American blames spat with Byron for anxiety

Talisay City Prosecutor Marshall Rubia  said a subpoena will be sent to Byron  Garcia this week to answer police charges of carrying a gun without a permit.

Garcia, brother of Gov. Gwen Garcia, surrendered his AK-47 assault rifle to the police a day after he brandished it in an angry confrontation with his American neighbor in Corona del Mar Subdivision in Talisay City.

Wayne Morris, in a joint  affidavit with his Filipina wife Rose, said the incident outside their home last Sept. 18 had caused him and his family “serious anxiety” and “grave concern” for his family’s safety.

Morris, 56, clashed  with  Garcia over metal signages the American set up in the street outside his home to warn motorists  to “slow down”.

The affidavit was filed with the  Talisay City Prosecutor’s office last Sept. 22 to support a  complaint filed by Talisay police.

Morris, who has left for the United States where he supervises his own  construction business, is expected to return on Oct. 10 for a mediation conference in the barangay hall of Pooc, Talisay.

In his affidavit, the American said he was relaxing with family when he saw Garcia remove the metal signages on the road.

Morris said Garcia shouted at him for setting up the barriers  without his permission as  president of the subdivision’s homeowners association.

The American said  Garcia used foul language and insulted him after he told him that he had no authority to remove the signages.

Garcia returned a few minutes later in a car with five guards.

Morris said he went out and told Garcia to stop acting like he was “somebody” and the former Capitol security consultant responded by brandishing an AK-47 rifle, telling him, “I may be a nobody but I have this.”

“He is a hot-tempered person who doesn’t think twice about going around the subdivision brandishing a high-powered firearm and threatening people to impose his will,” said the couple in their affidavit.

Pooc barangay captain Doroteo Emit said he wants to settle the conflict to keep the peace in the village. If both parties can’t  reach an amicable settlement, Emit said he would issue a certification to file action and let them settle their differences in court.

Garcia, in an interview at his residenceyesterday, said he would wait for the mediation before deciding to pursue his plan to seek the American’s deportation by  the Bureau of Immigration.

Though he hasn’t talked with Morris since their confrontation, he said that they  often see each other in the subdivision.

“As of now I just want to focus more on the concerns of  the subdivision and less on my conflict with him,” Garcia told Cebu Daily News yesterday.