P-NOY SLAMS SANDIGAN'S APPROVAL OF GARCUA PLEA BARGAIN
MANILA, MAY 11, 2011 (STAR) By Delon Porcalla - President Aquino lambasted Sandiganbayan justices yesterday for approving a plea deal between former military comptroller Carlos Garcia and government prosecutors.
�I was wondering how the Sandiganbayan could have arrived at such a decision. It�s like they�re living in a vacuum. They seemed to have not heard all the information unearthed in testimonies at the Senate,� he told reporters at the Commission on Audit.
He cited in particular a statement from Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit regarding her and her colleagues� being unaware of evidence raised during Senate hearings.
�Didn�t the special prosecutor herself say that had they been made aware of that evidence, they would not have pushed for the plea bargain? How could that decision not have surprised you?� Aquino said.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) earlier said it would appeal the Sandiganbayan ruling. The government can either file a motion for reconsideration with the Sandiganbayan or raise the matter to the Supreme Court (SC).
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said one of the options is to go straight to the SC as proposed by UP Law professor Theodore Te.
�But that has to be studied very carefully,� she said. The plea bargain deal allows Garcia to turn over to the government P135 million of the more than P300 million he allegedly plundered in exchange for the dropping of the plunder case in favor of lesser offenses of direct bribery and money laundering.
In its ruling, the anti-graft court also junked a motion of the OSG to intervene in the case.
Aquino said Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., De Lima and Solicitor General Joel Cadiz had told him that the plea bargain agreement had been a �done deal� as early as May 2010, or a month before he assumed office.
�The first thing they reminded me was, this was a done deal May of 2010, before we assumed office. So the intervention of the OSG was the period that we want to propound, we can still go, I understand, to the SC,� he said.
�The process, you have to exhaust the remedy, which is to file a motion for reconsideration (MR). That would be the route, then afterwards, if the Sandiganbayan rejects our MR then we go to the SC,� Aquino said.
�Judicial callousness�
De Lima called the Sandiganbayan ruling a display of �judicial callousness.�
�I share the disappointment of many about this development in the Sandiganbayan. It is regrettable that what appeared to be palpably wrong, as it is unconscionable to many, seemed to have escaped the comprehension and appreciation of the Sandiganbayan,� she told a press conference.
De Lima said she finds it befuddling that the Sandiganbayan had found merit in a deal that had already been rejected by Congress.
�Both houses have issued their respective resolutions concluding that indeed the plea bargaining agreement was irregular and that�s why there was recommendation to the Office of the President to discipline, if not dismiss, the special prosecutors involved in the case. And here comes the Sandiganbayan,� she said.
She also questioned the timing of the release of the ruling, which was after the resignation of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez took effect and upon the arrival of the President from the ASEAN summit in Indonesia.
�I hope they (Sandiganbayan) did not do it intentionally. That�s callousness,� she said, adding that the anti-graft court should have opted to release the ruling weeks before Gutierrez tendered her resignation or weeks after the appointment of her replacement.
�Everything in that case I really suspect,� de Lima said.
De Lima and Cadiz met yesterday afternoon to map out the Palace�s legal response to the Sandiganbayan ruling.
She said the President has instructed them to �avail of the appropriate remedy and not to let it pass.�
Double jeopardy
For Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the administration has no choice but to accept the Sandiganbayan�s clearing Garcia of plunder or get rebuffed by the SC for double jeopardy.
�You cannot judge him twice for the same offense. But he�s going to be jailed for a lesser offense, not plunder,� Enrile said.
�They cannot go the Supreme Court for an appeal. The Supreme Court will tell you to read the Bill of Rights. You cannot judge a person twice for the same offense,� he pointed out.
Enrile said it would be useless to file a motion for reconsideration with the Sandiganbayan because �the three justices will not reverse their decision.�
�It would appear like they did not study the case very well if they did (reverse decision) that and I believe that they studied their case very well,� Enrile said.
Sen. Joker Arroyo urged the administration to be �sportsmanlike� and �learn how to accept the decisions of the courts.�
�They should not cry like babies,� Arroyo said.
Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman Teofisto Guingona III said that the Sandiganbayan decision was �a major setback in our people�s bid to recover their money.�
�It is also a major setback to our quest to rid the AFP of the culture of corruption. Worse, the court may have sent a signal to unscrupulous elements that they can get away with this pabaon (sendoff) scheme,� Guingona said.
