National Capital Region police director Marcelo Garbo, who used to hold a corresponding position in Cebu where he earned his fame -- or notoriety -- at a Capitol impasse, had his baptism of fire at his new assignment during the State of the Nation Address of President Aquino last Monday.
As usually happens during the SONA, leftist organizations who cannot see anything right regardless of who is president, came out spoiling for a fight. And as usually happens during such confrontations, the police were out to oblige them.
With these as givens, it was up to Garbo, as supreme commander of the territory, to map out strategies meant to hand victory to the government. It was crucial that he did. Number one, the safety of the president was at stake. Number two, the intensity of media coverage cannot allow the leftists to score a victory.
But you know what happened? The police forces under Garbo decided to play a little charade with the leftists by offering them balloons and flowers. Jesus Christ! You're off to war and you carry cotton candy? Why Garbo should fire the police bright boy who cooked up the stupid idea.
Of course the ploy backfired. The leftists would have been utterly stupid if they fell for it. As one leftist official noted, they felt insulted by the gesture. And who would not? A battle was to take place soon, let no one be a hypocrite about it, and yet the police chose to play a silly little game?
Then came a glaring operational blunder. Police were looking in only one direction. When the leftists executed a simple tactical maneuver by changing direction, the police were completely taken by surprise. They were outmaneuvered. They were outflanked. Their soft underbelly was exposed.
In a word, the police were unprepared. They lacked anticipation. They lacked foresight. What they had plenty was silliness with those balloons and flowers. No wonder then that when the inevitable clashes occurred, dozens of people lay injured, including many policemen.
In fact, there were almost as many policemen injured as there were leftists. If that does not tell you something very unflattering about the police, it is not clear what will. At any rate, it is safe to say the leftists got what they came for, while the police got what it had coming. Garbo got a big fat egg.