The Supreme Court has cited Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba and his counsel, the Macalintal Law Office, for indirect contempt and both had been penalized to pay a fine of P30,000 each.
The SC imposed the penalty after they failed to justify their filing of a petition for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or writ of preliminary injunction, and their subsequent withdrawal of the petition a week after.
“The Court is convinced that Gov. Mamba and Macalintal Law Office should be cited in indirect contempt under Rule 71, Section 3(c) of the Rules of Court,” the SC said in an en banc decision.
In August 2023, the House of Representatives cited Mamba in contempt and ordered him detained over his repeated failure to attend the inquiry on alleged illegal expenditures of the local government during the 2022 campaign period.
Mamba later filed a petition before the high court, challenging the contempt and detention orders issued against him. He later appeared before the concerned House committees, even though the SC had already blocked the implementation of contempt and detention orders.
The Cagayan governor apologized for his absences, saying he was swamped with work due to the typhoon that recently hit the province. He also filed a motion to withdraw his petition, which effectively rendered the TRO nugatory or of no value.
This led the SC to require him and his counsels to explain why they should not be held in contempt for improper conduct.
In his compliance, Mamba said that he never voluntarily surrendered and that he was already restrained by the police. He said that upon arrival at the House, his lawyers were busy coordinating so that he would not be detained.
Mamba said that the law office opted not to make any manifestation to the SC for lack of material time and perceiving that the events were still unfolding.
But the high court said it found the compliance unsatisfactory, noting that his allegations in his petition and compliance were inconsistent.
“It can be reasonably deduced that Gov. Mamba’s change of tune in the Compliance is but a flimsy attempt to absolve himself from a contempt citation,” the tribunal said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also directed Mamba to show cause within 20 days why he should not be held in indirect contempt for uttering contemptuous statements against the judiciary in a radio program on separate occasions in April 2022 and during a flag ceremony in August 2023.
