Cebu rivals on the same yacht

CEBU — Gubernatorial rivals Gwendolyn Garcia and Vice Gov. John Gregory Osmeña have found themselves literally on the same boat.

Gwendolyn, a daughter of Gov. Pablo Garcia, admitted that she was with Osmeña on a yacht to attend a fiesta coronation in Poro, Camotes on Jan. 17 last year.

Osmeña had charged the expense for the yacht trip to the provincial capitol. In an audit observation memorandum last Jan. 26, the Commission on Audit (COA) found it extravagant, and thus disallowed it.

Gwendolyn said Osmeña invited her along with provincial board member Josefina Asirit, Rep. Joseph Ace Durano and Mayor Alfredo Arquillano of San Francisco town, to take the yacht, which the vice governor claimed at the time to have been provided by a friend.

Gwendolyn, who was hired by his father as a provincial consultant, said she was supposed to take a commercial fastcraft service to Poro but Osmeña insisted that she join him on the yacht.

"He said he has a friend who owns a yacht who asked only for the fuel to be taken care of," she told The Freeman in Cebuano.

On their way home though, Osmeña reportedly told her he was asked to pay P7,500 for the boat, she said.

The amount she quoted Osmeña as telling her did not match the P9,000 that was reflected in the documents he had submitted for reimbursement.

Gwendolyn said she offered to chip in some amount but that Osmeña told her he was taking care of it all out of his own pocket.

She said she was not aware that Osmeña later charged the amount to the provincial capitol and was surprised to learn that the COA had disallowed the expense.

State auditor Nancy Aparri, COA’s team leader for Cebu, said the disbursement of P9,000 for the yacht rental violated COA Circular 96-004. — Freeman News Service