Pablo “Paulo” Garcia III, son of suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia appealed to police not to drag his security agency in the Capitol controversy.
“Sobra naman nang ila, hasta ang akong negosyo gihilabtan”, said Garcia.
(This is too much, they are even implicating my business.)
The agency, GGC Security Group, is under scrutiny by the police after the Dec. 19 commotion at the Capitol entrance gate where a police officer was hit in the head by Garcia supporters later identified by police as Paulo, and two of his friends, Joey Cal and Tonyson Lee.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, regional police chief, earlier said he has recommended to Camp Crame the cancelling of their permits to carry firearms outside of residence.
On Friday, Paolo filed a case for grave misconduct against acting Gov. Agnes Magpale, Garbo, Supt. Leopoldo Cabanag and Insp. Avelino Enguito before the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas for the confiscation of three tents during the Dec. 19 incident.
Paulo, in an interview, said he was more careful now about his movements after the travel agency of his friend Lee in Mandaue City was strafed by unidientified gunmen after midnight Thursday.
He insisted that the agency, which has been operating for 20 years, was properly accredited with the PNP after he applied for a new license when the business changed its name last year.
The other day, Supt. Rex. Deriol reported to Garbo that the license of the security agency managed by Paulo expired in June 2011.
Paulo said he received a letter from Camp Crame in Nov. 28 granting his application to operate his security business under the new name GGC Security Group although the license hasn’t been issued yet.
“I fear for my life, wife and children. How can I protec myself and my family especially now that I’m so exposed?” he said.
Grave misconduct
Paulo earlier filed robbery charges against the police and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, then followed it up on Friday with an administrative complaint for grave misconduct against the police and this time, Acting Governor Magpale.
In his affidavit, Paulo said the police refused to return the three tents he had rented for P2,600 a day. He said Magpale was the one who ordered the dismantling.
“Being officers of the law they should abide by the law… what they did was illegal,” he said.
In Manila, DILG Undersecretary Austere Panadero said the police were just doing their job in maintaining peace and order, and that the tents were under safekeeping in the PNP camp. Chief. Supt. Garbo said his men kept their cool when an officer was attacked and exercised maximum tolerance. He said they presumed the tents were government property.
Tension stirred at the entrance gate where a police truck was parked, blocking entry. Crew members of Sugbo TV and Garcia supporters complained when they weren’t immediately allowed to get through. / Chito O. Aragon and Carmel Loise Matus, Correspondents