Cebu governor won’t step down despite suspension
CEBU CITY—Reelectionist Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia is not stepping down despite the six-month preventive suspension order issued against her by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Garcia, however, clarified that she was not defying the Ombudsman’s order but was following the advice of her lawyers to remain in office since the order was issued during the election period that banned any suspension of officials without approval from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Garcia said she wrote Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla to ask for clarification since the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was mandated to implement the Ombudsman’s preventive suspension order.
“Pending resolution of my query, I have decided to stay put in office and continue to serve as the governor of this great province of ours,” she said in a press conference at the Cebu capitol on Wednesday.
The suspension order dated April 23, signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires, was supposedly meant to pave the way for an investigation into the permit Garcia granted to a construction firm that had no environment clearance for desilting works on Cebu’s Mananga River during the prolonged El Niño phenomenon in 2024.
Her suspension stemmed from a complaint filed by Moises Garcia Deiparine over a permit issued by the governor to Shalom Construction Inc. in May 2024, supposedly without the mandatory environmental compliance certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
But President Marcos, in a statement on Thursday, said any action that affects the mandate of an elected official must go through the proper channels and in accordance with the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code.
“I have been made aware of the preventive suspension issued against Gov. Garcia of Cebu. Let me be clear: in a time like this—so close to the election—it is vital that we should uphold the rule of law and observe due process,” he said.
“Gov. Garcia has served Cebu with strength and consistency. Until all legal questions surrounding this suspension are resolved, she deserves to be treated fairly and with the respect owed to her office,” he said.
Comelec approval
Garcia said that in the absence of written approval from the Comelec, she was not “legally obliged” to comply with the suspension order.
She cited section 62 (c) of the Local Government Code (Republic Act No. 7160) which provides that no preventive suspension order shall be imposed within 90 days before the election.
Any suspension of a local elective official without prior approval of the Comelec shall constitute an election offense under the Omnibus Election Code.
Section 15, Rule 5 of Comelec Resolution No. 11059 also requires prior written approval of the poll body for the implementation of any suspension order against local elective officials.
In a press statement on Tuesday, Garcia said the issuance of the special permit in question was driven solely by the urgent need to address the critical water shortage that had severely affected the entire franchise area of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District which includes Cebu City and seven other local governments.
She said all decisions were undertaken in close collaboration with local governments as well as with government agencies tasked to regulate environmental matters like the DENR, the Environmental Management Bureau and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.
She said her action had the proper approval of the provincial board which then placed Cebu under a state of calamity due to a water shortage. —WITH A REPORT FROM MELVIN GASCON
