Kaban ni D_BystandeR: MIBALIK NA SI GOV. GWEN
GOVERNOR GARCIA RETURNS TO CAPITOL
after 6 months, fires administrator. Back in her seat as Cebu's No. 1
provincial official, outgoing Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia yesterday wasted no time in
getting back at "disloyal" staff
in the Capitol. She issued a
memorandum firing EduardoHabin, the provincial administrator who carried out
the order locking her out of the office on Jan. 30 during her six-month
suspension by the Office of the President, a penalty which ended last Monday.
Other staff changes in the Capitol are expected in the remaining seven working days
of Garcia's final term which ends at noon of June 30. Her office, dusty and
untouched for four months, was given a fast cleanup after it was opened at 9:30
am yesterday in the presence of representatives of the Department of Interior
and Local Government, Commission on Audit, and Garcia's trusted former Capitol
aides, Elizabeth Francia, Ronald Conopio and Amor Sarmiento. Garcia walked in shortly
before 4 pm, held closed-door meetings with the DILG representative and some
staffers, but did not speak with reporters or call a press conference until she
left the building before 7 pm. "She's back with a vengeance," Vice Governor
Agnes Magpale told Cebu Daily News later.
"We are prepared for this. "
She said they were bracing for other staff changes to be made after Garcia set
aside Evelyn Senajon as OIC Provincial Social
Welfare Officer and restored Marivic Garces, her former representative in the bids
and award committee. Key Capitol department heads went on leave on Monday in
anticipation of Garcia's return. These include provincial auditor Marieto Ypil,
General Services Office head Eva Encabo and provincial treasurer Emmanuel
Guial, who is attending a seminar and then continuing with a leave until the
end of the month. Midnight disbursements. The move is apparently a precaution
to ensure that no midnight disbursements are made or that P73 million in trust
funds in the provincial coffers, a pooled fund that includes pork barrel
deposits of Rep. Pablo Garcia and Pablo John Garcia, are not hastily released.
A transition team was earlier formed
by Magpale to prepare for the assumption on June 30 of Governor-elect Hilario
Davide III and the new set of members of
the Provincial Board. "Junjun is willing to meet with Garcia's camp to
prepare for a smooth transition." said Magpale, who added that other
departments were already instructed to prepare status reports and inventories for
the purpose. Garcia's return ended speculation that she would not reassume her
position as governor when she didn't show up or send word about her plans on
Tuesday, June 18, the first official day of her reassumption. DILG Regional Director
Ananias Villacorta said she could be marked absent without leave (AWOL) and
subject to charges of derelection of duty unless she applies for a leave of
absence. The DILG official sent an order to Magpale directing her stay on as Acting
Governor to avoid a vacancy. The June 18 order was received yesterday, but was
later overtaken by events. Magpale presidedover a meeting of the Mandaue-Mactan
Bridge ManagementBoard in the morning, until she was alerted mid afternoon by a
phone call from Villacorta that Garcia was, in fact, coming back. Under the
law, the outgoing governor has the duty of turning over the office at noon of
June 30. A DILG memorandum contains a checklist of 15 items, including status
reports and property inventories, which Governor Garcia has to turn over to
Governor-elect Davide.
