In more than one of my"AFP, Last Quarter of 2010"entries I discussed the"General Carlos Garcia Corruption Case."Garcia,a former AFP Comptroller,had been nabbed years ago on Plunder and Money Laundering charges.His world began to unravel when 2 of his sons were nabbed in a Los Angeles Airport trying to smuggle 100,000 US Dollars into the United States.The US Government requires anything over 9,999 US (P480,000) to be fully declared for Customs.This type of arrest is not uncommon in American airports but when their mother,General Garcia's wife Clarita very stupidly petitioned US Customs for the return of that $100 the American Government re-examined the case.
Indeed,in that petition Clarita included a 4 paged,handwritten note where she amazingly stated that because she is the wife of a Philippine General,such large sums of cash were not at all unusual.In fact,she explained that because General Garcia was the top Comptroller for the entire Philippine Military,companies wishing to win valuable contracts often gave the General large cash gifts.She said that companies with AFP Contracts,or those simply hoping to snare such Contracts provided her and her family with Business Class air travel,envelopes containing $10 to 20,000 in cash scot free and other similarly lavish"gifts."She must have been in a very talkative mood because Clarita also described how she had 5 AFP drivers,an AFP Security Detail,a 16,000 liter a month gasoline"allowance"(4,000 gallons) and an AFP cook who provided her with piano concertos upon request.The woman ACTUALLY said this.Now,there is"stupid"and there is"REALLY STUPID."This woman left"REALlY STUPID" alone decades ago and is probably past"INSANE"at this point.How much more so when she went and repeated all these amazing facts in an Affadavit executed in the presence of a US official?
The whole thing began unraveling on December 19,2003 when 2 of the Garcias' 3 sons stepped off of a plane in the American city of San Francisco.Sons Juan Paolo and Ian Carl,dual Philippine/American citizen like their mother,were bringing some cash as a favour to youngest brother Timothy Mark.The youngest Garcia was about to buy a condominium in New York City and needed a sufficient down payment.Most people would simply handle such a chore via bank transfer,or alternatively via commercial cash transfer service.In fact,there are more than a couple of ways in which to move money between the Philippines and the United States.Clarita Garcia had a habit though of carrying large sums of cash anytime she left the Philippines.Always above board Mrs.Garcia never thought twice about the Customs Delaration Form one fills out on the plane as it approaches its destination.In fact,on December 17th when she asked Juan Paolo to do this errand for Timothy Mark she had specifically reminded her eldest son to Declare the cash upon arrival.
Walking up to the Customs Officer Juan Paolo did exactly that.The problem however was that he only declared $1,000.Upon searching the 2 brothers Customs discovered $100,000 secreted in both of their carry on bags.As is the case in such matters both of the Garcia brothers were charged with"Bulk Cash Smuggling,""Conspiracy to Commit Bulk Cash Smuggling"and"Failure to Declare a Monetary Instrument."Clarita brought even larger sums into the US.It was never an issue as long as one fully declared it.Why then did this happen?According to Clarita's Affadavit Juan Paolo was a"risk taker"and"quite spoiled."In his own defence Juan Paolo simply wanted to"avoid unnecessary hassles."Greed and Sloth are 2 of the so-called"Cardinal Sins."
Months before Mrs.Garcia idiotically,almost literally placed around the neck of each family member the General himself was the first to take the that intial misstep on their collective descent into a living hell.On January 12,2004,just days after his 2 sons made their own formal request to retain the confiscated cash,General Garcia filled out a Claims Form along with a 2 page handwritten letter on AFP stationary and sent it to the US Office of Fines,Penalties and Foreitures.Trying to hold onto the seized $100,000 Garcia explained that the money was entirely licit in nature.Asked its source,General Garcia claimed that he had legally generated the money via"savings,honoraria and dividends from savings."When asked the purpose of its importation,he wrote that his youngest son Timothy Mark was buying a condominium in New York City and badly needed the money as a downpayment in the transaction,along with tuition fees for his next semester at the Parsons School of Design.Garcia added that a portion of the money was to fund a family holiday in New York City over Xmas.The claim,and its alibi are entirely normal in the American scheme of things though the stationary seems to have set things in motion so far as the American Government was concerned.Still,for the moment General Garcia must have felt himself invincible and so he put the incident behind him.
