GUARDO
Suspended Cebu City councilor Jerry Guardo paid on Monday a fine of close to P70,000 pesos before the Office of the Ombudsman in lieu of his suspension for three months.
Guardo said he is now waiting for the Department of Interior and Local Government in Central Visayas (DILG-7) to lift his suspension order served last month.
“I have sent a copy of the official receipt to the DILG-7,” said Guardo told reporters.
Guardo was ordered suspended for failing to submit their annual financial statements to the Commission on Audit (COA) during his time as barangay captain of Sambag 1 in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
But even before his suspension can be lifted, Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña has designated Guardo as the city’s representative in overseeing implementation of a development project by Phinma Properties, a subsidiary of Phinma Corp. that owns South Western University (SWU)-Phinma.
Guardo said that he and Osmeña met with PHINMA officials during the weekend to discuss the company’s plan to investment on the construction of a medium rise call center-dormitory near their university campus in Barangay Sambag 1.
Part of their project master plan is the widening of existing roads and the opening of access roads in nearby communities located in the neighboring Barangays Sambag 1 and 2, Guardo said.
The company is also planning to initiate livelihood and health care programs in the area.
“SWU PHINMA has this commercial institution concept and they want the university to be part of the community,” Guardo said.
“The concept is not just school-based but a commercial institution with entertainment, commercial establishments like coffee shops and refill stores,” he added. /Silliman University Intern Ray Chen S. Bahinting