Suspended Cebu Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia has asked the Sandiganbayan Second Division to defer her arraignment scheduled for March 12, 2013 to give the Supreme Court time to consider her petition seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) and questioning the validity of the case filed against her by the Ombudsman.

Counsel Tranquil G Salvador III said Garcia’s motion before the Sandiganbayan is not intended to delay the proceedings but to afford the Supreme Court sufficient opportunity to consider her petition for certiorari with prayer for injunctive reliefs.

Garcia and seven others face graft and funds malversation charges in connection with the alleged irregular purchase of more than 24 hectares of land in Naga, Cebu.

Last Monday, Garcia filed before the Supreme Court a petition for certiorari with an application for the issuance of a TRO and a writ of preliminary injunction, questioning the validity of the Office of the Ombudsman’s resolutions dated August 26, 2011 and July 10, 2012, which caused the filing of the information of the present cases, as well as  the order dated January 18, 2013 denying Garcia’s motion for reconsideration.

“Accordingly, Governor Garcia respectfully moves that her arraignment be deferred until the aforesaid ten-day period expires to give the Supreme Court time to consider her application for a TRO, the motion said.

Garcia’s co-accused  are Juan Bolo, then a Sangguniang Panlalawigan member, Anthony D. Sususco, then chairman of the Cebu provincial appraisal committee (CPAC) and provincial assessor, Roy G. Salubre and Eulogio B. Pelayre, both then CPAC members, Emme T. Gingoyon, then provincial budget officer, and Amparo and Romeo J Balili.

Hold departure orders have been issued against her and her co-accused by Associate Justice Teresita V. Diaz-Baldoz, chairman of the Sandiganbayan Second Division.

Garcia, a close political ally of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,  was accused of violating Section 3 of Republic Act 3019, or Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, after she approved as governor of Cebu the purchase of more than 24 hectares of land in Tina-an, Naga, Cebu worth P98,926,800, “notwithstanding the absence of funds for use thereof at the time of the  execution of the agreement.”

Garcia entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on April 21, 2008 with Amparo G. Balili and the Estate of Luis V. Balili, represented by Romeo J. Balili, for the purchase of a portion of the Balili Estate with a total area of 249,246 square meters consisting of eleven parcels of land situated in the town of Naga for a price of P400 per square meters.

The information submitted to the anti-graft court by graft investigator and prosecution officer Blesilda Ouano of the Office of the Ombudsman said that “the agreement was anomalous as the large portion of the said parcels of land or about 196,696 square meters are submerged in seawater, hence cannot be used for the purposes for which they are acquired, thereby making the said agreement or contract manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the government.”