De la Paz: It starts and ends with me

MANILA, Philippines – Retired police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz finally testified yesterday at the Senate and took full responsibility for the unauthorized release of 105,000 euros or P6.93 million from the police intelligence fund.

“As I mentioned in my arrival statement at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, it is my own, I did it on my own behalf,” De la Paz told the senators.

At the start of the hearing, De la Paz said he is assuming full responsibility for the release of the 105,000 euros from the PNP intelligence fund, in the process clearing Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno and Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa of any liability.

De la Paz maintained his stand despite receiving warnings from Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign relations, that he could face more than 20 years in jail if found guilty of violating the law.

De la Paz and his wife Marie Fe were held at the Moscow airport last Oct. 11 for carrying undeclared cash amounting to 105,000 euros, after they attended the 77th International Police (Interpol) General Assembly in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The other police officials in the PNP delegation to the Interpol meeting were Deputy Directors General Emmanuel Carta and Ismael Rafanan, Directors Romeo Ricardo, Silverio Alarcio, German Doria and Jaime Caringal, and Superintendent Elmer Pelobello, aide of the delegation.

De la Paz, the other so-called “euro generals,” and several concerned police officials attended the Senate hearing called by the committees on foreign affairs and Blue Ribbon.

In his opening statement, De la Paz put it on record that this was the first time he was implicated in an anomaly after decades in the service.

“In my more than 36 years of service for the country, I have never been involved in any financial misdeed in my office. Neither do I intend to violate any other law,” De la Paz said.

“I am not going to throw the medals that I have earned as a former military officer and as a police officer. They (medals) are the only legacy that I can give to my family, a loving wife, three daughters, and a visually impaired son,” he said.

De la Paz also explained that he had no intention of evading the previous hearing of the Senate committees investigating the Moscow scandal, but he only had to visit an ailing sister in the province before going to the Senate.

Santiago said she empathized with De la Paz, saying, “Poor you, Mr. De la Paz, you will be alone in your jail cell for protecting higher people in the government.”

She refused to believe that De la Paz is the sole perpetrator of the crime, rather part of a bigger conspiracy.

Santiago eyes a cover-up

Sensing a possible cover-up, Santiago is taking De la Paz’s statements with a grain of salt.

She saw parallelism in the controversy hounding De la Paz and the case of former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn “Jocjoc” Bolante.

“The people who are likely to be accused in a criminal prosecution by the Ombudsman are obviously covering up for people higher up than themselves,” Santiago said.

The Senate is also investigating Bolante who was accused of being the architect of the P728-million fertilizer fund scam. The fund intended to purchase fertilizers for farmers nationwide was allegedly diverted to the pockets of local politicians and used in the campaign of President Arroyo during the 2004 elections.

Santiago gave her most humanitarian view of the situation after scrutinizing the various reports of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and her committee on the controversy.

She stood pat on the report prepared by her committee that upheld its jurisdiction on the issue and found the entire PNP delegation had violated the travel ban directive of the President and that De la Paz’s claim that he was carrying contingency funds had no basis in law.

Santiago pushed for the filing of criminal charges against De la Paz and the seven other members of the PNP delegation to the Interpol Assembly in Moscow, and the inclusion of Puno and Verzosa in the preliminary investigations of the case by the Office of the Ombudsman.

“You are facing a regular sentence of 20 years in jail and possibly more than that. Are you ready to do that, go to jail more than 20 years so that other people can be free? I refuse to believe you are the sole perpetrator of a crime... you are part of a bigger conspiracy and out of a misplaced sense of esprit de corps you assume responsibility for others. That seems to be the most humanitarian view of your situation,” Santiago said.

Verzosa accompanied the seven other members of the PNP delegation to the Interpol Assembly as well as other officers who were implicated in the controversy. But the senators were more interested in questioning De la Paz, who surrendered to the Senate last Thursday night.

Santiago said she empathized with De la Paz and his family “because I believe you are caught between the devil and a hard rock.”

“That’s why I keep repeating to Gen. De la Paz that he has to be prepared to go to jail... He should not try to cover up for his superiors not only because it is a distorted sense of being a gentleman in a PMA sense but also because it will serve as a bad precedent in the campaign against corruption,” Santiago said.

“Your own office, Mr. De la Paz, is saying that you are guilty of violating applicable laws when you ordered, and verbally at that, the release of P7 million. Do you agree or not?” Santiago asked.

To this, De la Paz said: “I agree your honor.”

“The only basis for the release of P7 million from the confidential intelligence fund from the PNP was the verbal instruction of Police Director De la Paz. Therefore it could not be denied that irregularity attended the use of government funds,” she said.

“Do you agree that your superior official, such as the PNPchief (Director General Jesus Verzosa) and the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) secretary (Ronaldo Puno) should be absolved, and instead, all blame and guilt should be pinned on you? Do you agree with this situation? Because in effect that is the consequence of this statement in the PNP report” Santiago asked.

“The release of the P10 million for the travel expenses for the supposedly contingency fund is based on my instructions,” De la Paz said.

Santiago sarcastically lauded De la Paz for making himself a scapegoat in the controversy. “That’s very heroic,” she said.

Senators Manuel Roxas and Rodolfo Biazon also expressed pity for De la Paz for absolving his superiors of any liability on the Moscow scandal.

After about six hours of hearing, the Senate allowed De la Paz to go home upon the recognizance of his lawyer Noel Malaya.

Palace still hands off PNP scandal

Malacañang reiterated that it would have nothing to do with the case of De la Paz and the other so-called “euro generals.”

Deputy presidential spokesperson Anthony Golez said it would be up to the Senate and the courts to determine how to deal with De la Paz and the other police officials linked to the Moscow scandal.

“There are a lot of allegations against him (De la Paz) and he’s bound to face all the allegations. Of course we have to observe due process. He is given a chance to explain his side,” Golez said in an interview over radio station dzRB.

“Closure will still be with the courts. Gen. De la Paz should be given due process. He is innocent until proven guilty,” Golez said.

The Philippine Embassy in Moscow has not yet received the investigation report of the Russian customs authorities regarding the seizure of the 105,000 euros from De la Paz.

A Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) official, who asked not to be named, said Russian authorities have not yet concluded their investigation.

“The information we received is that the process in Moscow takes time to conclude so the incident/investigative report requested by our embassy is not yet available,” the official said.

He said there is no communication from the Philippine Embassy in Moscow on Russian authorities clearing Filipino police officials and their companions.

They explained that case documents are translated “quickly” and the embassy immediately sends a copy to the DFA. – With Marvin Sy and Pia Lee-Brago