‘Euro general’ Eliseo de la Paz and wife ordered arrested

‘ARREST EURO GENERAL’. Former police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Sandiganbayan antigraft court has ordered arrest warrants to be issued against former police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz and his wife, Maria Fe, for failing to declare the foreign currency that they had brought out of the country during the infamous “euro generals” scandal of 2008.

The 5th Division found probable cause to indict De la Paz, who was one of the key personalities in that controversy involving a Philippine National Police delegation to an Interpol conference in Russia that was found to have been carrying foreign currency in excess of the allowed limit.

The magistrates who signed the ruling were Justices Alexander Gesmundo, Alex Quiroz and Roland Jurado.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier filed charges of violation of bank regulations against De la Paz and his wife. The central bank requires domestic and foreign travelers to declare foreign currency equivalent to $10,000 when entering or leaving the Philippines.

The former PNP comptroller was also charged with prolonging the performance of duties and powers because he went on an official trip even though his retirement would take place during the travel period.

On Oct. 11, 2008, De la Paz, the then PNP director and comptroller, was barred from boarding his flight at the Moscow International Airport for carrying 105,000 euros (P6.9 million), the amount reportedly left over from the funds that he had carried as the disbursing officer for the PNP delegation—that included police officials’ wives—to the St. Petersburg conference.

The Ombudsman’s investigation showed that De la Paz and his wife “did not declare [euros] in their possession” as they left the Philippines to attend the convention.

It was later revealed that De la Paz was actually carrying P9.2 million, P2.9 million for travel expenses and P6.9 million for contingencies.

The Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, conducted separate inquiries into the case.

De la Paz absolved his superior officers from liability, but the senators said he was acting as a scapegoat to shield higher-ranking PNP officials. He later reimbursed the amount and was subsequently cleared of any liability.

In 2010, De la Paz ran for Congress as a party-list representative of the Aangat Ating Kabuhayan Pilipinas Inc. (Anak), a group of active and retired policemen claiming to champion causes of poor communities, law enforcers and persons with disabilities (PWDs). He lost. With Inquirer Research