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Roxas: Senate committee report on 'euro generals' not final

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/26/2008 12:07 PM

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Acting chairman Manuel “Mar” Roxas II of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Sunday made clear that their recommendation for the criminal prosecution of police officials who brought P6.9 million to Russia is not yet final.

A draft report signed by committee head Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago stated that the eight-man delegation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the 77th Interpol General Assembly in Moscow, Russia is guilty of “graft, malversation of public funds, and violation of the anti-money laundering law and banking rules.”

The PNP delegates included former comptroller Eliseo dela Paz, Deputy Directors General Emmanuel Carta and Ismael Rafanan, Directors Romeo Ricardo, Silverio Alarcio, and Silverio Doria, Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal, and Superintendent Elmer Pelobello.

The report also recommended the preliminary investigation of PNP Chief Jesus Versoza and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno for “violation of government travel restrictions.”

“PNP Chief Versoza 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. We’ll try to see who really signed documents which allowed dela Paz and the rest to have this amount of money,” he said in an interview at dzMM’s “Magandang Morning Julius at Tintin.

“Secretary Puno also has to be held accountable for this. He said that he approved of the use of this money but reminded the officials that they have to obey the law. He may be off the hook because of that. But I think that just goes to show how lenient the National Police Commission (Napolcom) is when it comes to the monitoring of PNP. It’s quite clear that these officials are not allowed to travel at the expense of the people’s funds,” he said.

Roxas stressed that the committee is yet to study the details further, saying that there can be succeeding hearings related to the matter.

“These are her [Santiago’s] findings. This is final as it relates to Senator Miriam. We are yet to discuss the draft among other members and put it into a vote,” he said.”

'Committee needs more answers'

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee draft report cites the following offenses that the PNP delegation may be held accountable for:

- Malversation (Article 17 of the Penal code)
- Technical malversation of public funds (Article 220)
- Violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act
- Violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001
- Violations of the New Central Bank Act
- Travel ban (Administrative Order No. 103 issued by President Arroyo)
- Travel ban on account of austerity measures (Executive Order 459 and PNP Circular No. 202-017 of 2002)
- Law on allowable travel expenses (EO 298)
- Law against travel of officials about to retire

Roxas said that aside from having to account for these violations, there are many questions that the PNP officials need to answer, more specifically, the unexplained P6.9 million “intelligence fund.”

“They said that the money is for an ‘intelligence fund’ for security equipment. Instead of shedding light to the issue, it has only brought more mystery upon us,” he said.

“Even if it’s true, it is certainly strange how the PNP purchases their 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,” he said.

He added that the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is looking forward to the statement of dela Paz. The retired PNP comptroller, however, is yet to be found.

“The next hearing will depend if General Dela Paz will show up in front of the committee. But as of now, he is yet to be found,” he said.