Palace on Garcia arrest: Aquino did what Arroyo sat on

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang said Friday the arrest of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia to serve a two-year jail term was  simply a case of President Benigno Aquino ratifying a court-martial sentence that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had sat on.

“This was a decision, a recommendation from the military court system, in his court martial. This decision was rendered on December 2, 2005,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda Lacierda said at Friday’s regular news briefing in Malacañang.

“It was never confirmed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her term and so we are merely confirming the decision of the military court or the court martial,” he added.

Asked whether Garcia’s arrest had anything to do with the Aquino administration’s disagreement with the plea bargain  Garcia reached with the Ombudsman  that resulted in his release from detention, Lacierda said, “It’s separate and distinct from the plunder case in the Sandiganbayan.”

“In so far as the case in the Sandiganbayan is concerned, that is still being disputed and right now, I understand the new Ombudsman, Justice (Conchita) Carpio-Morales is asking for more time to question the compromise agreement,” Lacierda said.

Asked later in a phone interview how come Aquino signed the confirmation of the court martial decision more than a year after he took office, Lacierda said, “I suppose it took some time for the (Department of National Defense) to review the case.”