Rama’s request to suspend Gwen rejected

The Office of the President has rejected the request of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who is serving a six-month precautionary suspension, to suspend Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for “lack of merit.”

“The application for a preventive suspension order is hereby rejected for lack of merit,” the order states.

On March 20, 2024, Rama filed a complaint against Garcia before the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for “interfering” in the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project, a mass transit system project being implemented in Cebu City.

Rama filed an administrative complaint against the Governor for abuse of office under Section 1(e) of Administrative Order (AO) 23, s. 1992, oppression and grave misconduct under Section 1(c) of AO 23, s. 1992, together with conduct prejudicial to the interest of the service and violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officers and Employees and the Anti-Corruption and Corrupt Practices Act under Section 1(h) of AO 23, s. 1992.

The administrative proceeding stems from the cease-and-desist order issued by Garcia on February 27 via Memorandum 16-2024, directed at Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Co. Ltd., relating to construction activities on provincially owned lands along Osmeña Blvd. related to the CBRT project.

Garcia argued that the project may violate the Philippine Historic Preservation Act as it appears to be located within the buffer zones of heritage conservation areas.

Citing the “social unrest, economic losses and political turmoil caused by Governor Garcia,” Rama called on the President to “discipline and suspend Governor Garcia for the violations of the law set forth in his complaint.”

However, after a preliminary evaluation, the OP concluded that the allegations were not sufficient to justify a preventive suspension against Garcia.

In a phone interview on Sunday, June 9, 2024, Rama said he had not received a copy of the document, so he did not know why the OP had denied his request.

“I didn’t get a copy… I didn’t get it for some reason… I’ve never copied it,” Rama said.

(I need a copy of the document to determine why my application was rejected.)

Rama said he wanted his lawyers to take up the matter.

When asked what he thought about the development, he said he didn’t have to say anything about it.

“I don’t want to say anything more about it. I don’t want to add anything, but first I have to discuss it with my lawyers,” Rama said.

Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Co. Ltd. is implementing the first package of the CBRT, covering a distance of 2.38 kilometers from the Cebu South Bus Terminal along N. Bacalso Ave. to the front of the Capitol Building on Osmeña Blvd.

The CBRT is a P28.78 billion project that stretches a total of 13.18 kilometers from the South Road Properties in southern Cebu City to the Cebu IT Park in the north of the city and is intended to ease traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the complaint said. / Antifungals (AML)