CEBU CITY: The crisis in the province is far from over.

Suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia was still holed up inside the provincial capitol building on Thursday, while acting governor Agnes Magpale said that the province had gone bankrupt under Garcia, with only P90 million in liquid assets and over P200 million in debts.

Eight days after Garcia received the infamous suspension order from Regional Director Ananias Villacorta of the Department of the Interior and the Local Government, the governor of Cebu has continued to make good on her vow not to surrender her post under any condition.

Yesterday afternoon, the expected word war between the “two lady governors” commenced, with Magpale firing the first round with allegations that Cebu was in dire financial straits.

Magpale addressed the press together with Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre. The pair stated that Cebu is under a “financial crisis” as figures show that from the claimed P2-billion surplus that the suspended governor had claimed in her previous State of the Province Address (SOPA) was non-existent. Actual records show that the province only has P 90.4 million in its general fund and P 200 million in estimated payables.

According to the financial statement presented to the public, the current cash on hand is P90,481,576.87. The total cash in bank is P387,451,403.14, which includes the provincial trust fund. There are about P200 million in payables, which would make the province P100 million short of funds.

The acting governor accused the suspended governor of engaging in a “spending spree,” especially this past year which is also her last term as governor.

“Her government has been bloating expected revenues. But the truth is the provincial government is bankrupt. She has been claiming in her previous SOPA that there is a two-billion surplus that we have this much cash. But her spending spree, like this Sugbo TV and Sugbo News, expenses reach up to P22 million a month,” Magpale said.

“She has been ordering buses and giving financial assistance to LGU’s [local government units] left and right,” she added.

In retaliation, Governor Garcia faced the media to issue a statement regarding the “irresponsibility” and “lies” presented by the acting governor.

Garcia referred to Magpale as “over-acting governor,” saying that the acting governor is showing “disloyalty to her province.”

“What she presented to the people were projected payables. I am placed in an unfair situation where she has given incomplete data regarding the financial status of the province. What was shown is only an estimate of what we have to pay. There is the ‘trust fund’ and the ‘general fund’ of the province and what was shown was only the general fund,” said Garcia.

With a tone of irritation, Garcia challenged the now-acting governor to a one-on-one debate, for a chance to refute all allegations made by Magpale and to educate her on how to interpret the province’s financial statements.

“She can bring in her best accountants and I will explain to her how to interpret the finances. We can face each other on a one-on-one debate to argue about the finances of the province. This is not for me but for the image of Cebu. She is projecting a very negative image of the province, one that we have been building up,” Garcia said.

The governor’s brother, Rep. Pablo John Garcia stood beside her sister, explaining that Magpale showed an “incomplete picture of finances.”

“Why does someone initiate half stories? She failed to show other sources of income, she made an incomplete statements which makes it half-truth, half lies,” the representative said.

The governor is still staying at the main building of the city’s capitol, while the acting governor is just behind the main building, at the legislative building of the grounds.

Nothing but politics – Belmonte
The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) is politicizing the suspension order slapped on Garcia, a high-ranking Liberal Party (LP) official said on Thursday.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the vice chairman of the ruling LP, made the comment a day after UNA secretary general, Rep. Tobias Tiangco of Navotas City accused the administration party of enforcing martial law in Cebu because authorities closed down two media outlets of the capitol and the supporters of Garcia were barred from entering the governor’s office, also at the capitol.

Garcia, a member of UNA, was suspended by President Benigno Aquino 3rd following a case filed by the late vice governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr., who had accused Garcia of usurpation of authority and cutting the budget of his office.

As a result, there is a power struggle in the Cebu provincial capitol because Garcia has refused to leave her office even if LP-member Magpale has already been named as the acting Cebu governor.

“It is not harassment. They are trying to inject politics into it. It is a simple administrative case. I don’t think anybody is being harassed by the LP. There is really no need for all of that tension,” Belmonte said in a chance interview.

Garcia filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order on her suspension before the Court of Appeals (CA), but this was rejected by the court.

She initially wanted to run for the Senate in the May 2013 polls under the UNA ticket, but backed out in September. Garcia claimed that she decided to run as a representative of Cebu instead because it is her duty to lead the province, dubbed as Queen City of the south because of its urbanization that can be compared to Metro Manila.

UNA, which will be fielding its Senate slate in the 2013 polls, is led by Vice President Jejomar Binay, former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. The LP, led by Aquino, will have a separate Senate ticket for the 2013 polls.

“I am a close friend of the Garcias but I want to let the course of justice to do its job. The case is pending with the CA. I’m sure the CA would be mindful of the fact that there are tensions there so they have to speed up their deliberation,” Belmonte added.

Aside from the usurpation case, Garcia has to hurdle two counts of graft and one count of technical malversation, which have been filed against her by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Garcia’s father, Pablo, is the deputy speaker in the House of Representatives. Her brother, Pablo John, is also a Cebu representative.

Tents all accounted for
The Interior department on Thursday said that it still has to receive and see an official copy of the complaint filed by the son of Garcia against officials of the Interior agency and the Philippine National Police in connection with the tents taken down by policemen inside the capitol grounds in Cebu.

Interior Undersecretary Austere Panadero said that he is confident that the national police in the city knew what they were doing and their actions were consistent with established crowd control protocols. The tents are reportedly all accounted for and are with the police for safekeeping as part of police efforts to maintain peace and order in the capitol grounds.

He said that the department’s role in serving the suspension order on Garcia is part of the department’s mandate and is pursuant to the directive of the Executive office to implement the final and executory decision as provided in the Local Government Code.

WITH A REPORT FROM JING VILLAMENTE