AFP chief affirms guilty verdict on General Garcia

Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga upheld yesterday the guilty verdict on retired major general Carlos Garcia, who was convicted in December of massive corruption.

Senga’s decision will now be reviewed by a three-member board of the Judge Advocate General Office.

"The chief of staff will forward the decision to the (Armed Forces of the Philippines’) board of review, which in turn will forward the same to the President for final approval and execution," military spokesman Maj. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado told a press briefing.

In a landmark corruption case, Garcia, the military’s former finance chief, was convicted of massive corruption and illegal acquisition of millions of pesos while handling the military’s budget and sentenced to two years of hard labor.

Aside from the two-year prison term, Garcia was also dishonorably discharged from the service and must forfeit all pay and allowances, including his pension and other retirement benefits.

The court found Garcia — the most senior military officer to be accused of corruption — guilty on two major charges, including failure to truthfully declare assets for several years.

Garcia had pleaded innocent. He and his family face separate charges before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court for allegedly using his post to win kickbacks from suppliers worth up to P303.2 million. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

Malacañang hailed the military court’s decision, saying it would send a clear message that corruption would not be condoned under the Arroyo administration.

The sentence marks the first time a senior officer has been found guilty in a major graft case.

Public officials and police and military officers are required by the anti-graft law to make regular declarations of their assets each year.

Garcia’s financial scam was uncovered when one of his two sons was arrested by US immigration and customs authorities for trying to sneak in $100,000 in cash through San Francisco International Airport.

Prosecutors say Garcia allegedly used his sons as "couriers" to transport some of the ill-gotten funds to the United States, where $100,000 in cash was seized from them by the US Customs Service in December 2003.

The confiscated amount alone is more than the net worth of P3.2 million that he declared in a tax filing the following year.

Prosecutors failed to directly link him to the money. But they convicted Garcia for his failure to disclose his P13.3 million deposited in the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association Inc. in his annual statement of assets and liability.

Garcia retired on Nov. 18, 2004, while undergoing trial, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 56. He was placed under arrest in October that year.

Garcia’s case touched off a wider probe into corruption in the military that has led to charges against several other military officials including a former chief of staff.

It also triggered a massive military shakeup that led to the abolition of Garcia’s former post of comptroller.

The military has been struggling with corruption and a lack of weapons and equipment in the face of raging Marxist and Muslim insurgencies and terror threats.

The Garcia scandal cast a shadow over the 117,000-strong military, which was accused by critics of dragging its foot on the case.

It also raised the issue of rampant corruption, which has been hounding the military since a failed mutiny of disgruntled junior officers two years ago. — With AP