All arrests of foreign nationals by American Federal Authorities are automatically reported to the relevant authorities in their country of origin.A routine transmission sent to the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation,the Philippines' top law enforcement entity alerted the Philippine Government that the 2 young men had been involved in an unsavory enterprise.Made aware of the familial connection,the NBI contacted the AFP via back channels to make them aware that there very well could be a problem down the line.AFP Chief of Staff Narciso Abaya was made aware of that notification at the beginning of February,2004 and voila,the proverbial shi* hit the fan.General Abaya promptly notified Vice Admiral Ariston de los Reyes Jr. who was then commanding OEPSA,the AFP's Office of Ethical Standards and Public Accountability.Of course,as Chief of Staff,Abaya was well aware of what Garcia had been involved in because-if we accept latent testimony (and a whole lot of accusations and suppositioning) all Chiefs of Staff have been sharing in the various slush funds that have been created throught General Staff.Even if one rejects the military principle of Command Responsibility the Comptrollership is directly under the Chief of Staff and controls the finances of the entire military do that there isn't any room for doubt when considering the possibility that Chief of Staff Abaya MIGHT have known of Garcia's pilfrage.He absolutely knew of it.Ergo the Directive to OESPA is what Americans like to call a"CYA" (Cover Your As*) move.Abaya merely wanted to make himself invulnerable to prosecution.In fact,1 day before his mandatory retirement later in the year Chief of Staff Abaya's mindset would be made abundantly clear to observers.
Lieutenant General de los Reyes immediately obtained Garcia's SALNs,or"Statement of Assets,Liabilities and Networth),an annual statement to the Government by all AFP officers (and other government personnel) which serves to vet personnel living far above their legitimate income level.Right away glaring anomalies became apparent.As a Major General Garcia's income was roughly P36,000 (~$680)a month,or in annual terms less than P435,000 (~$8,300)a year.When comparing this to the Immigration print out which recorded all inbound and outbound commercial air travel he found that the General and his wife Clarita were spending more than his annual salary just on airline tickets.
Since this was a back door investigation OESPA didn't go for the jugular and apply for BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) records,or search on the family's collective holdings.It was clear that something was really wrong and so Vice Admiral de los Reyes warned Chief of Staff Abaya to take appropriate measures.By the last week of March General Garcia's world began to crack.He was told point blank that there were some concerns and that instead of creating waves they were simply going to give him a lateral transfer from his current position as Deputy Chief of Staff,Comptroller (J6) to Deputy Chief of Staff,Planning (J5).It was a 2 Star (Major General) to 2 Star posting so that Garcia wouldn't be taking a cut in pay,or power,but the word was out,he was on the way down and going fast.
Major General Garcia had held J6 since March 28,2001,almost 3 years to the day and such lateral transfers rarely if ever took place,and never after such a length of time in that it was non-sensical to waste a man's training and familiarity with the position just to move him sideways.That Garcia was being pulled out of J6,which literally controlled the entire military's purse strings bespoke serious concerns related to financial malpractice.All the more so because J5 had the least budget of any Deputy Chief of Staff.The transfer was effective April 4th,ironically just 2 days before Clarita Garcia paid a personal visit to ICE in the US.This visit,on April 5th and 6thwas the source of her famous,semi-retarded Affadavit.Knowing that her husband is being scored over that lousy $100,000 she STILL walked into that office,presented her 4 paged handwritten statement.Then,adding insult to injury she voluntarily agreed to sit down with an ICE agent and spill the beans.
