'Talk to your lawyers,' Mar tells defiant Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia

"Ask your lawyers." This was a piece of advice Interior Secretary Mar Roxas II gave on Thursday to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia after receiving reports that she defied the six-month suspension order because it was not served to her personally. In an interview on GMA News TV’s “News to Go” Thursday morning, Roxas argued that even though Garcia did not receive the suspension order in person last Wednesday, the order is still considered served as there are two ways of doing so that are equally recognized by law. “Ang pag-serve ng notice ay sa 2 pamamaraan: sa personal na ibibigay mo sa kanila o sa tao, o kaya doon sa tanggapan na alam ng ng lahat na siyang kinalalagyan o siyang pupuntahan noong tao [na dapat makatanggap ng notice], pati sa bahay puwede rin,” Roxas said “So ang tawag po niyan ay iyong ‘service of the notice’ at ito po ay na-serve na,” he added. Roxas said Garcia should consider talking to her lawyers because her actions can be considered as additional violations. “Siguro ang (advice) ko sa kanya ay tanungin ho niya iyong kanyang mga abugado, dahil iyong kanyang pagsuway ng isang legal na kautusan ay dagdag na violation,” he said. Moreover, Roxas said, “Ipinapakita niya yung sense of impunity... yung [tipo bang] ‘gagawin ko lang kung ano ang gusto ko,’ legal man o illegal. E, hindi naman po tama 'yan.” On Wednesday, a DILG team went to Garcia’s office at the Cebu provincial capitol to serve the suspension order on Garcia. The team then went to the office of acting governor Vice Governor Agnes Magpale to administer her oath as officer-in-charge. On Wednesday afternoon, however, Garcia defied the suspension order and went to the capitol and issued an order to all employees there not to recognize directives from Magpale. She said the suspension order was defective since she did not receive it personally. "This is, plain and simple, a power grab... to overturn the will of the Cebuanos through a patently illegal order," Garcia also said in a post on her Twitter account Wednesday. afternoon. Roxas said Garcia’s actions are jeopardizing the welfare of her employees since Magpale is the one currently considered to have the authority. However, he also said the governor’s case is minor, and being handled the way renovations in capitols are also handled. “Hinahayaan na muna natin, nais ko talagang daanin ito sa mahinahon na pamamaraan, basta lang hindi naaantala ang pagbibigay serbisyo, let’s say iyong mga pupunta sa kapitolyo para magparehistro o anuman, ay hindi sila napeperwisyo,” Roxas said. “So hayaan na lang muna natin, parang tinatrato ko ito na parang under renovation iyong isang bahagi ng kapitolyo, tutal tuloy ang transaksyon or tuloy ang pagbibigay serbisyo sa ibang bahagi ng kapitolyo,” he continued. Roxas once more denied that politics is behind Garcia’s suspension, and said the government is only doing its job. — LBG, GMA News