Garcia clan closes ranks, decry ‘Martial Law’

BLOOD is thicker than water.

With the odds stacked against Gwendolyn Garcia, the adage rings true as the suspended governor counts on her family and close political allies for support.

Her father, Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia, said he would stay with her even if they have to spend Christmas at the Capitol.

“We will support her,” he told reporters. He and wife Esperanza Garcia visited their daughter in her second night at the Capitol.

He told her: “Be strong. Justice will triumph in the end.”

Her eldest daughter, lawyer Christina Frasco, said they are hopeful that the Court of Appeals in Manila will grant their petition for a temporary restraining order to stop Malacañang from enforcing a 60-day preventive suspension slapped on Garcia earlier this week.

Cebu 3rd district Rep. Pablo John Garcia, the governor’s brother, said the family is furious with the way the Aquino administration has been treating her sister.

“We are angered more because we were desecrated. The symbol of the Cebuano people which is the Capitol,” he said, referring to the buildup of policemen guarding the main entrance gates of the compound.

For the past three nights, police trucks have been parked outside the main gate and the Capitol quadrangle. Roadblocks were put up with uniformed personnel of the Police Regional Office.

Pablo John criticized the Department of the Interior and Local Government for allegedly fueling tension in the Capitol when at least 25 policemen in anti-riot gear arrived past midnight Thursday.”(It’s a) garrison state they are doing. It’s really Martial Law. It is Martial Law with an emphasis on Mar,” he said referring to Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

“The Cebuanos are a peaceful people and if they see the symbol of their province is being desecrated by the people of Manila, people resent the fact that somebody like Mar Roxas is lording it over Cebu,” Pablo John was quoted saying by Rappler.com

Pablo John, who is running to replace his sister as governor, said the suspension order was part of a “pattern of political persecution” by the Liberal Party which is fielding Hilario Davide III for governor.

Davide said Roxas informed him about the suspension a day earlier in his capacity as LP Cebu chairman but “I did not have a hand in the suspension order of Gov Gwen,” he told Rappler.

Davide called Garcia’s criticism of Roxas, Magpale and the LP “propaganda of the desperate.”

Davide and Magpale said many of the Garcia supporters who came to the Capitol were made to believe that they would be receiving a bonus only to find out it was for a vigil for the governor.

“The problem with them (Garcias) is they drag the Cebuanos in the issue. They’re the ones causing confusion. It’s clear, there is an order. They have legal remedies. Just tell the truth,” Davide said.

Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, a senatorial candidate of the United National Alliance (UNA) and an aunt of President Aquino, arrived in Cebu on Wednesday and stayed the night at the Capitol with the Garcia family. She said she was saddened because the suspension was imposed days before Christmas and five months before the 2013 election.

Among the political allies who trooped to the Capitol to also lend support were former Cebu congresswoman Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, Mandaue City Councilor Elmer Cabahug, former Consolacion mayor Avelino Gungob, Danao City Mayor Ramon “Boy” Durano Jr., Boljoon Mayor Teresita “Daday” Celis, and her son-in-law Liloan Mayor Duke Frasco.