Lapu-Lapu execs' TRO plea too late, says SC

The Supreme Court’s Third Division has dismissed the petition for a temporary restraining order against the preventive suspension issued against Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and three other city officials in relation to the ASEAN lamppost issue, saying it was filed too late.

Associate Justice Minita Chico Nazario dismissed the case, saying the six-month preventive suspension of city engineer Julito Cuizon, assistant city engineer Fernando Tagaan and engineer Rogelio Veloso had already lapsed on Oct. 1, 2007.

Nazario said the petitioners, in their manifestation with motion last Feb. 18, said they had resumed their posts and even admitted that their instant petition had become moot and academic.

In Radaza’s case, the court resolved last June 13 to allow him to withdraw his instant petition as he was reelected mayor of Lapu-Lapu City.

Nazario said the petitioners were also unsuccessful in securing a TRO or a preliminary injunction from the Court of Appeals (CA) or the Supreme Court that could have prevented their preventive suspension. They only filed a petition for certiorari on their suspension order before the CA.

The case stemmed from the investigation by the Public Assistant and Corruption Prevention Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas into the acquisition and installation of lampposts and street-lighting facilities in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu for the 12th ASEAN Summit.

The investigation found the lampposts to be “highly overpriced.”