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Friday, October 15, 2004
Garcia fails anew to show up in House hearing
By Jonathan F. Fernandez and Benjamin B. Pulta
MANILA -- Suspended military official Carlos Garcia did not show up Thursday for the Congress inquiry into his alleged ill-gotten wealth, citing ill health, although the investigation was held in the hospital where he is confined.
The former Armed Forces comptroller's doctor, Ivan Villespin, said his patient, confined in the hospital due to a heart ailment, is still incapable of attending a hearing.
Members of the House defense committee brought their investigation on alleged corruption in the military to the auditorium of the University of Sto. Tomas Medicine Building in the hope that Garcia would show up.
Instead, Garcia, in a letter to the House panel, apologized for not attending two previous hearings and asked the congressmen to hold their inquiry in his room.
Paranaque City Rep. Roilo Golez, chairman of the investigating committee, rejected Garcia's request and instead directed medical officers from the House of Representatives and military to conduct a physical and medical examination on the military general.
Garcia is being investigated for alleged ill-gotten wealth, reportedly amassed during his term as military chief comptroller.
State lawyers have asked the Court of Appeals (CA) the issue a freeze order on all the assets of beleaguered Major General Garcia and his family.
He was also placed in the immigration watchlist upon the request of the US Department of Homeland Security, which started the investigation on Garcia.
Villespin said the general's blood pressure was still unstable that the risk of a heart attack or a stroke is high if Garcia gets pressured.
Government surgeons who carried out their own tests on Garcia upon the order of Golez agreed, saying it was risky for the general to appear in the hearing because of his unstable blood pressure.
They said Garcia still two to three days of complete rest before he can attend the hearing or even be transported from one place to another.
There is also a need to monitor regularly Garcia's health condition, they added.
This softened the position of some members of the panel.
"Although we want the truth to come out, we still have to consider the serious condition of Garcia," said Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo.
Quezon City Rep. Bingbong Crisologo asked Golez to allow Garcia to recover completely from his illness before obliging him to attend the hearing, an appeal echoed by other members of the committee.
Golez relented but he said the Armed Forces should present Garcia before the panel after three days.
He told acting Armed Forces Chief of Staff Ariston delos Reyes to transfer Garcia to any government hospital and failure to do so will force the panel to cite him in contempt.
Golez said in the next hearing, Garcia could bring with him his personal doctor.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (Amlac), through Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo, asked the appellate court to freeze the 40 known bank accounts of Garcia, his wife Clarita, and his sons Ian Carl, Juan Paolo and Timothy Mark.
In the same plea, the council likewise asked the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to prevent the disposition of eight vehicles registered in the names of sons Ian and Carlos and Clarita.
The peso and dollar bank accounts sought to be frozen are at the Greenhills and Camp Aguinaldo branches of the Land Bank of the Philippines totaling eight accounts; Allied Banking Corporation totaling 13 accounts--12 of which were either lone or joint accounts in the name of the general's wife.
Likewise sought to be frozen are four accounts at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Savings and Loan Association Inc., with two each under the name of the general and his wife.
The Amlac also asked the CA to freeze a lone account at the Banco de Oro Universal Bank under the name of the wife and two of the sons, three dollar accounts at the Bank of the Philippine Islands, eight accounts at the United Coconut Planters Bank and six accounts at the Planters Development Bank.
Of the vehicles, three -- a 1995 Toyota truck bus (CSK-605), a 1995 Isuzu Elf truck (CNY 179) and a 2003 Honda CRV (FFH 275) -- were registered under the name Ian Carl.
The truck and bus were registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Office while the Honda was registered in the Ilo-Ilo office of the LTO.
Five other vehicles--a 1997 Honda Civic (FEC 134), a 1997 Mitsubishi L-300 (FDZ-582), a 2001 Toyota Rav 4 (FEV 498), a 1998 Toyota Hilux (WRY 843) and a 1983 Toyota (PEV 665)--were registered under the names of the general and his wife name with the Iloilo City, Guimaras, Quezon City and La Loma branches of the LTO, respectively.
The freeze order application was applied in accordance with a letter addressed to the council from the Office of the Ombudsman last October, which is investigating the major general for possible violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The case first arose after Garcia's sons, Ian Carl and Juan Paolo, were investigated by the US Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement for failing to declare US$100,000 in cash which they tried to bring to the US inside ten envelopes stuck in their jackets and shoes.
The Garcias had admitted that the funds were to be used for the payment of a condominium unit at the upscale Trump Park Avenue in 502 Park Avenue, New York, which they bought for US$765,000 (P42.84 million) in March of this year.
Subsequent investigation showed that at the time of the purchase from last January to March, the Garcias remitted more than US$886,957 in three tranches of US$357,435 last January 29; US$265,695 last February 3; and US$263,829 last February 20.
The council, in its plea, said a comparison of the net worth of Garcia as declared in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SAL) for 2003 in the amount of P1.253 million as against the amounts that he and his family transacted from 2003 and 2004, which is approximately P185 million "would show a blatant discrepancy".
"The only conclusion that can be reached by mere mathematical calculation is the fact that he has approximately P185.53 million at his disposal, an amount way beyond his legitimate salaries and allowances as an AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) general and other legitimate earnings, if any, from other sources and unreported and undeclared as income," the council said in its plea.
"Assuming that indeed he was given allowances and honoraria, as declared by his wife for his travels and scholarships, by no stretch of imagination could such explanation suffice to justify the huge difference between his declared net worth and the amount of money and properties found in his and his family's possession and ownership."
The council noted that the family's corporation, JT Ktamnan Inc., showed losses of P1.29 million.
At the Senate, Senators Edgardo Angara and Ralph Recto said Garcia should first prove that he is the least guilty of graft and corruption before he is made a state witness.
Both senators stressed that the prosecutor in-charge should study the possibility of making Garcia a state witness.
"If I were the prosecutor, I would make him a state witness on the condition that he would make a full disclosure of other officials involved in the corruption in the AFP," Angara said.
But the senator stressed that making him a state witness doesn't mean that he is already off the hook. He said the charges against Garcia could be lessened.
Recto, on the other hand, said there is nothing wrong with Garcia becoming a state witness.
"If he is the least guilty, why not? It is the matter for the proper court to decide," he said. (With a report from JPM)
(October 15, 2004 issue)
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