CEBU CITY — Former Cebu City acting mayor Raymond Alvin Neri Garcia will not serve the six-month suspension the Office of the Ombudsman ordered against him: because he is no longer in government service, the penalty converts into a fine equal to six months of his basic salary.
The Ombudsman found Garcia administratively liable for conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service over unauthorized cockfighting derbies held at a hotel and casino in Cebu City in 2024. It made the ruling public in a press release on Oct. 29, 2026. According to SunStar Cebu, the 15-page decision, approved by Ombudsman Jesus Crispin "Boying" Remulla, is dated Jan. 6, 2026.
At a glance
- Who: Raymond Alvin Neri Garcia, Cebu City acting mayor when the events happened
- Finding: conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service
- Penalty: six-month suspension without pay, converted to a fine equal to six months' basic salary
- Paid from: retirement benefits, accrued leave credits or other pending receivables
- Derbies: May 23-24, Aug. 27-29 and Oct. 11-18, 2024, at a hotel and casino
- Law: Presidential Decree No. 449, the Cockfighting Law of 1974
- Status: Garcia has filed a motion for reconsideration
Why the casino was the problem
PD 449 restricts cockfighting to authorized venues and licensed cockpits, and limits special cockfighting events to specified occasions and durations. According to the Ombudsman, the law allows such events only once a year in a province, city or municipality, for no more than three days.
The decision described the casino as plainly neither a licensed cockpit nor a playground or park as contemplated under PD 449, and said the choice of venue alone placed the activities outside what the law permits.
"By allowing the activities to proceed without objection despite their patent illegality, respondent Garcia exhibited inexcusable neglect of duty," the decision stated.
According to SunStar Cebu, the decision also cited missing approvals from the Cebu City Sports Commission, the Cebu City Police Office and the Office of the City Mayor, gaps that appeared in checklists attached to conditional permits issued by the city's Business Permit and Licensing Office.
Garcia's defense
In a statement on his Facebook page cited by SunStar Cebu, Garcia said the Letter of No Objection he issued on April 23, 2024, for a two-day derby on May 23 and 24, was expressly subject to existing laws and regulations and was not a final special permit or an unconditional authorization.
He also told the Ombudsman he had not authorized the Oct. 11 to 18 event and had refused to approve its application. SunStar Cebu reported that the city later issued a show-cause order against the promoter and the venue over that event.
What to watch
The ruling did not carry the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office, a point Garcia himself noted, and the decision remains subject to reconsideration while his motion is pending. How the Ombudsman rules on that motion will settle whether the fine stands.
The case may also widen. The complaint originally named former Cebu City Police Office director Antonietto Ybañez Cañete; the Ombudsman referred that part to its Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices because Cañete is a uniformed member of the Philippine National Police. SunStar Cebu also reported a separate fact-finding investigation into two Games and Amusements Board officials over permits issued for the October events.
Background
Garcia became acting mayor in May 2024 after then-mayor Michael Rama was placed under preventive suspension, and later became the city's full-fledged mayor after Rama's dismissal by the Ombudsman. The administrative complaint against Garcia was filed in November 2024.
Photo credit: Photo: SunStar Cebu file · Source: Office of the Ombudsman