PABAON for the GENERALS

“Rabusa said that whatever was the remaining balance of the PCDA was given as “pabaon” for the retirement of the AFP chief of staff. In the case of Reyes, according to Rabusa, the “pabaon” totaled about P50 million. He also said that Villanueva and Cimatu received about P10 million each as “welcome” gift but he could not say how much they received as “pabaon” when they retired as AFP chief of staff.”

By: Efren Danao Danao

The sickening details of the plea bargaining agreement between Gen. Carlos Garcia, the disgraced former military comptroller and government prosecutors on his plunder case has been overshadowed by the revelation of “welcome and pabaon gifts ” for incoming and outgoing chefs of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Based on the testimony of retired Col. George Rabusa before the Senate blue ribbon committee last Thursday, it appeared that the welcome and pabaon gifts had been a “tradition” in the AFP. Do you still wonder why the men in the field risking their lives fighting the enemies of the state are complaining about their inadequate supply and equipment?

Rabusa, budget officer who served under then J-6 (comptrollership) heads Gen. Jacinto Ligot and Garcia, said that former AFP heads Diomedio Villanueva, Roy Cimatu and Angelo Reyes received these “gifts” that ran into millions of pesos. And what was the source of these gifts? Rabusa said they came from about 12.5 percent of the funds under Provisions for Command Directed Activity (PCDA), controlled by all the “J” staffs of the GHQ. He said that the PCDA fund was augmented by contributions from the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Airforce, the Philippine Army, the Presidential Security Group and the V. Luna AFP Medical Center, so the comptrollership was able to generate P40 million a month.

If there had been no complaints against the misuse of the PCDA, it could have been because the military comptroller spread the sunshine, so to speak. Rabusa said that the AFP chief of staff was not the lone beneficiary of the P40 million. According to the list he gave to the Senate blue ribbon committee, the following were the “beneficiaries” of the PCDA fund: the chief of staff, P5 million a month; office of the chief of staff, P5 million, vice chief of staff, P4 million, office of the vice chief of staff, P1.5 million; deputy chief of staff, P1.5 million; office of the secretary of the joint staff, P1 million. Rabusa said he was getting P500,000 a month.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who read the list submitted by Rabusa, did not mention the monthly amounts allegedly received by the assistant secretary for plans and programs, the senior military aide of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the chief nurse, the surgeon general, the provost marshal general, the legislative officer in the House of Representatives, and even retired generals.

Rabusa said that whatever was the remaining balance of the PCDA was given as “pabaon” for the retirement of the AFP chief of staff. In the case of Reyes, according to Rabusa, the “pabaon” totaled about P50 million. He also said that Villanueva and Cimatu received about P10 million each as “welcome” gift but he could not say how much they received as “pabaon” when they retired as AFP chief of staff.

The Senate inquiry has also given more impetus to a closer look at the disposition of the intelligence fund.
It appears that the diversion of the PCDA fund was made possible by the use of the intelligence fund for J-2 (intelligence), the Intelligence Service, AFP, and J-7 (civil-military operations). Rabusa said the amounts were first released to the military intelligence, and then cleared through “intelligence projects.” It should be noted that the intelligence fund is not subject to normal COA audit so the bright boys at the AFP could easily get away with their scheme. I support the move of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Sen. Franklin Drilon and Sen. Chiz Escudero for a stronger oversight on the use of the intelligence fund.

At the same Senate hearing of the Garcia case last Thursday, it was revealed that the dollar deposits of Garcia were credited with the very high exchange rate of P56.41 to the dollar in his plea bargaining agreement with government prosecutors. Sen. Franklin Drilon is correct in questioning this “generosity” accorded by government lawyers to a man accused of stashing away about P300 million of the people’s money. Research by the noted lawyer-legislator showed that the actual exchange rate when the controversial deal was struck, February 25, 2010, was P46.153 to the dollar.

Garcia was able to withdraw between P50 million and P70 million from his bank accounts after his suspension, yet the plea bargaining agreement did not seek the restitution of this amount. His cars, including a 17-year-old one, seized by the government were assessed at acquisition cost. He is now free on bail as a result of the agreement where the case of plunder involving P303 million was lowered by government prosecutors to indirect bribery while Garcia will return P150 million to the government. How lucky can one be? And yet, the government prosecutors describe the plea bargaining agreement as a “win-win” solution?