Soldiers urged: Report misuse of funds in AFP

Malacañang on Friday urged the soldiers to be vigilant and report any misuse of funds by their superiors. The Palace also assured the soldiers of support in ferreting out the truth in the alleged corruption in the military. “This I ask from our troops: Be vigilant and report the misuse of funds by your superiors," Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said in a press statement issued on Friday. He lauded former budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa, his former deputy Col. Antonio Lim, and former state auditor Heidi Mendoza for stepping forward to shed light on allegations of corruption in the military. Rabusa alleged that several former military chiefs of staff received millions of pesos in pay-offs and misused and diverted the funds intended for the soldiers. Lim supported Rabusa’s revelation. Mendoza, on the other hand, followed the money trail of former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, who is facing a P303-million plunder charge at the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court. “Let it be known that this government will marshal its resources to ensure their safety so they can continue to aid us in finding the truth," Ochoa said. “To our troops and the Filipino people, rest assured that this administration will do everything to protect the military institution. We recognize the courage and valuable contribution of our soldiers, who live and die in the name of freedom and democracy," he added. He said the Aquino administration is fully aware of the situation in the Armed Forces with allegations of corruption involving former ranking military officials. “All these allegations will be looked into and investigated. Those who broke the law will be held accountable," he said. He added the administration will not allow the misdeeds of a few former military officials involved in alleged large-scale corruption “to dishonor the thousands of men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line to defend and protect the country." “We will not let their sacrifices go in vain," he stressed. Ochoa said since last year, the administration and the Armed Forces of the Philippines leadership have taken steps to reform the system. He added that mechanisms have been put in place to protect the AFP's coffers from abuse and to make sure that transactions are transparent and honest and that supplies and equipment intended for the soldiers reach them. On Tuesday, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the government withheld some P8.6 million fund of the Department of National Defense to shield it from possible diversion. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM), instead of releasing the fund for personnel services in full, will only be releasing funds for filled uniformed and non-uniformed positions in the Department of National Defense (DND), he said. Moreover, Abad said steps are being considered, in consultation with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, to counter the practices by standardizing the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay (CO) requirements of military camps and make this information available to them. He said “conversion" and “certification" practices also thrived because, in the past, the DND enjoyed the release of allotments even without submitting accountability reports. Technical visits have been made by DBM to verify budgetary accounts, validate the status of programs, projects and activities, and instruct the agency’s finance group on how to comply with DBM reportorial requirements. He also said additional notice of cash allocation (NCA) releases will only be made based on the DND’s cash program and bank report of NCA balances. In the past, additional NCAs had been released even without reports on the utilization and disbursement of funds, Abad said. He said accountability reports of all agencies, including the DND and AFP, will be published on the DBM website. To further ensure that procurement will not be disadvantageous to the public coffers, DND and AFP, like all other agencies, are being encouraged to procure all their common supplies and equipment from the Procurement Service, he said. — LBG/VVP, GMANews.TV