Malacanang assured on Thursday of complying with the order of the Court of Appeals to reinstate a dismissed executive director of the Commission on Higher Education.

"The Office of the President and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will ? of course ? respect and abide by the decision and order of the Court of Appeals (CA)," Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement

Abella was referring to the August 17 order of the Court of Appeals to reinstate CHED Executive Director Julito Vitriolo who was ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman to be removed from his post in January for his alleged failure to investigate the “diploma mill” allegations against Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila

The apellate court ordered Vitriolo's reinstatement, stating that his offense did not justify his removal from office.

Abella, however, did not say what will happen to Karol Mark Yee, who replaced Vitriolo. Celerina Monte/DMS