Palace: PNP not yet off the hook

MANILA, Philippines – No one involved in the controversy over the 105,000 euros carried by a delegation of Philippine National Police (PNP) generals and seized by Moscow authorities is off the hook, a Malacañang official said yesterday.

Despite a pronouncement from Malacañang last week that the police officials still enjoy the trust and confidence of President Arroyo, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Anthony Golez said the vote of confidence does not mean the Palace was clearing the so-called “euro generals” who were briefly detained by Customs authorities at the Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, Russia two weeks ago.

“Nobody is going to be let off for those who would be charged,” Golez told dzRB. “There will be due process here and investigations to find out who should be punished.”

He said it would be too early for the Palace to make judgments since there are three parallel investigations — in the Senate, the PNP, and the Office of the Ombudsman – being conducted.

He noted there are calls to immediately suspend PNP officials, including PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, for alleged violations of procurement laws and disbursement of funds.

“All these issues will depend on the outcome of the investigations in the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice. We can’t be judgmental and every Filipino has the right to due process as guaranteed by the Constitution,” he said.

But senators are convinced that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the PNP are covering up the controversy.

Sen. Manuel Roxas II, acting chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, and Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. made their stand on the issue after DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno and PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa failed to convince the Senate on who authorized the release of such big amount of money and why former police comptroller Eliseo dela Paz did not attend the inquiry last Thursday.

Pimentel said Verzosa gave lame excuses on where the money Dela Paz failed to declare at the Moscow airport really came from.

He did not believe the PNP chief’s claim that money was part of intelligence funds and it was supposedly intended to buy spy equipment abroad.

“Imbento lang yun sa tingin ko (I think he was inventing stories). They can be (cited for) contempt for fooling around with the Senate,” Pimentel said over dzBB radio.

He also believes that the arrest order against embattled ex-police comptroller can still be issued once Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. returns from his trip abroad.

Sen. Pia Cayetano, officer-in-charge of the Senate, deferred the signing of the arrest order against Dela Paz pending final approval by Villar.

Miriam’s report not yet final

Roxas made clear that Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s recommendation for the criminal prosecution of police officials who brought P6.9 million to Russia is not yet final.

Pimentel said he has yet to receive a copy of the draft report prepared by Santiago, chair of the committee on foreign relations who left Saturday for the United States to campaign for a seat in the International Court of Justice.

He lamented the apparent lack of a decisive action from the PNP leadership over what it could have done with Dela Paz after he was embroiled in the incident.

The minority leader agreed that there are attempts by PNP officials to cover up the issue since they had various reasons when asked what the money was for. 

First, Puno said it was a contingency fund for the top level PNP delegation for the Interpol Assembly, and second, the PNP claimed Dela Paz made a cash advance.

A draft report prepared and signed by Santiago stated that the eight-man PNP delegation to the 77th Interpol General Assembly in Moscow is guilty of “graft, malversation of public funds, and violation of the anti-money laundering law and banking rules.”

Aside from Dela Paz, the PNP delegates included Deputy Directors General Emmanuel Carta and Ismael Rafanan, Directors Romeo Ricardo, Silverio Alarcio, and German Doria, Director Jaime Caringal, and Superintendent Elmer Pelobello.

The report also recommended the preliminary investigation of Verzosa and Puno for “violation of government travel restrictions.”

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. explained that the purchase of intelligence equipment is not exempt from the “strict rules and safeguards” required by the government under Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

“The general rule is that there should be no veil of secrecy when it comes to government purchase of property,” Andaya said.

RA 9184, however, provides for alternative methods of procurement. But such can be invoked only after public bidding “has failed or it has been established to be not feasible,” he said.

Following the paper trail

“PNP Chief Verzosa said in his letter that he wasn’t the one who made the approval for the release of these funds. So maybe he can get away with this. Still, we’ll take a close look at the paper trail to find out what really happened,” Roxas said in another radio interview.

“We’ll try to see who really signed documents which allowed Dela Paz and the rest to have this amount of money.”

Despite the pronouncement of Santiago that the hearing last Thursday was her first and last for the Moscow controversy, Roxas stressed that the committee is yet to study the details further, saying that there can be succeeding hearings related to the matter.

Chiz defends PNP chief

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero virtually defended the PNP yesterday from accusations after he appealed to the public to await the results of the internal investigation by the PNP on the matter before any judgment is made.

“I do not know if I should sympathize with General Verzosa, not because he had just assumed office and now he is facing all these accusations on decisions which may have been made during the time of the former police chief,” said Escudero, referring to retired police Gen. Avelino Razon Jr.

He also compared the Russian trip of the PNP generals with the trip of a Senate delegation composed of Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Lito Lapid, Pangilinan and Alan Peter Cayetano some two weeks ago where some wives also went along.

“There are also a lot of senators who went to Russia with their wives. They went to the same country of destination, probably the same convention, maybe using the people’s money in both instances,” he said.

Roxas said “it is certainly strange how the PNP purchases its equipment.”

“Do you mean to say that they use cold cash in their transactions? Does PNP usually allow retired officials to handle their funds? General Dela Paz is already retired, and they entrusted the money to him? I think there’s something wrong with that.”

Meanwhile, documents required by the Office of the Ombudsman from various agencies in its investigation of the “euro generals” have started to come in, an official said.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said these documents would help them “establish the paper trail that would lead them to the money trail.”

Dela Paz went to the Office of the Ombudsman last Wednesday afternoon to express his “willingness to cooperate in and acceptance” of the investigation.

The investigation is expected to last 45 days after which the Ombudsman will recommend possible charges to be filed against those guilty of the offense.

PNP officials are working overtime to meet their self-imposed deadline to submit a report on the controversy.

Verzosa promised to come up with an initial report today on the source of the cash found on Dela Paz.

Last Friday, Verzosa submitted a letter to the foreign relations committee, claiming that the controversial money was taken from intelligence funds for purchase guns and other equipment.

Instead of answering questions about the money, Roxas said Verzosa’s letter backfired and resulted in more questions, particularly the authority of Dela Paz, a retired police officer, to acquire intelligence equipment and failure to observe bidding procedures. – with Christina Mendez, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Reinir Padua