Defective� information
In its decision, the Sandiganbayan second division said �the defective information is more than enough to dismiss the case� filed by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo in 2005. The STAR tried but failed to get reactions from Marcelo.
In a separate ruling rejecting the OSG�s motion to intervene in the case, the Sandiganbayan said the information filed by Marcelo � then the Ombudsman � �failed to mention the name of a contractor, supplier, host country, or any individual from whom the accused and his alleged co-conspirators allegedly received gifts, commissions, kickbacks, and or percentages.�
Associate Justice Samuel Martires penned the 157-page ruling. Presiding Justice and Second Division Chairman Edilberto Sandoval and Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos concurred.
Marcelo�s case was based on an investigation conducted by the Ombudsman�s Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officers Mary Antonette Yalao-Villegas, Maria Teresa Lee-Rafols, and Joyce Martinez-Barut.
�What the Office of the Ombudsman found were the bank deposits of the accused and his family, the real properties registered in their names, and other personal properties of the accused,� the Sandiganbayan ruling read.
�Clearly it is shown that the allegations in the information are uncertain whether the accused and his co-conspirators committed the crime of plunder through a series of the same predicate acts or a combination of overt criminal acts,� Martires said.
�The information also failed to indicate an amount allegedly amassed by the accused through each of the predicate crimes. What is stated is the value of the real properties of the accused,� he added.
�This is in contradiction to established jurisprudence that �for the information to be sufficient, it must describe the offense with such particularity to make sure the accused fully understands what he is being charged with,�� Martires said.
He emphasized that it is necessary that a complaint filed with the court is �complete and that every element of the offense charged be alleged therein,� otherwise �no matter how conclusive and convincing the evidence of guilt may be, an accused cannot be convicted of any offense it is charged in the information.�
Garcia�s position unclear
Martires also said that while Garcia was accused of taking advantage of his position to enrich himself using taxpayers� money, his actual position as comptroller was never mentioned in the charge sheet.
�A cursory reading of the information will immediately reveal that there is no allegation with respect to the position of the accused� in the military.
�Certainly, the absence of an allegation in the information as to what position did the accused occupy in the AFP is a substantial defect which cannot be cured by evidence, for that would jeopardize his right to be informed of the true nature of the offense he is charged,� the Sandiganbayan said.
The anti-graft court also decried that witnesses were identified only as mere John and Jane Does.
�There is no mention of any audit report from former Commission on Audit auditor Heidi Mendoza,� Martires said, referring to the former auditor now COA commissioner who testified at Senate and congressional hearings on the Garcia plunder case and other alleged anomalies in the AFP.
Chastisement?
Palace critic House Minority Leader and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the Sandiganbayan decision was not a blow to the Aquino administration�s anti-corruption campaign �but a stern chastisement against the President and his allies for attempting to influence the decision of the anti-graft court.�
�Since the inception of the Aquino administration, the President and his men have consistently demeaned judicial authority and sought to influence, if not supplant, judicial action with public opinion and propaganda,� Lagman said in a statement.
He said it was to the credit of the judiciary that it has preserved and asserted its independence against alleged encroachments into its turf by the executive branch.
In its ruling, the Sandiganbayan declared that �from the altered and baseless comments on the true facts and circumstances of the plea bargaining agreement, public opinion snowballed.�
�While the court is used to be at the center of conflicting interest, and to be the object of criticism from losing parties, we have never seen such distortions and prevarications of facts from people who are expected to be sentinels of the rule of law,� Lagman said, quoting the Sandiganbayan ruling.
He said that portion of the ruling �appears to be a tirade against the President who went out of his way to galvanize public opinion against the plea bargaining agreement and also against the now-resigned Ombudsman and special prosecutors.�
Not losing hope
Defense department spokesman Eduardo Batac said the approval of the plea bargain agreement was �disappointing� but not enough to discourage them from fighting corruption.
�We remain steadfast in our pursuit of our anti-corruption program. This (ruling) will not discourage us,� he told a press briefing yesterday.
�We will therefore pursue whatever we can in running after the offenders who have really tainted the image and reputation of the whole organization and the defense establishment,� he added.
