ShareThisMANILA – Former Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia has been released on bail after pleading guilty to offenses lesser than the non-bailable plunder under a plea bargaining agreement with the Sandiganbayan in which he was to return big part of the more than P300 million he amassed illegally while in military service.
Garcia
The deal irked President Aquino who ordered the Solicitor General to move for its cancellation so Garcia could be returned to jail, claiming that the release of the general was done in haste and without consultation with higher authorities. Others like bishops, soldiers and citizens also joined the clamor for the cancellation of the plea bargaining deal.
Those opposing the deal pointed out that there was strong evidence for the conviction of Garcia, his wife Clarita, and children Ian Carl, Juan Paulo and Timothy Clark, for plunder, and the lesser offenses of violation of the anti-money laundering law and others were uncalled for.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, a lawyer and constitutionalist, however, said there was no way the court decision could be reversed. :
”It’s all in the hands of the courts,” he said.
Enrile said it is within the right of President Aquino to question the move of the Office of the Special Prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman allowing Garcia to plead guilty to lesser offenses pending before the Sandiganbayan.
“The President is the top soldier of the country, the top executive of the country, the top policeman of the country and he is the top prosecutor of the country. He can say ‘I do not agree with your decision.’
“But if the case has been dismissed and because of that, the prosecution filed for its dismissal then that’s the end of it. It will be a case of jeopardy since he already made a plea.
“Garcia was already arraigned. The prosecutor dismissed his case because of the plea bargain.
“The President cannot reverse it because you are already dealing with the Bill of Rights.
“No person shall be put twice in jeopardy for the same offense. In a plea bargain, the lower offense must be embraced by the offense by which under you were charged. For instance, you are charged with murder, you cannot plea bargain and say, I am willing to be charged only with libel. The case that you will plea in lieu of the main case will be of the same genre of the same case,” Enrile explained.
A think tank, the Pacific Strategies and Assessments, said in its Philippine Report that the President has a weak hand in his effort to overturn a plea bargain that resulted in the release on bail of indicted r Garcia after the Chief Executive granted amnesty to a group of military mutineers.
The group said many believe that Aquino has little legitimacy to confront the Garcia issue after granting amnesty to a group of military mutineers, including Sen. Antonio Trillanes, “and he simply lacks the capacity and wherewithal to reevaluate the proceedings and decision.”
Garcia was released last week after entering a plea of guilty to the lesser offense of indirect bribery from plunder. He was ordered to pay a bail bond of P60,000.
Garcia was originally charged with plunder for allegedly amassing more than P300 million in unexplained wealth when he was Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller in 2004. His wife, Clarita, and children Ian Carl, Juan Paulo and Timothy Clark, who all had fled to the United States, were also included in the charge.
PSA said “many believe that Garcia will now simply leave the country and join his co-accused wife and three sons in the United States.” All three are American citizens.
State lawyers indicated a plan to ask the Sandiganbayan to revoke the plea bargain on Garcia.
Solicitor General Anselmo Cadiz said the government will intervene in the case before the Sandiganbayan in a bid to send back the former armed forces’ comptroller back to jail.
Cadiz said the Office of the Solicitor General is readying to file before the anti-graft court a motion to intervene in Garcia’s P303-million plunder case on behalf of the Aquino government.
The government chief counsel said the OSG will particularly ask the Sandiganbayan’s Second Division to junk the plea bargaining agreement between Garcia and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the prosecutorial arm of the Office of the Ombudsman.
“The instructions of the President are clear; we will try to stop that deal, we will try to undo it,” Cadiz said. Cadiz maintained that the deal is illegal considering the strong evidence against Garcia in the plunder case.
“The deal is illegal because there is strong evidence against General Garcia. The deal was made at a time when the case was deep into the trial already,” Cadiz stressed.
Cadiz said the government is ready to bring the matter before the high tribunal in case the anti-graft court will not grant its motion.
“It depends on what the Sandiganbayan will say. Let us see if this thing works because there is no official decision yet. The proper venue is still the Sandiganbayan,” he said.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the panel of special prosecutors handling Garcia’s case should be held administratively and criminally liable for entering into an agreement with Garcia. She noted that plea-bargaining is a restricted matter and cannot be entered into at the whim of the parties at any stage of the trial.