Lacson questions 'propriety' of detaining Garcia at Bilibid

(Updated 5:20 p.m.) Senator Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday questioned the propriety of detaining at the New Bilibid Prison former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller Carlos Garcia who was convicted in 2005 by a general court martial for violating the Articles of War. Lacson, a classmate of Garcia at the Philippine Military Academy (Class 1971), said Garcia committed a military violation and should be kept in a military facility, not a civilian facility like the NBP. Lacson said the AFP has its own traditions and rules and regulations on such matters. In an interview over dwIZ radio, Lacson said, “Ang place of detention, meron akong katanungan doon na dapat masagot. Pag court martial, alam ko may sariling detention facility ang AFP at doon dapat ikinukulong ang nako-convict ng court-martial." Another member of PMA Class 1971, Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, is also an incumbent senator. Honasan, however, has yet to comment on the matter. Later in the day, the military defended the detention of Garcia at the NBP, stressing it was President Benigno Aquino III himself who ordered for it based on what is stated in the law. "There is a law to that effect that if its more than one year, it (confinement) should be in the penitentiary and it is embodied in the presidential confirmation that the confinement be in the penitentiary. That’s in the presidential confirmation," said Brig. Gen. Gilberto Roa, the AFP Judge Advocate General. In addition, AFP chief information officer Col. Marcelo Burgos noted that based on Articles of War 41, a military personnel should be confined at the penitentiary if the crime is civil in nature and if the sentence is more than two years. "If its (sentence) is more than one year and at the same time of civil nature, he has to be confined in a penitentiary. National Bilibid Prison is a national penitentiary," Burgos told reporters. Garcia's arrest Last week, the military arrested Garcia over a guilty verdict for misdeclaring his assets and hiding his status as permanent US resident while still in active service. The arrest came after President Benigno Simeon Aquino III approved the guilty verdict on Garcia by a court-martial in December 2005. Garcia was brought to the NBP in Muntinlupa City where he will serve a two-year prison term. Delay in enforcing verdict Lacson, chairperson of the Senate defense committee, said they may look into why there was a delay in enforcing the guilty verdict on Garcia which was handed down in 2005, during the term of former President and former commander-in-chief Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Lacson admitted that they have no concrete evidence that Mrs. Arroyo sat on the decision. Lacson said their initial information indicated the court-martial verdict sat not in the Office of the President but in the Department of National Defense (DND). “Ang pinakahuling information mukhang natulog ito sa DND mismo. Ilan ang Secretary of National Defense na dumaan hindi ito umalis ng DND. So yan dapat ang tingnan. I-trace muna saan natulog ang papel, ang conviction na ibinigay ng court-martial laban kay Garcia," he said. Lacson said they will look into whether the present laws governing court-martial decisions have a deadline on when they should be transmitted to the commander-in-chief for action. He also said he is considering a provision that would allow a court-martial decision to become effective automatically if the commander-in-chief does not act on it for a specified time. “Baka out of date ang batas. Ang Commonwealth Act No. 1 at amending laws, baka may mali rin sa batas. Kaya sa aspeto ng (Senate) committee on national defense and security pwede ito tingnan, pero sa punto kung saan pwede baguhin ang magkaroon ng legislation tungkol dito," he said. “Dapat siguro pag conviction ng court-martial meron ding panahon na hindi forever. May panahon na kailangan padala ito sa opisina ng commander-in-chief," he added. - VVP/RSJ, GMA News