In her own words, suspended Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said the decision to come out of her office on the 43rd day of self-imposed detention brought a feeling of freedom.
“My world suddenly expanded. Before I used to see walls. But now I can see the vastness of Cebu. It appears that I can breathe a fresh air of freedom,” the suspended governor was quoted as saying.
Locking yourself in for 43 days is indeed long. It is longer than the minimum sentence for alarm and scandal which can be punishable by imprisonment of 30 days. But no, the governor did not commit any crime. She was suspended for six months for usurping the authority of the vice governor’s office which was then occupied by the late Gregorio Sanchez, Jr.
The reason she locked herself inside her posh office is all too obvious. And the media was all too generous in giving her air time and print space. The Capitol served as a perfect set, complete with expensive muebles, for her propaganda – at least for some time.
The political impasse in the Cebu Provincial Capitol sans the legal rigmarole, has only made the political reality more theatrical.
But after some time the public’s attention strayed. And the cameras and microphones panned elsewhere. There was this distraught Canadian who went on a shooting spree in the Palace of Justice and the Capitol impasse took the sidelines.
And then as the campaign period for national positions slated to start in the 12th of this month, the political noise is becoming louder and louder and the media attention naturally divided.
And so the caper Tuesday evening – she went out of her office before midnight. The next morning she was seen in Oslob, supposedly to inaugurate facilities for tourists wanting to ogle at the world’s biggest sea creatures that have migrated there.
But her run for freedom was not a whimper. Supporters and taxpayer’s paid staff in her office made a futile last stand in the governor’s office.
Social media, the airwaves and newspapers were full of spiteful words from her sanguine supporters. One, a brother running for the province’s top post. The other a former security consultant, and the daughter threatening robbery cases again.
Nothing wrong with sanguine support. Family is the basic unit of our society. Blood is indeed thicker than water. And if the Capitol drama affirms something, it is German philosopher Friedrich Engels’ thesis on the relationship of family, power and private property.
With the suspended governor freeing herself, she now flies in the province’s third district, where she is a candidate for Congress.
Saying she will bring her case directly to the people sounds like a viable proposition. And the story of suspended Governor Garcia rests – even for just awhile.