Robredo urged to name police officers behind pension scam

A party-list representative on Saturday challenged Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to name the police officers behind the ghost pensioners scam in the Philippine National Police.

Representative Sherwin Tugna of the Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list group was reacting to Robredo’s revelation the other day that the government had been shelling out about P1 billion in monthly pensions for some 2,000 fake PNP pensioners in the last five years.

Robredo said that about P250 million a year was spent since 2006 for nonexistent beneficiaries of the PNP’s Retirement and Benefits Administration Service.

“This problem is very alarming. The PNP is currently facing various controversies that must be explained to erase doubts and questions regarding the administration of the PNP,” Tugna said.

He lamented that the PNP, the supposed protector of the people, had been embroiled in controversies that have tainted its integrity and honor.

Robredo said the distribution of pensions to PNP retirees was suspended two weeks ago to purge the records of fake beneficiaries, adding that more fake pensioners could still be found.

About 58,000 persons are currently on the list of retired police enlisted personnel.

A former policeman, identified as Marlon Reyes, has been linked to the large-scale pension scam.

Robredo said  an investigation was being conducted to identify Reyes’ cohorts in the “syndicate.”

Tugna said Robredo could help rid the government of corrupt employees by naming the officials involved in the anomalous scheme so that an investigation could begin.

He said those behind the anomaly should be made to suffer the consequences of their actions.

He also said that Robredo’s bombshell could fizzle out if the names of those involved were not revealed.

“If the first step of having the courage to speak up is not taken, all efforts to curb corruption would be useless,” Tugna said.

He raised the possibility of other key PNP officials being involved in the pension scam since it entailed the release of large amounts of money.

“We must seek the truth. We must all commit to the government’s policy of ‘matuwid na daan’ (right path). We must all help each other in order to achieve our goal of a corrupt-free government and society,” Tugna said. Cynthia D. Balana