The Liberal Party-Bakud tandem of Davide
and Magpale won by a large margin of over 150,000 votes in the May 13 election,
defeating Garcia's brother Rep. Pablo John Garcia who sought to replace his
sister as governor, and Ramon "Boboy" Durano, former Danao City vice
mayor. Garcia was accompanied inside the Governor's Office by her daughter
Cristina Frasco and son Paulo Garcia, together with her staff headed by
Elizabeth Francia. Video cameras and staff of the former Sugbo TV were also
there to record her return. Dressed in dark jeans and a white long-sleeved
shirt, Garcia went directly to her office and met with DILG OIC Provincial
Director Jerome Gonzales and DILG legal officer Aiza Nogra. Nogra later told
reporters that Garcia's return was "mere formality" as it was
Garcia's right to sit as governor again. A letter of re-assumption was sent by
Garcia to the Provincial Board. With this, Magpale automatically resumes her
post as vice governor. "We are just glad that this is finally over," Nogra told
reporters. Starting last Monday, Magpale said she had advised the provincial administrator
to go on leave to avoid a confrontation with Governor Garcia, after her brother
Byron had berated the elderly official for his "disloyalty" in
remaining in the service of the new administration. After the angry encounter
with Byron, Habin, who is in his 70s, fell ill. Despite the sudden termination
of Habin, he may be taken in after June 30 as a "consultant" of the
Davide administration, according to Magpale. Garcia's return was the latest
episode in the Capitol drama that started with the service of a suspension order
last Dec. 18, 2012, which she refused to heed. At 9:30 am yesterday, chains and
wooden boards sealing doors of the hallway leading to the Governor's Office
were opened. Barangay Capitol site officials and employees of the Provincial
General Services Office (PGSO) were among the witnesses, including Garcia's former
Capitol staffers and lawyer Joselito Ramon Castillo as representative of Davide
and Magpale. At around noon, the son of Byron Garcia delivered the keys for the
Governor's main office. Upon its opening by 1:30 pm, Commission on Audit
auditors started to inventory the items inside, which included Garcia's collection
of portraits and photos of herself, religious icons, and personal furniture.
Janitors used vacuum machines to clean the sofa, floors and windows that had
accumulated dust the office over four months closure. Religious icons and
Garcia's plaques on a side table with flat screen TV, printers and computers
were intact in the receiving area.
(Bug-os ang pasalamat sa KAHAYAG ngadto sa
magtatampo niining pahibalo, nga nagkutlo gikan sa Cebu Daily News, nga si JOHNNY LOVE.
Nagtakuban siya sa pangalan, "D_BystandeR". Natawo siya sa Sugbo apan anaa na karon
manimuyo sa Illinois sa tinipong nasod sa Amerika. Ang kusog nga koneksyon sa
kasayuran pinaagi sa internet kanunayng naghaling sa iyang kadasig pagtuki sa mga nagbukalbukal nga hisgutanan
dinhi sa atong nataran. Usa siya ka magsusulat nga gradwado sa kursong
komersiyo padulong sa pagka accountant sa University of San Carlos kaniadtong
tuig 1961. Nahimo siyang miyembro sa usa
ka hugpong sa mga batan-ong magsusulat nga gitawag ug STUDENT PRESS. Nahimo usab siyang Associate Editor sa basahon USC-JPIAN sa tuig 1962-63. Magtatampo usab
siya isip magsusulat sa nasudnong magasin,
"Philippines Free Press" ug sa mga nag-unang peryodiko dinhi
sa dakbayan sa Sugbo sa lunhaw pa ang iyang pangedaron. Nahimo siyang mamumuo
sa usa ka pribadong kompaniya sa dakbayan sa Sugbo, ESCAÑO LINES, sulod sa
napulo ug duha (12) ka tuig dayon niyang
tapon ngadto sa NAPOCOR ug nahimong kawani sa kagamhanan sulod sa bayente dos (22) ka tuig. Niadtong
tunga-tungang bahin sa tuig 2000, nilalin siya ngadto sa tinipong nasod sa
Amerika ug sulod sa napulo (10) ka tuig, nagtrabaho siya sa buhatan sa kagamhanan sa nasod sama sa
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE (USPS).
Karon sa pangedaron nga 68,
gihuptan gihapon niya ang walay pagkutat nga kadasig ug walay busganan
nga kaikag sa pagpaambit sa iyang nahuptang abilidad ug kabatid sa panulat. Dili niya mapugngan ang kaugalingon sa
pagpaambit sa iyang mga hunahuna labi na kon molambigit kini ug hisgotanan nga
makadani sa iyang mga mata. Makadawat siya sa inyong mga hunahuna mahitungod sa
iyang sinulat sa johnnylobedica@yahoo.com)
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