It has been a rough year for the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines. First it had to deal with retired Major General Carlos Garcia and the never ending fallout resulting from his queer plea bargain with the Ombudsman's Office. That sweet deal sank a good dozen high profile careers and has cost at lease one man his life, former AFP Chief of Staff and Secretary of National Defense Angelo Reyes who offed himself with a pistol in his mouth while visiting his mother's grave. As that macabre soap opera presented itself it became clear that every AFP Chief of Staff had commited embezzlement on the grandest of scales. This was not news to most, especially men in the field who have seen their best friends lose life and limb over shoddy training and even shoddier hardware just so the brass on Manila could buy an extra Gucci bag for a favoured mistress.
Garcia ended up in the slammer after all, albeit merely serving a sentence of 2 years Hard Labor for his Court Martial conviction in 2005. After that December 2nd, 2005 conviction, former President Gloria M.Arroyo sat on it for the remaining four years of her term. As the Commander in Chief of the AFP the President must sign off on all such convictions. Perhaps President Love Dwarf didn't want to stir up any hornets' nest given the propencity of old Miguel, her husband, to pile away public money. Garcia's 2005 conviction, for Articles 96 and 97 of the Articles of War weren't directly related to his raping of the Military's bank accounts. Article 97 is "Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Military Discipline," and related to an American "Green Card" that Garcia gained while serving in the AFP. Green Cards, or Residency Permits are a big no no in a country that only began allowing dual citizenship two years ago. The second conviction, Count 96, "Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer" relates to Garcia's failure to fully disclose his financial assets on two years worth of his SALNs. SALNs, or Statements on Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, are required for all Government personnel and are meant as a check and balance to inhibit the kind of nonsense Garcia got involved with.
In case anyone is unaware, Garcia is a former AFP Comptroller who squirreled away at least P303 Million ($6,250,000). In 2003 two of his three sons, Ian Carl and Juan Carlos, got a bit too greedy. Upon landing in San Francisco, California in the US, they were found to have violated US Laws by not declaring cash in excess of the $10,000 permitted by law. That would have been nothing to worry about, even with their stupidly stuffing $100,000 into a carry on bag,IF their mother, Major General Garcia's wife, Clarita, hadn't been so arrogant and oh so stupid.
As I noted in my Third Quarter of 2010 entries on the scandal, she approached US Customs bragging about her husband's position in the AFP. Seeing as how the AFP depends on American largesse, the American Government was more than a bit concerned and notified the Philippine Government. To make a long story short Garcia ended up on trial for Plunder, a charge that earns one a Life sentence now that the death penalty has been abolished. Although Garcia is the highest ranking AFP officer to ever go to trial nobody was really paying attention until he somehow got the Ombudsman to agree to a plea bargain that allowed him to walk out of jail with time served. That same day, December 16th, 2010, Garcia posted P60,000 ($1,100) and walked out of the courtroom a free man. Of course a whole lot of money changed hands but for whatever reason President Aquino decided to grind an axe and tried unsuccessfully stop the plea bargain.
Although the plea bargain was unassailable the issue ended up costing the Ombudsman, Mercedita Gutierrez, her career, and when (Retired) Lieutenant Colonel Geoirge "Snitch' Rabus atestified in front of a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, ended up, as I noted above, costing Angelo Reyes his life. Rabisa was. The budget chieF within J6, the Assistant Chief of D
Meanwhile, our hero, Major General Carlos Garcia got to enjoy life. On September 9th, 2011 President Aquino finly signed off on the Court Martial. At 830AM on Friday, September 16th, 2011, Colonel Herbert Yambing of the Provost Marshal General joined by the Quezon City City Police Office arrested Garcia at his Quezon City home. Lodged into the ISAFP (AFP Intelligence Service) Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo for processing, which included dishonorably discharging him from the AFP, he was then transported to Muntinlupa City and handed over to New Bilibid Prison for the requisite 5 day quarantine that all prisoners endure at the prison hospital.
