AFP says it posted P565-M savings in 2010

MANILA, Philippines –  Amid allegations of corruption involving its former top officials, the military said yesterday that it posted more than P565 million in savings last year due to efforts to cut expenses and better management of resources.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public affairs chief Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said the bids and awards committee (BAC) played a key role in slashing costs.

“The BAC…has made a huge cutback in military expenditure, and has consequently resulted in P565,314,949.01 worth of savings for the AFP in year 2010 alone,” Burgos said.

He said the BAC was tasked to process the canvassing and procurement of the least expensive facilities, machines, and supplies for the general headquarters and the major services, and transparency and impartiality were observed during the biddings.

Burgos said the Air Force BAC posted P227.88 million in savings while the Camp Aguinaldo general headquarters recorded P222.2 million. The Army’s BAC recorded P52.23 million in savings while the Navy BAC had P27.31 million.

Burgos claimed that the military undertook measures to efficiently handle its available resources, including preparation of procurement plans, cost-cutting measures, and the purchase of military supplies from 72 to 100 stores offering lower-priced products.

He said the Army also eradicated the subsidy for power and water consumption to save on utility costs.

“Handling of money has been assigned to different people whose duration of place of duty now has limit. Outflow of money has been kept in check through more cautious spending,” he said.

Burgos said such reforms were adopted in line with the recommendations of the Feliciano commission, a panel created to investigate the 2003 Oakwood mutiny.

The AFP’s financial system was placed under scrutiny after retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa revealed in a Senate hearing last Jan. 27 that former military chiefs were entitled to millions in “pabaon” or sendoff money upon retirement.

Rabusa, a former budget officer, claimed that former AFP chief Angelo Reyes got P50 million in sendoff money.

He said the cash incentive is part of a tradition and was on top of a monthly P5-million “personal fund.”

The “sendoff money” reportedly came from the provisions for command directed activities (PCDA), which is readily available to the AFP chief.

Rabusa said former military chiefs Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu got P10 million each in “welcome gift” when they assumed office as chief of staff.

He said the Air Force, Army, Navy and various AFP offices were used as “clearing houses” to allow key officers to get huge bonuses.

He claimed that top AFP officials are drawing P40 million monthly from the budgets of the major services.

In a hearing of the House Justice committee last Tuesday, former state auditor Heidi Mendoza revealed that some P200 million in United Nations funds ended up in a private bank account and that P50 million was missing.

The said funds represent reimbursements from the UN for the Philippine peacekeeping contingents deployed to other countries.

On Thursday, Rabusa alleged that the military diverted millions of UN reimbursements to the PCDA which were deposited to the AFP account in the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Navy won’t fire COA auditor

As this developed, the Navy said it cannot direct the Commission on Audit (COA) to relieve its resident auditor Divina Cabrera, who is said to have benefited from the alleged mishandling of AFP funds.

Navy chief Rear Adm. Alexander Pama said they do not have control on the appointment of Cabrera, who used to be assigned to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces (ISAFP).

“She (Cabrera) is the external auditor for the Navy. COA will determine whether she should be relieved. It is beyond our control. It is the prerogative of COA,” Pama told The STAR.

When asked if he still trusts Cabrera, Pama said: “It is an allegation and there is the presumption of regularity. Everybody is entitled to defend himself.”

Rabusa testified that Cabrera was ISAFP’s resident auditor when the anomalous conversion of funds happened.

He said the AFP general headquarters used the ISAFP, the office of the deputy chief for operations, and civil-military operations as clearinghouses for converting funds.

He explained that since the law states that the use of intelligence funds is confidential, these projects are not scrutinized.

Rabusa said the percentage rates usually range from one to two percent for the ISAFP resident auditor, while the signatory gets one percent of the amount being cleared.

Palace eyes anti-graft commission

Meanwhile, Malacañang said yesterday it would look into Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano’s proposal for President Aquino to create an anti-graft commission that would go after grafters in government and also investigate corruption cases of the past administration.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang added that the Palace would continue to support investigations into alleged corruption in the military and refused to call them witch hunts.

But he said the proposed anti-graft council could not be considered a replacement of the Truth Commission yet because the motion for reconsideration filed by the government on the Supreme Court’s ruling declaring the truth panel as unconstitutional remained pending.

“ Now, whether or not we need to create another body is something that I think is better answered by our legal team. But that can be studied,” Carandang said.

He said the Palace was backing investigations into corruption in the military because valuable information was coming out.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda also said President Aquino had vowed to make the military officials involved in corruption pay for their crimes.

“I don’t know if you can call it a witch hunt. I think with what’s happening now, there’s a lot of useful information coming out of these hearings. If not for these hearings, the public will not know the testimony of (former state auditor) Heidi Mendoza (and retired Lt. Col.) George Rabusa,” he said.

“So I don’t necessarily think this is a witch hunt. With their revelations, of course there would be officials who would be hit. But for me, this is actually a good thing because the public will see the reason why this administration opposes the plea bargain deal with (former military comptroller) Gen. (Carlos) Garcia,” Carandang said.

He said the move would not undermine the chain of command since a grievance system was already in place in the AFP that would address allegations of graft.

“This is an existing body. There’s going to be a process for validating the information that we receive. This process has long been in place and if it did not undermine the hierarchy in the last five years, I don’t see why it would undermine the hierarchy today,” Carandang said.

DBM promises budgetary reforms

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio Abad said the government will take advantage of the opportunity to escalate reforms in the utilization of national defense funds in light of Rabusa’s revelations.

“As part of the reform measures, the DBM would also require the DND (Department of National Defense) to submit an updated report of the roster of uniformed and non-uniformed personnel of the AFP for a precise picture of real funding requirements. The 2011 Staffing Summary indicates that there are 135,699 uniformed and non-uniformed positions of the AFP, and the total (personnel) allotment amounts to P68.85 billion,” he said. – Aurea Calica, Iris Gonzales