SC on air time rule: Oops… it’s a TRO not SQAO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court has committed another boo-boo, this time, when it made a mistake in disseminating information to the public about its ruling on the airtime limit on political advertisements.

In a resolution released by the high court Thursday, it noted that what was issued against the implementation of Commission on Elections (Comelec) airtime limits on political advertisements is a temporary restraining order.

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

However, last Tuesday, the high court, through its information chief Theodore Te announced that a status quo ante order (SQAO) was issued.

An SQAO is issued to preserve the last actual peaceable and uncontested status before the litigation or filing of a petition which means, on this case, as if there is no Comelec resolution to implement yet.

A TRO, on the other hand, may be issued to prevent the implementation of a particular order, directive or action. A TRO is granted to prevent the adversary from acting to frustrate the purpose of the action.

INQUIRER.net has tried to get the side of Te but to no avail.

This was not the first time the high court’s Public Information Office announced inaccurate information. Last April 6, Te sent text messages to the media for a mistake in an emailed press release on the high court’s ruling in the case of Atong Paglaum v. Comelec.

“Erratum : My apologies for a mistake in the guide we sent out but which we tried to correct minutes after the first guide was sent out but was unable todo so because of technical problems. The sixth parameter should read “6. National, regional, and sectoral parties or organizations shall not be disqualified if some of their nominees are disqualified, provided that they have at least ONE nominee who remains qualified.” the error is mine, purely inadvertent and brought about by need to finish the summaries to aid in reporting. My apologies,” Te’s message stated.