Osmeña laments continued Palace support for Purisima

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Sergio Osmena III frowned on the Palace’s expression of continuous support for Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima amid the flak he got during the Senate hearing last Tuesday.

“What can I do?” Osmena quipped when told that the Palace had stood pat on Purisima’s integrity as police chief.

Osmena noted that the public has seen the demeanor and assessed the answers of the PNP chief.

“If Malacañang says that he is telling the truth, then let it be,” Osmena said, noting that President Aquino and Purisima’s relationship spanned over 30 years.

Purisima was part of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) which secured the Aquino family during the term of former President Corazon Aquino, the mother of the current president.

Purisima failed to convince some senators over entries in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) which reflected undervaluation of his property in Nueva Ecija, and some of his luxury vehicles. The PNP chief was also grilled with concerns about the rising criminality in the metropolis.

As this developed, Internal Revenue commissioner Kim Henares said the bureau continues to support the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the conduct of the lifestyle checks on police officers.

In an interview after the budget hearing at the Senate on Thursday, Henares said she has given DILG Secretary Mar Roxas a copy of the manual on Revenue Integrity Protection Service, which has been the basis of lifestyle checks used by the Department of Finance among their personnel.

“We also agreed that we will have cooperation, and we will help them,” she said, noting that the DILG secretary had also coordinated with the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the lifestyle checks among police officials and personnel.

Apart from the DILG, Henares said the copy was also sent to the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the PNP.

Henares pointed out that lifestyle check is derived from the net worth method of tax administration.

“We are helping the PNP and Napolcom to try to craft their procedure for lifestyle check,” she said. “We will help them in whatever way we can and whatever the result of their investigation, we can pick it up if we need to,” Henares added.