DOJ probe renews interest in Tim Garcia designer duds

DOJ probe renews interest in Tim Garcia designer duds

Reposted from: The Philippine On-line Chronicle

The reopening of the plunder case against former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers has stoked people's temperatures high, renewing interest in the lavish lifestyle of former AFP comptroller Major General Carlos Garcia's family.

Netizens are venting their ire on corruption in the AFP via comment boards and social networking sites, leading some to question whether the upcoming inquiry by the Department of Justice will be decided by a trial by publicity.

The DOJ inquiry into corruption in the AFP will still continue despite the death of former Defense secretary Angelo Reyes, who shot himself earlier this week. As a result, public interest in the Garcias was rekindled.

Daily Beast writer Peter Davis interviewed Tim Mark Garcia in 2009, and Filipinos reacted strongly to the latter's lavish New York lifestyle.

“Traitor” and “disgusting” are only some of the slurs that have been thrown by netizens at Tim Garcia, Major General Carlos Garcia's son, since 2009. The Daily Beast comment board, has become a place for haters to vent their ire, and social networking sites such as Twitter are full of people computing how much each of the younger Garcia's items of clothing possibly cost Filipino taxpayers. Garcia became Marc Jacob's publicist in 2009.

Some commenters said they have no pity for the Garcias, and that the family should be ashamed, because their lifestyle is way beyond the kind that a soldier, even an officer, can afford. Others however defended the Garcias, saying the family members also have their own sources of income, and that not all their money comes from the elder Garcia's AFP salary.

Garcia's wife had earlier released a statement saying that their family received token gifts from her husband's acquaintances that they did not declare in their income tax statements.
On with the show
GMA News quoted Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that the DOJ probe will not only cover Garcia and the late Reyes, but the AFP as a whole.

“We’re just waiting for the more extensive affidavit of [Lt. Col. George] Rabusa so that we can officially initiate either a [fact-finding] probe or a preliminary investigation," she said.

The DOJ will do its best in the investigation, said de Lima in an Inquirer report, because they “cannot afford to waste” the testimonies of Heidi Mendoza and George Rabusa at the recently-concluded Congressional hearings on the AFP plunder cases.