Sereno uses TRO power to retain Maliksi as Imus mayor

For the first time, Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno used her authority to issue a temporary restraining order without prior formal consultation with other Supreme Court justices.   In a two-page resolution issued Thursday, Sereno stopped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from unseating Emmanuel “Manny” Maliksi as mayor of Imus town in Cavite.   Although the TRO was deemed effective, it is still subject to confirmation in next week’s en banc session, scheduled on Tuesday.   "Now, therefore, a Temporary Restraining Order is hereby issued effective immediately and continuing until further orders from this Court, ordering you, and respondent Comelec, your agents, representatives, or persons acting in your place or stead, to refrain from further proceeding with or implementing the assailed Comelec Resolution dated September 14, 2012," the resolution read.   “The Court finds it necessary and proper to issue a temporary restraining order to maintain status quo prevailing before the issuance of the assailed Comelec Resolution,” it added.   In August, the Comelec First Division declared Homer Saquilayan as the duly elected mayor of Imus. The decision was upheld by the Comelec en banc on its September 14 resolution.   Maliksi on Wednesday filed a petition for an issuance of a TRO against the Comelec ruling.   For his part, Saquilayan told GMA News Online via text, "This case is highly irregular because the election protest was decided already by Comele En Banc, then it should be decided by SC En Banc."   "How come the CJ issued the TRO? I wonder who are truly the advocates of a daang matuwid?” he added, referring to President Benigno Aquino III’s political slogan. Sereno, the first female head of the Supreme Court, is an Aquino appointee. — Rouchelle Dinglasan/KBK, GMA News