Ombudsman orders Cebu governor to answer preventive suspension order

Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Friday ordered Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to answer the six-month-long preventive suspension meted out against her over alleged grave misconduct, among others, due to the issuance of a special permit to a contractor.

"The Office of the Ombudsman served today an Order to Respondent Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to file her counter-affidavit in OMB-C-A-APR-25-0074 for grave abuse of authority, gross misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross negligence, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and violation of 6713 and OMB-C-C-APR-25-0073 for violation of Section 3e of Republic Act 3019. It should be clear by now to Governor Garcia and to everyone that the preventive suspension order that was issued in the administrative case arose from, or is in relation to, the criminal case for violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019," Martires said in a statement.

Likewise, Martires clarified that there was no administrative offense that is denominated as violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Pratices Act or RA 3019 so any violation of the law must, in the corresponding administrative case against Garcia, be classified or denominated either as grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, gross negligence, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service or any of the offenses defined under the Civil Service Law.

"This explains why the Ombudsman did not make reference to the specific provision of RA 3019 in its Order preventively suspending governor Garcia," Martires said.

Garcia earlier said that the suspension meted against her was illegal and baseless given that the special permit granted to Shalom Construction, Inc. was approved by the Provincial Board amid urgent need to address the critical water shortage that had severely affected the entire franchise area of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) covering Cebu City and seven other local government units.
 
“Only by desilting the Mananga River could the situation be immediately alleviated and the water crisis addressed. There was no personal interest or malice involved — only a deep sense of responsibility to act swiftly in the face of the growing burden and suffering of the Cebuanos due to the dwindling water supply, not to mention the potential health hazards caused by the unavailability of clean water,” Garcia said.

Martires said his office has always been fair and just in issuing decisions, belying Garcia's claims of the suspension being related to the upcoming May 12 midterm polls.—LDF, GMA Integrated News