Photos more scandalous than thought

CEBU, Philippines - Largo told the media the photographs recovered were not of the students wearing bikinis in the pool with family but “showing minor girls wearing nothing but skimpy underwear, taken not in a swimming pool with the family, drinking tequila, torrid kissing uploaded on a social networking site.”

“The irrefutable fact is that some of the photographs were taken inside a bar with these minors either drinking tequila, smoking or engaging in a sexually-suggestive dance —in full view of the public,” the entry of appearance and manifestation read.

Largo said the actions of the minors could have been meted a stiffer sanction but the school was compassionate enough.

Void

Largo also questioned how the school could abide with the court’s temporary restraining order when in the first place it was void for having no jurisdiction to issue it.

The school questioned the issuance of the TRO as the cases involving injunction and damages with minors as party should be assigned and heard in a family court. Regional Trial Court Branch 19 where Navarro presides was not a family court but a regular court.

Largo stressed the court cannot cite them for contempt for defying the TRO as “the SC is very emphatic that there can be no contempt for disobedience of an order issued without authority or which is void for want of jurisdiction.”

Inhibition

Executive Judge Silvestre Maamo granted the inhibition of Navarro from further handling the case and directed the re-raffling of the case to a family court.

Judge Manuel Patalinghug of RTC Branch 22 is now handling the case.

Earlier, Navarro issued an order of voluntarily inhibition citing lack of jurisdiction.

Largo and lawyer Romeo Balili welcomed the inhibition.

Five students were barred from participation of the commencement exercises as sanction after they violated school rules, however only four went to court for assistance. —/BRP (FREEMAN)