AFP backs probe on Rabusa

MANILA, Philippines -  The military wants whistleblower George Rabusa and others involved in malpractices in the Armed Forces to be investigated and charged in court.

Armed Forces spokesman Commodore Miguel Rodriguez said the Armed Forces will cooperate with the Office of the Solicitor General in running after military officers who committed wrongdoing.

 “We have a process, the judicial system,” he said.

“If you have nothing to hide and fear, if there is a need to investigate, then there should be an investigation.”

Speaking over radio dzBB, Rodriguez said “all must be accountable” when asked if Rabusa should be held accountable despite exposing alleged corrupt practices in the Armed Forces.

“We must all be accountable for our actions,” he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s our justice system that will prevail.”

Rabusa told a Senate hearing last January that former military chiefs received huge sums of send-off money upon their retirement.

The giving of hefty cash gifts to top officials is part of a military tradition, he added.

Former Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes got P50 million in sendoff money, successors Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu got P160 million and P80 million, he added.

The three have denied Rabusa’s claims.

Reyes committed suicide last Feb. 8 at the height of the controversy.

Rabusa himself admitted benefiting from the alleged misuse of state funds.

He had received P500,000 monthly as budget officer and had P200 million in a personal bank account that he had to withdraw when the Anti-Money Laundering Council was formed, he added.

Last month, Armed Forces Civil Relations Service chief Brig. Gen. Eduardo del Rosario challenged military whistleblowers to admit their involvement in anomalies before the courts and lawmakers.

“If they (military whistleblowers) will surrender first everything that they have stolen, and then make a confession in Congress or in court, only then can we be assured of fair, honest and sincere dispensation of justice,” he said.

Del Rosario, a former Army auditor, said all those who committed irregularities should be made accountable for their actions.

“Those who will be found guilty must be punished to the full extent of the law,” he said. “However, some have observed that the alleged whistleblowers are now coming out just to protect themselves.”

Rodriguez assured the public that they are continuously reforming their financial and logistics systems.

“We have to enhance our system,” he said. “We do not want to be viewed as a corrupt institution.”

Rodriguez said they are open to proposals to conduct lifestyle checks on the military brass.

“The lifestyle check is an ongoing thing in all agencies of the government... We agree with that,” he said.

Earlier, the Defense Department panel formed to probe corruption in the military had called for the creation of an office that would undertake lifestyle checks on military officials.

The Special Defense Investigation Committee (SDIC) said the office should be outside the AFP so it can perform its duty.