From lawyers to Americans and now a police chief, former Capitol consultant Byron Garcia isn’t one to shy away from a fight.
In 2011, Byron confronted an American neighbor whose road blockade he tried to remove. The younger brother of suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia also challenged the management of the Filinvest subdivision for failing to complete the promised amenities to him and neighbors.
Before these feuds, Byron made his mark with the “dancing inmates” program at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a showcase that gained global popularity through the streaming video website YouTube.
While his contract as Capitol consultant was cut off by his sister for unaccounted donations and his switch of political allegiance, Byron’s visit to her last Sunday and his machine gun-like verbal attack against the police officer he blames for alarming her, showed that in this instance, blood is thicker than water.
His public display of family loyalty notwithstanding, Byron overstepped his bounds when he not only warned of a mass jailbreak in the CPDRC but also challenged Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) chief, to a fistfight.
His threat sent police squads scrambling to the CPDRC. No riot broke out there.
The commotion was in the Cebu city jail, where an inmate was stabbed.
Byron’s tirade shouldn’t take up too much time of acting Cebu Gov. Agnes Magpale who has her hands full dealing with Capitol bills and unpaid suppliers.
Byron’s belligerent remarks only served to further justify Garbo’s recommendation that it would promote peace and order to have his sister let go of her clenched grip on her Capitol office and pursue legal action outside, in the court where the battle belongs, and not the seat of the provincial government where more mischief is likely to take place the longer it is treated like a personal stage.
While suspended Governor Garcia enjoys the right to question the Palace suspension order in court, she has to respect the order first to restore a sense of normalcy in the Capitol.
Byron’s threat of a mass jailbreak reinforced growing public perception that the suspended governor will employ every means at her disposal to stay put in her Capitol office.
Nothing prevents him from speaking up for his sister, but Byron doesn’t add any light or logic to the complex political struggle going on in the seat of the provincial government.
If he wants to pick a fight, he can shadowbox alone on the street.