Tag: Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia

Palace suspends for 90 days Garcia plea bargain ‘architect’

Published by Ellen on June 15, 2011

One by one, they fell.

First it was Deputy Ombudsman Emilio Gonzales who was fired. Then Deputy Ombudsman Luzon Mark Jalandoni, who resigned. Then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez who also resigned. Now, Wendell Barreras-Sulit suspended.

By Jocelyn Montemayor and Peter Tabingo
Malaya

Special Prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit has been charged by Malacañang with graft and betrayal of public trust and suspended for 90 days in connection with the plea bargain agreement the Ombudsman forged with former military comptroller Maj. Gen. (ret.) Carlos Garcia who was accused of amassing some P303 million while in the service.

A two-page formal charge sheet signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. Tuesday said the three-month preventive suspension aims to ensure there will be no tampering with evidence and interference in the investigation.

He said the suspension would start upon Sulit’s receipt of the formal notice.

Sulit could not be reached for comment. But according to sources, she received the suspension order yesterday.

The sources said Sulit scribbled a marginal note on the order, which read, “received under protest subject to outcome of my petition in the Supreme Court and in view of the pendency thereof.”

She signed the order, signifying she was properly served.

Naplantsa na ni Merci bago nag-resign

Published by Ellen on May 10, 2011

Nakakagalit ngunit hindi naman masyadong nakakagulat ang desisyun ng Sandiganbayan na aprubahan ang plea bargain agreement ng Ombudsman at ni dating Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia.

Matagal na itong plantsado ni dating Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. Kaya nga noong Marso, nang pina-follow up noon ni Sen. Franklin Drilon kay Gutierrez sa imbestigasyon ng Senado ang kanyang sianbing ipahinto o bawiin ang plea bargain agreement kay Garcia, sinabi niya na pinag-aaralan pa nila. Mag-isang buwan na pag-aaral na yun at marami nang naibulgar si Col. George Rabusa. Talagang gusto talagang palayain si Garcia. At siyempre, nanggaling sa mas mataas ang kuntsabahan.

May nagsabi sa akin na isang mataas na opisyal sa administrasyun ni Gloria Arroyo ang lumalakad sa Sandiganbayan ng kaso ni Garcia. Ang usap-usapan kasi, malaking pera galing sa budget ng military ang napunta sa kampanya ni Arroyo noong 2004.

Walang katapusang pag-aaral

Published by Ellen on March 5, 2011

Tinanong ni Sen. Franklin Drilon at Sen. Jinggoy Estrada ang representative ng Ombudsman sa hearing ng Blue Ribbon Committee na nagi-imbestiga ngayon ng plea bargain agreement kay dating military comptroller Carlos Garcia kung ano na ang nangyari sa kanilang pangako ng bawiin o ipahinto sa Sandiganbayan ang kontrobersyal na kasunduan.

Sagot ng kinatawan ng Ombudsman, “pinag-aaralan pa.”

Hindi ko nakuha ang pangalan ng Ombudsman dahil nagbrownout sa amin at lumipat ako sa radyo. Medyo inis ang dalawang senador dahil mag-iisang buwan na mula ng nangako sila na pag-aaralan ang pagbawi ng plea bargain agreement halatang namang talong-talo ang mamamayang Pilipino. Biruin mo sa P303 milyon na nahuling nakaw na yaman ni Garcia, pumayag ang Ombudsman na P135 lang ang ibalik. Pwedeng nang itago ni Garcia ang P168 milyon.

Arroyo should be nervous as search for truth continues

Published by Ellen on February 15, 2011

There’s a saying in Tagalog “umiikot ang puwit” which means jittery; feeling uneasy and nervous.

The decision of the Supreme Court allowing the House of Representatives to proceed with the impeachment proceeding against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez should make not only Gutierrez nervous but her patrons, the former occupants of Malacañang.

The Supreme Court justices are supposed not to be influenced by public opinion but they would not be human not to be affected by the public outrage over the plea bargain agreement entered into by the Ombudsman with former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia.

The unnamed powerful man behind Maj.Gen. Carlos Garcia

Published by Ellen on February 10, 2011

The mysterious powerful man behind Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia is once again mentioned in the news following the outburst of retired Commodore Rex Robles after the suicide of former Armed Forces Chief Angelo Reyes.

Robles, who belongs to Philippine Military Class ’65 said his closeness to Reyes goes back to PMA days because he was the yearling, the academy lingo for mentor, of Reyes who was in Class ’66.

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday said investigations into alleged diversion and conversion of the military budget might lead to Malacañang during the administration of former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
“Masyadong malaki yung perang involved na imposibleng nasa level lang ni late General (Angelo) Reyes…sa Malacañang lang nagre-release ng ganung level,” Trillanes said.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/feb11/news2.html

The following version of that controversy which has now involved Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV , PMA Class ’95, is the result of my interviews with Robles, Trillanes and talk with other sources even before the Ombudsman entered into a plea bargain agreement with Garcia, the subject of the congressional investigation which has led to more revelations of corruption in the military.

Palpak UAVs, and more exploded in Senate hearing

Published by Ellen on February 3, 2011

Miriam Santiago and George Rabusa — Where have you been all these years? Miriam asks Rabusa during last Thursday's Senate hearing. Photo from Malaya.

