UN peacekeeping funds for Phl prone to abuse, says international group

MANILA, Philippines –  An international risk consultancy firm recently released a report claiming that funds reimbursed by the United Nations to support the Philippines’ peacekeeping contingents are prone to abuse since the funds were not subject to audit.

In a report dated Feb. 7, the Pacific Strategies & Assessments (PSA) said the UN funds are not part of the military’s annual outlay that’s why they are not audited.

“PSA sources contend that the UN funds and other discretionary AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) account receivables are ripe for malfeasance and abuse,” the report said.

“As a discretionary fund, the UN money is not part of the AFP’s regular approved budget and, therefore, is not subject to routine audit,” said the PSA, a consultancy firm that has offices in Manila, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok, Milwaukee and Sydney.

PSA said the AFP rarely provides enough support to its peacekeeping contingents deployed to troubled areas.

“While military officials try to highlight their righteousness for supporting international peacekeeping missions even claiming that the AFP loses money on these efforts, insiders tell a very different tale. Specifically, that these special AFP deployments are designed to rip off the UN and line the pockets of military leadership,” the report said.

“Rarely does the AFP even fulfill its end of the bargain by providing the UN with adequately supported, trained, and equipped troops.”

The AFP sends peacekeeping contingents to Haiti, Liberia, the Golan Heights in Syria, Sudan, Timor Leste, Darfur, and Ivory Coast, as part of the Philippines’ international commitment to the UN.

PSA said returning peacekeeping troops from Haiti complained that in 2006 their monthly allowances of $1,000 were cut and raised concerns that the money was diverted.

“In 2002, the AFP launched an internal investigation of four Army and Air Force officials who were part of a peacekeeping force in East Timor for their alleged involvement in the sale of duty-free goods on the black market. The investigation did not result in any punishment or changes,” PSA said.

Last week, former state auditor Heidi Mendoza told the House justice committee that some P200 million in UN funds ended up in a private bank account and that P50 million could not be accounted for.

Mendoza was head of the Commission on Audit team tapped by then Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo to audit military funds in 2004. 

She said former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was clearly involved in the diversion of the UN funds. Garcia is facing plunder raps for allegedly stealing around P300 million from state coffers.

Before Mendoza made the allegations, retired military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa told a Senate hearing that former military chiefs were given millions in pabaon or sendoff money upon their retirement.

Rabusa said the cash gift is part of a tradition and was on top of a monthly P5 million “personal fund” also given to AFP chiefs.

He said millions of funds were diverted from various sources, including UN funds, to ensure the availability of sendoff money.

Rabusa said the funds were taken from the so-called Provisions for Command Directed Activities (PCDA), which is readily available to the AFP chief.

He said the diverted UN reimbursements to the PCDA were deposited to the AFP’s bank account.

During a pre-investigation by the defense department, it was revealed that the AFP has no records of how the UN funds were used before 2005.

Members of the House defense committee discovered last Tuesday that the military illegally diverted $55 million or about P2.4 billion in reimbursements from the UN to an account in a private bank.

Reps. Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite and Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City said the funds should have been remitted to the national treasury instead of being deposited in an AFP account at the United Coconut Planters Bank branch in Makati.

“Even the most hardened Philippine political and security analysts have been appalled and surprised by the institutionalized corruption exposed through the public inquiries,” PSA said.

“The case is yet another test to see if the country will establish a system of accountability or simply continue to let the corrupt, criminal, and immoral go free,” it added.