Robredo recommended Gwen’s suspension

Jesse Robredo – the late former interior secretary who was hailed as a paragon of good governance – was the one who recommended that Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia be suspended from office for “grave abuse of authority.”

His decision dated July 26, 2012  or a month before he died was confirmed by the Office of the President who issued the suspension.

This was revealed yesterday by his successor, Manuel Roxas II, who denied  allegations that politics was behind Garcia’s six-month suspension.

“I try to disregard the allegation that this is just politics because this is a legal, orderly implementation of a legitimate and legal order coming from the Office of the President,” he said, “but I think it’s wrong to say that this are all just politics. Instead of claiming that politics is the motive behind this, why not just answer the complaint because this is based on facts and evidence.”

Roxas said it took Malacanang two years before meting out the sanction on the governor. Robredo likewise did not want to be accused of using the DILG to harass allies of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Robredo, former mayor of Naga City in Camarines Sur, perished in a plane crash after visiting Cebu in August. Roxas  clarified that the order suspending Garcia did not come from his office, but was issued by the Office of the President  “after going through the normal process.”

“This process started in November 2010 (when the complaint was filed against Garcia). If we did not act on this, we might be accused of dereliction of duty because somebody filed a complaint,” he said.

Roxas also denied insinuations that the Liberal Party was going after governors of vote-rich provinces who had allied themselves with the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) after the DILG started its investigation of Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino Jr. /From an Inquirer report