MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice (DoJ) recommended the filing of plunder case against two former Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines following the allegations of misspent P2.3-billion military fund.
In a 100-page resolution, the DoJ panel of investigators said there is probable cause to recommend the filing of plunder raps against former AFP Chiefs of Staff Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu. Also recommended to be charged include comptrollers Jacinto Ligot and Carlos Garcia, Major General Hilario Atendido, Brigadier General Benito De Leon, Cols. Cirilo Tomas Donato, Roy Devesa, Lt. Col. Ernesto Paranis, Generoso Del Castillo and Divina Cabrera.
Probable cause
“The panel of prosecutors found probable cause to charge high-ranking officials (past and present) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and their civilian co-conspirators for plunder,” the DoJ panel of prosecutors stated in the resolution signed by panel chair Prosecutor General Claro Arellano.
The resolution stated that Villanueva received from Atendido a total of P62-million of converted funds. He also received P5-million a month which he used for his travels, domestic and international, official and unofficial.
“He also knew of, and made use of, the AFP’s rented house in Acropolis Village in Quezon City and was involved in the anomalous purchase of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by the AFP which did not pass through the normal bidding process,” the resolution stated.
It also pointed that Villanueva, the late AFP Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes, Cimatu, Garcia and Rabusa paid $2-million for the demonstration units of UAV sourced through converted funds.
“Villanueva was also recipient of P160-million pabaon upon his retirement which amount was never denied to have been produced by complainant (George Rabusa),” the DoJ panel said.
In the case of Cimatu, while he admits the existence of the AFP Operating Program and Budget (OPB), he said it was used as monthly utilization for the Office of the Chief of Staff. The DoJ panel said his arguments are better ventilated in court.
Garcia and Ligot
Garcia and Ligot, the panel said, are responsible for the conversion of funds. De Leon, meanwhile admitted he has knowledge of the “inner systems” of the Office of the Comptroller while Donato and Paranis were responsible for requesting cash allocations and facilitating conversion schemes. Del Castillo, meanwhile being Chief of the Accounting Division during the time of Reyes, Villanueva and Cimatu “is held to have acted in complicity with the AFP officials as his approval of the subject transactions gave rise to its eventual validation and perpetuation.”
Cabrera is the COA resident, who, according to the panel monitored the release of funds in the AFP and have been receiving a monthly support of P50,000 to P75,000 while Atendido and Devesa were identified by the panel as “bagman of the AFP Chiefs of staff.
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said the recommendation will be forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman who will file the corresponding case before the Sandiganbayan.
The case was based on the complaint filed by former budget officer George Rabusa last year where he implicated military officers in the fund anomaly in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Rabusa alleged that those he named as respondents are liable for misuse and conversion of some P2.3 billion in military funds from 2000 to 2005.
Not included
The DoJ has excluded in the recommendation for plunder Lieutenant General Gaudencio Pangilinan, retired Major General Epineto Logico, Captain Kenneth Paglinawan, retired AFP Chief of Staff Efren Abu, Colonel Gilbert Gapay, Major Emerson Angulo, Major General Ernesto Boac, Colonel Robert Arevalo, Arturo Besana, Crisanto Gabriel and Manuel Warren.
“They are not recommended to be charged with the crime of plunder for insufficiency of evidence,” the DoJ panel said.