Nene warns against whitewash in military corruption probe

A "whitewash" of the corruption charges against top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines could trigger restiveness among the rank and file of the AFP and lead to another Oakwood mutiny, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr warned yesterday.

In a statement, Pimentel cited the case of former AFP comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who was suspended from the service after the Ombudsman accused him of amassing millions of pesos in ill-gotten wealth.

"Unless the AFP officers who steal soldier’s money are punished properly, the Oakwood mutiny, like the Sphinx, will rise up again and again. The AFP must shape up and not cover up for General Garcia," he said.

In July last year, a group of junior officers calling themselves the Magdalo group led some 300 soldiers in taking over the Oakwood Hotel in Makati City.

The mutineers demanded the resignation of top military and defense officials for what the junior officers claimed was the widespread misuse of funds intended for the boots, ammunition and other supplies of soldiers in the battlefield.

Pimentel urged President Arroyo to "translate" her assurance that there would be no cover-up of Garcia’s case "into concrete and visible action."

He also called on the President to immediately suspend retired Gen. Edgardo Espinosa as managing director of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan.

Espinosa was ordered suspended by the Sandiganbayan on charges that he diverted funds intended for the purchase of Kevlar helmets from the United States during his stint as commanding general of the Philippine Marines.

Government prosecutors accused Espinosa and several other AFP officials of allegedly substituting substandard Taiwan-made helmets for the US-made helmets.