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Monday, October 18, 2004
Arroyo keeps hands off probe on Garcia, military
MANILA -- A ranking military official being investigated for massive graft was placed in custody at military headquarters Sunday and will be made to face a congressional inquiry.
Major General Carlos Garcia was transferred from a private hospital where he has been undergoing treatment for hypertension to the military's Camp Aguinaldo in suburban Quezon City, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lucero said.
Garcia was suspended last week for allegedly amassing unexplained wealth during his tenure as the military's finance officer.
Garcia failed to show up at a Congressional inquiry into alleged corruption in the military after he was hospitalized due to hypertension.
President Arroyo is keeping her hands off Congress's investigation on alleged irregularities involving ranking officials of the military, said her spokesman Ignacio Bunye.
Arroyo, he said, will simply monitor and wait for the results of the inquiry. She nevertheless believes that the military is already doing something to cleanse its ranks of "bad eggs".
Bunye said President Arroyo respects the prerogative of the House to hold its own investigation on the case of Garcia.
Arroyo last week ordered court martial proceedings for Garcia, the highest-ranking military official in recent history to be placed under investigation for graft.
Military spokesman Lucero was moved to military barracks early Sunday upon the orders of General Narciso Abaya, Armed Forces chief, who will also appear before the inquiry on Monday.
"This only shows decisiveness on the part of the military to show the public we are not hiding him," Lucero said over local radio. "We are not protecting him and he has to answer all the allegations against him."
Bunye said Arroyo has nothing against the move of the House to invite Abaya and other military officials to the inquiry to ferret out the truth about alleged corruption in the military.
"The Palace respects the prerogative of the House to conduct its investigation. This issue should be dealt with full transparency. We leave this to the sound discretion of the House as to where and how it will proceed with its investigation," Bunye.
Garcia's case has boosted public concerns about corruption within the military, just a year after Arroyo crushed a rebellion by 300 junior officers and enlisted men who accused their generals of enriching themselves.
In Monday's House hearing, Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, chairman of the House committee on defense, said they expect Abaya to explain how Garcia, who used to be military finance chief, managed to accumulate huge amounts of unexplained wealth without the military chief's knowledge.
The University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Hospital released Garcia before dawn Sunday and he was immediately transferred to his quarters inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Bunye, reacting to reports that some Commission on Audit (COA) officials may be in cahoots with erring military officials, said, "the act of a few rotten eggs should not spoil the whole institution."
"Let me state that there are many more AFP officers who are upright and living according to the code of conduct of the military and these so-called 'bad eggs' are just few. But it's always best to come out with an investigation, an honest to goodness investigation and give substance to the principle of transparency for all public officials," Bunye said.
Analysts have said that unless Arroyo weeds out corruption within the force, it could lead to more coup attempts by disgruntled soldiers.
Accusations of massive graft also triggered uprisings that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and president Joseph Estrada in 2001. (JMR/AFP)
(October 18, 2004 issue)
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