Court junks civil case vs Igbaras mayor, town execs
A Special Civil Action Case filed against Igbaras Mayor Jaime Esmeralda, members of the Igbaras Municipal Council, Municipal Development Council and Local Finance Committee has been dismissed by the Court.
Denied for lack of merit, Judge Domingo Diamante of Branch 67 in Guimbal, Iloilo further ruled that the case at hand lodged by one Ricardo Senon Escanlar Jr. was "premature."
In a four-paged Order obtained by The News Today (TNT), Judge Diamante stated that the Court saw "no need to proceed with the hearing on the case in main as such proceedings will only be an imposition upon the precious time of this Court."
The case stemmed from the project of Igbaras questioned by the complainant as supposedly not a "development project." Mayor Esmeralda and the rest of the town officials were hurled in Court for alleged grave abuse of discretion using the P7 million project fund taken from the town's 20% Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
The controversial project was the artificial insemination of animals here, immunization of livestock and poultry, dogs and for farmers' insurance as well. Further still, the project and corresponding fund also called for the maintenance of public market and procurement of essential drugs and medicines for the town among others.
Escanlar Jr. also filed the case seeking a Certiorari, prohibition and mandamus with temporary restraining order and injunction.
However as Judge Diamante averred, "the extra-ordinary remedy of mandamus likewise does not fit into this case." And there's more.
"Also worth re-stating is that the questioned appropriation "ordinance" is not yet an ordinance within the purview of the Local Government Code…hence, the instant case cannot be further entertained by this Court due to its prematurity. On the other hand, movants in this Motion for Reconsideration fail to convince this Court that the foregoing provision of the Local Government Code is inapplicable in the case at hand."