Deputy House Speaker, representative for the third district of Cebu Gwendolyn Garcia smells something fishy in the decision of recently retired Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to uphold Garcia’s dismissal due to on an unauthorized P24.47 million project at the Balili property in Naga City when she was governor.
“The ultimate penalty of dismissing me from office and further disqualifying me from running is very interesting. It confuses the voting public whether or not I can still run for governor in 2019, specifically against the son of the Ombudsman’s close friend,” said Garcia, whose motion for reconsideration asking for the reversal of the February 2018 ruling dismissing her from service was slammed by the Ombudsman.
Garcia believes that Morales is “incapable of rendering a fair and just decision, owing to her ties with former Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide Jr.” The son of the former CJ, Hilario P. Davide III, is the incumbent Cebu governor and will seek for reelection next year.
Garcia shared that the administrative case was actually resolved December 2017, but was only made public February this year amidst the impeachment case against Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno. Garcia was very active in getting the truth out of numerous complaints against Sereno.
“But in spite of issues of oppression, money, press partiality and bias that retired Ombudsman Morales showed the years while she sat, I still believed in the rule of law. That’s why I am seeking for justice so we filed at the Court of Appeals with a prayer for a TRO injunction,” added Garcia.
Garcia also cited the Aguinaldo Doctrine which pardons offenses committed by elected officials if the officials are elected again.
All these trials will not stop Garcia from running for Cebu governor in the 2019 elections. In a statement, she said that “the only bar under the election laws is conviction by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude or an offense with a penalty of more than one year,” and therefore, “the Ombudsman decision in this administrative case is not a bar to my filing my certificate of candidacy.”
“I will continue to work as congresswoman. I will continue to work for my constituents and God willing, in this coming elections, if the people choose me to be their governor again, I will make sure that Cebu becomes number 1 again in the National Competitiveness Index (Cebu is now number 45 in the 82 provinces’ ranking),” she said. - Mia Colleen Cortes
