COMEBACK. Cebu 3rd district representative Gwendolyn Garcia votes on Monday, May 13, 2019. Facebook page of Gwendolyn Garcia
MANILA, Philippines – Cebu 3rd district representative Gwendolyn Garcia returns as the province’s governor, beating incumbent Vice Governor Agnes Magpale.
As of 5:45 am on Tuesday, May 14, 90.41% of the province’s precincts reported that Garcia garnered 878,019 votes while Magpale only managed to win 592,666 votes.
This is Garcia’s third time as Cebu governor after serving two consecutive terms from 2004 to 2013.
The Court of Appeals had previously dismissed the Ombudsman’s order barring her from seeking another public office for owning the controversial Balili property in Naga City.
The Sandiganbayan, supporting the Ombudsman’s decision, affirmed Garcia’s graft charges for this. Then-House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, however, did not dismiss Garcia, who also served as the Deputy Speaker.
Garcia, whose gubernatorial bid was backed by President Rodrigo Duterte, ran on a platform of ending corruption, criminality, and drugs. She is also part of presidential daughter Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Magpale ran under the Nationalist People’s Coalition. – Rappler.com