Ombudsman shows up for House probe on Garcia plea bargain deal

After refusing to take part in a previous congressional hearing on the controversial Garcia plea bargain deal, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez on Tuesday showed up at the House inquiry on the deal entered into by officials under her office and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia last year. Gutierrez attended the second hearing of the House committee on justice on the Garcia plea bargaining agreement, a week after she and her deputies refused to take part in the previous hearing citing the independence of her office. The Ombudsman, who is currently facing impeachment complaints before the same house panel, was issued a subpoena last week to compel her to attend the inquiry.

The others present in the hearing included Garcia, Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, military chief Ricardo David, former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo, and former Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-ignacio. Former Armed Forces chiefs of staff during the Arroyo administration — Dionisio Santiago, Narcisso Abaya, Alexander Yano, Generoso Senga and Hermogenes Esperon — also attended the House inquiry. Last year, special prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman entered into a plea bargain agreement with Garcia, who pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of direct bribery and money laundering instead of the crime of plunder as part of the deal. After admitting to these offenses, the ex-military comptroller was allowed to post bail and to temporarily walk out of jail in December last year. The former military comptroller was also allowed to return only P135 million out of the P303 million he allegedly stole from government coffers. The Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG) has asked the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court last week to allow it to intervene in the controversial deal and to nullify Garcia’s arraignment for direct bribery. – VVP, GMANews.TV