THE Sandiganbayan approved the plea bargain agreement between former military comptroller Major Gen. Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman, triggering an uproar from lawmakers who urged the government to appeal the decision before the Supreme Court.

In a 22-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, the Sandiganbayan Second Division ruled that Garcia complied with all the conditions required under the plea bargain agreement.

The anti-graft court said it is satisfied with Garcia’s turnover to the government of P135.43 million assets, including P25.5 million cash from various bank deposits, P21.27 million worth of real estate properties in the country and in the US, seven vehicles with a total assessed value of P4.42 million and proceeds of two bank accounts in the US totaling P13.85 million.

Because of this ruling, Garcia, his wife Clarita and sons Ian Carl, Juan Paulo and Timothy Mark will no longer face plunder charges.

Garcia pleaded guilty to lesser offenses of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering after withdrawing his “Not Guilty” plea on charges of plunder and money laundering.

“Inasmuch as the provisions of the Plea Bargaining Agreement and the concerns of this Court about the protection of the Government has been already fully addressed, there is no reason why this Court should withhold approval of the plea bargaining agreement in these cases,” the Sandiganbayan said.

Also, the court emphasized that the prosecution panel presented “deficient evidence” in the plunder case which made Garcia’s conviction “questionable and shaky”.

“After assessing the totality of the testimonial and documentary evidence presented by the prosecution, the Court has found the same to be weak in order to support the allegations contained in the equally weak Information for plunder. Suffice it to say that the evidence presented by the prosecution is not enough to convict accused General Garcia of plunder,” it added.

In another resolution, the Sandiganbayan denied the motion for intervention filed by the Office of the Solicitor General. Division chairman Edilberto Sandoval also refused to inhibit from the case.

Government lawyers sought Sandoval’s inhibition to remove doubts on the Sandiganbayan’s integrity because his son works as a lawyer at the Office of the Special Prosecutor, the office that initiated the plea bargaining agreement.

Garcia was released after posting P60,000 bail in December last year. The former military comptroller was charged for allegedly amassing P302 million while in military service.