Garcia holds green card, US official tells court

An official of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told a military court yesterday that Ret. Major General Carlos Garcia, who is facing trial for alleged graft and corrupt practices while serving as comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines was a permanent "green card" holder.

Testifying before a seven-man military tribunal, Kevin Peters, US Embassy acting attache on Customs and Immigration Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security, said Garcia continues to be a legal holder of the US Alien Registration Card despite claims that this has already been cancelled.

"I checked with our records today and currently he is a lawful permanent resident of the US," Peters said during direct questioning by prosecutors.

Peters added that the accused could travel without applying for a visa to the US.

Under Article 11, Section 18 of the Constitution, public officials are barred from pledging allegiance to or acquiring ‘the status of an immigrant" in a foreign country.

Defense lawyers tried to discredit Peters’ testimony, claiming that their client never expressed his intention to renounce his Filipino citizenship.

Lawyers Jose Bautista and Constantino de Jesus, grilled Peters over US immigration records, claiming that if indeed their client remains a holder of a US Alien Registration Card, then "why was he required to secure a visa by the US Embassy when he traveled to the US in 1991, 1995 and in 2002."

During cross-examination, Peters explained that the snafu could been Garcia’s own doing for his failure to tell the US Embassy about his true status.

The US official maintained that Garcia personally applied for and was issued a permanent identification number for his permanent residence status in the US, contrary to the defense’s claims that it was filed by his wife, Clarita, who is a US citizen.

Peters also told the court that the issuance of an Alien Registration Card does not require a holder to renounce his citizenship, but noted that this is one of the many steps that an applicant could take to apply for US citizenship.

Garcia’s woes started after one of his two sons, traveling by plane in business class, was intercepted by alert US immigration and Customs officers while trying to sneak in $100,000 at the San Francisco International Airport in December, 2003.

The incident prompted Garcia’s wife to "rescue" her son by executing an affidavit stating that the undeclared cash was part of their business income in the country and that of her husband’s, being a ranking officer in the military.

A major general in the AFP like Garcia earns a little more than P37,000 as monthly salary.

Military prosecutors claimed to have discovered that his family purchased several properties in the Philippines and in the US, apart from maintaining millions in bank accounts.

Garcia was a logistics officer of the Philippine Army (before he was assigned as chief of AFP’s Comptroller in March 2001, a unit directly responsible in all the money matters needed by the entire military organization.