No VIP treatment for Garcia, says De Lima

Former military comptroller Carlos Garcia may have to get used to wearing brown prison shirt and sharing his cell with several other convicted criminals for the next two years.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Sunday said the former Army major general would likely serve his entire two-year jail term at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) without the benefit of the good conduct time allowance usually given to inmates.

“My instruction is no VIP treatment, yet in full recognition of his rights as a person deprived of liberty,” De Lima said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Asked if the 62-year-old Garcia would be allowed to stay in a “kubol” (cubicle) and be considered a “living-out” inmate, De Lima replied: “Neither.”

De Lima earlier ordered a crackdown on unlawful arrangements and other illegal activities inside the prison complex, such as the kubol and “sleep-out” status granted to influential and rich inmates.

This followed an ABS-CBN report that caught on video convicted killer and former Batangas Governor Jose Antonio Leviste leaving the NBP compound without securing the necessary permits from the Department of Justice.

Garcia was found guilty by a military court on Dec. 2, 2005, of violating Articles of War 96 and 97 and was sacked as comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The violations stemmed from his failure to disclose his true assets and his holding a permanent resident status in the United States.

Then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not affirm the decision until President Benigno Aquino III signed it and ordered Garcia’s arrest and imprisonment at the NBP on Friday.

Garcia was earlier jailed after plunder charges were filed against him in the Sandiganbayan in June 2005 for allegedly amassing P303 million in ill-gotten wealth. He was released on a P60,000-bail last December following a plea bargain  in which he pleaded guilty to the lesser crimes of direct bribery and money laundering that are pending trial and after returning to the government P135 million of his assets.

Justice served

NBP officer in charge Richard Schwarzkopf said Garcia would spend his first 55 days at the NBP reception and diagnostics center for psychological evaluation and other related assessments, as well as an orientation on prison rules.

Malacañang on Sunday ruled out reducing Garcia’s two-year sentence.

“I doubt if the President will be granting it. The President has already confirmed the decision of the court-martial. In all likelihood, there will be no diminution of sentence,” Mr. Aquino’s spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.

Colonel Hernando Iriberri, spokesperson of the Department of National Defense, welcomed Garcia’s imprisonment.

“Justice has been served, especially on the aspect of the offenses he was charged with. We can see that many were dismayed (when he was released on bail) and it only shows that justice is working in the Armed Forces,” Iriberri said.

Colonel Arnulfo Burgos Jr., acting AFP spokesperson, said the military accepted Garcia’s detention at NBP.

“Every soldier knows that this step is necessary to be undertaken as the AFP continues to move on to take the moral high ground in its accomplishment of its mission in internal peace and security,” Burgos said.

He said Garcia’s incarceration was another proof “that the AFP is firm in its commitment to shun unethical acts and malpractices within its ranks.”

Plea bargain deal

Also on Sunday, former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said he did not think the government would lose the P135 million that Garcia had turned over if the Sandiganbayan granted Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’ petition to nullify the plea bargain agreement.

Marcelo, who filed the plunder charges against Garcia in April 2005, disagreed with Sandiganbayan spokesperson Renato Bocar’s contention that the government may have to return the amount to Garcia if Morales’ petition is approved.

“I don’t think that the assets are in danger. They’ll stay in the custody of the court. They will not be given back to Garcia,” Marcelo said in an interview. “If the plea bargain is nullified, then we go back to the prior situation, which is that the assets are in the custody of the court.”

Since the assets were in the custody of the courts, it’s unnecessary for prosecutors to petition the Sandiganbayan to take custody of the assets while the plunder case is pending, he said.

Of Bocar’s pronouncement, he said: “I’m wondering why he’s saying all these things. He should not make those announcements. There’s no ruling yet by the court.”

Nullification

Bocar raised two scenarios in case the Sandiganbayan grants Morales’ petition: The government would return the P135 million to Garcia, or the prosecutors could petition the antigraft court to take custody of the assets.

Morales on Friday petitioned the Sandiganbayan to nullify its resolution approving the plea bargain agreement between Garcia and state prosecutors, and go ahead with his trial for plunder and money laundering.

She said the plea bargain might even pin down Garcia, who along with his wife and sons, was accused of plundering P303 million in military funds and money laundering, branding as premature earlier claims that the evidence against him was weak.

Under the plea bargain approved by Morales’ predecessor, Merceditas Gutierrez, Garcia pleaded guilty to charges of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering, and turned over P135 million of his and his family’s assets to the government.

Marcelo, who retired in November 2005 and was replaced by Gutierrez, said the state prosecutors should now push for the extradition of Garcia’s wife and sons so they could all be tried together.