Capitol legal team says: Garcia’s remark did not violate law

CEBU, Philippines — The legal team of the Province of Cebu said the governor did not violate any law, when she raised her concerns about how the road clearing rankings were done.

This was in response to a statement made by Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary RJ Echiverri threatening a legal action against Governor Gwendolyn Garcia for alleged defiance against the department.

"I do not wish to engage in a verbal tussle with ASec Echiverri,” Garcia said.

Echiverri had earlier said the governor might be facing court action from DILG following her reaction to the recent ranking of LGUs on the road-clearing order by President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address.

LGUs were given 60 days to clear public roads of obstructions which included stalls owned by sidewalk vendors, and private cars. Seven LGUs of the Province of Cebu failed the ultimatum-- Carcar City, Badian, Carmen, Compostela, Ginatilan, Moalboal, and Pinamungajan.

In previous interviews, Garcia had challenged the DILG to establish clearer parameters of the road clearing and commented that the department should have conducted evaluations prior to the deadline, if their purpose was to truly help the LGUs.

She also said that they should have exerted more effort into guiding LGUs, instead of exhausting time on seminars and team-building activities.

The assistant secretary allegedly said he does not understand what Garcia is talking about.

“If he doesn’t understand I can explain to him.  But, usually, I do not air my gripes over media and neither do I engage in a he-said-she-said exchange,” Garcia replied.

Lawyer Marino Martinquilla of the Capitol legal team also clarified that Garcia had nothing to worry about since she did not violate any law.

“Gi-reiterate lang sa gobernador ang reklamo sa pito ka LGU sa Sugbo-- nganong naapil sila sa ubos nga ranking nga sa ila husto man ang ilang pagpatuman. So ang gobernador nangutana unsa man inyong… parameters sa paghimo sa rankings,” Martinquilla said.

“We believe nga ang maong statement is unwarranted. In the first place, the governor has not violated any law, wa gyud makalapas ug balaod ang governor,” he stressed. (FREEMAN)