Ex-AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia seeks dismissal of tax evasion rap
MANILA, Philippines – Former military comptroller Carlos Garcia sought on Thursday the dismissal of the P273.33-million tax evasion charge filed against him by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) before the Department of Justice, saying the period for the filing of the case has lapsed.
Garcia appeared with his lawyers at the first preliminary investigation of the case, one of three filed against him by the BIR, to submit his counter-affidavit to State Prosecutor Zenica Longcob.
He did not give any statement to the media.
The BIR alleged that Garcia failed to declare his income earned in 2004 amounting to P273.23 million, which the retired military general and his wife, Clarita, supposedly used to acquire properties and make several bank deposits.
Garcia supposedly failed to declare P89.06 million in his income tax return while Clarita had a P146.76 million tax liability in 2004.
The couple is also facing separate tax evasion charges from allegedly failing to file their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) in 2002 and 2003 before the Department of Justice (DoJ).
In his counter-affidavit, Garcia said the complaint filed by the BIR stemming from an alleged 2004 tax liability should be dismissed because it was a “prescribed crime.”
His lawyer, Maricelle Capa, said that the BIR rules itself stated that “all violations of national internal revenue code prescribe in five years. This is a 2004 allegation. It [has been] more than five years.”
Capa added that any criminal liability was already “extinguished” under the “insuperable” cause defined in the Revised Penal Code.
“At that time, General Garcia was already detained and was confronting serious life threats that qualify as insuperable cause,” Capa said.
An insuperable cause is when a person cannot be held criminally liable for failing to comply with the law because insurmountable circumstances have prevented him from doing what the law requires, which in Garcia’s case is to file his income tax return (ITR).
Moreover, Capa said, “all annexes of the complaint are xeroxed copies and can’t be read.”
“Based on a Supreme Court ruling, assessment can only be based on original copies. With these, the complaint against Gen. Garcia should be dismissed,” she said.
Charged with plunder in 2004, Garcia was detained for six years until the Office of the Ombudsman struck a controversial plea bargain that paved the way for him to post bail before the Sandiganbayan.
