GARCIA VS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

GARCIA VS THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

FACTS:

For resolution of this Court is the Petition for Certiorari dated September 29, 2011 under Rule 65, Section 1 of the Revised Rules of Civil Procedure which seeks to annul and set aside the Confirmation of Sentence dated September 9, 2011, promulgated by the Office of the President.

On October 13, 2004, the Provost Martial General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Col. Henry A. Galarpe, by command of Vice-Admiral De Los Reyes, issued a Restriction to Quarters¹ containing the following:

1. Pursuant to Article of War 70 and the directive of the Acting Chief of Staff, AFP to the undersigned dtd 12 October 2004, you are hereby placed under Restriction to Quarters under guard pending investigation of your case.

2. You are further advised that you are not allowed to leave your quarters without the expressed permission from the Acting Chief of Staff, AFP.

3. In case you need immediate medical attention or required by the circumstance to be confined in a hospital, you shall likewise be under guard.

Thereafter, a Charge Sheet dated October 27, 2004 was filed with the Special General Court Martial NR 2 presided by Maj. Gen. Emmanuel R. Teodosio, AFP, (Ret.), enumerating the following violations allegedly committed by petitioner:

CHARGE 1: VIOLATION OF THE 96TH ARTICLE OF WAR (CONDUCT UNBECOMING AN OFFICER AND GENTLEMAN).

SPECIFICATION 1: In that MAJOR GENERAL CARLOS FLORES GARCIA 0-5820 ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES, person subject to military law, did, on or about 16 March 2004, knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully fail to disclose/declare all his existing assets in his Sworn Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth for the year 2003 as required by Republic Act No. 3019, as amended in relation to Republic Act 6713, such as the following: cash holdings with the Armed Forces Police Savings and Loans Association, Inc. (AFPSLAI) in the amount of six million five hundred [thousand] pesos (P6,500,000.00); cash dividend received from AFPSLAI from June 2003 to December 2003 in the amount of one million three hundred sixty-five thousand pesos (P1,365,000.00); dollar peso deposits with Land Bank of the Philippines, Allied Banking Corporation, Banco de Oro Universal Bank, Bank of Philippine Islands, United Coconut Planter's Bank and Planter's Development Bank; motor vehicles registered under his and his wife’s names such as 1998 Toyota Hilux Utility Vehicle with Plate Nr. WRY-843, Toyota Car with Plate Nr. PEV-665, Toyota Previa with Plate Nr. UDS-195, 1997 Honda Civic Car with Plate Nr. FEC 134, 1997 Mitsubishi L-300 Van with Plate Nr. FDZ 582 and 2001 Toyota RAV 4 Utility Vehicle with Plate Nr. FEV-498, conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman.

SPECIFICATION 2: In that MAJOR GENERAL CARLOS FLORES GARCIA 0-5820 ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES, person subject to military law, did, on or about 11 March 2003, knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully fail to disclose/declare all his existing assets in his Sworn Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth for the year 2002 as required by Republic Act No. 3019, as amended in relation to Republic Act 6713, such as the following: his cash holdings with the Armed Forces Police Savings and Loans Association, Inc. (AFPSLAI) in the amount of six million five hundred [thousand] pesos (P6,500,000.00); cash dividend received form AFPSLAI in June 2002 and December 2002 in the total amount of one million four hundred thirty-five thousand pesos (1,435,000.00), dollar and peso deposits with Land Bank of the Philippines, Allied Banking Corporation, Banco de Oro Universal Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, United Coconut Planter's Bank and Planter's Development Bank; motor vehicles registered under his and his wife’s names such as 1998 Toyota Hilux Utility Vehicle with Plate Nr. WRY-843, Toyota Car with Plate Nr. PEV-665, Toyota Previa with Plate Nr. UDS-195, 1997 Honda Civic Car with Plate Nr. FEC-134, 1997 Mitsubishi L-300 Van with Plate Nr. FDZ-582, and 2001 Toyota RAV 4

Utility Vehicle with Plate Nr. FEV-498, conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman.

SPECIFICATION 3: In that MAJOR GENERAL CARLOS FLORES GARCIA 0-5820 ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES, person subject to military law, did, while in the active military service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully violate his solemn oath as a military officer to uphold the Constitution and serve the people with utmost loyalty by acquiring and holding the status of an immigrant/permanent residence of the United

States of America in violation of the State policy governing public officers, thereby causing dishonor and disrespect to the military professional and seriously compromises his position as an officer and exhibits him as morally unworthy to remain in the honorable profession of arms.

CHARGE II: VIOLATION OF THE 97TH ARTICLE OF WAR (CONDUCT PREJUDICIAL TO GOOD ORDER AND MILITARY DISCIPLINE).

