OSG not part of Garcia plea bargain

In the column of Cito Beltran, C Talk entitled “Bending Noynoy’s Line” (PhilSTAR, 12/20/2010, p. 16) he discussed the “plea bargain agreement” allegedly entered into between the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and former AFP Comptroller and Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, whereby the latter purportedly agreed to plead “guilty” to the lesser charge of direct bribery instead of the P300M plunder he was originally charged with. He wrote that the OSG “made the deal” with Garcia because “it wants to make sure that they get all the money back.”

The OSG, however, never made such a deal with Garcia. In fact, the OSG was not involved in any way in the criminal case against the former AFP Comptroller, which case is still pending before the Sandiganbayan. The OSG does not participate in criminal prosecutions at the trial court level, including those pending before the Sandiganbayan, which are handled by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). The OSG becomes involved in criminal cases as the representative of the People only when the case is elevated on appeal from the regular courts to the Court of Appeals or from Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court.