MANILA, Philippines - Former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Angelo Reyes filed graft charges yesterday against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and retired AFP budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa for reportedly damaging his reputation with “false and defamatory accusations.”
Reyes, accompanied by his lawyer Bonifacio Alentajan, personally lodged the complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman.
He said Estrada and Rabusa subjected him to trial by publicity with accusations – raised before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee – that he received P5 million in monthly allowance as AFP chief and P50 million pabaon (sendoff money) upon his retirement in 2001.
Reyes said the manner the accusations were raised was a criminal offense under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The Senate hearing was supposedly on the plea deal between the Office of the Ombudsman and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, who is facing plunder charges.
In a statement, Reyes said the accusations of Estrada and Rabusa “caused undue injury to my person and my family through their manifest partiality, evident bad faith and gross inexcusable negligence.”
Alentajan told reporters the accusations against Reyes were politically motivated, considering that the latter’s withdrawal of support from former President Joseph Estrada – Jinggoy’s father – at the height of people power 2 in 2001 sounded the death knell for the Estrada administration.
The popular revolt ousted Estrada and catapulted then vice president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to power. Reyes later served as Mrs. Arroyo’s defense chief, interior and local government secretary and energy secretary.
“I have done nothing wrong and I categorically deny all the accusations of wrongdoing leveled against me. Let us now move forward and stop the politics of hate and vengeance,” Reyes said in his statement.
“I have taken this legal step to seek justice and redress of my grievances. My family also suffered enough from the undue trial by publicity initiated by Senator Estrada and his cohorts,” Reyes pointed out.
“I appeal to them to stop this obvious demolition job. I believe that during my tour of duty as AFP chief of staff, I acted according to the highest professional and ethical standards,” he said.
“The fact that the foregoing false and defamatory accusations were done during the hearing at the Senate Blue Ribbon committee by Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and his ‘surprise witness’ indubitably demonstrates their manifest partiality, evident bad faith, and gross inexcusable negligence,” he said.
“The injuries caused by the respondents on the complainant and his family are irreparable, and unquantifiable,” Reyes added.
He lost his bid to represent party-list 1-Utak in the May 10 elections, in a decision by the Commission on Elections.
“Why was Reyes singled out, where were the other chiefs of staff? Isn’t it manifest partiality?” Alentajan said.
He complained that Reyes was not even allowed to defend himself during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing.
“He cannot defend himself before the Senate. He’s not even allowed to speak. He was investigated but was not given a lawyer. It’s against the Constitution,” he said.
“Nobody is above the law, even if you’re a senator, a congressman or whoever you are. There are laws that should be followed,” he said.
Reyes declined to be interviewed but invited reporters to a press conference today.
“You can ask whatever questions you want and we will answer. The press conference would like to address the issues and so that I’d be given the chance to air my side. I would like to say that I would be willing to face any forum to answer all the charges and I’ll meet these problems squarely,” he said.
In his graft complaint, Reyes also sought to demolish the track record of Estrada and Rabusa.
He said the board of directors of the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) “unceremoniously fired” Estrada as president for “treason” and that in August 2006 he was indicted for libel and ordered arrested by Pasay City Regional Trial Judge Wilhelmina Jorge-Wagani.
On Sept. 22, 2009, Reyes said Sen. Panfilo Lacson called Estrada a “traitor,” a “jueteng beneficiary,” and “one who consorts with the government he claims to oppose.”
Reyes also noted that Rabusa was facing criminal cases for three counts of perjury and for unlawfully acquiring property and vehicles amounting to more than P43 million.
Reyes also said that based on records from the Office of the Ombudsman, Rabusa’s wife Debbie and father-in-law Felix Arevalo were also facing charges for conspiring with him and “serving as his dummies.”
Also, quoting a Newsbreak report, he said Rabusa served two AFP comptrollers – Jacinto Ligot and Garcia – who “all belonged to what was described then as the ‘comptroller mafia’.”
* Reyes said Rabusa also ran for mayor in Sugod, Southern Leyte in 2007 but “miserably lost.”
* Meanwhile, Rabusa and Estrada belittled Reyes’ filing of graft charges against them.
“Paninira ba yung nagsasabi ng totoo (Is telling the truth badmouthing)?” Rabusa told The STAR.
“The burden of proof is on their side,” Rabusa said.
Rabusa is still working on his affidavit detailing the involvement of Reyes, former Armed Forces chiefs of staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu, and former comptrollers Jacinto Ligot and Carlos Garcia.
For his part, Estrada said Reyes’ action was a retaliation for his being linked to a serious case of corruption.
“Former Sec. Reyes and his lawyer have all the right to do what they want. They can file charges against me, they can file charges against anyone,” Estrada said.
“As far as I am concerned, I also have the right as your senator to expose the anomalies and the corruption which is happening within the military,” he said.
Estrada invoked parliamentary immunity as he reiterated that the issue was corruption in the military, and not the perception that he was getting back at Reyes for his role in the EDSA 2 revolt that ousted his father President Estrada.
“I am covered by parliamentary immunity, whatever I say in the plenary or in the committee hearings. I never abused my power. I was just exposing the anomalies of the government. And I am not using Col. Rabusa,” Estrada told reporters.
Estrada said Rabusa has enough evidence to pin down Reyes and other top military officials.
Estrada said Reyes only wanted to “redeem himself” because Rabusa was a strong witness against him.
Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Escudero asked Reyes to stop using squid tactics in his bid to junk allegations that he enriched himself while in office.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee, said Reyes should face the music instead of filing graft charges against Rabusa.
“These charges are simply knee-jerk reactions to the charges thrown into the former secretary’s way. This is retaliatory in nature; it is a futile attempt to put up a smoke screen between him and the grave issues surrounding his stint at the AFP,” Escudero said.
Escudero said instead of clouding the issue, Reyes should “confront and address the allegations against him squarely.”
The senator said over the weekend that the non-categorical denial of “I cannot remember” by the former AFP chief of the P50-million pabaon could be considered an admission of guilt.
“It is impossible to forget if someone handed you P50 million, unless of course a lot of people gave him P50 million or more, too,” Escudero pointed out.
Escudero also challenged all previous chiefs of staff to come out to either deny or admit the existence of pabaon during their stints. With Christina Mendez - By Michael Punongbayan
