Ex-SolGen, prosecutor: Deal with Garcia can still be withdrawn

The controversial plea bargaining agreement between the Office of the Ombudsman and accused plunderer former military comptroller Carlos Garcia can still be withdrawn, a former solicitor general and special prosecutor said Thursday. During Thursday's Senate inquiry, former Solicitor General Frank Chavez and special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio were in agreement that the plea bargaining deal should and can still be withdrawn. "It can be withdrawn and you go back to plunder," Chavez said during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing. He explained that the Office of the Ombudsman can readjust the information on the Garcia case filed with the Sandiganbayan, seeing as it supposedly has five "fatal" flaws. Chavez said the information should specifically state that the accused - Garcia - is a public officer and that the evidence accompanying it should be enough to prove the predicate crime. Villa-Ignacio supported Chavez's opinion. "I would certainly agree with Chavez that the plea bargaining should be withdrawn by the reason cited by him and take back to plunder case." 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 walked free after entering a "not guilty plea" to these charges and instead pleaded guilty to charges of the lesser offense of direct bribery, a bailable offense under Section 4-B of the AMLA. Chavez, however, criticized the Office of the Ombudsman for failing to update them on the plunder case against Garcia which they supposedly initiated. Senate President Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada likewise criticized Villa-Ignacio for supposedly failing to file a notice of lis pendens with the registry of deeds, which would prevent the Garcia family from disposing of their properties which might have been acquired illegally. Villa-Ignacio denied this but Estrada said that he had checked with the Sandiganbayan and confirmed that no notice was in fact filed. Former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo had earlier accused the special prosecutors of purposely bungingg the Garcia case while Senator Franklin Drilon suggested that administrative charges filed against the state prosecutors involved. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News