Former Philippine National Police (PNP) comptroller Eliseo de la Paz has made himself more liable for the P6.9 million (105,000 euros) fund mess of the PNP delegation to the Interpol conference in Russia.

During his appearance at the investigation of the Senate committee on foreign relations and the Blue Ribbon committee, the former comptroller pinned himself down by clearing his superiors, admitting there was an abuse of discretion on his part, and taking full responsibility for the controversy that has dragged the names of high-ranking police officials.

De la Paz, who was held by Russian airport authorities in Moscow for carrying money beyond the allowable outbound cash limits on Oct.11, absolved his superior PNP chief Jesus Verzosa and Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno from the fund mess.

“I did it on my own behalf,” said De la Paz.

Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chair of the foreign affairs committee, said she was not convinced of De la Paz's statement.

She said what happened was “a part of bigger conspiracy.”

Santiago believed that De la Paz was trying to protect some officials since it was common for middle-level officials to cover up for their superiors. “You are caught between the devil and the hard rock,” she said.

Senator Aquino Pimentel also said he did not believe that the former comptroller could have pulled the stuff all by himself. Pimentel asked police officials involved in the release of the money to determine the nature of the funds.

De la Paz and Versoza had issued conflicting statements about the source of the money confiscated from De la Paz.

In previous interviews, De la Paz claimed that the money was “cash advance” for “emergency cases” of the PNP delegation that attended the Interpol Summit at St. Petersburg. Versoza, however, said the money was for intelligence purposes and was intended for the purchase of intelligence equipment.

 “Unusual request”

Superintendent Samuel Rodriguez, disbursing officer of intelligence and confidential funds, testified that his superior and head of the finance services, chief superintendent Orlando Pestaňo told him to reserve P10 million for the PNP delegation to Russia and release the amount to De la Paz.

Rodriguez, however, told Pestaňo through a memorandum that what he ordered would violate the audit rules. “It is unusual for the director for comptrollership to request release of intelligence funds,” he said.

The intelligence fund, Rodriguez testified, is usually used by the directorate for intelligence to finance its projects. Rodriguez testified that Pestaňo told him to wait for the approval of De la Paz. “After talking to De la Paz, he [Pestaňo] directed me to release the fund,” he said.

Pestaňo said that when he told De la Paz about the irregularity of his request, the former comptroller told him that he [De la Paz] would explain it to the directorate for intelligence.

De la Paz, meanwhile, admitted that there was an abuse of discretion on his part because he did not do anything about the irregularity reported to him by Rodriguez and Pestaňo.

Contingency fund

Santiago said that De la Paz also violated the law that prohibits releasing contingency fund to officials before they travel. The law, Santiago said, mandates that in case of unforeseen expenses, government officials should fork out money from their own pockets and then ask for reimbursements from the government agencies later. 

Reynaldo Villar, chair of the Commission on Audit, and one of the government officials invited to attend the hearing, told the senators that De la Paz’s request to release contingency fund before they leave is illegal.

“I don’t think that is allowed,” Villar said.

 Unanswered questions

De la Paz also left questions about his failure to declare the euros in his possession when he invoked his right against self-incrimination at least twice.

When Senator Loren Legarda asked him if he was aware of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas circular that requires passengers traveling abroad with more than $10,000 to declare the money, De la Paz invoked his right against self-incrimination. De la Paz later retracted his statement and admitted that he was aware of the circular.

He invoked his right against self-incrimination for the second time when Legarda asked him why did not declare the money in his possession when he was in Moscow.

“Your question, if answered, will incriminate me,” De la Paz said.

Alejora connection

The Senate investigation also revealed that De la Paz has a close connection to Tyrone Alejora, a businessman who gave De la Paz 45,000 euros to buy an expensive watch in Vienna, Austria, which was supposed to be a the side trip of De la Paz after attending the Interpol conference. (De la Paz was not able to buy the watch because of what happened in the Moscow aiport.)

Alejora said that De la Paz is a family friend and is also a born-again Christian. The 35-year old businessman—with  interests in cosmetics, mining, restaurants and trading—also  admitted that his trading firm Enviro Air, Inc, won a contract to supply 100 million worth of civil disturbance management suits for the PNP.

It is important, Alejora said, to have friends in the government from the acceptance to the financial levels.

Senator Mar Roxas said that the relationship beyond De La Paz and Alejora goes beyond friendship. “There’s a 100-million contract involved,” he said. 

Roxas asked Alejora and Versoza to submit documents relating to transactions between Enviro Air and PNP.