No Ombudsman defiance - Garcia

Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia insisted that there was no defiance when she did not relinquish her post when the Office of the Ombudsman preventively suspended her a few weeks before the midterm elections.

- By CALVIN CORDOVA

Garcia's legal counsel, Alex Avisado, said the governor did not step down despite the suspension order after she challenged the legality of the order.

"Gov. Gwen Garcia actually challenged the legality of the issuance of the Preventive Suspension Order before the Court of Appeals by way of a Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition," Avisado said.

Avisado added that on May 15, the Court of Appeals Special Seventeenth Division granted Garcia a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) preventing the Ombudsman and its officials from enforcing the April 23 suspension order.

"With the issuance of this TRO from the Court of Appeals, there is therefore no legal basis to cite Gov. Garcia for indirect contempt," Avisado said.