Garcia argues with American over road barrier

What’s a barricade doing in the middle of a   road?

A neighborhood  dispute in Talisay City over a road barrier  put up to caution cars to slow down caused tempers to flare yesterday in a confrontation between an American national and a younger brother of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

An angry Byron Garcia said he was offended  by the attitude of the American, who put up the barrier in the middle of the road and told Garcia he was “a nobody”.

“I am a nobody but I have this,” Garcia replied, and pulled out an  AK-47 assault rifle from his  pickup.

He said the American saw the rifle and went back inside his house to call the police.

The incident took place past 8 a.m. yesterday in  Corona del Mar, a private subdivision in Talisay City.

Garcia is a former security consultant of the Cebu provincial government, who was the first to  promote the “dancing inmates” of the Cebu provincial jail which became a YouTube hit and a current tourism attraction.  His consultancy contract wasn’t renewed in 2010 by his sister, Governor  Garcia,  with whom he had a falling out  before the 2010 elections.

PO2 Jason del Campo of the  Talisay police said they received a distress call yesterday from Roselyn Yago, who complained that  her American husband Morris was harassed at gunpoint by Garcia.

No arrests were made.  The police advised the couple to file a complaint.

In a press conference yesterday, Garcia, who is the president of the homeowner’s association of Corona del Mar, said he had gone over  to remove the metal barricade after residents complained to him about it over the weekend.

“As the president of the subdivision’s homeowners association I had to look into this, “Garcia said.

He said one resident accidentally crashed his motorbike into the road barrier.      Security guards were later able to take out the grill stands.

Garcia admitted that he brandished an AK-47 assault rifle to show the American he couldn’t be intimidated, but denied pointing it at the foreigner.

Garcia said  he had complete documents for the  AK-47 assault rifle. However, under PNP regulations, a civilian is not allowed to carry high-powered firearms, only policemen, the military and other authorized law enforcers.

Talisay police said the American and his wife  explained that  they placed the metal barricade on the road  outside their house to caution  motorists to slow down because vehicles tend to speed through the street.

Garcia arrived in his vehicle and they argued about it. The couple said he left and returned with security guard on board his green pickup.

In Garcia’s version of the encounter,  he  only   showed his AK-47 rifle to the American because the foreigner  repeatedly insulted him after he tried to remove the road barrier.

“He did not respect our sovereignty. He said I was just a low-life Filipino. I told him that I have been on my best behavior and he should not provoke me,” Garcia said.

Talisay police said  they spoke to Garcia  at the subdivision’s guard house and that Garcia  denied harassing the American or pointing his gun at him.

Garcia said he tried to remove the barricade when the American got out of the house  and cursed him, then returned the barricade in the middle of the road.

“Many vehicles pass there. He  can’t take the law into his own hands by doing  something like that,” Garcia told Cebu Daily News over the phone.

Garcia said he left the area and returned in a vehicle accompanied by security personnel to confiscate the barricade.

“It’s a hazard. We had to remove it,” Garcia said.

’A nobody’

He said when the American saw them carrying away the barricade, he confronted them, questioning their authority and giving them the dirty finger.

Garcia said he got angry after the American poked him with his fingers, pushed him twice and told him that he was a “nobody”. That’s when Garcia pulled out the AK-47 rifle from his pickup.

Garcia  dared the American and his wife to to file charges against him. He said he would file a complaint against the American with  the Bureau of Immigration  and has  six witnesses to back it up.

Garcia said the homeowners association would also take the American to task for the road obstacle.

“We need to teach some foreigners a  lesson. They should not think they’re supreme. I want him deported,” Garcia said. /Candeze R. Mongaya and Gabriel C. Bonjoc