MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang on Wednesday said it will push through with President Benigno Aquino III's order to weed out the previous administration's "midnight appointees" after the Supreme Court did not give a stay order against Executive Order No. 2.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Supreme Court has yet to rule on separate petitions asking the court to nullify EO 2, which revokes the midnight appointments made on or after March 11, the antedated appointments, and appointments and promotions made during the period of 45 days prior to the May 10 elections in violation of the Omnibus Election Code.

“They asked for a TRO and the Supreme Court did not grant them that remedy. Therefore, having no legal process to restrain us from performing our functions, all the departments are still given the right to replace the midnight appointees," he told reporters.

Aquino's spokesman said it is important to remove the midnight appointees especially if they do not abide by the President's platform for good governance.

“We cannot have all these midnight appointees who do not share the platform and advocacy of the president. How can we move forward our reform agenda if all these officials who were appointed in haste by the former president continue to work with the government? There is a discrepancy, there’s a dissonance with our views, our platform, our advocacies vis-à-vis those who continue to stay in office and appointed hastily by President Arroyo,” Lacierda said.

Eddie Tamondong, acting director of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), and Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo de Castro of the Department of Justice earlier filed separate petitions before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of President Aquino's Executive Orders 2 and 3.

EO revokes President Arroyo’s Executive Order 883, which automatically vests lawyers occupying legal positions in the government executive service “who have obtained graduate degrees in law and successfully passed their bar examinations” with the rank of CESO III.

Instead of granting their prayer for a temporary restraining order, the Supreme Court directed Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., who was named as respondent in the two petitions, to comment within 10 days.

“There was no TRO issued yet by the Court, but the respondent was ordered to comment on the two petitions within a non-extendible period of 10 days,” Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said.

Lacierda, meanwhile, said the Solicitor General will file Ochoa's comment before the Supreme Court.