AWASH WITH CASH
Ex-cop barred from leaving Russia
By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:55:00 10/16/2008
Filed Under: Police, Travel & Commuting, Foreign affairs & international relations
MANILA, Philippines—Too much cash in the bag got a recently retired police official into trouble with Russian customs agents over the weekend, sending officials in Manila scrambling to explain the multimillion-peso travel allowance of a Philippine police delegation for a six-day trip.
Shaking up the new Philippine National Police leadership, retired PNP Director Eliseo de la Paz, the national comptroller, was questioned on his way out of the Moscow international airport Saturday after customs inspectors found cash beyond the outbound limit in his carry-on bag.
De la Paz, appointed disbursement officer for the PNP delegation to the 77th Interpol General Assembly in Saint Petersburg, was barred from boarding his flight after carrying what was left of a P6.93-million fund (105,000 euros) entrusted to him to cover official expenses of the 12-member PNP group.
A Sept. 4 travel authorization that Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno signed as chair of the National Police Commission mentioned only a P2.3-million fund for the delegation’s trip to Russia.
Until Wednesday afternoon, the PNP could not say exactly how much money Russian customs agents had found in De la Paz’s bag but the PNP information chief, Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, confirmed that the amount exceeded the customs limit for departing passengers.
The PNP said De la Paz was not detained by Russian authorities at any point.
Wives on delegation
De la Paz, his wife Meeah, Director Jaime Caringal and his wife stayed in a Moscow hotel as Philippine Embassy officials processed documents that Russian authorities had required as proof that the cash came from legitimate sources.
“There was no intention to hide the money. That was authorized money and the PNP will explain it. De la Paz just forgot to declare it ... maybe because it’s hard to read documents at the airport, all were in Russian. Maybe it just slipped his mind,” Caringal, police commander of Zamboanga Peninsula, said by phone from Moscow on Tuesday night.
Russia allows cash up to the equivalent of $3,000 to be brought out of the country but requires “special export permission” for cash in excess of the ceiling, online travel sources said.
Retired on Oct. 9
De la Paz was given fund disbursement powers while he was to retire on Oct. 9, four days after the delegation left for Russia. The general assembly was held from Oct. 7 to 10 in Saint Petersburg.
Asked about this, Puno said: “Precisely because he was already slated to go to the Interpol conference, [for which] accreditation came about three weeks earlier.”
“He really went there in his official capacity prior to his retirement as comptroller. So there’s nothing irregular about that. It’s not personal money. He did not go there to buy an apartment,” Puno said.
The delegation included five other officials from the Camp Crame command group: Deputy Director General Emmanuel Carta (the PNP’s second top man and head of delegation), Deputy Director General Ismael Rafanan, Directors Romeo Ricardo, German Doria and Silverio Alarcio, and designated aide-de-camp, Supt. Elmer Pelobello.
The spouses of De la Paz, Caringal and Carta joined the trip on Interpol’s invitation, along with PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa’s wife, Cynthia, who represented her husband for traditional socials at the high-level meeting.
Wives spent ‘own cash’
Bartolome explained that the wives were on the official Philippine delegation but spent their own cash for travel, hotel expenses and incidentals.
By Caringal’s account, the Philippine group was on their way out of Moscow on Saturday when customs officials questioned De la Paz for the undeclared cash.
The rest of the delegation went their own way to their respective flights but Caringal said he decided to stay with De la Paz. (Bartolome said the other PNP officials in the group traveled to second destinations either on official or personal trips.)
Language barrier
De la Paz’s questioning at the airport took some time “because of the language barrier,” Caringal said.
Russian police investigators hardly understood English and the police director’s explanation had to be translated into Russian, he said.
Russian customs agents required De la Paz to submit documents as proof that the money came from legal sources.
The documents, including certifications from an authorized source and proof of legitimate currency exchange, had to be translated into Russian and is set to be submitted to Russian authorities on Thursday, Caringal said.
Puno said the government had sent a certification that the PNP cash “is official fund that belongs to the government and was legitimately brought into the country.”
Cash advance
Puno said the P6.93 million was a cash advance released to cover travel, accommodations, food, incidentals and contingency for the Philippine delegation.
“We are assuring them (Russian authorities) that the money actually came from the Philippines. In fact, we have the papers and I checked all of them,” he told reporters Wednesday.
“I do not know exactly what amount they found on him. But basically, what was left was the contingency expenses. I don’t know the exact amount, but it is not as large as people imagine, and there’s nothing irregular there because it is a PNP cash advance, subject to liquidation,” Puno said.
The PNP had no explanation why the amount reached three times the declared fund but Bartolome said the matter would be cleared up when De la Paz returns to Manila and liquidates the travel fund.
Pressed on how the PNP came up with the amount released to the delegation, Bartolome said the travel allowance covered all official spending and a contingency fund “that covered a wide range of possible expenses” in the high-level meeting.
Expired visas
The De la Paz and Caringal couples are now staying in Moscow with expired visas as they lapsed on Oct. 11, the day they were supposed to leave Russia, but Philippine Embassy officials are processing travel papers for their return to the Philippines.
Speaking at a press conference in Manila, Esteban Conejos Jr., foreign undersecretary for migrant affairs, said that an investigation was going on formal request by the Philippine embassy.
“We are now in process of putting the evidence together to support their defense. The evidence now is being assembled while the Russian authorities are doing their own investigation,” he said.
The Office of the Ombudsman said it would conduct a probe of the questioning of top PNP officials by airport authorities in Moscow.
Assistant Ombudsman Mark Jalandoni said Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez had ordered an immediate investigation of the report. With reports from Margaux C. Ortiz and Cynthia D. Balana
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