TRO vs car import ban at Port Irene lapses

TUGUEGARAO CITY – Car importers at the freeport managed by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in Santa Ana town were forced to stop their business yesterday as the 17-day temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Aparri regional trial court lapsed.

The car importers belonging to the Automotive Rebuilding Industries of Cagayan (ARIC), however, expressed hope that the court would eventually issue a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a Malacañang directive banning the importation of second-hand cars at Port Irene during its next hearing on Nov. 10.

The case filed before Judge Rolando Velasco of the Aparri RTC Branch 18 stemmed from an ARIC petition seeking to block the order of CEZA administrator Jose Mari Ponce for the implementation of Executive Order 156 at the freeport.

The ARIC earlier had secured a 72-hour TRO against Ponce’s directive, followed by a 17-day TRO extension that expired yesterday.

With the TRO’s lapse, engineer Julian Gonzales, operations officer and chief engineer of CEZA-Port Irene, said there will be no more shipments and registration of second-hand cars at the freeport.

“Without a gate pass, any cars imported into CEZA cannot be registered or allowed to be brought out of the port,” added Gonzales.