PABAON: P164 M WENT TO EX-AFP CHIEF VILLANUEVA / 3 EX-AFP CHIEFS DENY PABAON
[PHOTO AT LEFT- Former defense and AFP chief Angelo Reyes shows a copy of the complaint he filed against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa at the Office of the Ombudsman yesterday. BOY SANTOS, MANILA, Philippines]
MANILA, FEBRUARY 2, 2011 (STAR) By Christina Mendez - Angelo Reyes was not 'ganid' or greedy; he shared.
This is the latest allegation of retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa, who claimed Reyes gave him $20,000 out of about $1 million given as pabaon or sendoff when Reyes retired as Armed Forces chief.
Rabusa, the former military budget officer who spilled the beans on a "tradition" in the Armed Forces of gifting its chiefs with huge sums of money, also said he withdrew P164 million from a private bank supposedly for former chief of staff Diomedio Villanueva.
Rabusa told The STAR yesterday he withdrew the amount in tranches from a Security Bank branch upon instructions from then military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia.
Rabusa said Garcia instructed him to withdraw the money in batches – P10 million at each time – to avoid detection by the Anti-Money Laundering Council. "He (Garcia) told me it was General Villanueva," Rabusa said. He said that when he approached Villanueva last year to remind him of the amount and seek financial help, the general appeared dumbfounded. Rabusa said he believed Garcia kept the money.
He also said then defense secretary Angelo Reyes got 100 bundles containing $100,000 each for his P50 million pabaon (sendoff money). Rabusa said he met with Reyes at his official quarters called the "White House" at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City just after Reyes' retirement in March 2001.
He admitted that Reyes even handed him and then comptroller Gen. Jacinto Ligot two envelopes each containing what he described as balato (goodwill money) for delivering the P50 million converted into $100 bills. He said they placed the money inside a Rustan's plastic bag. "General Ligot also got his envelope, but it was thicker than mine. My estimate was that it was about $50,000 to $100,000," Rabusa said. Rabusa earlier revealed to Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada that Reyes had talked about his future after his retirement as AFP chief. "It was then the two (Rabusa and Ligot) answered that he would be the next defense chief, which eventually happened," Estrada said.
New witness
Meanwhile, Estrada said he would ask the Blue Ribbon committee to invite in the next hearing a former military officer assigned as assistant to Rabusa. "He can corroborate Rabusa's statements since he was his assistant at the budget division," Estrada said. Rabusa confirmed that one Col. Antonio Ramon Lim was his former assistant at the budget division. "I hope he comes out and corroborates me," Rabusa said. "He was my workhorse because I had so many things to do then."
Rabusa admitted that he burned huge volumes of documents shortly after Reyes' retirement because they wanted to cover Reyes' back when he was then eyeing the position of defense secretary. "I recommended to Gen. Garcia and Gen. Ligot na sunusugin (documents), because we have to protect his back since he was going to be the Secretary of National Defense," Rabusa said. "It's good I was able to keep some other documents, which are enough to prove my allegations (against Reyes, and the others)," said Rabusa. He declined to comment further.
Jetsetting wives
Rabusa also said the wives of Reyes and Ligot traveled in style, using their own pabaon from the military of not less than P20,000 for local trips and $10,000 for trips abroad. Rabusa said he was assigned by Ligot to make sure that all the needs of Reyes' wife, Teresita, were taken care of. Estrada said he had a list of the two wives' travels together since 1996 until the time when Reyes became Armed Forces chief.
"Everytime they travel, Rabusa gives them allowances. I think Col. Rabusa will expose this during the next hearing. I do not want to preempt his exposé," Estrada said. Estrada said Rabusa's statements would be corroborated by immigration records, which he would present on Thursday's hearing at the Senate.
It was Estrada who brought Rabusa as a witness during last Thursday's hearing of the Blue Ribbon committee on the circumstances behind the plea bargaining agreement between Garcia and the special prosecutors. Interviewed at ANC, Rabusa said they only gave Mrs. Reyes allowances everytime she traveled. "We don't give her regularly or monthly," he said. Rabusa said he usually gave the allowances personally to Mrs. Reyes or through a trusted aide.
He said Mrs. Reyes would call to ask him not to tell her husband that she had been given large amount as this would anger him. He said he would assure her that her husband would be told that she had only received P20,000 for local trip and no more than $2,000 for foreign travel. Rabusa said Reyes's children also benefited from military funds for "nights out" that he himself arranged.
"There were some activities pero wag na natin pag-usapan yan kasi (but let's not talk about it) it's too personal. Yung mga special ops, mga kalokohan. Yung mga boys' night out, ako nag-a-arrange. Kasama din ako. At that time, it was P8,000 per person," he said. Meanwhile, reports revealed that one Ebbie Pelayo – said to be a supplier getting P1-million monthly payola from the military's funds – was also engaged in providing "women" to some of the top AFP generals.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said yesterday Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee special envoy Roy Cimatu was off to Egypt to look after the welfare of the Filipinos there.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Cimatu was part of the three-man team that the Department of Foreign Affairs put together to ensure the safety of Filipinos in Egypt.
