House releases Cagayan Gov. Mamba from detention

The House joint committee on public accounts and suffrage and electoral reforms  on Wednesday night released Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba from detention.

This developed hours following Mamba's surrender to the chamber after the House panel issued detention orders against him on August 17 over his repeated failure to attend the inquiry on alleged illegal expenditures of the local government during the 2022 campaign period.

According to House sergeant-at-arms Napoleon Taas, the governor was ordered discharged as of 9:11 p.m. after Representative Rodante Marcoleta moved the motion for his release during a special meeting of the House committee.

After the meeting, the “sergeant-at-arms was ordered to implement the same based on his Statement of Undertaking”.

“However, the committees’ order of contempt stays and shall automatically be lifted only upon receipt of a copy of withdrawal of the TRO [temporary restraining order] filed by Governor Mamba with the Supreme Court (SC),” Taas said.

Mamba apologized to the members of House committees on public accounts as well as suffrage and electoral reforms for his failure to attend the previous hearings as he appeared in the lower chamber earlier.

He said he was not able to attend the hearings because he was swamped with work due to the typhoon that recently hit the province.

Prior to this development, Mamba questioned before the SC on Tuesday the contempt and detention orders issued by the House joint committee on August 17.

The SC issued a temporary restraining order blocking their implementation on Thursday.

The Court also required the House joint committee to comment on the petition within five days of receipt of the notice.—LDF, GMA Integrated News