Sandiganbayan: No final decision yet on Garcia's plea bargain agreement

UPDATED 4:30 p.m. - The Sandiganbayan on Monday clarified that it has yet to approve the plea bargaining agreement between former Armed Forces comptroller Major General Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman, QTV's Balitanghali reported. During the oral arguments, the anti-graft court justices denied the claim of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that Garcia’s plea bargain was approved during the last two months of the Arroyo administration. According to the television report, Assistant Solicitor General Amparo Cabutahe-Tang insisted that the Office of the Special Prosecutor's recommendation on the plea bargaining agreement was based on the supposed decision of the Sandiganbayan. She said the decision was a virtual approval of the plea bargaining agreement. However, Tang’s argument was countered by Justice Samuel Martirez. Martirez said the position of the Sandiganbayan was based on the petition earlier submitted to them by the OSP. Palace on Garcia's bail Meanwhile, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte asked why retired Garcia was able to post bail and started returning a portion of his assets if the plea bargaining agreement between him and the Office of the Ombudsman has yet to be approved. “If the Sandiganbayan says that it did not approve the plea bargain agreement last May 4, 2010, why was Garcia allowed to post bail? Why were some of the assets already turned over? The Sandiganbayan's answer in effect raised more questions," she said. Valte was referring to a clarification issued by the Sandiganbayan Second division Associate Justice Edilberto Sandoval that they have yet to approve the plea bargaining agreement and that they are still assessing the case against Garcia. On behalf of the government, Solicitor General Anselmo Cadiz filed a motion for intervention to nullify the plea bargaining agreement and invalidate the bail granted to Garcia. Under the plea bargaining agreement, Garcia admitted to a lesser offense of direct bribery and violation of a provision of the Anti-Money Laundering Law, instead of plunder. The agreement also stated that Garcia would return about P135 million of the P303 million that he allegedly amassed when he was still the AFP comptroller. The Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG) cited that the Sandiganbayan had virtually approved the plea bargaining agreement when it issued a resolution on May 4, 2010 ordering Garcia to turn over to the government ownership of all assets that are subject of the plunder and the anti-money laundering complaint. No approval yet Martirez, however, explained that they wanted the OSP to think the issue over and it does not mean they have already approved the agreement. The OSP said they entered into a plea bargaining agreement because they might fail to indict Garcia on plunder. The OSP said they could not secure a witness to state that the former military official received money from the contractors. Lawyer Constantino de Jesus, Garcia’s counsel, told the court that they were initially apprehensive on entering into the bargaining agreement because the evidence pieces presented by the OSP were weak. He said the prosecution has evidence on Garcia’s possession of the money and not on how he acquired it which is the basis for plunder. The hearing lasted for two hours. The Sandiganbayan gave both the prosecution and defense 15 days to answer the motion to leave to intervene and petition to dismiss the plea bargaining agreement. The OSG was also given 15 days to answer the arguments of the two camps. – VVP, GMANews.TV