SPECIFICATION 1: In that MAJOR GENERAL CARLOS FLORES GARCIA 0-5820 ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES, person subject to military law, did, on or about 16 March 2004, knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully make untruthful statements under oath of his true assets in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth for the year 2003 as required by Republic Act No. 3019, as amended in relation to Republic Act 6713, conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.

SPECIFICATION NO. 2: In that MAJOR GENERAL CARLOS FLORES GARCIA 0-5820 ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES, person subject to military law, did, on or about 11 March 2003, knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully make untruthful statements under oath of his true assts in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net worth for the year 2002 as required by Republic Act No. 3019, as amended in relation to Republic Act 6713, conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline.

After trial, at the Special General Court Martial No. 2, on December 2, 2005, the findings or the After-Trial Report⁵of the same court was read to the petitioner. The report contains the following verdict and sentence:

MGEN CARLOS FLORES GARCIA 0-5820 AFP the court in closed session upon secret written ballot 2/3 of all the members present at the time the voting was taken concurring the following findings. Finds you:

On Specification 1 of Charge 1 – Guilty except the words dollar deposits with Land Bank of the Phils, dollar peso deposits with Allied Bank, Banco de Oro, Universal Bank, Bank of the Philippine Island, United Coconut Planters Bank and Planters Development Bank.

On Specification 2 of Charge 1 – Guilty except the words dollar deposits with Land Bank of the Phils, dollar peso deposits with Allied Bank, Banco de Oro, Universal Bank, Bank of the Philippine Island, United Coconut Planters Bank and Planters Development Bank.

On Specification 3 of Charge 1 – Guilty

On Specification 1 of Charge 2 – Guilty

On Specification 2 of Charge 2 – Guilty

And again in closed session upon secret written ballot 2/3 all the members are present at the time the votes was taken concurrently sentences you to be dishonorably [discharged] from the service, to forfeit all pay and allowances due and to become due and to be confined at hard labor at such place the reviewing authority may direct for a period of two (2) years.

IV. RECOMMENDED ACTION:

The period of confinement from 18 October 2004 shall be credited in his favor and deducted from the two (2) years to which the accused was sentenced. Thus, confinement will expire on 18 October 2006. Considering that the period left not served is less than one (1) year, confinement at the National Penitentiary is no longer appropriate.

After six (6) years and two (2) months of preventive confinement, on December 16, 2010, petitioner was released from the Camp Crame Detention Center.⁸

The Office of the President, or the President as Commander-in-Chief of the AFP and acting as the Confirming Authority under the Articles of War, confirmed the sentence imposed by the Court Martial against petitioner.

Consequently, on September 15, 2011, respondent Secretary of National Defense Voltaire T. Gazmin, issued a Memorandum¹⁰ to the Chief of Staff, AFP for strict implementation, the Confirmation of Sentence in the Court Martial Case of People of the Philippines Versus Major General Carlos Flores Garcia AFP.

On September 16, 2011, petitioner was arrested and detained, and continues to be detained at the National Penitentiary, Maximum Security, Bureau of Corrections, Muntinlupa City.

Petitioner filed with this Court the present petition for certiorari and petition for habeas corpus, alternatively but were denied.

Thus, the only issue in this petition for certiorari under Rule 65 of the Revised Rules of Civil Procedure, which was properly filed with this Court, is whether the Office of the President acted with grave abuse of discretion, amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, in issuing the Confirmation of Sentence dated September 9, 2011.

ISSUE:

WHETHER OR NOT ARTICLE 29 FO THE REVISED PENAL CODE IS VIOLATIVE OF FEQUAL PROTECTION OF LAWS.

RULING:

Petitioner raises the issue of the jurisdiction of the General Court Martial to try his case. According to him, the said jurisdiction ceased ipso facto upon his compulsory retirement. Thus, he insists that the Office of the President had acted without jurisdiction in issuing the confirmation of his sentence.

This Court finds the above argument bereft of merit.

It is indisputable that petitioner was an officer in the active service of the AFP in March 2003 and 2004, when the alleged violations were committed. The charges were filed on October 27, 2004 and he was arraigned on November 16, 2004. Clearly, from the time the violations were committed until the time petitioner was arraigned, the General Court Martial had jurisdiction over the case. Well-settled is the rule that jurisdiction once acquired is not lost upon the instance of the parties but continues until the case is terminated.²¹ Therefore, petitioner's retirement on November 18, 2004 did not divest the General Court Martial of its jurisdiction.

Under Article 10 of the Revised Penal Code:

Art. 10. Offenses not subject to the provisions of this Code. - Offenses which are or in the future may be punishable under special laws are not subject to the provisions of this Code. This Code shall be supplementary to such laws, unless the latter should specially provide the contrary.

