MANILA, DECEMBER 24, 2010 (STAR) By Edu Punay - Despite being free on bail, former military comptroller Carlos Garcia has been barred from leaving the country by the Department of Justice (DOJ) enraged by a plea bargain deal meant to clear him of plunder.
But the hold departure order issued by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima was in connection with a five-year-old tax evasion case against Garcia and not for the criminal charges against him in the Sandiganbayan.
"Pursuant to Section 1(c) of Department Circular No. 41 dated May 25, 2010 (Consolidated Rules and Regulations Governing the Issuance and Implementation of Hold Departure Orders, Watchlist Orders and Allow Departure Orders), the undersigned hereby motu proprio issues a hold departure order against Carlos F. Garcia," De Lima's order to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) read.
Garcia was allowed to post P60,000 bail last Dec.16 as part of a plea bargaining deal with special prosecutors from the Ombudsman. In the agreement, Garcia pleaded guilty to lesser offenses of direct bribery and to money laundering. The retired Army general was originally charged with plunder for allegedly amassing more than P300 million in unexplained wealth. But in the plea bargain deal, he would only have to return P130 million.
In the tax evasion case, the BIR accused Garcia and his wife Clarita of "grossly under-declaring their incomes in 2002 and 2003."
"An investigation of the BIR at that time appears to have uncovered several income transactions of the spouses and their children that are grossly disproportionate to their declared income," De Lima explained in a press conference.
The DOJ chief said Garcia allegedly under-declared his income in 2002 by P3.4 million. His wife had also reportedly made cash transactions, including investments in stocks and foreign currencies, worth P7.88 million even if she did not have any source of income that year.
De Lima said the complaint has already been submitted for resolution.
"We, in the DOJ, will do everything within our authority to ensure that offenders against the laws of our country will be brought to justice and made to answer for the crimes they have committed and thus be punished accordingly," De Lima said. "We cannot allow unscrupulous elements to believe that they can continue to make a mockery of our criminal justice system."
Garcia is under the BI's watch list for his case in the Sandiganbayan.
BI officer-in-charge Ronaldo Ledesma said he was "acting on the information that the Office of the Solicitor General will file a motion to intervene at the Sandiganbayan to prevent (Garcia) from being cleared of plunder charges through a flawed plea bargaining agreement."
"This is unacceptable to the Aquino administration. It's a serious blow to efforts against corruption," De Lima said referring to the plea bargain agreement.
The Sandiganbayan earlier issued a gag order on the case.
"This is one clear illustration of how anti-corruption efforts of a determined Aquino administration can get easily frustrated or derailed by the half-hearted and less than forthright actions of the very institution constitutionally tasked to put grafters to the bar of justice," she lamented.
De Lima said the panel as well as Special Prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit herself "should be held accountable for administrative or criminal offenses they may have committed in entering into the deal."
The Justice secretary said the deal "bears signs of collusion between the prosecutors and the accused."
Legal ammo readied
President Aquino is bent on making Garcia get the "due he deserves."
Aquino, who met with his legal team Wednesday night, said Garcia's wife Clarita "practically admitted everything" imputed to them.
"Morally, they have admitted. There is question on the amount that (was stolen). The allegation is P300 million plus and he's returning… not even half. And to me, I don't even care about the money as much as making sure that he gets the due he deserves," Aquino said.
"You steal, you will be caught," Aquino said in an interview in Malacañang.
The President said his legal team was studying different options regarding the case because some held that the charges were ill prepared in the first place.
"So that is being resolved. We have time because there is no promulgation yet. I said if this is not the route, if plunder has already been closed – he has amassed that much money – there are other cases that can be developed. Develop it and prioritize it," Aquino said.
Aquino also said they were considering the opinion of former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo that the plea bargaining agreement was anomalous and against the interests of the government.
He also said he would leave it up to his legal team to decide whether to accept the offer of Marcelo to help reverse the plea bargaining deal.
Gag order hit
Lawmakers, meanwhile, slammed yesterday the Sandiganbayan's gag order on Garcia's case.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, chairman of the House committee on public information, said the order "is violative of press freedom, the people's right to know, and the freedom of expression."
"Ventilating valid issues in media on cases imbued with public interest should be welcomed to prevent doubts on any judicial decision," Evardone said.
"We should encourage the interplay of ideas in a democratic setting. The gag order might set a bad precedent," he said.
Evardone said the anti-graft court may only invoke the sub judice rule to prevent abuse.
Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello said the order showed the Sandiganbayan is in a state of "panic."
"This (gag order) is a futile effort to keep a scandal from spiraling out of control," Bello, chairman of the House committee on overseas Filipino workers, said.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said the gag order was "unacceptable" and that the court "wants to keep the plea bargaining secret from the very 'offensed' party, the people."
"I am concerned that the court has approved the plea but is afraid to promulgate it because of media attention," Colmenares said. – With Michael Punongbayan, Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero, Alexis Romero, Dino Balabo
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