PALACE TO SANDIGAN: EXPLAIN 'UNDUE HASTE' DECISION ON GARCIA BAIL
MANILA, JANUARY 4, 2011 (STAR) By Aurea Calica - Malacañang dared the Sandiganbayan yesterday to explain its decision to grant "in undue haste" the bail petition of Garcia.
Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Office of the Solicitor General and the Malacañang legal team are studying the possible courses of action in the Garcia case before the anti-graft court.
"Hopefully we can convince the Sandiganbayan, if ever we decide to intervene, why the plea bargaining should not go forward," he said
Lacierda, a lawyer, said the three-day rule to hear the petition for bail should have been followed.
"As a lawyer, there is a three-day notice rule that you set the case for hearing, you set the case for bail and then you should allow the other party to respond or comment on the petition for bail. So that's why we wanted (to know) why it was issued in undue haste," he said.
The palace spokesman also said the aggrieved parties –the state, the Armed Forces of the Philippines –should have been consulted both in the plea bargaining and the bail petition.
He said the injured parties should have been allowed to answer or file their comments.
Lacierda said as regards the whole case, Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz was still studying the "voluminous" documents.
"That's why we are going to study the case very thoroughly and hopefully at the soonest possible time, we can file, they may decide," he said.
"He (Cadiz) will recommend some courses of action to the President."
Lacierda said it would be up to the Malacañang legal team to act on the alleged irregularities involving the Sandiganbayan and the special prosecutors who handled the plea bargaining agreement of Garcia.
"I would have to leave that to the Office of the Solicitor General and to our legal team to discuss if ever these anomalies are proven to have happened, and we will ensure that the proper remedies will be sought," he said.
FROM MALAYA INSIGHTS
Ombudsman gets P53M from Garcia BY PETER TABINGO
BANKS have turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman some P53 million in cash held in several accounts owned by Major Gen. (ret.) Carlos F. Garcia, his wife Clarita, and their children Ian Carl, Juan Paulo and Timothy Mark.
The transfers were made in three batches over the Christmas holidays, according to documents obtained from sources at the Ombudsman yesterday.
The first was on December 21 when the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loans Association Inc. (AFPSLAI) transmitted P10,017,225.32.
This was followed a day later with the turnover by the Land Bank of the Philippines of the contents of two peso accounts and five dollar time deposits owned by Garcia and his family.
LBP handed over two manager's checks for the total amount of P7,310,901.09 from Garcia's accounts with the LBP-Greenhills and Camp Aguinaldo branches.
The bank also remitted $759,083.34 held in a personal dollar account of Garcia, and four joint dollar time deposits with his wife and three children.
On December 28, the Bank of the Philippine Islands-Makati main branch delivered five manager's checks for $56,225.16 and P51,499.34.
In sum, all the Garcia bank peso and dollar deposits as well as their AFPSLAI investments totaled P53,122,750.39 (at $1:P48.34).
Aside from the bank deposits, the Ombudsman also received the certificates of registrations of two sports utility vehicles and two other motor vehicles from the Land Transportation Office Region VI.
The vehicles were a Toyota RAV-4 (FEV-498), a Honda CRV (FEH-275), a Mitsubishi L-300 van (FDZ-582) and a Honda Civic (FEC-134).
Assistant Special Prosecutor Jose M. Balmeo Jr., lead prosecutor in the Garcia plunder case, informed the Sandiganbayan Second Division of the turnover of the defendants' assets.
The transfer of cash and motor vehicles was part of Garcia's plea bargaining agreement which the Ombudsman has endorsed for court approval.
Court sources said the ongoing transfer of Garcia's assets was the reason the court had to postpone twice the promulgation on the plunder and money laundering cases against the Garcias.
The plea bargaining agreement allowed Garcia, charged with plunder in April 2005 for amassing some P303 million while he was AFP comptroller, to plead to lesser offenses of direct bribery and violating a provision of the anti-money laundering law.
He was released from detention on December 18, two days after he pleaded guilty to the lesser offenses. He posted bail of P60,000.
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