Ex-AFP chief ready for possible probe on Garcia collusion

Former Armed Forces chief Gen. Dionisio Santiago on Tuesday said he is open to a possible investigation against former military chiefs for alleged collusion with former comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who is accused of plundering over P300 million. “That’s up to them if they will investigate. We are open to it . . . What will be our problem with that? To me, there’s no problem. Personally, whatever they’ll ask, I will answer," said Santiago in a phone interview. He said he is not a party to the supposed corrupt activities of Garcia, who served as Armed Forces comptroller under six military chiefs, including Santiago. The five others were Gens. Angelo Reyes, Diomedio Villanueva, Roy Cimatu, Benjamin Defensor and Narciso Abaya. It was during Abaya’s term in 2003 when Garcia’s alleged wrongdoings were discovered. Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez and retired Constabulary chief Maj. Gen. Ramon Montano have separately called for the investigation of AFP chiefs whom Garcia served. They said Garcia cannot perfect his corrupt activities without the consent of his superiors. Garcia, who denied the accusations, is currently out on bail after pleading guilty for the lesser offense of direct bribery before the Sandiganbayan, the Philippine anti-graft court. Santiago said as AFP chief, he only monitored the progress of programs implemented by various military departments and asked questions when there were delays in the implementation. Santiago, who served as AFP chief from Nov. 2002 to April 2003, said people who say that Garcia cannot commit the crime without the consent of his superiors are not aware of how the military’s financial system works. “They should understand the system, it’s not that simple . . . There is a better background why all these are happening and we will provide that later," he said. Santiago said his leadership detested corruption, although he said an imperfect system and a problematic auditing procedure had led to some financial irregularities within the military. “No one wants corruption, but the thing is that our system is not perfect to avoid that. Our auditing procedure also has problem," said Santiago, who served as Bureau of Corrections director and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief after his retirement from the military. - KBK, GMANews.TV