MANILA, 20 October 2006 — The Philippine Court of Appeals yesterday temporarily stopped the Arroyo administration from enforcing a suspension order on officials of Makati City, easing a a standoff that has caused tensions in the country’s financial capital.

Mayor Jejomar Binay asked the appellate court to intervene after Malacañang Palace, through the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG), on Tuesday suspended him, his vice mayor and 16 city councilors for allegedly keeping ghost employees on the city payroll.

At the same time, Binay and his officials, along with hundreds of supporters, holed up at city hall.

Acting on Binay’s petition, the court yesterday issued a 60-day temporary restraining order against the DILG while it looks into the suspension order, which followed a complaint by a former vice mayor that the Makati officials were maintaining “ghost” employees at city hall.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno has said the suspension was meant to prevent Binay and his officials from tampering with potential evidence in their investigation and from using government resources.

Binay and the others denied the allegation and claimed the suspension order was illegal. They also accused President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of engaging in a campaign to decimate the opposition.

“The battle is not yet over,” a triumphant Binay proclaimed yesterday before a huge throng of followers in his 23-story city hall.

“We will continue this fight for justice and the truth,” he said, waving to the crowd.

Makati’s city hall has become a proxy battleground between Arroyo and the political opposition, which has sought her ouster over allegations of vote-rigging, corruption and violations of human rights and the constitution.

Arroyo has denied any wrongdoing and has survived two impeachment attempts and three coup attempts.

Opposition leaders, including former president and pro-democracy icon Corazon Aquino, have come to express support for Binay, initially raising concerns that the standoff could set off a nonviolent “people power” revolt similar to those that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos and President Joseph Estrada.

Military officials warned soldiers against taking part in the standoff. Police and military forces were placed on alert for possible demonstrations.

‘Greedy and Ruthless’

Estrada, an ex-movie star who is detained while being tried for the capital offense of plunder, called on Filipinos to back Binay and called Arroyo a “greedy and ruthless” leader.

Estrada said the “real ghost employee” is in Malacañang, referring to Arroyo.

“Today, I call on our people to express our combined outrage over the continuing repression and suppression being done by this regime,” Estrada said in a statement.

“We must unite to defend Mayor Binay and the entire elected officials of Makati because this is not just a struggle by them but a fight of the Filipino people against the threat of a potential dictator who is not only corrupt but greedy and ruthless,” he said.

Estrada said the real issue confronting the country was not the supposed ghost employees in Makati but the ghost of the 2004 election, which he said represented the illegitimate presidency of Arroyo. “That is the true cry of the people. The real ghost employee is in Malacañang and not in Makati,” he said.

Estrada also said that the Makati officials’ opposition to the administration-backed charter change initiative could be the real reason why they were being suspended.

He urged the people to send a strong message to Malacañang that they did not support the charter change as it would only remove the people’s right “to vote directly for our president.”

“And it’s only in our votes where the rich and poor become equal but this still will be taken from us by a pretended president, whom we did not elect into office,” he said.

The former leader said like him, Binay and his colleagues were being driven out by “unelected and unelectable persons.”

“They grabbed power from me, then they stole the elections from FPJ (Fernando Poe Jr.) and now they are forcing the issue of Cha-cha through people’s initiative to now legalize these wrongful acts,” he lamented.

Estrada urged Arroyo and her officials to instead face corruption and cheating allegations. (With input from Inquirer News Service & Agencies)