THE suspension of Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia stays, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said yesterday.
In an order issued yesterday, Davide said he didn’t find enough basis in Garcia’s motion for reconsideration to rescind the suspension order he imposed last Apr. 11.
Davide said the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) followed all procedures in hearing Garcia’s administrative complaint.
He said the suspension will prevent Garcia from influencing the evidence and witnesses during the board investigation on his case.
“A preventive suspension is not a penalty but a remedy to ensure that the administrative investigation will not be rendered a mockery through the respondent’s influence over prospective witnesses,” he said.
The order was served to all the parties yesterday morning.
Copies of the order were also furnished to the central, regional and provincial offices of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Davide said placing Garcia under investigation first renders the suspension order superfluous.
“It defeats the purpose of the suspension order which comes prior to the formal investigation. What’s important is that issues were joined which is very clear in the Local Government Code and the Provincial Board rules,” he told reporters.
Davide also said there is no legal basis on Garcia’s claims that a formal notice and hearing are pre-requisites to a suspension.
The complaints committee headed by Board Member Arleigh Sitoy moved the case’s preliminary conference tomorrow, May 7, after Garcia’s lawyer, Pablo John Garcia, excused himself from the initial conference scheduled last April 30.
Last April 22, Garcia appealed before the Governor’s Office for his preventive suspension to be lifted citing the PB didn’t observe proper procedures on hearing his administrative complaint.
In his motion for reconsideration, Garcia said the suspension order was premature because he was not placed under formal investigation contrary to the provisions of Ordinance 2009-06 or “Prescribing the Rules and Procedures Governing Investigation of Administrative Case against Elective Municipal Officials of the Province of Cebu.”
The administrative complaint was filed by Dumanjug Vice Mayor Efren Guntrano Gica, who accused Garcia of usurpation of power after he designated a new municipal council secretary.
Gica automatically assumed as Acting Mayor following Garcia’s suspension last April 11.