A notice for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was issued by the Court of Appeals (CA) to the order of the Office of the Ombudsman that placed incumbent Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia under six-month preventive suspension. 

On Friday, May 16, 2025, Garcia read aloud the notice for a TRO granted by the CA’s Special 17th Division toward the end of her speech for the opening program of a Capitol-led tourism initiative at a mall in Cebu City. 

The dispositive portion of which reads: “Wherefore, in consonance with Section 9 of Administrative Order Number 17 amending Rule 111 of Administrative Order 7, or the Rules of Procedure of the Office of the Ombudsman in Section 24 of Republic Act 6770 of the Ombudsman Act of 1989, pending determination on whether or not the public respondent committed reversible error in the issuance of the assailed order to protect the substantive rights and interest of both petitioner and private respondent, and in order to preserve the status quo until the final determination of the instant petition for certiorari, the prayer for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order is proper. Wherefore, premises considered, the prayer for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order is granted."

The notice added that the TRO is effective for 60 days from notice directing the Office of the Ombudsman, through public respondent, Ombudsman Samuel Martires, to seize from enforcing and implementing the order dated April 23, 2025.

The TRO has been signed by Marietta Brawner-Cualing as the “ponente,” concurred by Germano Francisco Legaspi, and Michael P. Ong as associate justices. 

In legal lexicon, "ponente" is a member of a court assigned to "write the majority opinion or decision in a case."

Garcia graced a Capitol tourism initiative showcasing products, tourism destinations, and services in the 2nd and 6th Legislative Districts of Cebu Province, deemed her first public post-elections appearance. 

Further, Garcia has acknowledged her "seeming defeat" in the midterm polls, and thanked her staunch supporters. 

“It has been said that victory has many fathers, or mothers, while defeat is an orphan. We had just witnessed the elections - midterm elections - last 12th of May, 2025, and amidst this seeming defeat of your Governor, standing before you now, I would like to especially acknowledge those fathers and mothers that refused to leave and have not, at least, made me an orphan," Garcia said.