DOJ probe on AFP corruption to push through despite Reyes’ death

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will still look into allegations of corruption in the military despite the suicide of former Defense secretary Angelo Reyes, an alleged beneficiary of the supposed misuse of funds. This was according to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who on Wednesday said the investigation will cover the military institution as a whole and not just Reyes, who also served as military chief from 2000 to 2001. “The probe will continue because it’s not just all about the former secretary. Of course, we grieve with the family but we have a higher issue to confront and that is the corruption in the military, not just the late secretary," De Lima told reporters. She also said there have been “feelers" that more whistle-blowers will come out after Lt. Col. George Rabusa and former state auditor Heidi Mendoza. “In this case, it’s not possible that only one, two, or three have the knowledge. It’s a conspiracy, and this omerta (code of silence) is being broken gradually," she said. De Lima has yet to constitute the panel that will investigate allegations that money intended for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were pocketed by some of its top officials.

She said the nature of the DOJ panel will depend on the complaint affidavit of Rabusa, who served as budget officer under Reyes and who bared that Reyes received P100 million in payoffs when he was AFP chief. “We’re just waiting for the more extensive affidavit of Col. Rabusa so that we can officially initiate either a [fact-finding] probe or a preliminary investigation," said De Lima. Reyes, who shot himself in the chest Tuesday morning while visiting his parents’ graves at a Marikina cemetery, had denied the allegation and accused Rabusa of smearing his reputation. De Lima has placed Rabusa under the provisional coverage of the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program. It likewise provided provisional protection to Mendoza, who followed the money trail left by former AFP comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia, an accused plunderer. The Senate’s blue ribbon committee and the House of Representatives justice committee are both looking into the controversial plea bargain agreement between Garcia and the Office of the Ombudsman. The deal is yet to be approved by the Sandiganbayan, but Garcia was already allowed to plead guilty to two lesser offenses and to post a P60,000 bail that gave him temporary freedom. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and the prosecutors in the Garcia plunder case said they had to enter into a plea bargain deal with Garcia because the evidence against the former comptroller was “weak" — a claim contested by Mendoza. On Wednesday, De Lima said that the DOJ panel that will look into alleged corruption in the AFP may also unmask Garcia’s supposed protector. “This is the best time to scrutinize that. Because if not now, when else? We can’t waste what Heidi Mendoza and Col. Rabusa did. We can’t see an indication they are lying. We hope others will come out and expose the similar anomalies. We have to seize the moment now that we have the chance," she said. Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a former Navy officer, had earlier tagged Reyes as the “powerful man" behind Garcia. — KBK, GMA News