Allegations against retired military budget chief Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia became known in 2003 after US Customs informed the Philippines that his sons had been caught trying to enter the United States with $100,000 in undeclared funds.
Others facing charges include retired Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot, the wives of Garcia and Ligot and Ligot’s brother-in-law. Their tax liabilities total 949.7 million pesos ($21.9 million), the bureau said.
Garcia and Ligot, who also served as a military comptroller, are among retired officers under Senate investigation for allegedly pocketing millions of dollars’ worth of armed forces funds.
Corruption, long entrenched in Philippine society, is an especially explosive issue in the ill-equipped and poorly paid 126,000-strong military and has sparked several insurrections by disgruntled troops in the last two decades.
President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday ordered the new armed forces chief, Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr., to strengthen the military’s financial management and submit a report within two months to detail reforms.
Garcia, earlier detained on plunder charges for allegedly amassing 303 million pesos ($6.9 million), was freed by a court in December after a plea bargain agreement with state prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to a lesser offense.
The agreement caused an uproar and the Senate began investigating it when a new scandal broke out in January, this time involving Garcia’s former colleague who testified that at least three retired chiefs of staff also pocketed huge amounts that were earmarked for troop salaries, intelligence and a military hospital.
One of those implicated, Gen. Angelo Reyes, denied the allegation then committed suicide at his mother’s grave last month.
