Sandiganbayan dismisses graft raps vs ‘Euro generals’ 

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the graft charges filed against former Philippine National Police (PNP) comptroller Maj. Gen. Eliseo dela Paz and eight other former police officials in connection with the “euro generals” scandal in 2008.

In a resolution dated October 18, the anti-graft court’s Second Division dismissed the graft cases against the ranking police regarding the use of travel funds to Russia during the officials’ Interpol Assembly in 2008, which were way over the $10,000 limit under the law.

Sandiganbayan said the prosecution “failed to sufficiently establish the essential elements of the crimes charged and to overcome the presumption of innocence in favor of the accused.”

The anti-graft court also noted that the prosecution used Commission on Audit (COA) circulars, which did not prove how the said fund should be used.

“The prosecution used the Commission on Audit circulars as basis to define how the confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) should be used,”  read the resolution.

“These pieces of evidence do not prove that the use of the CIF for the expenses incurred by the PNP in its participation to the Interpol Assembly is not a covered expense,” it added.

Aside from Dela Paz, included in the dismissed cases were former chief of directorial staff Lt. Gen. Ismael Rafanan; former deputy chief for operations Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Carta; former director for plans Lt. Gen. Romeo Ricardo; former director for human resources Maj. Gen. German Doria; former Region IX police chief Maj. Gen. Jaime Caringal; former Brig. Gen. Orlando Pestaño; former Col. Samuel Rodriguez; and former Col. Tomas Rentoy III.

The anti-graft court also ordered that the hold departure order issued against the accused officials is “lifted and set aside” while the bail bonds that the former police officials posted are released. /jpv

READ: PDF file of the Sandiganbayan resolution vs ‘Euro generals’