In a six-page order, Mandaluyong RTC Branch 21 Judge Carlos Valenzuela slapped a writ of preliminary injunction against MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino and other persons acting within his authority to stop from arresting persons who will be caught smoking in open areas in the metropolis.
Valenzuela’s order was without any duration and shall be determined if it will be lifted or not upon determination of the merits of the case.
“Foregoing considered, pending the determination of whether or not the respondent MMDA has valid authority to implement RA 9211, there is an obvious and imperative need for preliminary injunction, a provisional measure to prevent or restrain in the meantime the MMDA to implement its Smoking Ban in open areas not covered by the definition of public places in RA 9211 so that its implementation may not render moot and acadamic the main issue in this case,” the rules states.
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