Aquino urged to stop Garcia plea bargainMANILA, Philippines—President Aquino, being the commander-in-chief, should intervene in the plea-bargain agreement struck between prosecutors and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia that allowed the latter to plead guilty to lesser charges and secure his temporary liberty.
Under the agreement, Garcia pleaded guilty to direct bribery and money laundering on Thursday. After a few hours, he was allowed to post bail, indicating that the deal was approved. His original charge of plunder, for allegedly amassing P303 million in unexplained wealth, was a capital offense and non-bailable.
Former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said Aquino should direct the Office of the Solicitor General to contest the deal since it was “disadvantageous to the government.”
However, Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael said the agreement was subject to the court's scrutiny, and would not have been approved if anything in it was amiss. The deal should also be judged after it has been read in full, he said.
The Sandiganbayan second division has yet to issue a ruling explicitly saying that it approved the deal.
According to Marcelo, Aquino should do something since it was the military that had been aggrieved by Garcia's action, and because the deal was a blow to the President's anti-corruption stance. Marcelo said he would write to Aquino to urge him to contest the development.
“This is contrary to his promise to fight corruption,” Marcelo said.
He said the OSG could take a position different from that of the prosecutors and file a motion to intervene in the case to declare the nullity of the plea bargain.
The OSG, as the tribune of the people, could take a position contrary to that of the Office of the Ombudsman or the country's leaders in order to safeguard the people's interest, he added.
Micael said the plea bargain agreement would not be given the green light if something was not in order.
“It depends on the court. If the agreement is in order, it will approve it. If it's not in order, the court will not approve it,” Micael said.
He also said that those speaking out against the plea bargain had not even read the agreement in full.
As for Marcelo's decision to go to the President, Micael said that Marcelo was free to take the route he wanted.
“We note their opinion,” he added.
Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit earlier said the plea-bargain deal was hammered out in order to protect the interest of the state. Sulit said the deal would allow the government to take control of Garcia's assets immediately, and would save the state from a long legal process.
Marcelo, who was the Ombudsman when the case was filed, said that there were recourses other than a plea-bargain deal the prosecutors could have taken if they had concerns.
He said that if the prosecutors were worried that the case would drag on too long, they could ask the courts to speed up the trial. As to the deterioration of the assets, he said most of these were real properties. He also said the assets could be sold to preserve their value.
Marcelo said that the jurisprudence cited by an official from the Office of the Ombudsman to explain the plea bargain was not applicable to Garcia's case since the circumstances of the two cases were different. He said the accused in the Supreme Court case was not the principal, and the accused had promised to testify in the state's favor.
Micael said the Office of the Special Prosecutor also believes that there was jurisprudence to support the plea-bargain agreement.
This news get me real mad a while ago. Sinabi pa ito ng Mom ko sakin AFTER BOARDS! OMG. GRABE!!!! Bakit kasi kailangan iplea ung gusto e may EVIDENCE NAMAN ANG LAHAT NG KASO! OMG. Ganito na ba KALALA ang Pilipinas? GAWD. Alam ko na kung bakit madaming nagwewelga sa Mendiola. Shet.
P.S. Will write something MORE DETAILED about this tomorrow. :l BV e.
