Comelec orders reinstatement of ex-Jaen mayor Austria

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division has ordered reinstatement of Sylvia Austria as mayor of Jaen, Nueva Ecija, expelling sitting mayor Antonio Esquivel.

This developed after Comelec, in an order dated January 12, issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) on a December 2020 Gapan City Regional Trial Court Branch 87 ruling declaring Austria’s 2019 Comelec proclamation null and void.

Likewise, the poll body issued a status quo ante order tasking the parties to maintain the status prevailing prior to Gapan City Regional Trial Court Branch 87’s issuance of ruling in favor of Esquivel and “directing  private respondent (Esquivel) to peacefully turn over the subject post to petitioner Sylvia Austria.”

The status quo ante order is also valid for 60 days.

The Comelec order was in response to Austria’s petition for certiorari and prohibition with extremely urgent prayer for issuance of TRO and/or status quo ante order and/or prohibitory injunction.

The Gapan City RTC ruled in December 2020 that Esquivel won the 2019 race with 18,737 votes against Austria’s 14,000 votes.

GMA News Online has sought for a copy of the Comelec Resolution which resulted in the Comelec ordering Austria’s reinstatement, but the poll body said that it is not yet available as of posting time. — BM, GMA News