Gwen faces contempt

The Office of the Ombudsman has directed outgoing Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to explain why she should not be cited for indirect contempt over her refusal to comply with a six-month preventive suspension related to an administrative complaint filed by Moises Garcia Deiparine.

- Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, Staff Member

In a one-page show cause order dated May 19, Ombudsman Samuel Martires gave Garcia five days from receipt of the order to explain her “continuous defiance” of the April 23, 2025 suspension order.

“You are hereby ordered to show cause within five days from receipt hereof why you should be cited for indirect contempt...,” the order reads.

According to the Ombudsman, Garcia's office received the suspension order on April 29, 2025. However, the governor publicly declared she would not comply with it.

Garcia’s legal counsel, Alex Avisado, said there was no legal basis for the Ombudsman to cite the outgoing governor for indirect contempt.

Avisado said Garcia did not defy the order of the Ombudsman but merely availed of her legal remedies.

“For the respectful information and guidance of the Honorable Ombudsman, there was no defiance, 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 in a statement.