Gwen steps out

Last Wednesday suspended Gov.  Gwen Garcia was locked out of her office after she quietly left the Capitol the night before.   Acting Gov.  Agnes Magpale decided to padlock the office  after Garcia failed to return Wednesday morning.

The way I look at it, Magpale  interpreted Garcia’s failure to immediately return as conceding to her six-month suspension  by the Office of the President.

Others look at it as a graceful exit for Garcia  from the impasse that she had created. Others believe Garcia is  in  a much better condition now that she is out of her office because she can freely  move around to campaign in  the towns to help her brother PJ Garcia, who is running for governor and for her own bid as congressional representative in Cebu’s 3rd district.

Now the Garcia camp is threatening to file cases  against Magpale and the police for padlocking the Office of the Governor. Magpale’s advantage is that she has the  right and responsibility to assume operational control of the Province of Cebu as acting governor.

The Office of the Governor is the  symbol of of the seat of government in the Province of Cebu. That’s why  it’s so important to  some quarters that Magpale assert herself  and take control of the office itself.

Garcia’s camp can  threaten to sue the acting governor but Magpale can always rely on the presumption of regularity of her actions in fulfillling her duties. In the final analysis,  the court will decide the matter in the exercise of judicial power.

So far, offices of the Capitol are     functioning well and Gwen Garcia is busy  campaigning in the province. Her lawyers  filed another motion in the Court of Appeals seeking  the issuance of a Preliminary Injunction on her suspension. With this development, the court has set aside the earlier motion for the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order.

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Many can’t understand the position taken by the Cebu City Council in imposing a moratorium against demolishing and evicting  informal settlers occupying the city-owned Citicenter in the downtown area.

The mayor’s move to evict the occupant was made for various valid reasons. The occupants have been staying there for quite some time  without paying a single centavo to City Hall.  Over the years, the Citicenter has been used  for prostitution and illegal drugs. It’s no longer  a safe place for  people to roam or stay. Some students from the schools surrounding the Citicenter reportedly hang out there to  use illegal drugs and pick up prostitutes.

While we empathize with the  informal settlers, in its present state the Citicenter should  have a better use.

Mayor Rama plans to  convert the place for socialized housing, thus the act of the City Council in freezing any acton to vacate the area deprives city residents of basic services.

Unfortunately the City Council decided based on  partisan politics.  It is hoped that both camps  rise above narrow political interests and  serve the public interst.