Former defense secretary Angelo Reyes should be charged with plunder amid accusations that he received P50 million as “send-off money" when he retired from military service as Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff, Senator Francis Escudero said Friday.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate defense committee, said that the testimony of former AFP budget manager Col. George Rabusa against Reyes should be made into an affidavit and be used to file a plunder complaint against the former defense chief.
“It is an outright mockery of justice that while soldiers who really fight hard die in the field, their officials swim in cash while cooling their heels inside their air-conditioned offices," he said in a statement released Friday.
During Thursday's Senate hearing, Rabusa revealed that former AFP chiefs of staff received hefty sums of money during their term and "pabaon" (send-off money) upon retirement.
He specifically cited Reyes, whom he accused of supposedly receiving almost P100 million during his 20-month stint as AFP chief of staff and another P50 million upon retirement.
During the hearing, Reyes said he does not remember receiving any money from Rabusa. “The ‘I cannot remember’ answer of Secretary Reyes was not an outright denial in spite of the categorical accusation. If it were totally untrue, he’d be defending himself to his teeth," said Escudero.
Senator Teofisto Guingona III, chairman of the Senate blue ribbon committee, said that if Reyes really did receive almost P150 million in state funds illegally, he may face charges of plunder.
"P50 million ang plunder, ito higit pa. Pasok na pasok ang plunder [The crime of plunder means you amass at least P50 million; this case involves more than that. This clearly falls in the category of plunder)," Guingona said in an interview over DWIZ radio on Friday.
In Republic Act 7080 or the Anti-Plunder Law, plunder is defined as an act where “any public officer who, by himself or in connivance with members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates or other persons, amasses, accumulates or acquires ill-gotten wealth a combination or series of overt criminal acts…in the total value of at least P50 million."
Plunder is a non-bailable capital offense punishable by reclusion perpetua.
Include other AFP chiefs of staff
Earlier in the day, the Department of National Defense formed a special committee that will look into the alleged anomalies in the military.
Guingona also said that the Senate blue ribbon committee will conduct another hearing next week to explore the issue involving Reyes and the alleged pabaon system in the AFP.
Escudero and Senator Francis Pangilinan, however, said that the committee should also include in its probe all former AFP chiefs of staff.
“I urge the blue ribbon committee to seriously look into this matter. It should include former chiefs of the AFP because if this is really an ongoing tradition, it must be nipped in the bud," said Escudero.
In a separate statement, Pangilinan said that the government should "take the cue" from Rabusa's testimony and "dig deeper."
"Rabusa has given the government the lead; it is the government’s turn to unearth what has to be unearthed — even if it means generals past and present will now have to face the music," he said.
Guingona, however, said that the government needs documentary evidence or testimonial evidence like that of Rabusa before it starts accusing the other former AFP chiefs of corruption.
But he said he was optimistic that many more witnesses will want to testify after seeing Rabusa's courage. "I'm sure [that] attitude [will] one day [inspire] some other persons," he said.
Meanwhile, Guingona said that the Senate has provided Rabusa with security while he is not yet under the protective custody of any government agency. - JV
