Magpale, seven other officials yet to issue response to raps

Five months after charges were filed against her and Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale had yet to receive the order requiring her and seven others to submit their counter-affidavits before the Ombudsman-Visayas.

The charges were filed by  Amor Sarmiento and Elizabeth Francia, staffers of former Cebu governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia in relation to the padlocking of the Governor’s Office last Jan. 30.

Magpale said the order issued five months ago by the Preliminary Investigation, Administrative Adjudication and Review Bureau (PARB) has not yet reached her office.

“We will answer it but so far, we have not received it yet. I understand that it is still in the post office,” she told Cebu Daily News.

The PARB order said the failure of the respondents to file the counter-affidavit and submit all other requirements after 10 days will automatically invalidate their right to present evidence on their behalf.

Also included were Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, Magpale’s spokesperson Dara Acusar, Provincial Consultant Eduardo Habin, Supt. Leopoldo Cabanag, Senior Insp. Eduardo Caranza, Insp. Alvin Enguito and Engr. Hector Jamora.

Magpale said only Habin and Jamora have received the copy of the joint order after they personally claimed it in the post office.

“The only persons who received it were Mr. Habin and our provincial engineer (Jamora) because they took it in the post office. But for us, not yet,” she said.

Earlier Acusar, one of the respondents, said she also has not  seen or read a copy of the order.

Charges of grave abuse of authority, grave coercion, gross misconduct and graft were filed against Magpale and the seven officials by Garcia’s chief of staff Francia and executive assistant Sarmiento last February.

In their complaint, Francia and Sarmiento said Magpale exceeded her authority as acting governor when she ordered the closure of the governor’s office and told them to vacate the premises.

Lawyer Basiliso Sungcad, Magpale’s chief of staff, said they are ready to face the charges.

He said they will convene a legal team to discuss their next plan of action. Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos