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Protesters denounce approval of plea bargain deal with Garcia


Militants rushed to the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City Tuesday morning to protest its affirmation of the plea bargain deal between former Armed Forces comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman. But the protesters, who included members of Akbayan, could not get near the area as security was tight for a presidential engagement at the nearby Commission on Audit, radio dzBB reported. "Kung nagnakaw kayo pero nakipag-plea bargaining kayo, makakatakas kayo sa hustisya. Isa itong sampal sa mamamayan (If you steal from the nation but you enter into a plea bargaining agreement, you escape from justice. This is a slap to the people)," former party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said. Baraquel ran for senator under President Benigno Aquino III's Liberal Party but was defeated in last year's election.

On Monday, the Sandiganbayan approved the plea bargaining agreement of Garcia with the Office of the Ombudsman, which allowed him to plead guilty to two lesser offenses and to post bail despite a P303-million plunder case filed against him. [See: Sandiganbayan approves plea bargain deal with Garcia] In a 22-page resolution promulgated on Monday, the anti-graft court's Second Division said: "After assessing the totality of the testimonial and documentary evidence presented by the prosecution, the Court has found the same to be weak in order to support the allegations contained in the equally weak Information for plunder. Suffice it to say that the evidence presented by the prosecution is not enough to convict accused General Garcia of plunder." A Sandiganbayan source said the plea bargaining deal was approved because Garcia was able to comply with the conditions to make the plea bargaining agreement valid. One of the conditions was to return P135 million of the P303 million he allegedly stole from the coffers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. — RSJ, GMA News
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