In a committee hearing, Gutierrez said she will evaluate the evidence presented by former AFP budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa and former government auditor Heidi Mendoza to see if supporting documents could reverse their position on Garcia’s plea bargain.

“The bribery as alleged in the information that my predecessor passed on to me did not include these things. We will have to look not just into the testimony (of Mendoza) but the documents that Colonel Rabusa has in his possession (as well),” Gutierrez told House Committee on Justice.

The chief ombudsman informed committee chair and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. that her office already formed a special panel to investigate the corruption claims of Mendoza and Rabusa, who both revealed various corruption strategies in handling military funds.

She also swore to consider the testimony of Mendoza as well as all the documentary evidence that the House Committee on Justice would turn over to the Office of the Ombudsman before she can decide on what the Office of the Ombudsman should do about the case against the retired major general.

Gutierrez issued the statement in reaction to the pressure made by lawmakers for her to abandon the plea bargaining agreement with Garcia following the recent testimonies of Mendoza and Rabusa, who detailed the web of alleged large-scale corruption in AFP.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, who earlier delivered a privilege speech that triggered the House Committee on Justice hearing on the plea bargaining agreement of Garcia, said the testimonies are sufficient to push the P303-million plunder case against Garcia.

“They should abandon the plea bargain agreement. Otherwise, they could be accused of ignoring the new evidences and favoring Garcia,” said Golez.

Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna urged Gutierrez to revert the charges back plunder.

Mendoza Wednesday got the nod from several lawmakers in the House of Representatives for her courage in exposing anomalies in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares saying that she is a very credible and competent witness.

Colmenares said that even without Rabusa’s confession, government prosecutors would be able to pin down Garcia using the documents that Mendoza claimed she unearthed from the disorganized piles of records about the system of handling funds within the AFP.

Ria Rose Ribaya, Manila Bulletin