House probe of plea bargaining agreement between government, Garcia sought

MANILA, Philippines - Two Mindanao lawmakers urged the House of Representatives yesterday to look into the plea bargaining agreement between the government and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.

Representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and his brother Maximo of Abante Mindanao said a legislative inquiry is needed to protect the government’s interest in future plea bargaining agreements.

Remedial legislation might be necessary to clarify when a plea bargain could be allowed, they added.

Rufus Rodriguez, a lawyer, said under the Rules of Court, such negotiation between the accused and the prosecutor is allowed before the actual trial and before the presentation of evidence by the prosecution.

However, in Garcia’s case, the Office of the Special Prosecutor agreed to a plea bargain after prosecutors had already presented their evidence and the Sandiganbayan was about to decide the case, he added.

Advisers of President Aquino did not feed him wrong information about the plunder and plea bargaining agreement with Garcia, Malacañang said yesterday.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government, particularly the Office of the Solicitor General, has a strong case against Garcia and that the Office of the Special Prosecutor need not strike a plea bargaining agreement.

“We have lawyers and we have strong evidence,” she said.

“The solicitor general says we have strong evidence and we stand by it. I think we should ask them why they are not forthcoming with their explanation.”

As to allegations of lack of witnesses against Garcia, Valte said no real suppliers actually exist to testify against him.

“There was one disbursement for a Ford Tamaraw, but there were no receipts,” she said.

“They should explain why they entered into a plea bargain and not say the President was given wrong information.”

Solicitor General Jose Cadiz said if the Sandiganbayan denies the government’s request to revoke Garcia’s bail, they would be forced to seek relief from the Supreme Court (SC).

“We cannot simply abandon what is the duty of the Republic in this particular instance and no matter how difficult it is or no matter as some people say the chances are not great, we have to do this and we have to fight at this particular venue,” he said. – With Delon Porcalla, Michael Punongbayan