Ex-AFP chaplain insists 'sendoff money' is true

A former military bishop confirmed over the weekend the practice of giving “pabaon" (sendoff money) to Armed Forces of the Philippines chiefs of staff when they retire. Lipa (Batangas) archbishop Ramon Arguelles, who served as military vicar from 1995 to 2005, said this is why many military officials jockey to get the position. “Rightly or wrongly, I think they do that to all AFP chiefs of staff. That’s true also for the lower levels at low rates. It’s bad but it’s going on all the time," Arguelles said in an article posted Saturday on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines news site. Arguelles called on the Aquino administration to put a stop on such a practice "because it’s part of the corruption in the military." At a Senate hearing Thursday, former military budget officer retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa said that then AFP chief of staff Angelo Reyes got P50 million in sendoff money upon his retirement from the military. But AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said the practice stopped with the abolition of the office of the AFP deputy chief of staff for comptrollership (J6) in 2004. The office was scrapped due to the scandal involving former military comptroller Carlos Garcia. Garcia now faces a plunder case before an anti-graft court amid accusations of amassing over P300 million in ill-gotten wealth while he was in active service. Military corruption probe Militants dared the government on Friday to investigate and prosecute military generals and government officials involved in massive corruption during the previous administration. Umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said government should show political will against these generals, a day after the corruption was bared during last Thursday's Senate hearing. “The allegations made by (Retired Colonel) Rabusa show that corruption in the AFP is pervasive, systemic and systematic. The revelations shame the institution and deeply demoralize the enlisted men and junior officers. The revelations also show the rapacious greed of the generals," Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement on the Bayan website. He said the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration allowed such a practice because it "kept the generals happy at a time when Arroyo’s rule was being threatened by calls for her ouster." However, the Reyes noted that one whistleblower – Capt. Joenel Pogoy, who exposed corruption in the Air Force – was jailed for two years on mere administrative charges. He was released only last October. Meanwhile, Bayan also called on the Commission on Audit to review the records of past generals under the Arroyo administration, and conduct a lifestyle check on them and review their assets at the time of their retirement and thereafter. — LBG, GMANews.TV