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Legislator seeks to amend to plunder law

Legislator seeks to amend to plunder law

IN LIGHT of the investigations prompted by the controversial plea bargain deal of the Ombudsman with former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, a lawmaker has filed a measure to amend the plunder law.

Under the plea bargain agreement, Garcia pleaded guilty to the lesser offenses of bribery and money laundering. Garcia also agreed to return P135 million, almost half of the P303 million he is accused of plundering.

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Paraรฑaque Representative Roilo Golez filed House Bill 4180 seeking to amend Republic Act No. 7080 or the plunder law in order to make the provisions on plea bargaining inapplicable to cases involving violations of the said law.

โ€œIt is clear that remedial measures needs to be adopted and incorporated into the present law and rules governing this crime and its prosecution,โ€ the billโ€™s explanatory note stated.

He said plunder is as grave if not more atrocious than those involving violations of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, where plea bargaining had likewise been made inapplicable by law.

Under the measure, a plea bargaining provision will be inserted in the plunder law, which will read as follows: โ€œAny person charged under the provision of this Act regardless of the imposable penalty shall not be allowed to avail of the provision on plea-bargaining.”

The bill, once approved, shall not apply to pending prosecutions or proceedings prior to the effectivity of the amendatory Act.

To recall, Golezโ€™s privilege speech at the House of Representatives provided for a House inquiry on the plea bargain deal of Garcia with the Office of the Ombusdman.

Golez has also linked the late former military chief Angelo Reyes in corruption inside the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Feeling humiliated in congressional hearings and hoping to spare his family from the controversy he is involved in, Reyes shot himself in front of his parentsโ€™ grave earlier this week. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/legislator-seeks-amend-plunder-law

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