MANILA, Philippines—The government may have to return the P135 million in assets that former military comptroller Carlos Garcia turned over to the state as part of his plea bargain with prosecutors in his P303-million plunder case.
Sandiganbayan spokesperson Renato Bocar said if the court would grant Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’ motion to nullify the approval of the plea bargain, one possible scenario is the government would have to give back what it obtained as part of the deal.
Under the plea bargain, Garcia pleaded guilty to the lesser offenses of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering. In return, he turned over to the government assets amounting to P135 million.
But if the plea bargain is no longer in effect, all of the money and properties would have to revert back to his name and that of his family, Bocar said.
“They would have to be returned because the government no longer has a right to them,” he said.
But he also said the prosecutors could ask the court to take custody of the assets while the case is pending. This could be done so that the assets would not be dissipated, he added.
Former special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio believes the assets need not be turned over to Garcia should the deal be revoked, and could be placed in the court’s custody as evidence in his case.
“That’s the fruit of the crime,” Villa-Ignacio said.
Villa-Ignacio, who was a vocal critic of the plea bargain forged during the term of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, agreed with Morales’ position that the deal should be nullified and that it was too early to say the case was weak.
He noted that the presentation of evidence has not been concluded, and Garcia did not file any demurrer saying the evidence was insufficient.
He said he was confident that if the plunder trial would resume, it would be handled well in the hands of the new Ombudsman.
But he also raised concern about the prosecution of the case. He noted that special prosecutor Wendell Sulit, who was one of the signatories to the plea bargain, had supported the deal. The Office of the Special Prosecutor handles the plunder trial before the Sandiganbayan.
Sulit also has an administrative case in Malacañang stemming from the plea bargain, and was placed on 90-day preventive suspension in June because of it.
On Friday, the new Ombudsman reversed Gutierrez’ position and sought to revive the Garcia plunder case.
Morales said the Office of the Solicitor General, which had also opposed the plea bargain, should be allowed to intervene in the case since it can represent the government in any proceeding, especially in matters that affect the welfare of the people.
She said that it was too early to say the case was weak, and wondered if the prosecutors had pursued the extradition of Garcia’s wife and sons, who are his co-accused.
Garcia’s wife Clarita earlier wrote a letter saying her husband had received gratitude money from contractors.
Morales also said that in the plea bargain, Garcia admitted to amassing ill-gotten wealth, and she asked if he would have turned over the P135 million to the government if these were not ill-gotten.