AFP general convicted

In a landmark case, a military court sentenced yesterday the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ former finance chief to two years of hard labor for violating Articles of War in connection with massive corruption and illegal acquisition of millions of pesos while handling the military’s budget.

The court found retired Army Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia — the most senior military officer to be indicted for corruption — guilty on two major charges, including one in connection with his failure to truthfully declare assets for several years.

In a verdict read by the six-member court’s head, Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, Garcia was also dishonorably discharged from the service. He must forfeit all pay and allowances, including his pension and other retirement benefits.

Garcia had pleaded innocent. He faces separate plunder and perjury charges before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.

Malacañang hailed the military court’s decision, saying it would send a clear message that corruption would not be condoned under the Arroyo administration.

The sentence, which still has to be approved by a board of review, the judge advocate general and AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga, marks the first time a senior officer has been found guilty in a major graft case.

Public officials and police and military officers are required by the anti-graft law to make regular declarations of their assets each year.

Garcia and his family also face separate charges in the anti-graft court for allegedly using his post to win kickbacks from suppliers worth up to P303.2 million.

If ultimately convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Prosecutors say Garcia allegedly used his sons as "couriers" to transport some of the ill-gotten funds to the United States, where $100,000 in cash was seized from them by the US Customs Service in December 1993.

The confiscated amount alone is more than the 2003 net worth of P3.2 million that he declared in a tax filing last year.

The tribunal arrived at the guilty verdict after over three hours of closed-door deliberations and secret balloting.

Garcia displayed no emotion while standing at attention as he and his military and civilian lawyers listened to the verdict.

"In closed session and upon secret written ballot, two thirds of all the members present at the time the vote was taken, concurring, sentence you to be dishonorably discharged from the service, to forfeit all pay and allowances due and to become due and to be confined (to) hard labor at such place the reviewing authority may direct for a period of two years, so ordered," the verdict read.

Garcia allegedly stashed millions of pesos in the Land Bank of the Philippines, Allied Banking Corp., Banco de Oro, Universal Bank and Planters Development Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands and United Coconut Planters Bank.

Prosecutors failed to directly link him to the money. But they convicted Garcia for his failure to disclose his P13.3 million deposited in the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association Inc. in his annual statement of assets and liability.

Explaining Garcia’s sentence, his military lawyer, Antonio Doronila, said he would not be required to do back-breaking work, contrary to popular perception.

"Hard labor, k’wan lang ’yan, parang additional penalty lang bibigyan ka ng extra fatigue. Yung mga fatigue, gagawa ka ng mga kung ano ano d’yan. Hard labor hindi naman yung katulad ng magtitibag ng bato. That is inhuman (It’s not really hard labor, it’s only an additional penalty to give him extra fatigue by doing extra work. You’re not going to crush rocks)," he said.

He said Garcia may be detained as ordered by the court at the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa. But he would remain at Camp Crame for the meantime because of his graft case before the Sandiganbayan, where he faces charges of plunder and perjury.

Plunder carries a maximum penalty of death.

‘Strong signal’

Doronila agreed that Garcia’s case "would serve as a strong signal against would-be grafters in the service."

Garcia’s civilian lawyer, Maricel Capa, believes that the publicity generated by the case was a factor in the tribunal’s decision.

"We feel very bad that the court has decided this way. When you have a conviction such as this... you deprive a person of (his) liberty and the kind of life that he has. We have to go through the process, through what the rules are, and not on the issues or on what people think," she said.

"We’re disappointed with the decision and the punishment. I made a distinction with that because we’re going to look at the punishment, how they’ll do it. How can you dishonorably discharge if the guy is already retired? We knew we had the evidence. If they looked at it objectively, from the defense side, they would have given us an acquittal," she added.

Garcia retired on Nov. 18, 2004, while undergoing trial, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 56.

Military prosecutor Capt. Candy Rivas, on the other hand, maintained that Garcia received a fair trial.

Garcia’s financial scam was uncovered when one of his two sons was arrested by US immigration and customs authorities for trying to sneak in $100,000 in cash through the San Francisco International Airport.

STAR columnist Jarius Bondoc later exposed the Garcia scam in his column, triggering an investigation as well as a massive military shakeup that led to the abolition of Garcia’s former post of comptroller.

Malacañang welcomed the tribunal’s decision. "The guilty verdict sends a strong signal that any misconduct in our military will not be countenanced," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.

Government Mass Media head Secretary Cerge Remonde said the verdict showed that the Philippine military justice system works whether those involved are "buck privates or two-star generals."

"It is only under President Arroyo that a general is court-martialed and convicted," Remonde said. "This is unprecedented in modern Philippine history and proves the seriousness of the Arroyo administration in the fight against corruption."

Garcia was placed under arrest when he retired from the military late last year. His case touched off a wider probe into corruption in the military that has led to charges against several other military officials including a former chief of staff.

Garcia invoked his right against self-incrimination at an inquiry of the House of Representatives last year.

The military has been struggling with corruption and a lack of weapons and equipment in the face of raging Marxist and Muslim insurgencies and terror threats.

The scandal hounding Garcia cast a shadow over the 117,000-strong military, which was accused by critics of dragging its foot on the case. It led to investigations of other top officers as well their wives for allegedly amassing ill-gotten wealth.

It also raised the issue of rampant corruption, which has been hounding the military since the failed mutiny of disgruntled junior officers two years ago.

In July 2003, some 300 officers and enlisted men from elite military units took over a ritzy condominium in Makati City’s business district and rigged the area with bombs.

They complained of corruption in the military and poor conditions. They also accused the military leadership of selling weapons from the government arsenal to rebel groups, including the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.

They also claimed that then defense secretary Angelo Reyes and then military intelligence chief Col. Victor Corpus had masterminded bombings in Mindanao in a bid to frame the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front as terrorists.

Reyes and Corpus denied the allegations but resigned to spare Mrs. Arroyo from criticism.

Mrs. Arroyo shortly after created a panel to implement reforms in the military and to prevent a repeat of the mutiny. — With AFP, AP, Paolo Romero