Pasay vice mayor: I'll take city hall on Monday

The day of reckoning will be on Monday instead. Vice Mayor Antonino Calixto, who gained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against his dismissal, came and then left the Pasay City Hall without claiming any office there. Instead of his old post, however, Calixto said he will assume the top city office now occupied by Mayor Allan Panaligan. Calixto maintained that the mayoralty post was now vacant. Radio station dzBB quoted Calixto as saying that the weekend should be enough time for Panaligan's camp to prepare for his takeover. Anybody who tries to block his assumption to the mayoralty post, Calixto told dzBB radio, will be charged with contempt. Calixto gained a 60-day TRO from the Court of Appeals, a copy of which he received Thursday. The order supposedly empowered him him to retake his old office and to serve as mayor in an acting capacity. For his part, Panaligan insisted that he will leave his post once the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) orders his removal from office. He insisted that he was not serving in an acting capacity, but was already sworn in by the DILG as an alleged non-interim mayor. Anti-riot police armed with truncheons continued to stand guard at the Pasay City Hall as of posting time. Panaligan said their deployment was part of "preventive measures" against the possible outbreak of violence, GMA News' Flash Report said. This early, however, authorities said Calixto would still be barred from entering the Pasay City Hall even if he had a court-issued TRO. Senior Superintendent Marietto Valerio, Pasay City police chief, said they would still await word from Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno before providing Calixto free access. Meanwhile, DILG Undersecretary Wencelito Andanar said that the department has yet to receive a copy of the CA decision and would be unable to issue an order for Calixto's takeover. Andanar said that once the CA ruling is received, the DILG will review it and prepare the necessary papers for Calixto's return to office. The earliest time for the order's release would be on Monday, GMA News quoted Andanar as saying. Calixto, removed Mayor Wenceslao "Peewee" Trinidad and councilors Richard Advincula, Lexter Ibay, Jose Antonio Roxas, Noel Bayona, Ernel Regino Arceo, Editha Vergel de Dios, Marie Irish Pineda and Greg Paolo Alcera were ordered dismissed over alleged anomalous garbage collection and disposal contracts. The Ombudsman ruled that the contracts – worth P464.6 million for the years 2004 and 2005 – were overpriced. - GMANews.TV