LP-Cebu : Why get mad at judge if you’re losing case?

Why get mad at the judge if you fear you’re losing a case?

With this, the Liberal Party Cebu chapter criticized the bid of suspended Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to seek the inhibition of Justice Vicente Veloso of the Court of Appeals.

“Just because she didn’t get the TRO, Garcia is now accusing Justice Veloso of being biased and prejudiced  against her,” Cebu-LP spokesman Democrito Barcenas told reporters yesterday.

Barcenas said there was “nothing to restrain” in the first place.

“The Capitol is smoothly managed by Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale who  was recognized by Malacañang and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG),” he said.

Garcia’s camp said they would  file several  charges tomorrow against acting Gov.  Magpale for padlocking the governor’s office last Jan. 30 and preventing Garcia from returning.

Garcia also described as a “brazen and complete lie” Magpale’s contention that Garcia’s  supporters used the governor’s office   and an adjoining room as their private quarters.

Garcia said her supporters would stay in the office by shifts to “protect” her but  never abused the premises.

The CA’s 12th division,  headed by Veloso, in a Jan. 31 resoltuion said the appellate court would no longer  rule on Garcia’s TRO petition  because she “has already abandoned her prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order/ status quo ante order”.

The court’s three-member division said it would no longer rule on the TRO and instead focus on the main issues raised in the case.

It noted that  Garcia filed a recent motion  asking for  15 days or until Feb. 1 to reply to a comment earlier filed by the Solicitor General’s Office.

Garcia’s lawyers said the reply would aid the court in resolving 1)whether or  not a preliminary injunction should be issued, 2) whether the suspension order shoul d be reversed and 3) whethe r Garcia should be exonerated from the charges against her.

With this, the Court said it would “forego any ruling on the incident of TRO / status quo ante”.

Garcia’s daughter and lawyer Christina Codilla-Frasco denied that are abandoing their TRO petition.

“The application for TRO and the application for preliminary injunction are two separate incidents,” she said.

Frasco said they sought Veloso’s inhibition for “making sweeping statements against Garcia” during the oral arguments on the TRO petition.

“Justice Veloso immediately granted a TRO to Liberal Party member Aga Muchlach on the same day as his hearing while Veloso delayed and refused to issue a TRO to Garcia of the United Nationalist Alliance,” she said

Meanwhile, Barcenas  said that contrary to her claims, Garcia wasn’t  maltreated. “She even managed to dance in the Sinulog,” he said.

“The point is, did the Capitol suffer in its operations? So why the TRO?,” Barcenas said.

“There’s no debate that Garcia is the duly elected governor of Cebu. But she’s suspended and she can only return after she served her suspension,” Barcenas said.

Meanwhile, Governor Garcia denied that her supporters used the governor’s office as their living quarters.

“I never treated the office as a hotel and she (Magpale), by comparing the Office of the Governor to a hotel room,  is besmirching the institution itself.  We hold the office of the governor, the highest position in the province of Cebu with much regard,” she told reporters.

Garcia denied reports that she had slipped out of the Capitol and gone home several times before. She said this was “a brazen, complete lie.”

Garcia said she would use another place “where those who want to see me can come. I won’t  reveal where it would be because it might get padlocked as well.” .  Ador Vincent Mayol and Renan Alangilan with an Inquirer report