Court junks TRO against Tinian mayor

Judge Juan Lizama yesterday threw out the Temporary Restraining Order earlier issued by the Superior Court against Tinian Mayor Francisco M. Borja since there was no accompanying complaint to support it.

According to Assistant Attorney General William Bush, the court’s decision to grant the TRO last week was improper because there was no civil action filed against the mayor.

“We are not the defendant on this action. There is no plaintiff and there is no action. No summon has been served to the mayor and there’s no action in which we can reply,” he said.

Last June 1, some 20 employees working at the Mayor’s Office of Tinian filed their application for TRO through counsel John Chambers.

However, only the TRO application was filed and the formal complaint was only lodged yesterday morning.

Chambers told the court that he was advised by one of the court clerks to separately file the documents. Lizama reminded him that he should file the TRO application and the civil case at the same time.

“The court is going to dissolve the TRO. Right now, there’s no TRO. The mayor’s office doesn’t have to bring in the employees back,” the judge said.

Based on the complaint filed yesterday, over 20 employees were allegedly pressured and coerced by Borja to support his favored political candidates. The workers alleged they were threatened that they would lose their jobs if they favor candidates from the other political camp.

By end of March, these employees reportedly received termination notices which advised them that they would cease working from the office effective June 1, 1999.

Borja’s counsel filed motions to dissolve the TRO and to dismiss the civil action late Tuesday afternoon.

Since no action has been filed against the mayor as of Tuesday, Bush asked the court to dismiss the case on grounds that the plaintiff failed to meet the judicial requirements in starting a civil case.

Tinian Mayor’s legal counsel Lauren Sutton told members of the media that the 20 employees listed in the complaint are not in the civil service list. The layoff was considered after the Mayor’s Office projected payroll shortfall before the end of the fiscal year.

Since the TRO came out, employees who were earlier terminated returned to work and required the Tinian municipal government to come up with $2,000 each day to cover for their daily compensation, he added.