Court extends TRO for another 20 days
ROXAS CITY – The Regional Trial Court (RTC)has extended for another 20 days the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the replacement of the provincial director on orders of the police leadership in the national headquarters.
In a two pages decision penned on Tuesday by Judge Edward B. Contreras of Branch 17 of the Roxas City 6th Judicial Region, the court found merit with the special civil action case filed by Capiz Gov. Victor A Tanco against the removal of Capiz Police Provincial Director Senior Supt. Josephus Angan.
Contreras ordered Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and the PNP Director General Jesus Versoza to stop Angan’s replacement with Senior Supt. Primo Golingay or any other police official as the new provincial director.
The court stated that there exists extreme urgency in the case filed by the applicant and the latter would suffer “grave injustice and irreparable injury” if the replacement of Angan proceeds.
The respondents are hereby ordered to cease, desist and refrain from: relieving Angan and from assigning Golingay, or any person or PNP officer as provincial director of the PNP in Capiz.
In reaction to this, Tanco said that he has nothing against Golingay to be the provincial director but he stands for his right to be informed and consulted first before the provincial director is replaced.
Last week, there was an attempt to relieve Angan and replaced with Golingay as provincial director prompting Tanco to apply TRO in court where it was granted for 72 hours which lapsed last Tuesday.
“I don’t want to speculate that politics is behind the PNP reshuffling as they might have the reasons behind it,” Tanco said.