By the Summer of 2004 the US Government began its own serious investigation into the Garcia Family.Trying to couch the inquiry in Politically Correct terms the Americans sold it as a look see at possible Money Laundering violations.To accuse the AFP Comptroller of embezzlement would fall on the wrong side of the very important US-Philippine military and strategical geopolitical alliance.The Arroyo Government was a ready and willing (though never quite able) partner in the new American crusade,the"War on Terror."It therefore behooved the Americans to couch the examination in less than caustic tones.On September 10,2004,David E.Meisner,then servince as the ICE Attache at the Manila Embassy informally briefed the Ombudsman on recent discoveries made in the US with regard to the Garcia family.ICE had uncovered 3 very expencive American properties owned outright by the family.2 of those properties,New York City condominiums were worth a combined $1.4 Million (P7 Million plus).In addition,just scanning currency declarations made by the 5 family members since 1990.Checking the sane Customs Declarations the Garcia brothers had failed to comply with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined that the family had brought well over $500,000 to the US from the Philippines AND IF the Non-Declaration in December of 2003 represented any type of behavioral pattern the family could have easily imported several million US Dollars,all on a single member's salary of $650 (P36,000) a month OR LESS (he had only held J6 for roughly 36 months).
On September 14,2004 Attache Meisner followed standard American diplomatic protocol and formally notified the Philippine Ombudsman that ICE was now formally investigating General Garcia and his family,and that the investigation had thus far uncovered the details I just discussed in my previous paragraph.Meisner noted that these facts represented possible violations of American Money Laundering statutes.Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo conferred with his staff for 2 days and on September 17th formally inplemented a full dress investigation of General Garcia.Marcelo's staff then immediately contacted the AFP to obtain Garcia's AFP service record along with his SALNs (Statements on Assets,Liabilities and Networth)from 1990 onward.The AFP,not suprisingly,was far from co+operative.on September 20th Marcelo had his attorneys subpoena the AFP for the desired records.Now legally required to comply,the AFP turned over the desired materiel the very next day,September 21st.
By September 27th,just 10 days after formally starting his investigation,the Ombudsman issued its findings via a formal reccomendation to AFP Chief of Staff Abaya that Garcia should be placed on 6 months Preventive Suspension,without pay and effective immediately.From this point things began snowballing incredibly fast.IF General Garcia thought he had dodged that bullet he absolutely would have no illusions that things had suddenly and irrevocably changed.Subsequently,on September 28th Garcia was formally placed on 6 Months Preventative Suspension,Without Pay and confined to his official quarters,to begin the following day,September 29,2004.Luckily for Garcia his"quarters"while not posh,were certainly comfortable.Living on JOQ,#22 Gallego in Camp Aguinaldo,it was here that the now disgraced officer would spend his last anti-climatic months as an AFP officer.Having become the first AFP General to endure suspension,and the first serving general to even undergo investigation,things would soon get a lot worse.The Suspension was primarily designed to comtrol Garcia's movements as well as to preserve legal jurisdiction.On November 18th Garcia would turn 56,the age of mandatory retirement in the AFP.At that point Garcia could disappear so it was extremely important to control his movement in the preliminary stages of the case.Likewise,if the AFP failed to suspend him before that date they would lose all legal jurisdiction over him.Suspension kept him in stasis.While AFP Chief of Staff Abaya wished to avoid moving forward in prosecution of Garcia he also recognised the ramifications of failing to appear as if he been vigilant and taken proper steps to legally ajudicate the issues raised.
General Abaya's effort at stonewalling the prosecution hit a brickwall on October 4,2004.That day the columnist Jarius Bondoc of the Manila daily,"Philippine Star"broke the case wide open.Here to fore kept out of the. Public arena Bondoc,relying on a source in the Ombudsman's Office broke the sordid tale in his column,"Gotcha."The revelations were stunning and segueing directly into damage control mode then President Gloria M.Arroyo (GMA) immediately ordered Abaya to go on the offencive and call a Press Conference at General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.At the hastily convened press conference slash media bloodbath Abaya claimed that the AFP was aggressively pursuing not only Garcia but anyone else who might be involved on any level.Abaya had tried,and failed to convince Garcia to personally appear with him,knowing that a failure to produce him would only whet the media-and by relation-the public's appetite for blood.General Abaya had tried his best but Bondoc had beaten him to the punch with a mere 25 days to go before the Chief of Staff was set to retire.