The AFP, under Chief of Staff Roy Cimatu, bought unmanned aerial vehicles to be used against the Abu Sayyaf for $2 million based only on a board room presentation without bidding and canvassing. “Nagbagsakan yun. Hindi po nagamit. I don’t know how long. Palpak, nagbagsakan,Rabusa said.

Sabi nga namin,na 1-2-3 tayo. We had no more contact with the Israeli company,” he added.

Following is David Dizon’s report at ABS-CBNNEWS online:

Diversions of soldiers’ salaries and United Nations funds, multi-million cash gifts to military chiefs of staffs, and illegal military contracts were just some of the bombshells revealed during Thursday’s resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on military corruption.

Under pressure from senators, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez reluctantly said her office would file a manifestation with the Sandiganbayan seeking to defer action on its plea bargain agreement with former military comptroller Carlos Garcia in light of testimonies of new witnesses that could bolster the plunder case originally filed against Garcia.
http://www.malaya.com.ph/feb04/news1.html
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/212155/ombudsman-to-file-manifestation-on-recommendation-to-withdraw-plea-bargain-deal

Former military budget officer George Rabusa, aided by his former staff Lt. Col. Ramon Antonio “Sonny” Lim, said former military chiefs Diomedio Villanueva, Roy Cimatu and Angelo Reyes received “pabaon” (send-off money) upon their retirements from active service.

Villanueva allegedly received the largest “pabaon” of P164 million, followed by Cimatu with P80 million and Reyes with P50 million.

Garcia’s letter

Published by Ellen on January 30, 2011

I don’t know if retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia will confirm this if asked in a Senate hearing but I learned that when he was in detention, he wrote a letter addressed to three persons detailing his version of the multi-million (even billion) mess in the military that he was embroiled in.

The letters, I learned, were placed in the safekeeping of those three persons with the instruction that in case something happens to him, the contents of the letter would be divulged.

This should give sleepless nights to all those involved in grand theft of the money intended for the soldiers, who lay down their lives, for the country’s peace, stability and security and for the upgrading of military equipment, that have become a laughing stock in the region.

Naisalba ni Rabusa ang konsyensa at kaluluwa

Published by Ellen on January 29, 2011

Sa Senate hearing noong Huwebes, tinanong ni dating chief of staff ng Armed Forces of the Philippines Angelo Reyes si dating military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa,”During the time that I was chief of staff, if I became greedy?” (Noong panahon na ako ang chief of staff, naging gahaman ba ako?

Ang talagang tumbok nang tanong ni Reyes ay kung siya ay naging madamot at sinusulo lang ang pera.
Sinupalpal siya ni Sen. Jinggoy Estrada: “Hindi isyu kung ikaw ay gahaman. Ang isyu ay kung ikaw ay corrupt na hepe ng Armed Forces. Anong paki-alam namin kung ikaw ay galante?”

Shocked talaga si Reyes sa paglitaw ni Rabusa na iba na ang tuno ng kinakanta. Kasama na dito si Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, dating military comptroller na ang kanyang ma-eskandalong plea bargain agreement sa Ombudsman, ang ini-imbistiga ng Senado at House of Representatives. Pati na rin siguro si retired Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot, dating military comptroller din katulad ni Garcia at Rabusa ay inakusahan ng pandarambong sa pamagitan ng paggamit ng pera na para sa mga sundalo para sa kanilang pansariling kapakanan.

Hindi na sana nag-iisa si Heidi

Published by Ellen on January 25, 2011

Nagulat ang marami sa pinakita ni Heidi Mendoza na P200 milyon na tsekeng pinirmahan ni dating Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia at sa kanyang kuwento kung paano pinaikot-ikot ng dating military comptroller ang pera hanggang naglaho na.

Si Mendoza ang government auditor na ang-imbestiga ng kaso ni Garcia na kinasuhan noong 2004 ng plunder o pandarambong sa halagang P303 milyon na pera para sa military.

Sa totoo lang noon pa yun nilabas ni Heidi nang siya ay tumestigo sa hearing ng kaso ni Garcia. Siya lang ang dumiin kay Garcia. Sabi niya 16 na beses siya tinawag ng korte. Nandyan na yung nililito siya sa mga pirma ni Garcia. Ngunit nanindigan siya.

The P200 million check: the smoking gun in Garcia plunder case

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2011

If the general public was appalled by the plea bargain agreement struck by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman , one can just imagine how it was with Heidi Mendoza, the government auditor who was the lone prosecution witness who gave documentary evidence in the plunder case against the former military comptroller.

Mendoza, who withstood all kinds of pressure while she was investigating the Garcia plunder case, said it was so painful to hear and read government prosecutors say that the reason they had to accept Garcia’s offer for plea bargain was because the evidence was weak.

Related articles:

Prosecutors ‘dumped own witness’ by Jarius Bondoc: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=650902&publicationSubCategoryId=64

Auditor in plunder case launches truth campaign: http://verafiles.org/main/focus/auditor-in-plunder-case-to-launch-truth-campaign/

Go slow on Garcia, auditor told: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110125-316387/Go-slow-on-Garcia-auditor-told

Transcript of Mendoza Dec 3, 2008 testimony: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110125-316389/No-one-from-COA-gave-me-the-support-that-I-needed

She said that’s what everybody was telling her and her team when they were investigating. Garcia was a smart guy, there was no paper trail in the more than P300 million that he was accused of filching from government funds.