Surprise Christmas gift to Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia

Gwendolyn Garcia (middle) speaking before her supporters. (Sunstar.com.ph)

Before we celebrate the Christmas tomorrow, I have to tackle this issue about the preventive suspension of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for the next six months by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) last 20 December.

Gwendolyn Garcia has been suspended for the next six months by the DILG in accordance to an administrative case filed by the deceased Cebu Vice Governor, Gregorio Sanchez. The complain stated that Gwendolyn Garcia abused her authority by 1) encroaching on the appointing authority of the complainant over employees of the Office of the Vice-Governor, 2) slashing the budget of the Office of the Vice-Governor by 61%, 3) stopping the publication of the Legislative Gavel and non-payment of the honoraria of the publication staff, 4) transferring the funding of the Legislative Research and Codification Project from the Office of the Vice Governor to the Office of the Governor, 5) hiring consultants without prior authority from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, 6) withholding the overtime pay of the personnel of the Office of the Vice Governor, and, 7) issuing a check worth P10,000,000.00 without prior authority from the SP. (Click here for the full text of the suspension)

The suspension order was signed late July of this year by the deceased DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo, however the enforcement was only realized last Wednesday for unknown reasons which I suspected that the suspension order had to be delayed until December, so that Gwendolyn Garcia could not use the financial resources of the Cebu Provincial Government to propel her younger brother, Pablo John to the governorship this coming election in May and to give the Liberal Party-backed candidate, Hilario Davide III an advantage over Pablo John Garcia.

The governor post was taken over by Agnes Magpale, the vice governor and candidate for the same position with Hilario Davide as her governor this coming election. When the suspension order was enforced, Gwendolyn Garcia refused to abide the suspension order and have to stay herself in the governor’s office until this moment of writing this blog entry. Gwendolyn Garcia had to mobilize her supporters from all over the Cebu Province with my estimation of over hundreds of supporters attending the vigil in support for her last Wednesday. On the other hand, acting Cebu Governor, Agnes Magpale has been staying at the Legislative Complex behind the main building of the Cebu Provincial Capitol until this moment and able to perform her duties as acting governor like shutting the Sugbo TV off the air.

As a registered voter of Cebu Province, in order to assure the rule of law, I think it would be preferable for Gwendolyn Garcia to flee the Cebu Provincial Capitol and let Agnes Magpale to perform her duties as acting governor, so that the services that the Cebu Province have provided to the constituents including me, not be compromised. Whether it was unjust for the part of Gwendolyn Garcia, she need to abide the suspension order, so that other elected officials who might be suspended in the future, not easily defy the order from the top just to avoid facing the charges in proper courts. This is my wish for Gwendolyn Garcia for Christmas.

Mar Roxas is the new DILG Secretary

Mar Roxas after he was appointed as the new DILG Secretary after the death of Jesse Robredo.

Few hours ago, after weeks of searching on who should be the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) due to the death of Jesse Robredo, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III appointed the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Mar Roxas as the replacement of late Jesse Robredo.

His appointment earlier today was very important as this position in the executive department of our government gives direct contact especially to the Local Government Units (LGU) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) which is vital for the administration to disseminate their initiatives into the grassroots of our society and to assure the loyalty of the police force to the administration.

When I heard the news that he was appointed, I was not surprised as Mar Roxas was one of the favorites of the President to replace the deceased Jesse Robredo as the DILG Secretary as the Noynoy Aquino administration needs to consolidate its political control in the grassroots side of our society through the Local Government Units and to assure the loyalty of the police force with the administration through the Philippine National Police as not having a control with these two sectors would destabilize the survival not only with this administration but also with the previous administration as history show during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, it was the loyalty of the LGU and the PNP assured the survival of PGMA’s administration despite of her low satisfaction from among the intellectuals and some legislators.

Mar Roxas in 2010 was lost his vice presidential bid to Jejomar Binay, who belonged into another ticket with the presidential candidate, former President Joseph Estrada due to factionalism among the supporters of Noynoy Aquino during the campaign season and it was deepened when Senator Chiz Escudero, who supported Noynoy Aquino’s presidential candidacy, supported the vice presidential candidacy of Jejomar Binay instead of Noynoy’s running mate, Mar Roxas. The results of the 2010 elections created a division among the appointees of Noynoy Aquino during the transition period as Noynoy Aquino appointed secretaries and undersecretaries from both factions of Balay of Mar Roxas and Samar of Paquito Ochoa (Binay loyalist), who was appointed as the Executive Secretary. Mar Roxas was appointed as the DOTC Secretary, in the following year of the 2010 elections.

Mar Roxas’ appointment as DILG secretary would give him a direct contact to the LGU to advance his own presidential candidacy in 2016; to stem Jejomar Binay’s advantage and control as Vice President; and to force the Samar faction into significance by 2016 so that Noynoy Aquino’s initiative will be continued by Mar Roxas.