The case naturally catapulted to the forefront of public consciousness and so it became the fodder of the political opposition.Congress hastily convened Hearings on the matter."Inviting"General Garcia to appear before them they set the date for the first hearing for October 11,2004.In a stroke of"bad luck"Garcia was unable to appear.Suffering from various physical maladies the good General had been taken to the University of Santo Tomas Hospital where"concerned"physicians admitted him at once.As the second and then third Hearings transpired without him Garcia was finally released on October 16th and very quickly returned to his quarters at Camp Aguinaldo.Ergo,when the fourth Congressional Hearing took place on October 18th Garcia didn't have any choice but to comply.
The fourth Hearing was remarkable for the number of times Garcia refused to answer even the most innocuous of questions.Citing his Constitutional Right not to incriminate himself no less than 30 times he managed to tee off even the most sympathetic of Congressmen and women.
As Garcia had lain in the hospital Chief of Staff Abaya had been finishing his"CYA"contingency measures.On October 12th Abaya had ordered JAGO (Judge Advocates Office,the military prosecutorial system to initiate a preliminary investigation of Garcia and to supply recommendations to the Chief of Staff as to whether or not the AFP should convene a General Court Martial for the Garcia Case.With what surely must have been an exhausted sigh Chief of Staff General Narciso Abaya turned 56 on October,29,2004 and was put out to pasture.On November 10th his successor General Efren Abreu,having received the JAGO Report from its lead investigator,Lieutenant Colonel Al Parras the day before,formally ruled that a General Court Martial would be convened on charges Garcia violated 2 Articles of War:
1) Article 96:Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and a Gentleman
2) Article 97:Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Military Discipline
Later JAGO would add an additional Article,#95 which dealt with the revelation that Garcia had obtained an American Green Card,making him a Legal Resident of the US (his family also have them).Parras,the Executive Officer of JAGO(2nd in Command) was the Commander of JAGO's"Military Justice Division"had an easy enough job as far as ascertainment of relevant facts but conversely had to exhibit almost superhuman will to buckle down amid the threats and skull popping pressure of bringing down a virtually parallel system within the AFP.Not only had the previous Chief of Staff,General Abaya been dead set against pursuing this case,President Arroyo concurred.Her Executive Secretary Ignacio Buyne had been doing his best to sway public opinion since the story broke on October 4th.Joining him on his bandwagon was Arroyo appointee,Secretary of National Defense,Raul Gonzalez.Gonzalez actually had the gall to strongly suggest that the Garcias were living within their means.As he saw it,the extremely expencive properties could very easily be rationalised as bullish appreciation.Gonzalez remarked how his own condo in Manila had more than quadrupled in price in just 4 years.He said this with a straight face mind you and so the adjective"bullish" is indeed an apt one.Buyne for his rationalisation,portrayed it as a case of the political opposituon trying to besmirch the entire AFP as they dragged President Arroyo into the gutter.
In the end it wasn't the court of public opinion which motivated President Arroyo but rather the perrenial threat of a coup.All Philippine Coups,Attempts and Plots are entirely driven by the AFP.Counter-intuitively the AFP will not muster its foot soldiers to protect scumbags like Garcia.Rather they are primarily driven by earnest young junior officers imbued with integrity and idealism.In July of 2003 the President had nearly fallen in the Oakwood attempt (I have posted in previous AFP entries about all 3 coup attempts against the Arroyo Presidency,this particular plot ended in a negotiated settlement that Arroyo reneged on).Cliques like"RAM"sought to overcome the deeply entrenched corruption of the sort found in the Garcia Case.Though both the President and the bulk of the AFP's senior officers wanted to sweep this unsightly stain underneath the carpet,media scrutiny and the threat of provoking another coup attempt finally swayed President Arroyo into supporting the General Court Martial.
