Former AFP comptroller acquitted of perjury

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan acquitted yesterday retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia of perjury charges in connection with his declared assets and liabilities.

The anti-graft court cited the failure of the prosecution to prove Garcia, as comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), deliberately lied in his 1997 Statement of Assets and Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

“Accusation is not synonymous with guilt,” the anti-graft court said in a 25-page decision penned by Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo.

Garcia was accused of falsifying his 1997 SALN with his failure to declare three vehicles collectively worth around P1.6 million.

Prosecutors said Garcia deliberately failed to declare his Toyota Previa worth P521,797; a Mitsubishi L-300 van De Luxe worth P424,583; and a Honda Civic worth P546,000.

In his 1997 SALN, Garcia merely placed the amount of P870,000 under the category of “vehicles” without elaborating on the model and number of vehicles.

The Sandiganbayan, however, said the prosecution failed to prove the deliberate intent of Garcia to falsify his SALN.

The anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to overcome the presumption that “an unlawful act was done with an unlawful intent.”

“This is a weak argument as the prosecution is putting the cart before the horse,” the court said.

Proving that an accused made a false statement merely satisfies one of the two essential elements of perjury that also include proving “that the accused did not believe his statement to be true,” the court added.

The decision explained that when Garcia declared P870,000 as the worth of vehicles he owns, his 1997 SALN did not describe any particular vehicle.

This means that “it could be any vehicle” and that “it could be, in fact, a Toyota Previa van,” which could well be worth the amount declared based on acquisition cost.

Insofar as the two other vehicles is concerned, the court said the prosecution sought to prove that the Honda Civic and Mitsubishi L-300 van registered under the name of his wife Clarita should have been declared because the items fall under conjugal assets.

The court, however, ruled in favor of the defense’s “good faith” argument that Garcia failed to mention them in his 1997 SALN since the form supplied to him by the AFP that he filled up did not require him to include the personal properties of his wife.

The court said the former military comptroller “cannot be held guilty of perjury for asserting a ‘false objective fact’, which he believed to be true to the best of his knowledge and information” because “the false assertion must have been done deliberately and willfully.”

“If there exists even one iota of doubt, this court is under a long standing injunction to resolve the doubt in favor of the accused,” the ruling stated.

Garcia personally attended the promulgation of judgment of his fourth perjury case yesterday and sat quietly at the back of the courtroom before he was asked to approach for the reading of the verdict.

After the acquittal was announced, the retired general left the courtroom and waited outside for a copy of the ruling without giving media interviews.

Garcia’s spokesperson Maricel Capa said the defense is “thankful that the court has taken into consideration the defense given by Constantino de Jesus, Garcia’s legal counsel.

Capa said that out of four perjury cases, the retired general has been acquitted in three.

Though Garcia was convicted by the Sandiganbayan’s Fourth Division in one case last February, Capa said they have filed a motion for reconsideration on the argument that there was no perjury committed and that the supposed elements of the crime were not proven or satisfied by prosecution evidence.

As for the plunder case also filed against Garcia before the Second Division, Capa said, “We wish the acquittal will have an effect but of course we know that the plunder case is based on several other causes of action.”

Capa maintained Garcia is innocent of the charges of allegedly plundering P303 million. She said the records of the case would show that there is no such amount.

The Office of the Ombudsman, on the other hand, said they would file a motion for reconsideration of yesterday’s ruling.

Diosdado Calonge, head of the prosecuting team that handled the case against Garcia said the former AFP comptroller couldn’t claim victory yet.

“We will exhaust all legal remedies to secure a conviction,” he said.

AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said the military would respect the court decision on Garcia.

“It is the decision of the (civilian) court and we respect it as the AFP is not in the position to question it,” Brawner said.

Garcia remains in custody at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, since he is still facing a plunder case and two forfeiture proceedings on his purportedly ill-gotten wealth amounting to more than P300 million.

His wife and children Ian Carl, Juan Paulo and Timothy Mark were also named in the plunder case.

Garcia was also charged before the military’s General Court Martial that subsequently found him guilty in December 2006 of violation of Articles of War No. 96 and 97, respectively, for conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman and conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.

The military court ordered Garcia stripped of his rank, dishonorably discharged from the service and the forfeiture of his benefits.

The military court sentenced Garcia to two years of hard labor in December 2006.

Garcia’s trouble started when one of his two sons was arrested by US Customs at the San Francisco airport carrying $100,000 in cash on Dec. 19, 2003. – With Jaime Laude