Carlos Garcia sent to Muntinlupa

LONG ARM OF THE LAW. Retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia (center) reads the contents of the arrest order and sentence served by Lt. Col. Edwin Machica of the Judge Advocate General’s Office and AFP Provost Marshal Col. Herbert Yambing. The order was signed by President Aquino. AFP-PIO

After enjoying a brief taste of freedom, ex-military comptroller Carlos Garcia is back behind bars to serve a two-year sentence.

The military convoy carrying Garcia arrived at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) shortly before 3 p.m. Friday. He was whisked to the prison hospital for a routine five-day quarantine, and was to be moved to another facility in the national penitentiary for orientation, according to NBP officer in charge Richard Schwarzkopf.

On the phone with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Schwarzkopf said NBP doctors were examining the retired major general, who was to stay at Ward 2 of the hospital “with at least eight other inmates.”

He said Garcia had earlier been diagnosed as hypertensive and was taking maintenance medication.

Garcia, the highest military officer to be charged with the capital offense of plunder, was arrested early Fridayat his home in Quezon City.

In a press briefing at the Philippine Information Agency, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the arrest order was signed by President Aquino on September 9, or more than five years after Garcia was convicted by a military court of violating Articles of War 96 and 97. (See What Went Before.)

Gazmin said Garcia’s arrest and detention for the crime was “affirmed by the court martial and confirmed by the Commander in Chief.”

US green card

The quarantine period is intended to ensure Garcia’s fitness to serve a two-year sentence for underdeclaring his assets and for holding a US “green card” which, according to Gazmin, “caused dishonor and disrespect” to the military.

Schwarzkopf said Garcia was to spend 55 days at the NBP’s reception and diagnostics center for psychological evaluation and other related assessments, as well as an orientation on prison rules.

“His sentence falls under the minimum category so he might be incarcerated at the minimum-security prison,” the official said.

Schwarzkopf also said the NBP was drawing up a security plan in view of Garcia’s high profile.

But he stressed that the prisoner would not be treated differently. He said Bureau of Corrections Director Gaudencio Pangilinan had “explicitly instructed that no VIP treatment would be given to General Garcia.”

Schwarzkopf said Garcia’s two-year sentence could still be reduced because the latter had signed a memorandum of agreement covering the good conduct time allowances that an inmate usually received for exemplary behavior.

But he expressed doubt that the prisoner would pursue the incentive, saying that the sentence was “not that long,” and that it would also be up to the latter’s lawyers to decide if they would apply for it.

General Eduardo Oban, chief of staff of the Armed Forces, said he received the directive from the President to arrest Garcia on Thursday night.

No resistance

“That is why we had to act immediately,” he said.

Oban said the arresting team led by Colonel Herbert Yambing knocked on Garcia’s door at around 8:30 a.m. Friday.

“He did not resist arrest,” Oban said.

Thirty minutes later, Garcia was turned over to the intelligence division at Camp Aguinaldo. His two-year sentence started Friday, Oban said.

Military officials explained that Garcia was serving the court-martial sentence only now because then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not act on it.

Gazmin said he could not say why Arroyo did not confirm the military verdict.

According to Brigadier General Gilberto Roa, the AFP judge advocate general, President Aquino could have altered the court-martial ruling and made life easier for Garcia, but did not.

The President also did not count the six years that Garcia spent in detention at Camp Crame while he was being tried for the plunder case.

“Camp Crame was not part of the court-martial sentence,” Roa said, adding:

“The maximum penalty provided by law is only two years. That is why [Garcia] was sentenced to two years … The President has the power to mitigate or lessen his sentence or to credit his preventive suspension while on trial.

“But in this case, the President did not do it. He did not exercise his discretion, so therefore General Garcia should serve the two-year sentence.”

Roa also said Garcia would be in for “hard labor” in prison.

But he qualified: “Just sweeping or arranging your bedding is already hard labor. You will not be sweating it out. We give dignity to the rank.”

Garcia may also challenge the implementation of the sentence in court. “There is no law preventing him from going to court, but we are ready to face it,” Roa said.

Just a confirmation

In Malacañang, the President’s spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Garcia was not being singled out.

“This was a decision, a recommendation, from the military court system, in [Garcia’s] court martial. This decision was rendered on Dec. 2, 2005,” Lacierda said at yesterday’s news briefing.

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

Asked if Garcia’s arrest had anything to do with the Aquino administration’s disagreement with the plea bargain between the former military comptroller and the Office of the Ombudsman, 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.” (See related story on this page.)

Asked later in a phone interview why Mr. Aquino confirmed the court martial ruling after more than a year in office, Lacierda said: “I suppose it took some time for the [Department of National Defense] to review the case.” With reports from Norman Bordadora and Chona Yu of Radyo Inquirer

First posted 12:12 am | Saturday, September 17th, 2011