes us suspect that undue influence was exerted."

Fernandez, however, earlier denied the insinuation.

"We don’t engage in partisan politics. We just resolve cases based on the merits. We don’t have anything to do with politics," he told The STAR. — With Delon Porcalla