CEBU CITY: Visitors and supporters continue to pour for Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia who denied reports that the province is bankrupt.

On Friday, former sen. Miguel Zubiri arrived at about 11 a.m.  to give the suspended governor “words of wisdom” based on his experience, when he vacated his post.

“You know what I went through as well,” he said. “We only stop when we become civilians.”
Acting governor Agnes Magpale earlier said that the provincial government is running out of funds. Her statement sparked a furor in the city as businessmen and ordinary citizens were alarmed by the official’s “choice of words,” according to Garcia.

Magpale said that the province has cash problems and can hardly settle its payables.

Garcia denied Magpale’s allegations, insisting that the province is not in the red.

Aspiring vice gov. Glenn Soco also bewailed that Magpale’s description of the province’s fiscal condition is not accurate.

Soco, who will be running in the 2013 election as an independent candidate, is a board director at the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce.

 “As a businessman, I am alarmed by statements made by her [Magpale]. Business is also about perception and it is not a good message to send to the public that the province is not able to pay its debts,” he said.

He added that the acting governor also benefited from her former alliance with Garcia.

“She [Magpale] is questioning a lot of transactions she was involved in. She also benefited from her alliance with Gwen, and I don’t understand why she is questioning the budget just now, the timing is off,” he added.

Political agenda
Meanwhile, the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) said that the political agenda of Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd could ruin President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s reform efforts.

UNA Secretary General Tobias “Toby” Tiangco said that the “obsession” of Roxas in capturing power in 2016 could also “erode the people’s trust and confidence” in the Aquino administration.

Roxas, the president on-leave of the Liberal Party (LP), is the presumptive candidate of the administration in the 2016 presidential elections.

Tiangco said that LP’s “power grab” in Cebu, which he described as part of preparations for next year’s elections, “is a return to the discredited mindset of politics at all costs.”

“The people have very high expectations of the present administration. They want jobs and a better life. They are fed up with the previous regime’s lust for power. They want more governance and less politics,” he added.

At the same time, Tiangco chided Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda for his “arrogance and self-righteousness” for citing the “credibility” of the administration in differentiating its suspension of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia from the suspension of Vice President Jejomar Binay during the previous administration.

“What he is saying is that because the present administration is more popular and credible than the Arroyo regime, it can get away with political harassment,” Tiangco said.

He added that Lacierda “is saying that the administration party can use the power of government and misuse the laws to go after political opponents.”

Tiangco also took issue with Lacierda’s statement that the Vice President, who is the chairman of UNA, should have convinced Garcia to comply with her suspension order and leave the capitol.

He said that when Binay was suspended as Makati mayor in 2006, he was visited by former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino who encouraged him to stand his ground because the order was illegal and violated due process.

“She told the Vice President that to oppose an unjust order is to fight for democracy and the rule of law,” he said.

Tiangco said that Binay, being a former human rights lawyer and a victim of political repression during the previous administration, “cannot countenance and endorse what he considers a violation of due process and the rule of law.”

“The suspension of the Vice President during the Arroyo regime and the suspension of Governor Garcia are both characterized by violations of the rule of law and the denial of due process. They constitute abuse of power,” he added.

No martial law
Meanwhile, Roxas took exception on Friday to Garcia’s allegations that there is martial law in Cebu. He maintained that the Philippine National Police is exercising maximum tolerance “despite serious provocations and even assault on its uniformed personnel.”

Roxas made the reaction amid a continuing police presence at the Capitol grounds in Cebu.

Garcia has holed herself up in her office since December 19, when her six-month suspension order was served by Interior Regional Director Ananias Villacorta.

The incident has also resulted in the filing of charges against Garcia’s son, Pablo Garcia Codilla and two of his friends for reportedly assaulting a police officer who was dismantling tents at the Capitol.

With reports from Ritchie A. Horario and Jing Villamente