DND exec tagged by Rabusa in plunder goes on leave

A Department of National Defense (DND) official has gone on leave after being implicated in the amended plunder complaint filed in the Department of Justice last week by former military budget officer George Rabusa.

Assistant Secretary Ernesto Boac asked to go on an indefinite leave of absence without pay even before he could read Rabusa’s 105-page complaint considering the “very critical” positions that he holds.

Boac, a retired Army general, is the defense assistant secretary for comptrollership. He also chairs the DND bids and awards committee.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, a former Army general himself, accepted Boac’s offer last Friday, a DND spokesperson said.

“I think it’s for the good of asec Boac so he can attend to the case, defend himself and remove any doubts or any issues, especially because he holds very sensitive positions,” Undersecretary Eduardo Batac said.

He said Assistant Secretary Fernando Manalo for acquisitions, installations and logistics may replace Boac as assistant secretary for comptrollership.

When interviewed last Thursday, Boac said he was thinking either of resigning or taking an indefinite leave out of delicadeza.

“I believe that prudence dictates that I should not continue with my functions because of the very serious case filed against me and (the fact that) I’m holding a key position,” he had said.

He denied Rabusa’s charge that he had amassed P330 million when he was a military budget officer under the defunct Office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Deputy Chief of Staff for Comptrollership from 1986 to 1992.

Boac was appointed DND assistant secretary in August 2008, six months after he retired from the military service.

Rabusa, a former lieutenant colonel who served as military budget officer from 2000 to 2002, included Boac and four other persons in his amended plunder complaint.