AFP ready to hold dialogue with businessmen

MANILA, Philippines - The military assured businessmen yesterday that checks and balances have been put in place to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of finances of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said they are ready to hold a dialogue with business groups to discuss allegations of corruption involving retired military officers and the reforms implemented to improve the management of the military’s finances.

“The AFP would like to give its assurance to the members of the business sector that this alleged misuse of funds in the military... which transpired many years back is not something to be worried about,” he said.

Mabanta said the military has improved the handling of finances.

“With the continuous reforms being undertaken in the military establishment, since then, the AFP has greatly improved in its financial management with better checks and balances,” he said.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has urged President Aquino to create an independent body to probe the allegations of corruption the military.

Aquino should use the full force of the law to punish all those involved in the irregularities, it added.

MAP said the revelations of former military budget officer George Rabusa about alleged misuse of military funds threaten to erode public confidence in the Armed Forces.

“We, in the MAP, can only hope that something good will come out of all of these shocking revelations, something that will assist all of us in mapping a culture of integrity,” MAP said.

Last week, Rabusa told a Senate hearing that former Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes got P50 million in “pabaon” or sendoff money when he retired in 2001.

The cash gift was on top of a monthly P5 million “personal fund,” he added.

The “sendoff money” reportedly came from the Provisions for Command Directed Activities readily available to the Armed Forces chief.

Rabusa also said that former military chiefs Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu got P10 million each as a “welcome gift” when they assumed office.

The major services and various AFP offices were used as “clearing houses” to enable key officials to avail of hefty bonuses, he added.

Rabusa said top military officials are drawing P40 million monthly from the budgets of the Army, Air Force, and Navy.

Reyes may have collected about P100 million during his 20-month stint as chief of staff, he added.

Rabusa served as senior military aide to then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

More corruption allegations against the AFP floated last Tuesday after former state auditor Heidi Mendoza told the House of Representatives that some P270 million of military funds representing reimbursements from the United Nations were missing.

The Department of National Defense has formed a committee to probe the supposed excessive perks given to the military brass. The committee is scheduled to hold a pre-investigation conference today.