From military deputy chief for comptrollership to convict, the journey has been a long one for retired Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia. The highest ranking military officer to be indicted for a criminal offense, Garcia nearly managed to retire in peace in 2004, with his colleagues in the Armed Forces of the Philippines seemingly reluctant to go after a two-star general on accusations of corruption. But the Ombudsman at the time, Simeon Marcelo, doggedly worked to pin down Garcia. In the end, Garcia was court-martialed and faced several criminal cases before the Sandiganbayan.
Yesterday, over five years after Garcia’s son was apprehended by US Customs authorities at the
Garcia was indicted over a year after junior military officers staged a curious mutiny in a posh
In December 2005, a military court found Garcia guilty of undeclared wealth. He was dishonorably dismissed from the AFP and sentenced to two years of hard labor. The Sandiganbayan, for its part, must speed up its resolution of the other cases against Garcia. The two-star general found himself in trouble after his wife Clarita, coming to the defense of their son, explained in writing to US Customs authorities that the $100,000 came from her husband’s miscellaneous earnings as a comptroller. This is one of the rare cases where efficient prosecution has led to the conviction of a big fish. With more cases like this one, crooks in government may finally realize that in this country, not everyone can get away with crime.
REACTION:
Mostly all politicians were involved in crime such as corruption. Nowadays, crisis is rising because; politicians corrupt the taxes that have to be used for the development of the country. Higher ranks in politics got higher bunches of money, Power leads them in corrupting, because no one can appoint them because of fear. Just like, what Gen. Garcia done. He was guilty from corruption, also his son who had but submitted $100,000. It is so painful to see that Filipinos are paying their taxes, but politicians are only corrupting it. Politicians got rich, but the poor get poorer. If those cases still happen years from now then, Filipinos have no chance to feel lighten up from the burden in paying taxes.
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