Sandiganbayan defers promulgation on Garcia case

UPDATED 2:20 p.m. - The Sandiganbayan on Wednesday postponed the scheduled announcement of its decision on the P300-million plunder case against former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia. A radio dzBB report said no date has been set yet on when the promulgation would take place. The radio report said the deferment of the promulgation was decided by the justices of the anti-graft court's Second Division. Benny Vallangco, a staff of the Second Division told GMANews.TV that the cancellation was announced by the division's clerk of court Jaime Cabrera in a text message on Tuesday night. Wednesday's promulgation was supposed to take place at 10:30 a.m. Vallangco said Cabrera, who is currently on leave, did not specify any reason for the deferment. Vallangco, however, said promulgations are postponed usually for two reasons:

if either the prosecution or the defense files for a motion for deferment, and

decision of the court justices. The Sandiganbayan Second Division is made up of a three-man team composed of division chairman and acting presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval, Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldoz, and Justice Samuel Martires. Asked on when the promulgation would be, Vallongco said: "There has been no notice of rescheduling yet." Gag order Meanwhile, aside from lamenting the postponement, deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael said the order of postponement came with a directive prohibiting them from giving further details on the postponement or about the case itself. "As lawyers and officers of the court, we have to abide and comply with the order of the court. The order has refrained us from doing so," he said at a brief press conference at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on Wednesday. However, Micael said as soon as the restriction has been lifted, he would be more than willing to answer questions from the media. "But as soon as this order refraining us from doing so will be graciously lifted in time by the honorable court, kami ay haharap uli sa inyo upang ipaliwanag sa inyo ang lahat ng bagay-bagay tungkol sa kaso na ito," Micael assured reporters. Earlier, Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz appealed to the Sandiganbayan to put on hold the promulgation on the case, Cadiz said his office was still preparing a motion to intervene which they are planning to file with the anti-graft court. He also stressed they needed time to study the case because it was the Office of the Special Prosecutor, and not his office, which handled the case. Illegal deal The deferment of the promulgation came amid criticisms about the Ombudsman's plea bargain agreement with Garcia. Garcia's release from detention on Saturday garnered criticism from several officials, including President Benigno Simeon Aquino III and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima. In an ambush interview on Monday, a disappointed Aquino said his legal team is now studying whether there are legal remedies that can stop the plea bargain between the Ombudsman and Garcia. "Gusto natin malaman ano nangyari. Gusto natin malaman meron pa bang natitirang mga hakbang para maproteksyunan ang interes ng taumbayan," he said. (We want to know what happened. We want to know if there are still ways to protect the interest of the public.) Aquino said he was very "disappointed" with the prosecution's entry into a plea bargain when the evidence against Garcia seemed to be strong. "Hindi ako sang-ayon dun sa mahirap patunayan to (plunder) pero gusto natin malaman, saan na nga ba ang parte ng proseso inabot para makita kung ano pa mga hakbang na magagawa. Yun ang nirereview ng ating legal counsels," he said. (I do not agree that plunder is hard to prove but we also want to know what's going on in the process so we know what steps to take. That's what our legal counsels are reviewing.) According to De Lima on Monday, the plea bargain agreement that Garcia entered into with the Office of the Ombudsman was "illegal" because Garcia's plea to a lesser offense was made long after his trial had started. De Lima added that the plea bargain could be grounds for the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Former senator and incumbent Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon on Tuesday warned that the government's plea-bargaining agreement with Garcia might encourage soldiers to launch coup attempts. Biazon also said the Ombudsman's agreement to the plea was "a big blow to the morale of the soldiers." Charged with plunder Garcia, who was in charge of disbursement of military funds when he held the post of AFP comptroller, is by far the the highest-ranked military official undergoing trial by the anti-graft court for the crime of plunder, or graft and corruption on a massive scale. A member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1971, Garcia was charged with plunder, a non-bailable offense, and violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) Section 4-A for allegedly amassing P300 million in bribe money. However, he entered a "not guilty plea" to these charges. He instead pleaded guilty to charges of the lesser offense of direct bribery, a bailable offense under Section 4-B of the AMLA. Over the weekend, Garcia was released from detention at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Quezon City after posting a P60,000 bail on December 17. Aside from him, also charged with plunder are Garcia's wife and three sons, who are alleged to have either brought or spent the questionable wealth. They are all detained at different locations in the United States and are currently the subject of extradition cases. – VVP/RSJ, GMANews.TV