Convicted ex-general Garcia yet to pay P408-million fine

Inquirer photo/Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — Carlos Garcia, the retired Army major general and military comptroller convicted of bribery and money laundering in 2022, and who was released from prison owing to good conduct credits last year, has yet to pay the P408-million fine imposed by the Sandiganbayan antigraft court.

This was revealed in a 15-page resolution dated July 30 but released only on Monday, as the court’s Special Second Division rejected Garcia’s arguments for not paying.

Nothing left to give

The resolution was in response to a motion for execution filed by state prosecutors in February, which noted that the convict still had pending civil liabilities and an unpaid fine. Of the P407.8 million set by the court, P1.5 million was for the money laundering case, while P406.3 million was for the direct bribery case.

According to the resolution, Garcia claimed he had nothing left to give after shelling out P135.4 million to cover the “restitution cost” under the plea bargaining deal he had reached with the prosecution.

No exceptions

He also argued that the fine was “oppressive, baseless and unconstitutional,” as it was three times the value of a property that he had “voluntarily surrendered” to comply with the agreement.

Because of the criminal charges he faced, his salaries, allowances, and retirement benefits in the Armed Forces of the Philippines were forfeited, Garcia said as quoted in the resolution. He thus “lost all means to survive and earn money,” he said.

But the court ruled that Garcia’s insolvency could not justify an “exception to the doctrine of immutability of judgments.”

“Clearly, the forfeiture of the properties occurred well before the finality of the decision [on his conviction],” read the resolution penned by Associate Justice Geraldine Faith Econg, chair of the Special Division. Associate Justices Edgardo Caldona and Arthur Malabaguio concurred.

The fine imposed was lawful and “cannot be characterized as oppressive or unconstitutional,” it stressed.

Good conduct credits

Convicted in July 2022, Garcia was sentenced to serve a prison term of four to eight years for money laundering, and four to six years for direct bribery. He was also found guilty of perjury, which added one to eight years.

Because of the law on good conduct time allowance (GCTA), he was credited 24 years, eight months, and seven days as total time served and was released from the national penitentiary on Aug. 7, 2023.

Garcia was the military official at the center of the so-called “pabaon system” or the practice of giving hefty cash gifts to retiring military generals, a major scandal that broke out during the Arroyo administration.