FORMER Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was convicted by the Sandiganbayan Second Division after 12 years.
This came about after Garcia and the prosecution panel entered into a plea bargaining agreement last 2010 and the Supreme Court released a decision in 2020 dismissing the Petition for Certiorari of the Office of the Solicitor General.
In an eight-page decision penned by Sandiganbayan Second Division Chairperson Oscar Herrera Jr., with the concurrence of Associate Justices Michael Frederick Musngi and Arthur Malabaguio, Garcia was charged with direct bribery, a lesser offense that comes with a four to eight-year prison term instead of the 20-40 year jail term for plunder and money laundering.
Garcia is also ordered by the court to pay a P407 million fine, an amount that’s three times the amount stated in the plea bargaining agreement.
In the plea bargaining agreement offered in 2010, the Sandiganbayan ordered Garcia to return to the government a total of P135 million.
The Sandiganbayan decision also stated that Garcia cannot leave jail until the fine is fully paid.
The former AFP comptroller was also found guilty of facilitating money laundering by the Sandiganbayan that carries a 4-6 year jail term and was also ordered to pay a fine of P1.5 million.
In the earlier case, Garcia was charged with plunder and money laundering but it changed after the filing of the plea bargaining agreement in 2010.
The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) went to the Supreme Court and challenged the plea bargaining agreement.
However, in 2020, the Supreme Court decided to set aside the OSG petition, saying that it found no irregularities in the plea bargaining agreement.
It was on May 13, 2022 when the Sandiganbayan received the Entry of Judgment of the Supreme Court that is why they proceeded with in convicting Garcia.
Meanwhile, the cases filed against Clarita Garcia, the former general’s wife, and sons Ian Carl, Juan Paulo, and Timothy Mark, were ordered archived pending their arrest or if they surrender voluntarily.
A warrant of arrest was also issued against the family of Garcia.