In connection therewith, petitioner argues that the confirmation issued by the Office of the President directing him to be confined for two (2) years in the penitentiary had already been fully served in view of his preventive confinement which had exceeded two (2) years. Therefore, according to him, the Office of the President no longer has the authority to order his confinement in a penitentiary. On the other hand, the OSG opines that petitioner cannot legally demand the deduction of his preventive confinement in the service of his imposed two-year confinement in a penitentiary, because unlike our Revised Penal Code²⁹ which specifically mandates that the period of preventive imprisonment of the accused shall be deducted from the term of his imprisonment, the Articles of War and/or the Manual for Courts-Martial do not provide for the same deduction in the execution of the sentence imposed by the General Court Martial as confirmed by the President in appropriate cases.

On the above matter, this Court finds the argument raised by the OSG unmeritorious and finds logic in the assertion of petitioner that Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code can be made applicable in the present case.

In Marcos v. Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines,³¹ this Court ruled that a court-martial case is a criminal case and the General Court Martial is a "court" akin to any other courts. In the same case, this Court clarified as to what constitutes the words "any court" used in Section 17³² of the 1935 Constitution prohibiting members of Congress to appear as counsel in any criminal case in which an officer or employee of the Government is accused of an offense committed in relation to his office. This Court held:

We are of the opinion and therefore hold that it is applicable, because the words "any court" includes the General Court-Martial, and a court-martial case is a criminal case within the meaning of the above quoted provisions of our Constitution.

Hence, as extensively discussed above, the General Court Martial is a court within the strictest sense of the word and acts as a criminal court. On that premise, certain provisions of the Revised Penal Code, insofar as those that are not provided in the Articles of War and the Manual for Courts-Martial, can be supplementary. Under Article 10 of the Revised Penal Code:

Art. 10. Offenses not subject to the provisions of this Code. - Offenses which are or in the future may be punishable under special laws are not subject to the provisions of this Code. This Code shall be supplementary to such laws, unless the latter should specially provide the contrary.

A special law is defined as a penal law which punishes acts not defined and penalized by the Revised Penal Code.³⁴ In the present case, petitioner was charged with and convicted of Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman (96th Article of War) and Violation of the 97th Article of War, or Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Military Discipline, both of which are not defined and penalized under the Revised Penal Code. The corresponding penalty imposed by the General Court Martial, which is two (2) years of confinement at hard labor is penal in nature. Therefore, absent any provision as to the application of a criminal concept in the implementation and execution of the General Court Martial's decision, the provisions of the Revised Penal Code, specifically Article 29 should be applied. In fact, the deduction of petitioner's period of confinement to his sentence has been recommended in the Staff Judge Advocate Review

Considering that the Accused has been in confinement since 18 October 2004, the entire period of his confinement since 18 October 2004 will be credited in his favor. Consequently, his two (2) year sentence of confinement will expire on 18 October 2006.

Nevertheless, the application of Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code in the Articles of War is in accordance with the Equal Protection Clause of the 1987 Constitution. According to a long line of decisions, equal protection simply requires that all persons or things similarly situated should be treated alike, both as to rights conferred and responsibilities imposed.³⁷ It requires public bodies and institutions to treat similarly situated individuals in a similar manner.³⁸ The purpose of the equal protection clause is to secure every person within a state's jurisdiction against intentional and arbitrary discrimination, whether occasioned by the express terms of a statute or by its improper execution through the state's duly-constituted authorities.³⁹ In other words, the concept of equal justice under the law requires the state to govern impartially, and it may not draw distinctions between individuals solely on differences that are irrelevant to a legitimate governmental objective.⁴⁰ It, however, does not require the universal application of the laws to all persons or things without distinction. What it simply requires is equality among equals as determined according to a valid classification. Indeed, the equal protection clause permits classification. Such classification, however, to be valid must pass the test of reasonableness. The test has four requisites: (1) the classification rests on substantial distinctions; (2) it is germane to the purpose of the law; (3) it is not limited to existing conditions only; and (4) it applies equally to all members of the same class.⁴¹ "Superficial differences do not make for a valid classification."⁴² In the present case, petitioner belongs to the class of those who have been convicted by any court, thus, he is entitled to the rights accorded to them. Clearly, there is no substantial distinction between those who are convicted of offenses which are criminal in nature under military courts and the civil courts. Furthermore, following the same reasoning, petitioner is also entitled to the basic and time-honored principle that penal statutes are construed strictly against the State and liberally in favor of the accused.⁴³ It must be remembered that the provisions of the Articles of War which the petitioner violated are penal in nature.

WHEREFORE, the Petition for Certiorari dated September 29, 2011 of Major General Carlos F. Garcia, AFP (Ret.) is hereby DISMISSED. However, applying the provisions of Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code, the time within which the petitioner was under preventive confinement should be credited to the sentence confirmed by the Office of the President, subject to the conditions set forth by the same law.

SO ORDERED.