The Supreme Court has blocked a detention order the House of Representatives issued against Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba, whom lawmakers wanted to be punished for allegedly snubbing hearings on election charges in the 2022 polls.
On Thursday, the SC issued a temporary restraining order blocking the implementation of contempt and detention orders issued by the House joint committee on August 17.
Mamba had questioned the orders before the High Court on Tuesday (see related story on A3—Editors).
The Court also required the House joint committee to comment on the petition within five days of receipt of the notice.
Still, Mamba on Thursday apologized to legislators as he appeared before a joint congressional committee investigating the alleged illegal expenditures of the local government during the 2022 election campaign.
“I am indebted to you all for my failure to come here and participate.
My apologies,” Mamba told members of the House committees on public accounts, and suffrage and electoral reforms. “I am really sorry for that.”
The governor said he could not attend the hearings because he was swamped with work due to the typhoon that recently hit the province.
“I know the consequences, it was lost in my thoughts. I’m really sorry because I was responding to the needs of my constituents,” Mamba said.
“I was also in a quandary about what to prioritize,” he added.