MAKATI TO FILE CONTEMPT CHARGES AGAINST NCRPO OFFICIALS FOR DEFYING COURT OF APPEALS DECISION ON FORT BONIFACIO posted by : icrd on 09/04/2013 The Makati city government will file contempt charges against Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. and other officers of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) over their refusal to comply with the Court of Appeals ruling returning to Makati jurisdiction over the inner Fort. “We will bring them to court. The NCRPO is duty bound to enforce the decision of the Court of Appeals. Their refusal to do so can be seen as open defiance of the court,” Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin S. Binay said. “The decision is clear. The injunction order has been lifted. Makati can now resume exercising jurisdiction. This is something that law enforcers know and there should be no second guessing here,” he added. At the same time, Binay again assailed the thuggish actions of the Taguig Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) who harassed Makati City employees distributing PhilHealth cards to Southside residents. “Taguig neglected the residents of Southside for 20 years. They don’t even have basic health care. Why prevent the residents from getting these services?” he said. Media reports quoted NCRPO deputy director for administration Chief Supt. Pat Hernandez as saying that Fort Bonifacio, including Bonifacio Global City (BGC), will remain under the control of the Taguig City Police. NCRPO spokesperson Chief Insp. Robert Domingo reportedly confirmed the announcement, stating that pending directives from higher headquarters (of the Philippine National Police), they will observe the status quo. On Tuesday, Makati called on Taguig to respect the rule of law and comply with the CA ruling, maintaining that it was “immediately executory” regardless of the filing of a motion for reconsideration by Taguig with the appellate court. In a statement, Atty. Eleno Mendoza, Makati city administrator, advised Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano to consult better lawyers, stating that “unless restrained by the courts, the lifting of the injunction order is immediately executory.” Mendoza said the CA decision was already “established jurisprudence”. He said Taguig should present “new and compelling evidence” instead of the pieces of evidence they had submitted, which the court described as “fake and dubious”. “The courts listen only to hard evidence, not emotional appeals in banners and stickers or the provocative action of thugs disguised as public order personnel,” he added. The Makati official also appealed to the Taguig city government not to involve the private sector in their petty campaign, citing reports that some locators at the BGC have been experiencing harassment from Taguig personnel. “We are saddened by the complaints we have received from some BGC locators about the alleged bullying tactics of some Taguig personnel. These locators are entitled to seek legal redress and we urge them to do so,” he said. In the weeks following the release of the CA Sixth Division ruling that lifted the injunction imposed by the Pasig Regional Trial Court in 1994 against Makati, armed members of the Taguig POSO were involved in a series of incidents that Makati officials condemned as “Gestapo-like tactics”. Around 50 Taguig public safety personnel ganged up on a mobile patrol car of the Makati police on August 28 at the intersection of Kalayaan and Lawton St., prompting the Makati chief of police to arrive at the scene to diffuse the tension and avert violence. Members of Taguig POSO were also reported taking down banners installed along Kalayaan in Makati, clearly outside their jurisdiction. Last August 15, some 12 armed Taguig village watchmen surrounded a team of Makati engineers who were surveying streets in Southside for a proposed road repair and rehabilitation project, and ordered them to stop and leave the area. The Makati city government has warned that similar actions and incursions into Makati barangays will not be tolerated. Mayor Binay said Makati will not be intimidated by Gestapo tactics. "They did this before and we stood our ground. We will not be bullied into relinquishing what is historically and legally part of Makati," he said. On August 5, the CA Sixth Division released its ruling dated July 30, 2013 on the long-running territorial dispute between the two cities, upholding Makati’s jurisdiction over the more than 729-hectare portion of Fort Bonifacio. It has ordered Taguig “to immediately cease and desist from exercising jurisdiction within the disputed area and return the same to Makati.”
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 05:18:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015