GMA tells Golez: Wrap up the investigation on Garcia

If you expect GMA to go after all the crooks in the military, you are sadly deluding yourself.

From the Daily Tribune:

Even as she publicly vows to crack down on the corruption issue hounding the military, pledging to expose the paper trail leading to a military general's amassing of hidden wealth, she took a different tack privately.

President Arroyo wants the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) corruption lid back on the jar of military corruption securely as she gave her former national security adviser and present chairman of the House defense committee, Roilo Golez, marching orders for him and his co-chairman to put a stop to the investigation into the alleged corrupt activities of former AFP comptroller, Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia and of his accomplices in the hierarchy, a highly reliable source in Congress with Malacañang connections yesterday disclosed to the Tribune.

The order comes amid the statement of the US envoy for the Filipino people to see to it that this probe leaves no stone unturned, with a member of Congress describing the American Ambassador's statement as “scary,” as he said this is an echo of what the US government gave the late strongman, before he fell.

The President Wednesday reportedly ordered Golez, chairman of the House committee on national defense to wind up the hearings on Garcia and the AFP in the corruption probe fast as “too many in the military hierarchy and her loyal generals may be implicated further.”

A source with Malacañang connections told the Tribune the President gave Golez at least a week to wrap up the probe on Garcia and the alleged irregularities being committed in the AFP.

The Arroyo order to Golez was given last Wednesday amid the statements issued also on the same day by US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone during a television interview, expressing his hope that the Arroyo government would not stop at just the investigation, adding that he hopes “The Philippines would reach a 'tipping point' where the culture of acceptance of corruption as inevitable, is changing, with the government from top down to bottom up saying this is not acceptable, with everyone ensuring that this will be pursued to end.

But the source noted that Mrs. Arroyo is hardly going have this since she had even assured the military brass, the officials of AFPSLAI and other banks and loans institutions and cooperatives not to “worry anymore” because the investigation will be wrapped up soon.

It was disclosed that Mrs. Arroyo and these military brass, as well as the AFPSLAI and other SLAI officers, including police generals, had met, as fears were reportedly expressed by the generals that the probe must come to a stop as AFPSLAI and similar associations will soon be suffering a bank run on the officers' investments. The military generals along with police generals also reportedly told Mrs. Arroyo that if the congressional probe isn't stopped soon, all their “investments” will be laid bare to the public, and this will create an “unstable” situation in the miltary which, the generals were said to have pointed out to Mrs. Arroyo, will impact negatively on her.

“If we go down, you will also go down with us,” the source quoted the brass as saying to Mrs. Arroyo.

There have been reports that the AFP and other former top officials who still have links with the military have also been running to Malacañang, crying for help due to the scandals that are rocking the institution.

“There was a meeting between the AFPSLAI and other former top officials in the police and the military with all these SLAIS about the ongoing hearing. They got an assurance from President Arroyo that this probe will be over and done with very soon, telling them that “there's no cause for worry,” the source said.

Some minority House members confirmed to the Tribune that Mrs. Arroyo did ask the committees on national Defense chairman Golez and Manila Rep. Jaime Lopez, chairman of the committee on banks, to conclude the probe, or else the military will be dragged into a more embarrassing situation.

A minority member said there was an agreement reached among the leaders of the defense and banks committees Monday night that the hearing was to resume on Oct. 29, but panel members were surprised upon learning that Golez made immediate changes on Wednesday, moving the hearing to yesterday, without giving them formal notice, as only the staff secretariat sent them text messages.

As a result, the invited resource persons scheduled to appear for the Oct. 29 hearing , such as Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo and Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, failed to attend yesterday's hearing due to changes in schedule.

“No formal notice was given to my office. If I did not text one of the staff members of the committee, I would not have known there was a hearing scheduled for today, a Metro Manila congressman said.

And more on-the-spot analysis by their editorial on the Garcia case:

While there is that statement from the military that the provost marshall is now undertaking a pre-trial of the Garcia offense under the Articles of War, which is said to be a prelude to a court martial of the general, it must also be asked how a jury of generals, or even lower-ranked officers, can, with a straight face find Garcia guilty, when they themselves have committed the same offense and were even party to it?

A jury of generals who were all in on the corruption? Come, come. That would be the pot calling the kettle back.

What has come out of the Garcia issue thus far is the same kind of endless political grandstanding and piggybacking from Congress to Malacañang about the issue.

While all this is going on, Garcia and his cohorts have all the leeway to stash safely away the illegally amassed wealth of Garcia which some reports place at more than P4 billion due to the absence of any court injunctions.

What seems to have been acted on are bank accounts of Garcia in the United States using anti-money laundering laws. And even then, with this law in the country, it took the Anti- Money Laundering Council too long to act on his local bank accounts. To top it off, a Central Bank official, in an interview, even claimed that the AFP Savings and Loans Association Inc., from which some P19 million was withdrawn by Garcia, didn't break the law, despite the law stating that any amount deposited over P500,000 should be reported to the Central Bank.

Despite the presence of almost similar laws in the country in the fight against dirty or illegally-acquired money, none has moved thus far to freeze all assets of Garcia.

What more does the Arroyo government need in the form of proof to act on Garcia and all other generals similarly situated?

This lack of determination from the Arroyo government has been so often assailed by foreign groups that have economic or political interests in the country.

Say it with me again please -- I SMELL A C-O-V-E-R-U-P!!!

Jake Macasaet is pessimitic too about this "investigation".