'Euro generals made side trips, flew business class'

Like their Senate and House interrogators, the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s “euro” generals travel abroad in style.

They brought along their wives last month to an International Police (Interpol) conference in St. Petersburg, one of Russia’s top tourist destinations.

And they traveled in business class, not economy as they told senators on Nov. 15.

They made side trips. Most of them flew to China, while one, Deputy Director General Emmanuel Carta, head of delegation, flew to Europe and Thailand from Moscow, apparently with his wife.

Director Eliseo de la Paz, who, together with wife Maria Fe, was caught at the Moscow airport with more than 105,000 euros (more than P7 million) in undeclared cash, managed to take a three-day tour of Singapore after Russian authorities allowed them to return home.

The euro generals’ travel arrangements and side trips are reflected in documents the PNP has submitted to the House committee on public order and safety.

The documents included airline electronic tickets and boarding passes.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino, committee chairman, held his second hearing on what the PNP calls the “Moscow incident” on Thursday afternoon.

The next day, Friday, Antonino joined President Arroyo’s delegation to Lima, Peru, together with several House colleagues, including Leyte’s Martin Romualdez, one of those behind the newest Cha-cha (Charter change) initiative.

According to the PNP documents, the nine-member PNP delegation to the Interpol conference left on Oct. 5, taking Philippine Airlines flight PR 310 for Hong Kong, which departed at 6:30 p.m.

De la Paz was in business class, together with Carta, Director Romeo Ricardo and Superintendent Elmer Pelobello.

Although Pelobello’s e-ticket indicates he paid for economy class accommodation, he was apparently seated in the business section, just a row behind De la Paz. He occupied seat 12C, while De la Paz was in 11H.

Deputy Director General Ismael Rafanan and Directors Jaime Caringal and German Doria did not submit their Manila-Hong Kong tickets, though they submitted papers for the other legs of their trip.

On the other hand, Director Silverio Alarcio and Mrs. Cynthia Verzosa, wife of PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, did not submit any travel papers.

Presumably, the entire group took PR 310 for Hong Kong on Oct. 5.

Mrs. Verzosa was a member of the official delegation. However, unlike the eight other members, the PNP documents did not indicate that the PNP funded her trip.

Carta, De la Paz, Alarcio, and Caringal brought along their wives. Two officials of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crimes – Executive Director Rolando Garcia and his consultant Nixon Dizon – were also accompanied by their wives.

Garcia was the head of the entire Philippine delegation to the Interpol conference.

Side trips

The delegation also included representatives from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Immigration led by Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.

It is not known if the Garcia and Libanan groups also made side trips and flew business class. The Senate and the House are not investigating them. But there are reports that representatives of other agencies brought along some companions.

Of the four senior PNP officers who traveled with their wives, only Carta submitted an Aeroflot e-ticket for his wife Anita.

Verzosa has appealed to congressmen to spare their wives from appearing in the House inquiry.

The PNP group spent the night of Oct. 5 in Hong Kong. The following day, De la Paz and his colleagues took Aeroflot flights for Moscow and then to St. Petersburg, where the Interpol conference was scheduled on Oct. 7 to 10.

Again, De la Paz, Caringal, Ricardo, and Carta and his wife were in business class, while Doria and Pelobello were in economy.

De la Paz and Caringal left St. Petersburg for Moscow on Oct. 9. This meant that they had the chance to attend the Interpol conference only on Oct. 7 and 8.

It is not clear when De la Paz and his wife Maria Fe were caught at the Moscow airport with their undeclared huge amount of euros.

From Moscow, De la Paz, presumably with his wife, took Singapore Airlines flight SQ 375 on Oct. 18. He took SQ 910 for Manila three days later, on Oct. 21.

His Singapore Airlines boarding passes show that he was in business class in both legs of the trip. It was on Oct. 21 that he apologized to the people and the PNP for the Moscow incident upon arrival at the airport.

Carta, again presumably with his wife, left St. Petersburg on Oct. 11, taking an Austrian Airlines flight for Vienna, Austria, where he stayed for two days, and then proceeded to Venice in Italy. He was in business class.

From Venice, he took a train for Milan. His ticket indicates that it was for “2 persons.” From Milan, he took an Alitalia flight for Rome.

And on Oct. 20, he finally flew from Bangkok to Manila, taking Thai Airways. He was in economy class, as evidenced by his boarding pass.

From St. Petersburg, Ricardo, Doria and Pelobello flew to Beijing, China on Oct. 11. They returned to Manila on Oct. 15 via Hong Kong. They apparently flew in economy class.

For their Aeroflot tickets alone, Carta and his wife paid $5,388.60, or $2,694.30 each. De la Paz and Caringal each paid $3,472.40 for their Aeroflot tickets.

On the other hand, Ricardo paid $2,683.40 for his Aeroflot business class flight from Hong Kong to St. Petersburg, and $1,252 for the St. Petersburg-to-Beijing ticket, which is apparently for economy class accommodation.

Doria and Pelobello paid $1,436.20 and $1,423.40, respectively, for their Aeroflot flights.

Each member of the PNP delegation, except for Mrs. Verzosa, received P274,070 from Superintendent Samuel Rodriguez, disbursing officer of PNP Finance Service Office 14, as “cash advance from confidential/intelligence fund” for their travel.

The cash advance was computed as $3,000 (P139,620) including P1,620 travel tax for plane ticket, P1,500 for pre-departure expenses, $467 for six days for per diem and hotel accommodation (P128,892) and $85 (P4.058) for travel insurance.