On the prosecutorial end of the Court Martial process JAGO empanelled,in addition to the Presiding Officer,Major General Theodosio,CO of CENCOM (Central Command) General Court Matials have 6 other panellists for a total of 7 members:
1) Major General Pedro Cabuay,then serving as the Commanding Officer (CO) of the 2ID (Infantry Division)
2) Major General Allan Cabalquinto,then the CO of SOLCOM (Southern Luzon Regional Command) but about to be laterally transferred to CO of NCRCOM (National Capitol Region Command)
3) Major General Edwin Vargas,
4) Rear Admiral Abraham Abesamis,AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications,Electronics and Information Systems
5) Major General Jaime Viernes,PAF (Philippine Air Force) Inspector General
6) Colonel Caridad Aguilar,JAGO,serving as Law Member of Panel
Garcia was represented by civilian attorney,Constantino de Jesus though technically de Jesus was relegated to the position of"Advisor"to an appointed panel of 3 defense representatives,all senior officers.
Scheduled to convene on November 16,2004 at 1PM in Courtroom #2,Torres Hall of Justice in Camp Aguinaldo with Major Emmanuel Theodosio presiding.Meanwhile,the Ombudsman had moved forward in his case against Garcia.On October 27th Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo had petitioned the Sandiganbayan for forfeiture of Garcia's ill gotten assets via a Writ of Preliminary Attachment,citing RA (Republic Act) #1379 as his pretext in doing so.Two days later,on October 29th the Sandigbayan granted the Ombudsman's Petition and issued the Writ.So it was on November 2nd,while still confined to his quarters that Garcia learned that the Ombudsman had finally dropped the hammer in what Garcia knew would simply be the first of a great many civil court hearings.
Having gotten the desired Suspension to keep Garcia in stir Marcelo now followed through on 4 charges of Perjury related to SALNs from 1997,1998,1999 and 2000.The charges concern 4 vehicles not listed on those statements as well as just 1 savings accout in AFPSLAI (Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association Incorporated).Filed on October 28th,2004 it wasn't until Novemver 9th that Garcia was arraigned on what must have seemed absolutely trivial matters to him.On the part of the Ombudsman,the charges were filed in order to obtain legal pretext to implement a Bureau of Immigration HDO (Hold Departure Order which bars a subject from legally departing the country and prevents all internationl departures via airtravel).Each charge carried a sentence of 1 month to 6 years and all were bailable in the amount of P6,000 (~$110) per charge.Only bothering to arraign on a single one pf the charges it was given to the 3rd Division of the Sandiganbayan.
In the Philippines the position of Ombudsman works in a symbiotic relationship with the"Sandiganbayan,"or"Protection of the People's Honour,"in a far from literal translation of the Tagalog.Unlike the Ombudsman the Sandiganbayan is an entirely Filipino concept.An early Marcos Era innovation,it is a judicial entity that only deals with government corruption.The Ombudsman serves as the prosecuting entity and initiates investigations as well as charges.In the case of the Garcia Perjury charge,each of the 4 charges was given to a different one of the Sandiganbayan's 4 divisions.
On Nove$ber 17th Garcia filed a Petition with the Supreme Court to nullify the Writ of Preliminary Attachment granted by the Sandiganbayan,arguing jurisdictional issues.The Supre Court was the venue because the Sandiganbayan is parallel to the Court of Appeals.Ergo any real challenge to the Sandiganbayan must be addressed by the higher court.The very next day marked Garcia's 56th birthday and without his mandatory retirement from the AFP.Chief of Staff than had Garcia pulled from Confinement to Quarters and transferred to the brig (military prison) in the basement of IS-AFP (AFP Intelligence Service) elsewhere within Camp Aguinaldo.From his luxurious home (by Philippine standards as well as comparatively speaking) to a basement cell measuring 3 by 4 meters and containing a slab bed and ancient toilet.Interestingly,the AFP's own Chief of Staff seemed entirely ignorant of the Abadilla Doctrine which precludes retirement under pending charges in the Military System of Justice.By the same token Garcia's attorney Constantino de Jesus failed to cite this very simple military principle but then that is incredibly easy to understand since Mr.de Jesus is a civilian.Still,he served his client well by correctly citing the original Order of Detainment by former Chief of Staff Abaya.General Abaya had ordered Garcia to be Confined to Quarters,NOT incarcerated.Ergo Abaya was ordered to remove Garcia from his cell and to find appropriate quarters commensurate with his former Officers Quarters.
I will stop here and save the rest for a subsequent entry which will begin with the Court Martial Proceedings themselves.
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