Sandigan's granting of Carlos Garcia's plea bargain doesn't make any sense. The guy is accused of amassing hundreds of millions at the expense of the Filipino people, the case was accepted by the SB, and he returns about half the amount in exchange for his temporary freedom. That act of returning the amount is an admission of his guilt - and he is absolved because he has admitted his guilt. Plunder is supposedly non-bailable, but what sort of hocus-pocus is the Ombudsman trying to cook up to make us believe in this horseshit? Gosh, ang kapal talaga!
Imagine a certified magnanakaw who took off with hundreds of millions from our coffers and there he is, scot-free, strutting about like a fattened calf and sneering at his accusers as if to say, "Wala kayong magawa, ano."
This is going to be a dangerous precedent for present and future crooks in government. Now they can go on plundering our coffers so long as they don't get caught and don't leave a paper trail. But if ever they do, they'll just do a Carlos Garcia - return half of what they steal and file a plea bargain. Like Garcia, they can go scot-free and enjoy the other half of their loot for the rest of their thieving lives in blissful retirement. Never mind the honor and dignity. That won't buy you a trip to Las Vegas or a mansion in Alabang. This is the signal that this plea bargain is sending.
Kaya kayong mga magnanakaw sa gobyerno d'yan, gayahin n'yo si Garcia. I'm sure there are very few Heidi Mendozas out there who'll risk their jobs and their health to testify against the likes of Garcia. Even if they have not received a cent, they will not keep their mouths shut or bury their heads in the ground like an Ostrich, pretending they don't know a thing. They will not keep quiet in the name of self-preservation, a perfectly normal instinctive reaction. .
Oh, yes, we grit our teeth when a street punk pokes his ice pick against our ribs so he can rub us of our cellphone, wristwatch and wallet. We are mad when a snatcher picks our pockets or runs away with our mother's bag. We rain them with kicks and blows to the body when we catch them with their loot. We shout, curse and throw all sorts of invectives when thieves ransack our homes and take off with our prized possessions.
But here comes the master thief of them all, stashing our millions in his bank accounts here and abroad, and we are not even shouting invectives to high heavens. Here comes that fattened general, admitting to robbing us of millions and we let him go scot-free - no thanks to Aling Merceditas. Really, I find that difficult to understand.
Mahina daw ang kaso. What about those documented bank transfers? What about the signed slips that showed releases from the AFP treasury? What about the sworn admissions of Garcia's wife Clarita who said she was regularly bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the US - amounts that could not be justified by Garcia's monthly income alone? Napakahina daw, that's why they had to apply pressures on Mendoza and Simeon Marcelo to make them stop gathering evidence against the fat general.
Hay, naku. I am starting to wonder what's going to happen to this case. As more and more malefactors are brought into the scene and the network of corruption is unraveled, the lawyers are celebrating their good fortune.
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