Ombudsman issues SCO to Garcia; Cebu governor maintains there was no defiance

Local

THE Office of the Ombudsman has issued a show cause order directing outgoing Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and a top official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to explain their alleged defiance of the governor’s suspension order.

In an order dated May 19, 2025, Ombudsman Samuel Martires asked Garcia to respond within five days from receipt and explain why she should not be cited for indirect contempt for “continuously defying” the April 23 preventive suspension issued against her.

“Records show that you received the copy of the order on 29 April 2025 and despite the implementation thereof by this Office and its immediately executory nature, you have publicly avowed not to abide by the order on suspension,” the Ombudsman wrote.

Garcia was placed under a six-month preventive suspension for granting a special permit to conduct desilting activities in the Mananga River, a protected area in Talisay City, during the 2024 El Niño, without securing the necessary environmental clearance.

In a separate order, the Ombudsman also asked DILG Undersecretary for Public Affairs and Communications Rolando Puno to explain why he should not be cited for indirect contempt for “tolerating or consenting to the acts of defiance” of the governor.

Puno previously told reporters that the DILG would not enforce the suspension order, citing the need for clarification from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as the directive was issued during the election period.

Comelec Resolution 11059 prohibits the suspension of elective provincial officials during the election period without prior approval from the poll body.

Responding to the issuance of the show cause order, Garcia, who lost her reelection bid in the 2025 national and local polls, maintained she did nothing illegal.

Garcia’s legal counsel, Atty. Alex Avisado, confirmed that the governor received the show cause order but maintained there was no defiance.

“Gov. Gwen Garcia actually challenged the legality of the issuance of the Preventive Suspension Order before the Court of Appeals by way of a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition,” Avisado said.

He added that on May 15, the Court of Appeals Special Seventeenth Division granted Garcia a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), barring the Ombudsman and its officers from enforcing the April 23 order.

“With the issuance of this TRO from the Court of Appeals, there is therefore no legal basis to cite Gov. Garcia for indirect contempt,” Avisado said.

“Like any ordinary citizen, she merely availed of her legal remedies," he added.

"Fortunately for Gov. Gwen Garcia, the Court of Appeals sustained her contention that this Preventive Suspension Order is patently illegal and was issued with grave abuse of discretion," he added.(MyTVCebu)