Gen. Garcia still facing tax evasion charges; barred from leaving

MANILA – Retired Major Gen. Carlos Garcia is not off the hook yet.

This as the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued last Thursday a hold departure order (HDO) against the former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller due to a pending tax evasion case.

Garcia was out on a P60,000-bail despite the tax evasion charges.

The order was to prevent Garcia from fleeing the country while the tax evasion charges remained pending.

The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan allowed Garcia to post a P60,000 bail for his temporary liberty after he entered a guilty plea to a lesser offense from plunder to direct bribery and violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act in order to lower his jail sentence, a decision widely opposed by sectors and even by President Aquino.

Aquino III has ordered a review of the plea bargain that allowed Garcia to plead guilty to the lesser charges of bribery and money laundering in exchange for the dropping of the plunder charge against him and his turnover of P135 million in assets to the government.

AFP chief of staff Gen. Ricardo David is also opposed to the plea bargain between the Office of the Ombudsman and s Garcia, who is accused of amassing P303 million while serving as military comptroller.

DOJ Secretary Leila De Lima said that information reaching her showed that the tax evasion case remained unresolved for five years.

Records show that Garcia had an undeclared income for the years 2002-2003 amounting to P3.4 million while his wife, who had no source of income, entered into transactions and investments in stocks and foreign currencies worth P7.88 million, which were not also declared in the Income Tax Return (ITR) of the spouses.

De lima ordered the prosecutor, who handled the tax evasion case, to explain why the case seemed to have slumbered such that it was not resolved in five years.