Ombudsman to summon De la Paz, euro generals

MANILA, Philippines – The Ombudsman will summon retired Philippine National Police comptroller Director Eliseo de la Paz and other police officials involved in the alleged unauthorized release of some P7 million in cash advances.

Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni, head of the field investigation office (FIO) of the anti-graft body, said they would order De la Paz and other police officials dubbed as the “euro generals” to clarify issues surrounding the Moscow scandal.

De la Paz and his wife Maria Fe were held at Moscow airport last Oct. 11 for carrying undeclared cash amounting to 105,000 euros or P6.9 million, after they attended the 77th International Police (Interpol) General Assembly in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Aside from De la Paz the other police delegates also brought along their wives to Russia. PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa did not attend the Interpol meeting but his wife Cynthia went with the PNP delegation.

De la Paz, who retired on Oct. 9, attended the convention from Oct. 7 up to Oct. 10 at St. Petersburg. The other police officials in the delegation were Deputy Directors General Emmanuel Carta, Ismael Rafanan, Directors Romeo Ricardo, Silverio Alarcio, German Doria and Jaime Caringal, Superintendent Elmer Pelobello, who is the aide of the delegation.

Jalandoni said the PNP officials would receive summons tomorrow and they would be asked to attend the public hearing on the issue next week.

“We already have the report of the PNP on this matter. This will hasten our investigation,” he told reporters during a press conference yesterday morning at the Ombudsman’s office in Quezon City.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the PNP was earlier ordered by chief PNP Verzosa to determine the charges to be filed against De la Paz and three other officers involved in the alleged illegal disbursement of P6.9 million for the PNP Interpol delegation to Russia.

The PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detection Management had earlier ruled a reasonable basis exists to file criminal as well as administrative charges against De la Paz and three other PNP officers, identified as Senior Superintendent Tomas Rentoy, chief of the budget division of the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership; Superintendent Samuel Rodriguez, disbursing officer for directorate for intelligence; and Chief Superintendent Orlando Pestaño, chief of finance services.

Last week, all eight officers who attended the Moscow event returned their cash advances for the trip.

The officers who have returned the full amount of P274,070 aside from De la Paz were Carta, deputy chief for administration; Ricardo, directorate for plans; and Caringal, former Western Mindanao regional director.

Rafanan, chief of the directorial staff, returned a partial amount of P74,000; while Pelobello, deputy chief for operations, returned P150,000. Both officers promised to return the balance within the month.

Alarcio, chief for operations, has returned the full amount, while Doria, chief for human resource and doctrine development, returned P100,000 with a promissory note to return the balance within 30 days. The cash advances reportedly totaled P2.192 million.

10 senators sign De la Paz arrest order

Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and 9 other senators signed yesterday the warrant of arrest against De la Paz to compel him to appear at the Senate public hearing.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, chairperson of the Senate foreign relations committee, ordered the arrest of De la Paz when he failed to attend the hearing called by the panel.

However, since the order was issued during the break, the required number of senators that should sign the warrant of arrest could not be mustered.

Villar and Santiago along with Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Senators Loren Legarda, Gregorio Honasan, Manuel Roxas II, Ramon Revilla Jr., Jamby Madrigal and Rodolfo Biazon signed the arrest warrant.

Villar said at least 10 members of the foreign relations committee should sign the arrest warrant, but excluding ex-officio members composed of Pangilinan, Pimentel and Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada. This means two more signatures are needed to have the warrant enforced.

Santiago also said she agreed with Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, for their two panels to hold a joint hearing on the PNP officials’ case next week.

De la Paz had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the jurisdiction of the foreign relations committee over the issue.

Though issued a subpoena, De la Paz did not appear at the hearing last Oct. 23 and argued that jurisdiction did not belong to the foreign affairs committee, but to another committee where he would be willing to testify.

“To avoid all these technicalities, it would be better if the two committees hold a joint hearing, so that De la Paz can no longer make a pretense of challenging jurisdiction on the arrest warrant,” Santiago said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has not yet received any communication from the Philippine Embassy in Moscow on Russian authorities’ clearing the PNP officials implicated in the seizure of the undeclared 105,000 euros.

DFA officials, who asked not to be named, said documentation on the case, even if written in a foreign language, are translated immediately and the Philippine Embassy is immediately furnished with a copy to be transmitted to the DFA.

De la Paz’s counsel Noel Malaya said Alex Binetskiy, the Russian lawyer of the retired police official in Moscow, had sent an e-mail to him last Wednesday and provided him positive developments on the case.

Binetskiy reported that no criminal charges would be filed against any of the Filipino police officials and their companions after Russian Customs officials completed their investigation. — With Aurea Calica, Pia Lee-Brago