CEBU CITY — The  Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the preventive suspension for six months of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, who is facing multiple complaints in relation to a construction project in the province.

The case was in relation with the desilting of the Mananga River in Carmen town.

Garcia is facing complaints for Grave Abuse of Authority, Gross Misconduct, Serious Dishonesty, Gross Negligence, Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of the Service and violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Garcia said she will appeal the suspension order of the Ombudsman and continued to stay in office in defiance of the Ombudsman order.

 Ombudsman Samuel Martires criticized suspended GovernorGarcia’s decision to stay in office despite being issued a preventive suspension order, saying this was not the first time she defied a decision of the office.

“This is not the first time Gov. Garcia has defied the rule of law particularly the lawful order and decision of the Office of the Ombudsman,” Martires said as ABS-CBN reported. 

Martires said Garcia, then a 3rd district representative of Cebu, was ordered dismissed from service, including the penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office, cancellation of eligibility and forfeiture of retirement benefits.

This was due to a questionable purchase property in 2008, most of which were later found to be submerged. 

Martires said Garcia should apologize for insinuating that the decision was marred by politics and colors because he was appointed by former President Rodrigo Duterte. 

“I would like to remind the good Governor that irrespective of who appointed the Ombudsman, its Deputies, and the Special Prosecutor, and regardless of the political color or affiliation of the respondent/accused, we shall apply the law justly and fairly, and we shall always be cognizant of the right of the Respondent to be presumed innocent,” he said. 

The Ombudsman also found Albay Governor Edcel Greco Alexander “Grex” Lagman guilty of grave misconduct for supposedly receiving money from “jueteng” operators, a document showed.A decision dated Jan. 28, 2025 and approved by Ombudsman Officer-in-Charge Dante Vargas on April 10 ordered Lagman to be dismissed from service, along with other accessory penalties. 

Charges for dishonesty and neglect of duty against the Albay governor, however, were junked due to insufficiency of evidence. The Albay case stemmed from a complaint filed in February 2024 by Alwin Nimo, a self-confessed coordinator for jueteng financiers or “bangkero.” 

The Ombudsman,  in an ABS-CBN report, cited that Garcia issued a special permit to a construction company “without an environmental compliance certificate nor a certificate of non-convergence” which are documents issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Garcia acknowledged the preventive suspension through a statement coursed through the provincial media arm.“I respect the processes of the law, but I must respectfully disagree with both the basis and the necessity of this action,” wrote Garcia.

Garcia explained that 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 (MCWD), which includes Cebu City and seven other local government units.”

“All decisions were undertaken in close collaboration with the affected local government units, as well as with the government agencies tasked to regulate environmental matters,” Garcia added.

The Governor also made clear that her action was carried out with the proper approval of the Provincial Board, which had earlier declared the entire Province of Cebu under a state of calamity due to the acute water shortage.

Garcia insisted that there was no personal interest or malice involved in her decision.

She also said that her camp was not given notice of the complaint and was unable to respond to the accusations.

At present, her legal team is taking the necessary steps to challenge the Ombudsman order while she continues her campaign for reelection.