On September 21st, his quarantine period finished, Garcia joined other new inmates in the prison's Reception and Diagnostic Center for another 55 fun filled days of waiting around nervously for their release into General Population. Not suprisingly Garcia found himself getting nervous and so his chronic hypertension began acting up. Because of Garcia's extremely high profile his warders rushed him back to the prison hospital. The powers that be then decided to cut his 55 days short and transfer Garcia to Building 11B on September 22nd. Building 11!, in the prison's Maximum Security Compound, is the building housing ex-AFP and PNP (Philippine National Police), a protective custody of sorts. Since Garcia would have ended up there anyway it made the most sense sinc the hospital also sits in that same compound.
Those two years will go very slowly for a man accustomed to doing what he wants. I hope Garcia feels every second of it.
Meanwhile, back in America, Clarita and her two semi-retarded sons are each out on $1 Million (P50 Million) bail for the little "discrepancy." It usually is dealt with the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, but because of the political implications they arrested all three and held them without bail. In November of 2010 they were sentenced to time served plus two years probation. In addition ruined a third son's life to boot. Having just landed a dream job his world came caving in thanks to those two elder brothers. The Philippines is trying to extradite the two elder sons and Clarita but naturally they are fighting it tooth and nail. Complicating matters, all except Carlos had acquired US citzenship and so they, like any scurrilous American, now has the right to rob American taxpayers just as they robbed Filipino taxpayers. Let's hear it for Equal Opportunity Arrogance and Dishonesty!
Showing posts with label AFP Corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AFP Corruption. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Developments within the Military, Second Quarter of 2011, Part I: Balikatan 2011, Shuffle in the 6ID, and Another High Ranking Officer Takes a Hit
Balikatan, or "Shoulder to Shoulder," is the annual joint American and Philippine military exercise that is supposed to increase inter-operability between the allied militaries of both these nations but instead merely serves as a flexing of muscles to remind anyone paying attention that while the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, might be a joke in terms of accumen, equipment and even elan, it still is not to be trifled with. The exercise was designed as a way in which to foster closer ties after the rank nationalism of the immediate post-Marcos Era got out of hand and ended up shuttering all US installations in the country by the end of 1991. Why do I say "out of hand?" How many spoiled university students or whining Party List Congressmen did we see whining about the VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) when China threatened to knock the Philippines' collective teeth out over the Spratlys this quarter? The cans of paint, childish placards, and broxen down soap boxes stayed put as the Philippines gave a heaving sigh of relief over Tato Sammy's bulging biceps. Indeed, the base closings were used as the main rationale for the implementation of Balikatan which began that same year, 1991. Obstensibly the selling point was the "fufillment" of bilateral obligations relating to the MDT, or Mutual Defense Treaty, signed in the early 1950s.
This year's exercise was to be the biggest ever, a massive undertaking with a Combat War Game employing nearly 14,000 personnel combined but had a huge wrench thrown into it when Japan suffered the brunt of a tsunami that nearly sent a nuclear reactor into melt down. The US has a huge ideological investment in Japan, Okinawa is vital to PACOM (US Pacific Command), and so the Pentagon quickly shifted the bulk of assets earmarked for the 27th Balikatan and instead considered scrubbing the entire endeavour. In the end the US decided to engage in an abbreviated exercise rather than allow the Philippine Opposition to build momentum in its perrenial effort to trash the VFA, as well as other forms of bilateral co-operation.
The exercise began on April 5th, 2011 but in reality it is an ongoing thing that always involves US personnel stationed in the Philippines. The Balikatan 2010 exercise ended on March 19th, 2010. At that point personnel remained, with additional manpower arriving as needed for the joint analysis as well as the massive amount of logistics that takes place both before and after. By the end of the summer the job is about done, just in time for September when the Advance Team for the next year's exercise arrives. They are tasked with pinpointing geographical locations for various exercises and initiatives, the usual Hearts and Minds Civic Operations, VETCAPS, MADCAPS, and Engineering. Then, three months before commencement logistics personnel return to handle contracting. For Balikatan 2011 more than 500 contracts were issued in just 60 days. Everything from housing to soft drinks is contracted out, a boon to the local economy but madness to administer.
As for the actual exercise this year, the theme was Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction. Among more notable aspects, the Americans' 45th Sustainment Brigade, based in Hawaii deployed its 303rd EOD (Explosives and Ordnance Detachment) 706th Company to liason and train with AFP EODs. Beginning April 8th at Fort Magsaysay in Tarlac, opened the module by briefing their AFP counterparts with war porn (stories from the field) from Afghanistan and Iraq with an emphasis on VBIEDs (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, an IED being a bomb, a VBIED basically being a car or truck bomb). The next day, April 9th the Americans rigged a truck with an IED, detonated it and then had the AFP EOD go in for an immediate retrieval and then a post-blast analysis.
On April 10th they shifted gears with the Americans introducing their AFP counterparts to Talen Robotic Retrieval. A Talen is a tracked robot ( "tracked" as in it not having wheels but instead rubberised treads like a bulldozer or tank). The Talen has a claw, a storage compartment and cameras. The claw is used via remote operation to grab an IED, place it in the storage box and then transported to a safer location. The AFP rigged 3 houses with penalty devices, electronic sensors that emit a tone if mishandled so as to simulate an inadvertant detonation. The final exercise had personel suiting up to personally enter a building and retrieve a penalty device.
The US contingent was led by Lieutenant General Francis J.Wiercinski, counterpart to the AFP's Rear Admiral Emmanuel Victor Martir, and together the two oversaw the construction of 10 classrooms in 5 buildings in Zambales and Tarlac Provinces on Luzon before Balikatan 2011 ended on April 15th.
6ID (Infantry Division) CO (Commanding Officer) Major General Anthony Alcantara was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFP effective May 3rd, 2011. He is replacing Major General Emmanuel Bautista who merely kept the seat warm as OIC (Officer in Charge, as in Temporarily Assigned) but who now takes a bump down to lead the 3ID, with that kind of/sort of demotion being retroactively effected as of May 4th. Maj.Gen.Alcantara is a member of PMA 79 (Philippine Military Academy, Class of 1979) and assumed command on November 27th, 2009. The 6ID, aside from being one of four IDs on Mindanao happens to be the outfit with Operational Control over Maguindanao Province, ergo his assumption of Command came just after the Maguindanao Massacre, at the event's ground zero.
Replacing Alcantara is Brigadier General Rey Cabahug Ardo, heretofore the CO of the 103rd Brigade, the 1ID's heaviest hitting brigade, based in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur Province. Concurrently Ardo Chaired the GPH (Government of the Philippines) CCCH (Co-ordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities), the entity that together with its MILF counterpart does its best to try and preserve the GPH-MILF Ceasefire. Replacing Ardo on the CCCH is Brigadier General Ariel Bernardo who assumes that position after serving as Alcantara's EXO, or Executive Officer, the number two position in the 6ID.
Alcantara had been CO of TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command) though he has a resume studded with Field Commands in Central Luzon as well as the PEB (Presidential Escorts Battalion), a key Command of the PSG (Presidential Security Group) and so, when then President Arroyo needed an absolutely trustworthy officer to mop up all that blood and residual stink left by the Ampatuan Clan, she turned to Alcantara . Unfortunately for Alcantara this career-making deployment came at the tail end of the Arroyo Presidency and so his days were numbered. All things considered, though it took one extra rotation, he still ended up with a nice promotion.
AFP Deputy Chairman of Logistics, J4, Commodore Teddy Pan, scheduled to retire on July 17th, 2011 took a dive on April 4th, 2011 when he was summarily relieved of Command in the face of a widening probe that grew out of the corruption nightmare that itself evolved out of the plea bargain brouhaha of former Major General Carlos F.Garcia, an ex-Comptroller. In Commodore Pan's private hell, it seems he reported a lubricant consumption of P400 Million for the first quarter of 2011. Actually, it was only for January 1st through March 15th which makes it two weeks short of the entire quarter which makes it even more appalling. The usual number hovers around P150 Million.
Commodore Pan probably won't be forced to fall on his own sword though, he has retained the full support of the powers that be and will probably have the issue fade into obscurity this summer, shortly after his 56th birthday and mandatory retirement. Meanwhile, he has had to deal with the aggravation of a three man investigatory team composed of the AFP JAG (Judge Advocate General), Brigadier General Gilberto Roa, AFP Internal Auditor, Major General Rolito Abad and AFP Provost Marshal General, Colonel Herbert Yambing who were empanelled by Chief of Staff Oban. General Oban, who assumed Command on March 8th, 2011 had the case dumped in his lap by predecessor Chief of Staff Ricardo David Jr.
Interestingly, Director Eduardo Batac, Spokesperson of the Department of National Defense says there was no such discrepancy. Batac maintains that in fact the first quarter allocation was merely P108 Million. Of that, only P80 Million was distributed leaving a deficit of P28 Million in Commodore Pan's favour.
This year's exercise was to be the biggest ever, a massive undertaking with a Combat War Game employing nearly 14,000 personnel combined but had a huge wrench thrown into it when Japan suffered the brunt of a tsunami that nearly sent a nuclear reactor into melt down. The US has a huge ideological investment in Japan, Okinawa is vital to PACOM (US Pacific Command), and so the Pentagon quickly shifted the bulk of assets earmarked for the 27th Balikatan and instead considered scrubbing the entire endeavour. In the end the US decided to engage in an abbreviated exercise rather than allow the Philippine Opposition to build momentum in its perrenial effort to trash the VFA, as well as other forms of bilateral co-operation.
The exercise began on April 5th, 2011 but in reality it is an ongoing thing that always involves US personnel stationed in the Philippines. The Balikatan 2010 exercise ended on March 19th, 2010. At that point personnel remained, with additional manpower arriving as needed for the joint analysis as well as the massive amount of logistics that takes place both before and after. By the end of the summer the job is about done, just in time for September when the Advance Team for the next year's exercise arrives. They are tasked with pinpointing geographical locations for various exercises and initiatives, the usual Hearts and Minds Civic Operations, VETCAPS, MADCAPS, and Engineering. Then, three months before commencement logistics personnel return to handle contracting. For Balikatan 2011 more than 500 contracts were issued in just 60 days. Everything from housing to soft drinks is contracted out, a boon to the local economy but madness to administer.
As for the actual exercise this year, the theme was Post-Conflict Recovery and Reconstruction. Among more notable aspects, the Americans' 45th Sustainment Brigade, based in Hawaii deployed its 303rd EOD (Explosives and Ordnance Detachment) 706th Company to liason and train with AFP EODs. Beginning April 8th at Fort Magsaysay in Tarlac, opened the module by briefing their AFP counterparts with war porn (stories from the field) from Afghanistan and Iraq with an emphasis on VBIEDs (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices, an IED being a bomb, a VBIED basically being a car or truck bomb). The next day, April 9th the Americans rigged a truck with an IED, detonated it and then had the AFP EOD go in for an immediate retrieval and then a post-blast analysis.
On April 10th they shifted gears with the Americans introducing their AFP counterparts to Talen Robotic Retrieval. A Talen is a tracked robot ( "tracked" as in it not having wheels but instead rubberised treads like a bulldozer or tank). The Talen has a claw, a storage compartment and cameras. The claw is used via remote operation to grab an IED, place it in the storage box and then transported to a safer location. The AFP rigged 3 houses with penalty devices, electronic sensors that emit a tone if mishandled so as to simulate an inadvertant detonation. The final exercise had personel suiting up to personally enter a building and retrieve a penalty device.
The US contingent was led by Lieutenant General Francis J.Wiercinski, counterpart to the AFP's Rear Admiral Emmanuel Victor Martir, and together the two oversaw the construction of 10 classrooms in 5 buildings in Zambales and Tarlac Provinces on Luzon before Balikatan 2011 ended on April 15th.
6ID (Infantry Division) CO (Commanding Officer) Major General Anthony Alcantara was promoted to Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFP effective May 3rd, 2011. He is replacing Major General Emmanuel Bautista who merely kept the seat warm as OIC (Officer in Charge, as in Temporarily Assigned) but who now takes a bump down to lead the 3ID, with that kind of/sort of demotion being retroactively effected as of May 4th. Maj.Gen.Alcantara is a member of PMA 79 (Philippine Military Academy, Class of 1979) and assumed command on November 27th, 2009. The 6ID, aside from being one of four IDs on Mindanao happens to be the outfit with Operational Control over Maguindanao Province, ergo his assumption of Command came just after the Maguindanao Massacre, at the event's ground zero.
Replacing Alcantara is Brigadier General Rey Cabahug Ardo, heretofore the CO of the 103rd Brigade, the 1ID's heaviest hitting brigade, based in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur Province. Concurrently Ardo Chaired the GPH (Government of the Philippines) CCCH (Co-ordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities), the entity that together with its MILF counterpart does its best to try and preserve the GPH-MILF Ceasefire. Replacing Ardo on the CCCH is Brigadier General Ariel Bernardo who assumes that position after serving as Alcantara's EXO, or Executive Officer, the number two position in the 6ID.
Alcantara had been CO of TRADOC (Training and Doctrine Command) though he has a resume studded with Field Commands in Central Luzon as well as the PEB (Presidential Escorts Battalion), a key Command of the PSG (Presidential Security Group) and so, when then President Arroyo needed an absolutely trustworthy officer to mop up all that blood and residual stink left by the Ampatuan Clan, she turned to Alcantara . Unfortunately for Alcantara this career-making deployment came at the tail end of the Arroyo Presidency and so his days were numbered. All things considered, though it took one extra rotation, he still ended up with a nice promotion.
AFP Deputy Chairman of Logistics, J4, Commodore Teddy Pan, scheduled to retire on July 17th, 2011 took a dive on April 4th, 2011 when he was summarily relieved of Command in the face of a widening probe that grew out of the corruption nightmare that itself evolved out of the plea bargain brouhaha of former Major General Carlos F.Garcia, an ex-Comptroller. In Commodore Pan's private hell, it seems he reported a lubricant consumption of P400 Million for the first quarter of 2011. Actually, it was only for January 1st through March 15th which makes it two weeks short of the entire quarter which makes it even more appalling. The usual number hovers around P150 Million.
Commodore Pan probably won't be forced to fall on his own sword though, he has retained the full support of the powers that be and will probably have the issue fade into obscurity this summer, shortly after his 56th birthday and mandatory retirement. Meanwhile, he has had to deal with the aggravation of a three man investigatory team composed of the AFP JAG (Judge Advocate General), Brigadier General Gilberto Roa, AFP Internal Auditor, Major General Rolito Abad and AFP Provost Marshal General, Colonel Herbert Yambing who were empanelled by Chief of Staff Oban. General Oban, who assumed Command on March 8th, 2011 had the case dumped in his lap by predecessor Chief of Staff Ricardo David Jr.
Interestingly, Director Eduardo Batac, Spokesperson of the Department of National Defense says there was no such discrepancy. Batac maintains that in fact the first quarter allocation was merely P108 Million. Of that, only P80 Million was distributed leaving a deficit of P28 Million in Commodore Pan's favour.
Friday, May 13, 2011
The Sad and Disgraceful Case of Major General Carlos F.Garcia
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.
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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