23-05-2025
Ombudsman issues show cause order vs outgoing Cebu guv
The outgoing governor of Cebu received a show cause order from the Office of the Ombudsman directing her to show cause within five days why she should not be cited for indirect contempt for "continuously defying an order" that places her under preventive suspension for six months.
The show cause order was issued on May 22, 2025.
The show cause order was signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires in relation to an order on Governor Gwendolyn Garcia's preventive suspension dated April 23, 2025.
In a press statement posted on Sugbo News (Capitol's official news portal), Atty. Alex Avisado, legal counsel for Garcia, said that 'for the respectful information and guidance of the Honorable Ombudsman, 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.'
'On 15 May 2025, the Special Seventeenth (17th) Division of the Court of Appeals issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) prohibiting the Ombudsman and all officials under his authority from implementing the Order dated 23 April 2025. With the issuance of this TRO from the Court of Appeals, there is therefore no legal basis to cite Gov. Garcia for Indirect Contempt," he added.
"Like any ordinary citizen, she merely availed of her legal remedies. 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,' the rest of Avisado's statement reads.
