Plea bargain

Given the continuing interest on the General Garcia plunder case, it may be worthwhile to discuss the concept of a plea bargain. This is essentially an agreement in a criminal case where the prosecution and the defense agree that the accused will plead guilty to a lesser charge than what is contained in the information. The equivalent of a plea bargain in a civil case is a compromise settlement.

Parties enter into a plea bargain for several reasons. Aside from escaping the rigors of a full blown trial, the accused may wish to avoid the risk of conviction to the original, more serious charge. As far as the prosecution is concerned, a plea bargain should mean reduced costs and the ability to focus more on other cases.

In the United States, a plea bargain can be one of several types. Charge bargaining occurs when an accused pleads guilty to a less serious crime (as in the Garcia case). In count bargaining, the accused pleads guilty to a subset of multiple original charges. In sentence bargaining, an accused knows in advance what sentence will be given. In fact bargaining, the prosecution and defense agree to a certain stipulation of facts which will affect what the penalty will be in accordance with the sentencing guidelines. Interestingly, in the US, plea bargaining has become the rule rather than the exception in criminal cases. 

In the Philippines, the pertinent rule on plea bargaining is found in Rule 116, Section 2 of the Rules of Court which provides:

“Plea of guilty to a lesser offense — At arraignment, the accused, with the consent of the offended party and prosecutor, may be allowed by the trial court to plead guilty to a lesser offense which is necessarily included in the offense charged. After arraignment but before trial, the accused may still be allowed to plead guilty to said lesser offense after withdrawing his plea of not guilty. No amendment of the complaint or information is necessary.”

In the Garcia case, the original charge was that of plunder which is a capital crime punished under Republic Act 7080. The lesser offense that he subsequently pleaded guilty to was direct bribery which is punished under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code and facilitating money laundering covered under Republic Act 9160. Query as to whether the crime of direct bribery and money laundering are “necessarily included” in the offense of plunder? Note that both crimes are punished by different laws.

Note as well the requirement of obtaining the consent of the offended party before the trial court will allow the downgrading of the original offense charged. In this instance, who is the offended party? Is it the Armed Forces of the Philippines since the money seems to have been taken from its coffers or the Republic since public money is involved. In any event, if we follow the news reports, it would seem that neither of their consents was secured.

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Good suggestion: One centavo is given to MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino’s innovative suggestion to employ lady drivers for our public utility buses. Chairman Tolentino cited studies in the United States which show that women are less aggressive, more safety conscious, law abiding and concerned about the condition of the vehicles they are driving. Moreover, because of testosterone issues, male drivers tend be more rowdy and hot-headed when they deal with law enforcement officers and are involved in more fatal mishaps. Indeed, having ridden in lady-driven buses in other countries, I did not in any way feel less safe. The foregoing said, we should recognize the reality that driving buses is not an easy, physical feat. The reality is that the male physique is probably more suited for the job. And traversing the traffic and busy streets of the metropolis is not for the faint-hearted. However, rather than allotting a predetermined number of slots for women drivers (which, together with the proposal to exempt lady driven buses from the number coding scheme, may raise potential equal protection issues), my four centavos is that we just encourage women who are predisposed to take up the challenge. In this regard, the proposal of TESDA to train lady drivers is a welcome development.

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National relic: I was fortunate to have been invited by STAR’s Lifestyle Editor Milet Mananquil to sit on a panel that would react to F. Sionil Jose’s presentation on “How relevant and responsible are today’s writers?”. Before attending the presentation, I googled Mr. Jose’s bio and was pleased to find out that he was not only a National Artist for Literature and a previous Ramon Magsaysay awardee but that he is also considered by many to be Southeast Asia’s most likely candidate for the Noble Prize for Literature. Indeed, he is a prolific author whose publications include 12 novels, seven books of short stories, five books of essays and a book of verse. And he has a global following given that his works have been translated in 28 languages.

His presentation was quintessential Jose — direct, no-holds barred, calling “a spade, a spade,” yet entertaining and humorous. Aside from the presentation highlights mentioned in STAR Executive Editor Amy Pamintuan’s January 17 column, let me also mention Mr. Jose’s emphasis on the duty of the writer which is “to emphasize the obvious.” He also laments the fact that unlike our Asian neighbors, we continue not to be a nation. When asked how do we become one, he counsels that we should “decolonize our minds.” He exhorted Filipinos to “get involved with your own people” and to be proactive in looking for solutions to our problems since “the logic of love is sacrifice.”

For that presentation but more importantly, for his “revolutionary” life’s work, three centavos this week is given to the relic from Rosales (Pangasinan) who is rightfully revered.

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“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”

— Dwight Eisenhower

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