Cebu trial ordered for Garcia’s 1984 reelection advertisements

Alvin Garcia

Former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia will go on trial for allegedly violating the Fair Elections Act when he ran campaign ads in a local daily that exceeded legal limits of political advertisements during his reelection bid in 2004.

The Supreme Court dismissed his petition contesting a Commission on Elections ruling on the cas.
The High Court said the case “should be allowed to take its due course.”

Garcia immediately posted P12,000 bail after a warrant of arrest was issued against him last Aug. 14.

The case will be heard by Cebu City Regional Trial Court Judge Estela Alma Singco.

The criminal complaint against Garcia was filed by his then rival and eventual winner in the mayoral contest, Tomas Osmeña.

Osmeña’s complaint was based on the publication of a series of political advertisements in Sun Star Cebu from April 26 to May 2, 2004.

The advertisements were titled: “Mayor sa Katawhan,” “It’s a No-contest,” “No To Tom Tax Osmeña,” and “Mayor Alvin Garcia.”

The half-page ad “Mayor sa Katawhan” was published four times on April 27 and 29, 2004 and May 1 and 2, 2004.

The ad “It’s a No Contest” ran daily or seven times from April 26 to May 2, 2004.

The “The No to Tom Tax Osmeña” ad appeared thrice on April 28 and 29, 2004 and May 1, 2004 while the “Mayor Alvin Garcia” advertisement was published once.

The complaint said the newspaper ads appeared more than the frequency allowed by law, and were not properly labeled as to the name and address of the party or candidate benefited by the ad.

Sun Star is owned by the Garcia family.

Under Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Elections Act, print ads should not exceed one fourth page in a broad sheet, and half page in tabloids at a freqency of thrice a week per newspaper, magazine or other publication, during the campaign period.

Garcia denied the accusations, saying the political ads were not for him alone but the entire slate of his party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo-Koalisyong Nagkakaisang Pilipino (Kusug-KNP) PARTY, which had 20 local candidates and the presidential and vice presidential bids of Fernando Poe, Jr. and Loren Legarda.

He said that with 22 candidates entitled to advertisements thrice a week, the Kusug-KNP would have a total of 66 ads per week for all of the Kusug-KNP candidates.

Garcia said the frequency of publication was way below the allowable limit of 66 times for the 22 political candidates of the Kusug-KNP Party.

He also said these were really campaigns for the benefit of candidates of the Kusug-KNP Party and contained the pictures and names of the candidates with the correct name and addresses of the party or candidate as required by the law.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec-7) in Central Visayas first recommended to dismiss the complaint but the poll body en banc disagreed and found probable cause that Garcia had violated the law.

Garcia went to the Supreme Court (SC) to contest the Comelec’s ruling. But the High Court eventually ordered that the case against Garcia “be allowed to take its due course.”

Sought for comment yesterday, Garcia’s son, barangay Camputhaw councilman Raymond Garcia said it took them eight years to battle it out in the High Court.

“Well, that’s how it goes. We’ll face this case. Hopefully, the charges against my father will be dismissed eventually. We’re optimistic about it,” he told CDN.

Raymond, who also serves as president of the Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines’ Cebu City Chapter, said they knew Osmeña would really go after his father who challenged him in the 2004 elections.

“The entire Cebu City knows how vindictive he (Osmeña) is,” he said.

For the moment, Raymond said his 68-year-old father is busy attending to their farms in Dumanjug and Barili towns in south Cebu and has been playing golf regularly.

“For now, he (Garcia) has no plans of seeking a post in government but we’ll never know. My father and Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama are close friends,” said Raymond.

Osmeña, on his part, welcomed the development of the case he filed against Garcia.

“It is just a reminder that neither Alvin or Rama are exempt from the law just because they are/were the sitting mayor,” he said in a text message to CDN.

In an earlier decision, the High Court said it would abide by the ruling of the Comelec en banc since the Constitution empowers the poll body to “investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute cases for violation of election laws, including acts or omissions constituting election frauds, offenses and malpractices.”