Ombudsman begins Purisima lifestyle check

PNP Director General Chief Alan Purisima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/EDWIN BACASMAS

MANILA, Philippines–The Office of the Ombudsman on Monday said it had started a lifestyle check on Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima who was charged with plunder and graft before the antigraft body for allegedly amassing ill-gotten wealth.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales also assured the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs that her office was already looking into the purported donations that Purisima received for the construction of the “White House,” the official residence of the PNP chief at Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“The office is already probing the matter,” Morales said in a statement.

She said antigraft investigators will study the final report of the Senate committee, chaired by Sen. Grace Poe, once it receives a copy of the document.

Morales, a retired Supreme Court justice, said the Ombudsman started the “case buildup and lifestyle check” on Purisima after an anonymous complaint was brought against the PNP chief on June 25.

She said the investigation was also prompted by an article in the Inquirer on June 20 regarding the supposed donation made by members of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines toward the construction of Purisima’s official residence.

“The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices is gathering evidence and looking into other possible leads not mentioned in the newspaper article and the anonymous complaint,” Morales said.

Along with other PNP officers, she said Purisima was also facing preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication in connection with alleged irregularities in the awarding of a contract to Werfast Documentary Agency for the delivery of gun licenses.

“The complaints allege that Purisima and other PNP officers siphoned funds from the mandatory delivery fees paid by gun owners to secure their gun licenses,” Morales said.

Purisima, one of President Aquino’s closest friends in the government, has repeatedly denied the allegations of corruption against him as he vowed to answer the allegations before the Ombudsman.