Ex-COA commissioner, auditor accused of receiving AFP money

(Updated 11:30 a.m.) A former commissioner of the Commission on Audit and a resident auditor formerly assigned with the Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) were allegedly paid off so that military funds can be converted, former military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa said Monday. Testifying before a Senate panel hearing on Monday, Rabusa said he gave former COA Commissioner Raul Flores at least P200,000 whenever he asked for it. "Depende po sa pangangailangan. Hindi po bababa sa P200,000 ang binibigay ko sa kanya (It depends on his needs. But I don't give him anything below P200,000)," he told the Senate blue ribbon committee looking into the plea bargain deal between former Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman. On the other hand, he said former ISAFP auditor Divina Cabrera received 2 percent of the funds, usually sourced from the personnel services, which were converted to be used for the alleged payoff scheme in the military. Rabusa said Cabrera had even requested during one occasion to burn documents that might leave a trail on the questionable conversions. "Some of the clearing documents are really delegated at her level," Rabusa said. Cabrera, however, denied Rabusa's allegation. "I did my job as auditor of COA, I based all my audit work based on the rules prescribed by the Commission on Audit (COA)," she said during the inquiry. Cabrera said that she was auditor of the AFP for 13 years and is now assigned at the Philippine Navy, despite a COA rule saying auditors should only serve for three years in one assignment. "Bakit mo nagustuhan kaya? (I wonder why you liked your assignment)" Senator Franklin Drilon said during the hearing. To which, Cabrera replied that she was just "complying" with her assignment and that it was not her decision. Drilon, for his part, asked COA to reassign Cabrera. As of posting time, the hearing was ongoing. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News