GMA orders probe of Wong’s charges

President Arroyo has ordered Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes to investigate alleged purchasing anomalies in the Marines, which exposé cost Navy chief Rear Adm. Guillermo Wong his job.

But Reyes tossed to the Office of the Ombudsman the investigation on the purchase of substandard helmets and machine guns that have gone missing.

This would "preclude any speculation that there would be a whitewash," Reyes said at a press conference yesterday, adding the AFP inspector general and judge advocate general have already found prima facie evidence for graft.

Meanwhile, sources said Reyes has ordered Wong to decline from speaking further on the multimillion-peso irregularities in the Philippine Marines.

Acting Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita disclosed yesterday that Mrs. Arroyo had issued the order directly to Reyes during the grand alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy two weeks ago in Baguio City.

"The President would like everything to be straightened... The President is definitely concerned of this thing that happened, especially involving the senior officers of the Armed Forces," Ermita said.

Wong earlier had a quarrel with the Marines headed by Maj. Gen. Librado Ladia after the latter protested the Navy chief’s berating them over reported irregularities in the procurement system of the unit.

The Marines said Wong had violated the "cherished traditions" of the unit for scolding the officers in front of their men, a charge the Navy chief denies.

Wong said the Marines stubbornly refused to implement computer-aided reforms in the system of purchasing supplies, to the detriment of the soldiers in the field and AFP coffers.

Among the anomalies exposed by Wong were the procurement of P3.9 million worth of substandard Kevlar helmets in December 1998 through a rigged bidding and the case of the missing high-powered rifles worth P7.2 million bought in June 2000.

Reyes, who attempted to downplay the rift as "a simple case of conflict in leadership style," sided with the Marines by relieving Wong from his post because "the individual must be sacrificed for the institution."

"We assure that there is no cover-up," he said, adding that AFP Inspector General Brig. Gen. Lamberto Sillona had started investigation into the circumstances surrounding the rift, but they decided that the Ombudsman would be the best forum for it.

"There might be risks involved if we conduct a parallel investigation and come up with a different result. So we will leave it entirely to the Office of the Ombudsman," Reyes said.

Ermita, for his part, said Mrs. Arroyo’s directive should in no way be misinterpreted as tending to favor Wong nor can it be taken against the leadership of Reyes.

"It does not have to be supportive of anybody because it doesn’t have to be an admiral to say that there are allegations. Anybody can make allegations," said Ermita.

Reyes said he has ordered a pretrial investigation on the P7.2-million purchase of HK MP5 9-mm. rifles after 72 of the assault rifles disappeared and remained unaccounted for.

Five of the submachine guns later turned up in the possession of Taiwanese gun runners in Subic Bay, Zambales.

Highly placed sources at Camp Aguinaldo said Reyes personally told Wong yesterday that he should no longer give interviews to media and that all queries be coursed through general headquarters.

"The chief of staff spoke with him during a meeting of the Board of Generals at Camp Aguinaldo," the sources said, at the same time quoting Reyes as telling Wong that "the situation is worsening."

"He felt he was being repressed for doing what’s right," said another ranking official at Wong’s office in Navy headquarters, which encompasses the Marines.

The Board of Generals meeting also discussed the successor of Wong, who will leave his post on March 1.

Former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado assailed the Armed Forces leadership for "demoting an honest official instead of promoting him or giving him a medal."

"They should look into these reports of irregularities," Mercado said. "Or better still, an independent body like the NBI should conduct an investigation into the reports."

Mercado recalled that Wong’s experience was similar to his when he exposed the irregularities at the Armed Forces’ Retirement, Separation and Benefits System (RSBS) while he was still defense chief.

"Just like in the case of Admiral Wong where they said he violated traditions instead of answering the reports, the RSBS at the time said I was arrogant but did not give me a straight answer on my questions on reports of corruption," he said.

He said the controversy "sends a wrong signal" to ordinary soldiers who lose their lives defending the country from enemies of the state.

Sources at Camp Aguinaldo said how Reyes will handle the Wong case will be a crucial factor whether he would be named defense chief next month, replacing Ermita.

The exposé of Wong, who will effectively be put in the freezer after his application for early retirement was denied, directly implicates former Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa, whom the Arroyo administration is grooming to succeed Reyes at the AFP top post.

Meanwhile, sources close to Wong vowed to expose more anomalies at the Marines, including ghost projects. – Marichu Villanueva, Paolo Romero