MANILA, Philippines?Then newly retired Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz, along with three others including the wife of PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa, were en route to a ?side trip? to European cities when they were found carrying huge amounts of cash by Russian customs authorities on Oct. 11.

Testifying yesterday before the Senate foreign relations and blue ribbon committees, De la Paz admitted that Cynthia Verzosa, Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal, himself and his wife Maria Fe were booked for the side trip after attending the 77th Interpol General Assembly in St. Petersburg along with other members of a PNP delegation.

?From Moscow we were supposed to proceed to Warsaw, Poland. It was a side trip from the Interpol convention. [From Warsaw] we would go to Prague and Budapest, then Vienna,? said De la Paz, under questioning by Sen. Loren Legarda.

But he said it was to buy ?intelligence equipment,? and not to see the sights.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, the chair of the foreign relations committee, said the P6.9 million could have come from a ?secret fund? in the PNP, from which the generals could draw travel allowances and even cash to be laundered abroad. (See story on Page A10.)

It was the day after the Interpol assembly, which ran from Oct. 7 to 10. De la Paz reached the police mandatory retirement age of 56 on Oct. 9, four days after the PNP delegation left Manila.

But the De la Pazes, Cynthia Verzosa, and Caringal, then the chief of the PNP Zamboanga Peninsula command, were stopped by customs authorities at the Moscow international airport for carrying 105,000 euros, which far exceeded the allowable limit of $3,000 in Russia.

Besides De la Paz and Caringal, the PNP delegates were Deputy Directors General Emmanuel Carta and Ismael Rafanan, Directors Romeo Ricardo, Silverio Alarcio and German Doria, and Supt. Elmer Pelobello, the designated aide of the group.

The wives of De la Paz, Caringal, Carta and Verzosa also joined the trip, but the PNP has maintained that the women paid their way.

Money, money

De la Paz admitted that he was also carrying 45,000 euros given by businessman Tyrone Ng Arejola to buy a Roger Dubuis Bi Retro watch and/or a IWC Portuguese Chrono watch in white gold casing in Vienna. (See story on Page A10.)

He failed to buy the expensive wristwatches requested by Arejola ?because we were not able to proceed [to Vienna] as scheduled.?

De la Paz said he and his companions had their own ?personal funds to be used in going around [and] for personal needs.? At one point, he said his wife had brought to Russia a ?personal fund? of $20,000.

All this cash, he said, was on top of the 105,000 euros (P6.9 million) still being held by Russian authorities.

Declared ignorance

Santiago said the fact that De la Paz did not spend any of the P6.9 million during the Interpol assembly showed that there was no intention to spend it for contingencies, as claimed by the PNP.

?It?s possible that you planned to go to Switzerland to deposit it into your account, or your superiors?,? she told De la Paz.

To Legarda?s question of whether he was aware that passengers departing Manila should declare money in excess of the allowable limit, De la Paz answered first in the negative, and then in the affirmative.

But he said he did not know if this rule applied as well in other countries.

Said Legarda: ?I don?t believe that an official like you does not know the regulations in other countries. This is not your first time to travel. It is simply unbelievable.?

The senator said De la Paz?s statement had a ?similarity? with that of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn ?Joc-joc? Bolante, who claimed in another Senate inquiry on Thursday that he did not know that a lone supplier had cornered the P728-million fertilizer fund in 2004.

?I?m asking you to clarify that,? Legarda told De la Paz. ?It?s totally unbelievable that you would not know that there is a requirement for you to declare that you have $10,000 or more in your possession upon exit from this country and upon entry into a foreign country.?

Required form

Sen. Richard Gordon told De la Paz that he committed ?a series of bad judgments? when he entered Russia without declaring the cash he was carrying, and even allowing his wife to carry some of the amount.
De la Paz said he had to do it ?because she had a bigger bag.?

Diwa Guinigundo, deputy governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, repeatedly said at the hearing that BSP Circular No. 308 issued in 2001 ?requires anyone who is physically transporting across borders of any foreign currency in excess of $10,000 to declare it in writing using the prescribed form.?

Guinigundo agreed with Legarda that Filipinos, foreigners or returning residents were required to accomplish the form.

The Bureau of Immigration requires it of Filipinos going abroad, and the Bureau of Customs requires it of incoming passengers in all international airports in the Philippines, he said.

Confronted by Legarda, De la Paz initially said that ?personally, I?m not aware of that,? and that he was not informed of it by his fellow officials in the delegation.

?So you?re ignorant of the BSP circular?that is the reason you did not declare [the money] upon departure from the Philippines?? Legarda said.

De la Paz asked to be allowed to consult his lawyer and then invoked his ?privilege? against self-incrimination.

He reiterated this invocation in the course of Legarda?s questioning, saying there was already a PNP recommendation for his prosecution for violation of the circular.

But Legarda succeeded in forcing De la Paz to admit that certain procedural lapses had caused his brief detention in Moscow.