Merci may face new complaint over Garcia

MANILA, Philippines -  The chairman of the House committee on justice disclosed yesterday that Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez could face another impeachment complaint in August if rules on impeachment proceedings would be amended.

Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr., chairman of the committee, said the panel members reached a consensus to urge President Aquino to sack Chief Special Prosecutor Wendell Sulit, the main architect of the controversial plea bargain agreement between the Office of the Ombudsman and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.

He said the panel is expected to come out with its report next week on its investigation into the plea bargain agreement.

Tupas said the report could include recommendations to amend the rules on impeachment that would allow another complaint to be filed against Gutierrez.

“We have a consensus that Ombudsman Gutierrez should face another impeachment complaint for approving a baseless plea bargain agreement,” Tupas said.

He said Sulit could be relieved of her position through the powers of the President.

“The President has the power and authority to sack Sulit but a hearing at the Office of the President should be done as a matter of due process. We agreed that Sulit betrayed public trust for pushing the plea bargain agreement,” he said.

Civilian comptroller for the AFP?

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez proposed yesterday that a civilian be installed as comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Golez, a former Navy officer, filed Bill 4194 that seeks the creation of the Office of the AFP Comptroller, which would replace the present Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Comptrollership, known in the military as J-6.

He said the plunder case of Garcia, and revelations of corruption made by former AFP budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa, “necessitates that further measures be adopted to address the long-standing concern against the so-called culture of corruption in the AFP.”

He said the appointment of a civilian comptroller “will provide the necessary check and balance in the handling of AFP funds.”

A civilian comptroller “can function more efficiently, effectively and independently on matters pertaining to budgeting, accounting, finance, and internal auditing and management of the AFP affairs and transactions,” he said.

“Through this bill, the men and women of the military will also be able to focus more on military duties and on strengthening the national defense instead of budgeting and financial accounting, tasks which can be handled more competently by qualified career civilians. This is an important step toward curbing corruption within the AFP,” he stressed.

Under the Golez bill, the comptroller of the military would be appointment by the President. He must be a civilian who has not spent more than eight years in the military, must be a certified public accountant and a holder of a master’s degree in public administration, business administration or related field.

The position of the civilian comptroller would be classified as belonging to the career executive service.

His powers would include formulating plans and policies relating to program and budget accounting systems and services, management control and data processing.

He would advise the AFP chief of staff on matters within his jurisdiction and help him and major service commanders in presenting budget estimates before administrative and legislative bodies.

The civilian comptroller would also supervise the AFP financial center and computer center.

Golez also introduced last week a bill that seeks to remove the right to bail in plunder cases.

His legislative proposals were obviously an offshoot of the three-day inquiry by the House committee on justice into the controversial plea bargaining agreement Garcia has signed with Ombudsman Gutierrez.

Under the deal, the Ombudsman’s office would withdraw the plunder charge against Garcia, who is accused of allegedly amassing P303 million in taxpayers’ money.

As his part of the bargain, the accused would plead guilty to the lesser offenses of bribery and facilitating money laundering. He also agreed to return P135 million of the P303 million he is accused of plundering.

According to Deputy Special Prosecutor Joseph Capistrano, the Sandiganbayan has already allowed the implementation of the plea bargain deal by permitting Garcia to post bail.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the Senate cannot compel Garcia to reveal at the Senate hearings his alleged protectors despite insinuations by Sen. Antonio Trillanes Jr. because none of the senators have presented any evidence to prove that somebody powerful was behind Garcia.

“I do not know whether you can compel him to reveal. You have to establish first that there is a protector and not just on the say-so of anybody,” Enrile said.

“You have to present evidence that somebody is protecting him. You can probably ask him ‘is there anyone protecting you?’ If he says none, that is the end of the matter. And if you say ‘so and so is protecting you,’ then that is a different type of question, but you have to have the evidence that that person is really protecting General Garcia,” he added.

The Senate will resume hearings on massive corruption in the Armed Forces and the plea bargaining agreement between Garcia and special state prosecutors on Friday, where former AFP chiefs Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu are invited.

Reacting on the statement of President Aquino that he knows the person “protecting” Garcia, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said it is up to the Department of Justice to gather evidence against the alleged protector.

“As he said, he may have some raw reports, but he will have to depend upon the capacity of the secretary of justice to gather evidence that will be acceptable in court,” Santiago said.

Trillanes has been issuing conflicting statements on the “powerful person” supposedly behind Garcia, and the person/s who has/have been supporting him in pursuing the plea bargaining agreement with the special prosecutors.

When pressed to name Garcia’s political backer, Trillanes identified the late secretary Angelo Reyes prior to the latter’s suicide last Feb. 8.

After Reyes’ death, Trillanes said he was naming Reyes as one of the principals but did not rule out that the massive corruption at the Armed Forces could have reached Malacañang during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. – With Jess Diaz, Christina Mendez