Batac said they would confer with the OSG as to what legal step to take.
�The Department of National Defense and AFP will continue to pursue the case,� Batac said.
For his part, Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez said the government should not give up.
�This is not nice (Sandiganbayan ruling). They should review the case and not just throw it out,� Iniguez.
�We are appealing to the conscience and to the sincerity of concerned government officials to be truthful to the cause to monitor graft and corruption,� he said. With Michael Punongbayan, Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero, Edu Punay, Evelyn Macairan
Sandigan approves Garcia plea bargain By Michael Punongbayan (The Philippine Star) Updated May 10, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (360) View comments
MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan approved yesterday the plea bargain deal between state prosecutors and accused plunderer and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.
In a 22-page resolution, the anti-graft court�s second division cited the �weak� evidence presented by prosecutors in its decision to approve the controversial deal.
�After assessing the totality of the testimonial and documentary evidence presented by the prosecution, the Court has found the same to be weak in order to support the allegations contained in the equally weak information for plunder. Suffice it to say that the evidence presented by the prosecution is not enough to convict accused General Garcia of plunder,� the Sandiganbayan�s resolution read.
Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos penned the ruling.
�Inasmuch as the provisions of the plea bargaining agreement and the concerns of this Court about the protection of the government has been already fully addressed, there is no reason why this Court should withhold approval of the plea bargaining agreement in these cases,� it added.
The deal allows Garcia to surrender P135.4 million of the more than P300 million he allegedly plundered in exchange for the dropping of the plunder case in favor of lesser offenses of direct bribery and money laundering.
The anti-graft court also junked a motion for intervention filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
In two separate resolutions, the Sandiganbayan lengthily discussed how it had to choose between only two options � acquit Garcia and lose everything or approve the plea bargaining agreement and allow the government to recover millions in alleged unexplained wealth, including valuable properties in the United States.
The Sandiganbayan ruling also said the testimony of former auditor and now Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner Heidi Mendoza was based on �suspicions, innuendos, and unsupported allegations of fraud... that are not supported by proof to buttress her claim.�
Solicitor General Joel Cadiz said they would appeal the Sandiganbayan ruling.
Magistrates of the anti-graft court�s second division likewise denounced how critics, �with feigned innocence,� muddled the issues surrounding the plea bargaining agreement.
�From the altered and baseless comments on the true facts and circumstances of the plea bargaining agreement, public opinion snowballed,� they said. �While the court is used to be at the center of conflicting interests, and to be the object of criticism from the losing parties, we have never seen such distortions and prevarications of the facts from people who are expected to be the sentinels of the rule of law,� they added.
�Suddenly, the age-long struggle of the people against graft and corruption was strongly awakened. The distressed man on the street was jolted and vehemently protested, with the accused General Garcia as the specific target,� the ruling read.
�The media became the easy tool to express the sentiments of those who, despite their lack of knowledge about the facts, courageously talked about the plea bargaining agreement. The accused became the epitome of a corrupt military officer. The faceless �corrupt big fish� that the people �stalked� and waited to be brought to court and be convicted suddenly took its form. Against this backdrop of a misinterpreted �strong evidence doctrine,� the accused was judged guilty not by the court but by public opinion,� the Sandiganbayan said.
They said the prosecution � aside from Mendoza�s testimony � had nothing to show but the handwritten letter and statement of Garcia�s wife Clarita, which cannot be used against her own husband and their children.
Motion for reconsideration
Cadiz said they would file a motion for reconsideration after receiving a copy of the Sandiganbayan ruling.
�It�s a wrong decision. The Sandiganbayan should have allowed us to intervene and it should have voided the plea bargaining agreement which it approved on May 4, 2010,� he lamented.
�There should have been an independent assessment of the agreement. And that we will again question before the Sandiganbayan,� he explained.
Cadiz said they want the anti-graft court to explain why it had pre-judged the case by siding with the position that the plunder case against Garcia was doomed to fail.
�Well, all is not lost because there are remedies under the law. The OSG can always elevate the matter either to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court,� Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters at the Villamor Air Base, where she and several Cabinet members welcomed President Aquino upon his arrival from the ASEAN summit in Indonesia.
She said the proper procedure might be filing a motion for reconsideration with the second division of the Sandiganbayan, although she would still have to discuss the matter with the OSG.
