Govt appeals Sandiganbayan's approval of Garcia plea deal

Government lawyers on Tuesday asked the Sandiganbayan Second Division to reverse its resolution approving the plea bargaining agreement between the Office of the Ombudsman and former military comptroller Carlos F. Garcia, an accused plunderer. In a 124-page motion for reconsideration, the Office of the Solicitor General also asked the anti-graft court to let it intervene in proceedings concerning the agreement. The OSG argued it has the legal personality to intervene in the case because it represents the Republic of the Philippines, a direct party to the deal. It added that the agreement "suffers from grave infirmities" because the Republic was not consulted when the deal was entered into by Garcia and the Ombudsman. Under the deal, Garcia was allowed to plead guilty to two lesser offenses instead of plunder, a non-bailable offense. Garcia was also allowed to post bail amounting to P60,000. In December last year, Garcia walked free on bail even if the plea bargain deal was not approved yet. The anti-graft court approved the deal last May 19, noting that Garcia has complied with the requirements to make the agreement valid. These included the turnover of the P135 million of the P303 million Garcia supposedly stole from military funds. The court added that the prosecution's evidence was not enough to convict Garcia of plunder. The Sandiganbayan also issued a resolution denying the OSG's motion to intervene in the proceedings and its other motion to have Second Division chair Edilberto Sandoval inhibit himself from the Garcia plunder case. — Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMA News