THE Sandiganbayan Second Division has convicted former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller Carlos F. Garcia of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering and sentenced him to eight years and two months to 14 years imprisonment with fines totaling P407.8 million.
The decision came 12 years after Garcia pleaded guilty to both offenses as part of the plea bargain agreement he signed with the Office of the Special Prosecutor and submitted to the anti-graft court on March 16, 2010.
Associate Justice and Second Division chairperson Oscar C. Herrera Jr. penned the eight-page ruling with Associate Justices Michael Frederick L. Musngi and Arthur O. Malabaguio concurring.
Under the 2010 agreement, Garcia offered to surrender assets totaling P135,433,387.84, well below the P303.27 million ill-gotten wealth that government prosecutors claimed he amassed while in active military service.
He also asked that his wife Clarita and sons Ian Carl, Juan Paulo, and Timothy Mark be dropped as defendants in the plunder charge.
In return, Garcia was allowed to plead guilty to lesser offenses in lieu of standing trial for the capital offense of plunder and violation of RA 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
While the Sandiganbayan approved the plea bargain deal on May 9, 2011 and again on appeal on April 10, 2013, the former military general remained in detention after the rulings were challenged by the government represented by the Office of the Solicitor General before the Supreme Court.
In a decision promulgated on September 16, 2020, the SC dismissed the petition for certiorari affirming the validity of the plea bargain agreement between the defendant and the prosecution as well as the judicial discretion of the court to approve it.
This SC ruling became final and executory on July 15, 2021 and the Sandiganbayan was notified of the Entry of Judgment on May 13, 2022.
For the crime of direct bribery punishable under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code, Garcia was sentenced to four years and two months to eight years imprisonment and fined P406,300,162 which is “three times the total value of gifts received as per plea-bargaining agreement.”
For the crime of violation of RA 9160 or facilitating money laundering, he was meted four to six years imprisonment with a P1.5 million fine.