�Well, that�s (Sandiganbayan ruling) a disappointing development because there are many substantive points and arguments raised by the OSG in asking for the revocation of the plea bargaining agreement,� she said. �The Ombudsman has just resigned and then we have this resolution from the Sandiganbayan.�
The military, for its part, said it would seek guidance from the OSG for its next move.
�We will be coordinating closely with the Office of the Solicitor General and get guidance from them,� Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said in a text message.
He said the AFP has yet to receive a copy of the Sandiganbayan ruling.
�We cannot say what we are we are going to do until we�ve seen the document. We are getting information from the media but the Sandiganbayan has not given us any official information,� the AFP spokesman said.
He said AFP Judge Advocate-General Brig. Gen. Gilberto Jose Roa has requested for a copy of the ruling.
�Definitely, we are very interested to know what happened. We want to be able to study it so that we can (determine) what legal remedies are available to us,� Rodriguez said.
Sen. Franklin Drilon said an appeal is best brought up to the Supreme Court (SC).
�Now, the remedy of government is to bring it to the Supreme Court and ask the SC to void the agreement,� Drilon said in a press conference.
�So, I would urge the Solgen (Solicitor General) to bring this up to the SC. I have read the motion of intervention of the Solgen and there is merit to the contention to the ground that they have asserted, including the fact that no consent was given by the DOJ and the Solgen particularly on this issue,� Drilon said.
Drilon said the Solgen may use the records of the Senate inquiries in bolstering its case against the plea bargaining deal.
�I am totally disappointed at the Sandiganbayan�s approving the plea bargaining agreement. But I am not surprised,� Drilon said.
He said he knew it was coming when the Sandiganbayan allowed Garcia to post bail. Plunder is a non-bailable offense.
�It only means that plunder has been withdrawn and this withdrawal is based on the terms of the compromise agreement,� said Drilon, justice secretary during the term of former president, the late Corazon Aquino.
�When they allowed Garcia to plead guilty on a lesser offense and granted him bail, in effect, they approved already the deal. I am not surprised but I am totally disappointed,� he said.
Drilon said the special prosecutors led by Wendell Sulit should resign for this fiasco. Drilon reiterated his call that the special prosecutors be held liable for negligence for failing to oppose of arraignment of Garcia for a lesser crime of direct bribery.
�In other words, the government should not be prejudiced by the incompetence of the special prosecutors in failing to oppose the arraignment for a lesser offense of Gen. Carlos Garcia. The principle in law, the state cannot be bound by the incompetence of its agents,� Drilon said.
Sen. Francis Escudero, for his part, said Garcia�s alleged crime had also compromised the AFP as an institution and endangered the lives of ordinary foot soldiers. �The magnitude of Garcia�s trespasses against foot soldiers and against every tax-paying Filipino cannot be discounted just like that,� he said.
�He belongs in jail, both him and the likes of Gen. Ligot who raped not only the military coffer but its system even more,� Escudero said.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, said the DOJ and the next Ombudsman should pursue the case based on the evidence gathered during Senate inquiries.
�I am extremely disappointed with this decision. I, together with 83 percent Filipinos surveyed by Pulse Asia, strongly believe that they should be tried and be made to pay for their crimes,� Escudero said.
Escudero maintained that Garcia is in no position to offer in a compromise deal any amount whose source he cannot explain.
�Again, what are we really after? Prosecute and send thieves to jail as a way of telling those with evil intents that we mean business in implementing the letters of our laws or recover money, no matter how minuscule it is. We have to draw the line as to what our priority is,� Escudero explained.
�It is clear that based on the hearings of the committee on justice, the Garcia plea bargaining agreement is highly irregular,� Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said.
�For the Sandiganbayan to approve the Garcia deal is a highly questionable action,� he said.
Rep. Roilo Golez, a former Navy officer, said the Sandigan decision sets a bad precedent.
�Poor AFP, poor Republic of the Philippines. The Sandigan may have just instituted a net profit system for graft and corruption. Rake in a lot, surrender a little, charge some incidental expenses, take the net profit, declare profit sharing, and live happily ever after,� he said. � Christina Mendez, Delon Porcalla, Edu Punay, Alexis Romero, Jess Diaz
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