FORMER mayor Homer Saquilayan of Imus City in Cavite province on Saturday denounced the temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno that prevented

the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from unseating Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi, his rival for the post in the May 2010 elections.

In an interview with The Manila Times, Saquilayan called the order’s issuance—which was promulgated by Supreme Court Clerk of Court Enri-queta Vidal—as “highly irregular.”

“Our case [was] raffled off to [Associate] Justice [Antonio Carpio] and we were given 10 days to submit our position paper, but all of a sudden Chief Justice Sereno issued a TRO without consulting the Supreme Court en banc,” he said.

Under the law, the chief justice can issue a TRO on his or her own, but it should be confirmed by the SC en banc in its next regular meeting.

Carpio was the ponente of the Saquilayan case, which was filed with the High Tribunal on October 2. He did not issue any recommendation on the matter.

The ex-mayor said that he was given until October 19 to appeal the order. He added that he would submit his position paper to the High Court tomorrow while his supporters, led by his lawyer Ferdinand Topacio, would hold a rally protesting the order.

In May 2010, Saquilayan and Maliksi ran for mayor of Imus, with the former proclaimed as the winner. But Judge Cesar Mangrobang of Branch 22 of the Imus Regional Trial Court ruled that Maliksi was the victor after ballots were recounted, and ordered Saquilayan to stop performing his duties.

The Comelec’s First Division, however, nullified Mangrobang’s decision through an August 15, 2012 resolution signed by Commissioners Rene Sarmiento, Armando Velasco and Christian Robert Lim.