FUGITIVE PING VIA A STATEMENT SAID PNP CHIEFS ALSO GET PERKS, PABAON
MANILA, FEBRUARY 17, 2011 (STAR) By Marvin Sy, Jess Diaz, Manny Galvez - Fugitive Sen. Panfilo Lacson said yesterday that the Philippine National Police, just like the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), had its own version of welcome and sendoff gifts for the highest ranking PNP officer, at the very least, and called for an expansion of the probes to include the police.
In a statement sent to media, which carried the title, "No welcome, no sendoff," Lacson recalled that when he assumed the post of PNP chief in 1999, he was told that there was P40 million in "commander's reserve" available every year for his exclusive disposal.
"I was never interested. I instructed my director for comptrollership, then police director, now Congressman Romeo Acop of Antipolo City, to treat that reserved fund as part and parcel of the general fund for personnel welfare and other operational activities of the command," said the senator, who was PNP chief until 2001.
This fund was similar to what former military budget officer George Rabusa called the provision for command directed activity (PCDA) or a slush fund that amounted to P40 million a month.
However, unlike the PCDA, which was distributed to the AFP chief and other officers down the line, the commander's reserve was exclusively for the use of the chief PNP.
According to Lacson, the commander's reserve was just part of the perks offered to him as PNP chief.
Lacson said there was a monthly gas allowance equivalent to the consumption of 50 vehicles or more "even if allowed to run 24 hours a day."
"Mindful of complaints that police cars often ran out of gas, I ordered the excess allowance downloaded to front-line units," Lacson said.
He said he was also presented a credit card with a high credit limit "with the information that I could swipe it both for personal and official purposes."
Lacson said that he also turned this down and ordered his office administrative officer, then Chief Inspector Asper Cabula, to return the credit card with clear instructions not to activate it.
"Instead of enjoying these perks, I focused on ridding the police ranks of the ICU's – the Inept, Corrupt and Undisciplined police officers and providing a no-nonsense law enforcement service to our people," he said.
Lacson: What 'pabaon'?
Acop reinforced Lacson's allegation but with a little twist.
"Senator Lacson is wrong. The amount was not P40 million but P44 million," he told reporters. "The fund was for contingencies. We downloaded it to the field units."
Acop said he could attest that Lacson ordered 85 percent of the PNP budget allocated to field units and only 15 percent used by the central and regional headquarters, but did not know about the high-limit credit cards issued to his former boss.
Lacson said his stint as PNP chief was focused on eliminating "kotong" or mulcting culture prevalent among street cops at that time and properly allocating the bulk of PNP resources.
"Needless to say, I received no sendoff. Instead, I left some 'pabaon' to the command – the PNP Foundation Inc. fund, contributed by people who were satisfied with what we had done, is presently being managed by civic-minded individuals and kept in local banks," he said, noting that the earnings from the fund are still being used to augment PNP resources.
"Having first hand knowledge of these facts, I strongly support the proposal to expand the investigation of the welcome and sendoff gifts tradition to include the AFP's across-the-street neighbor, the PNP," Lacson said.
He also called on President Aquino, his former colleague in the Senate, to make good on his advocacy of "daang matuwid" by putting an end to corruption in the uniformed service.
"He can very well succeed. He can only fail with his own undoing," he said.
PNP welcomes investigation
Meanwhile, PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said he welcomes any investigation or even lifestyle checks to clear the agency of any insinuation of corruption.
Speaking at a press conference during the inauguration of the new police station building in Talavera, Nueva Ecija yesterday, Bacalzo said he and his men are ready to face charges if there is any truth to the allegations that senior PNP officials also receive the so-called "pasalubong" and "pabaon."
"Much as we are implementing reforms, including fiscal reforms, we are ready to face any form of investigation," he said, reiterating that he has no knowledge of the practice.
"In the first place, I have never retired to even get a taste of that. And I will never try receiving that if there is any," he said.
Earlier, Bacalzo directed Rey Lanada, Director for Comptrollership, and Chief Superintendent Rizaldo Tungala Jr., Director for Finance, to render a report to congressional oversight bodies so that they can be effectively guided in their inquiries in aid of legislation.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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