TRO aborts police assault on Iloilo capitol.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

THE COURT OF APPEALS IN CEBU CITY issued a 60-day temporary restraining order on the enforcement of the dismissal order against Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr.

The two-page order released by the Court of Appeals in Cebu City at 4:30 p.m. barred the Office of the Ombudsman, Department of Interior and Local Government, and other government agencies from removing Tupas, 74, from office during the period.

The order signed by Associate Justices Francisco Acosta, Agustin Dizon and Isaias Dicdican was issued to preserve the status quo and to defend the rights of the petitioners.

The much-awaited copy was received by the office of the governor minutes after hundreds of fully armed policemen assaulted the provincial capitol.

The assault came before the lapse of the 48-hour deadline set by Interior Secretary Renaldo Puno for dismissed and suspended local executives to leave their respective offices. The deadline lapses at noon today.

The Ombudsman dismissed Tupas, along with Mayor Wenceslao Peewee Trinidad of Pasay City, Mayor Antonio Prospero Esquivel of Jaen, Nueva Ecija, and several other local …