How Tomas got around court ruling
Score this one for Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña in his continuing battle against BDO Unibank Inc. for alleged failure of its local branches to pay correct taxes. Mayor Tomas took the round.
Last March 28, RTC Branch 8 Judge Gilbert Moises issued a preliminary restraining order that in effect would stop the mayor from: 1. Closing any BDO branch in the city; 2. Issuing any media statement against the bank network.
Rejected
But last April 6, barely eight days after the order, Mayor Tomas announced he had rejected applications for business permit of 27, out of 28, BDO branches here for alleged failure or refusal to submit required documents. Did Tomas violate the court order? He hasn’t closed a single bank; he just rejected BDO permit applications.
He removed the gag and made the announcement which might hurt the BDO banks. His basis: the right to free speech that, he said, is suppressed by “prior restraint.”
No closure yet
Technically, applying only the letter of the order, one may view Tomas’s rejection as a violation. The court order stopped the mayor from “performing any act that leads to and/or causes the closure of BDO’s branches in Cebu, including the requirement of any information or document not required by existing law and regulations…”
Rejecting the permit application can cause or lead to the bank closures. Aha, but here’s Tomas’s the twist: he would not order the closure. He’s not closing them, not yet anyway. But in effect he’s broadcasting his intent to do so. Even if he’d take time on actual closure, he may already be making depositors and clients apprehensive. Which may contradict and subvert the court order’s intent: to prevent damage to the banks.
Astute move by the mayor, yes, but short of being deceitful as the moves are well within his rights.
Prior restraint
Same thing with the gag order. Tomas is citing prior restraint, which only media routinely sets up in defense.
But this may be lost on the mayor. While he can shoot his mouth off and disregard the court’s gag order, a measure required by the purpose of the preliminary restraint, that doesn’t wipe out his accountability for the resulting damage to BDO.
Right against prior restraint may remove the gag but doesn’t exempt one from liability.
Newspapers, for example, can’t be stopped from publishing but they’d still answer for any liability from the publication.
But there are more rounds ahead. We’ll see if the mayor can keep up getting around court orders.