"He (Cimatu) will be the best person to answer that and we will let him answer those allegations," Valte said.
President Aquino had extended the term of Cimatu until June of this year.
Valte said government's investigations into the allegations of Rabusa would continue and that the Palace would not stop any lifestyle checks on military officials.
"Well, it will not hurt certainly because it helps eliminate people who may have been, who are subject to these allegations," Valte said.
Ex-AFP chiefs deny getting 'pasalubong, pabaon' By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated February 02, 2011 12:00 AM
[PHOTO - Yano, Senga and Esperon]
MANILA, Philippines - Five former Armed Forces chiefs yesterday denied having received "sendoff" cash gifts after their retirement.
The retired generals also insisted that they have implemented reform programs in the effort to reduce corruption in the military.
Former Armed Forces chiefs Narciso Abaya, Hermogenes Esperon, Dionisio Santiago, Generoso Senga and Alexander Yano made the denial, as they appeared at the House of Representatives to testify on the controversial plea bargaining agreement between government prosecutors and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.
Former executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, who served as Armed Forces vice chief also appeared before the House panel.
Former Army Lt. Col. George Rabusa, the budget officer who served under Garcia, earlier testified before a Senate hearing that former Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes and some of his successors were recipients of the "pabaon" gifts upon their retirement. Rabusa said the giving of huge cash gifts has been a tradition in the military for retiring generals.
Abaya, who served as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from April 2003 to October 2004, said the "pabaon" system could not be possible since the military organization was on a "reform and upgrading mode" during his term.
"I did not receive any welcome gift. I did not receive any monthly (payola), neither did I get any sendoff gift," Abaya told the House Justice committee.
Santiago, AFP chief from November 2002 to April 2003, said any extra money he had is from the family income.
He claimed his family even went into the garments business to augment their income.
"Me and my wife are jetsetters because one of my children works in Northwest Airlines, so when we travel we are in business class," he added.
Yano, who lead the AFP for a year from May 2008, admitted traveling abroad with his wife a few times during his tenure.
But the travels were all part of his duties and the host countries that invited him had shouldered most of the expenses.
Esperon also denied the allegations, saying by the time he was AFP chief from July 2006 to January 2008, the military began implementing reforms following the recommendation of the Davide Commission that investigated the 2003 Oakwood mutiny.
Esperon said the J6, the position where Garcia had worked, was virtually abolished in 2005 following the scandal.
Esperon said he was then focused on eliminating the Abu Sayyaf during his term.
It was during that time that the notorious Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani was neutralized, he said.
For his part, Senga, who served as AFP chief from August 2005 to July 2006, said he learned the accusations against Garcia but denied having personal knowledge about the issue.
All the five former military chiefs claimed receiving lump sum pension funds after they retired from the service.
Another former Armed Forces chief, Benjamin Defensor, also sought to clarify insinuations that he could be among those mentioned as the possible recipient of P50 million after he retired on Nov. 28, 2002.
"How can I sign checks when that (date) was the change of command ceremony?" Defensor asked.
Defensor, and other former Armed Forces chiefs Roy Cimatu and Diomedio Villanueva would be summoned to the next hearing, lawmakers said.
On the other hand, Ermita, a former congressman from Batangas, also denied allegations from former state auditor Heidi Mendoza who claimed she had received instructions from the Office of the President telling her to lay off her probe.
"We have never discussed that case in the Cabinet, collectively or individually. We know that this is in the purview of the judiciary," said the former executive secretary of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, a member of the panel, said the testimonies of the former military chiefs were unlike that of Reyes who had claimed he could not remember the transactions as alleged by Rabusa.
The powerful person
Reyes, on the other hand, challenged Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to file a case in court after being accused as one of the principals behind Garcia.
Trillanes said Reyes was the "powerful person" behind Garcia in his plea bargaining agreement with the government prosecutors.
According to Trillanes, it was obvious that Reyes was one of the officials behind Garcia and the testimony of Rabusa linking the former Defense and AFP chief to alleged corruption in the military should be enough proof of his involvement.
"I am naming him as one of those behind Garcia," Trillanes declared.
Reyes, however, challenged Trillanes to file a case in court and not to resort to a trial by publicity.
"As a fellow officer and gentleman, I am now challenging Senator Trillanes to waive his parliamentary immunity to suits and then to repeat the same accusations he had made against my person, name and integrity," Reyes said.
"Better yet, if there is a shred of truth to what Senator Trillanes is saying, I am asking him to rise to the occasion by filing the proper charges against me before any judicial body," Reyes declared.
"Before man and the Almighty, I know in my conscience that I am not and will never be that 'powerful person'," he said.
Trillanes, a member of the Magdalo group of officers that staged the 2003 Oakwood mutiny to highlight their struggle against corruption in the government and the military, said he was part of the procurement system of the AFP.
Trillanes said he was in a position to know all about the anomalies related to this aspect.
"The documents are there. I came from the procurement system. I was a procurement officer and I know where to look. So it was just a matter of time (that these came out)," he said. – With Marvin Sy, Alexis Romero, Michael Punongbayan
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