Gwen’s daughter spared because ‘she’s in Cebu’

THE daughter of suspended Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia was spared by the Sandiganbayan from those who were asked to explain why they should not be cited in contempt of court.

Lawyer Christina Garcia-Frasco was not a signatory in the motion for inhibition which was denied by the Court of Appeals, Garcia’s lead counsel Tranquil Salvador III told Cebu Daily News over the phone yesterday.

“Of course, she’s (Frasco) in Cebu (when we filed the motion for inhibition),” he said.

Frasco, however, echoed the alleged partiality of Justice Vicente Veloso in resolving their petition for a temporary restraining order case which was aimed to stop the six-month suspension issued against Garcia.

Frasco earlier explained that they had not abandoned their plea for the issuance of a TRO, contrary to what Justice Veloso stated.

She said Justice Veloso’s resolution makes more evident his “bias and prejudice” against her mother.

Garcia, through her counsels, requested Veloso to inhibit from the case, citing political bias which causes the inordinate delay in ruling on her case.

The CA’s 12th division mandated Garcia’s lawyers Salvador III, Victorina Calma, Leandro Abarquez, Jomini Nazareno, Amanda Marie Nograle and Glenn Tuazon to explain why they should not be cited in contempt of court after filing the motion to inhibit against Veloso from the case.

Cebu Daily News sent a text message to Frasco yesterday but she didn’t respond. She earlier said that questions regarding the charges involving Governor Garcia shall be addressed to Salvador.

Salvador said they have elevated to the Supreme Court the failure of the CA to resolve their request for a temporary restraining order (TRO) which was aimed to stop the six-month suspension issued against her.

As this developed, the Sandiganbayan decided to reschedule the arraignment of Garcia and seven other individuals on Tuesday.

This after Garcia’s camp elevated before the Supreme Court (SC) the criminal charges filed against the suspended governor in connection to the controversial purchase or the Balili beach property in Naga City, south Cebu.

Salvador said the arraignment before the Sandigabayan was moved to March 21 to give way to the High Court to resolve their petition for certiorari which was filed last Monday.

“The arraignment will not proceed on Tuesday. What we are trying to tell the High Court is that there is no probable cause to conduct a trial,” he said.

As a rule, Garcia as well as the other respondents have to personally appear before the CA’s 12th division in Manila during the arraignment—the period when the court take jurisdiction of the accused.

After the arraignment, the CA may issue a preventive suspension order against the respondents upon the request of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol earlier explained that a preventive suspension is “mandatory” after arraignment.

Garcia is facing three criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan for the irregular purchase of the 24.7-hectare beach front property in Naga City.

The other respondents were provincial treasurer Roy Salubre, provincial budget officer Emme Gingoyon, retired provincial assessor Anthony Sususco, provincial engineer Eulogio Pelayre, former Provincial Board member Juan Bolo and land owners Amparo and Romeo Balili.

Salvador said Garcia not guilty of any crime when the Capitol purchased the Balili property since the deal with the Balili family is not disadvantageous to the government./Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol