A former executive assistant of then military chief of staff Gen. Roy Cimatu on Friday admitted having received P10 million monthly for several months in 2002 on behalf of the general. Brig. Gen. Benito de Leon, during a Senate inquiry on the latest military fund scam, said he received the money as former budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa claimed. However, De Leon clarified that the amount was not a "pay-off" or pasalubong (welcome gift) for then newly-appointed Cimatu. "Categorically Gen. Cimatu did not receive any so-called pasalubong or pabaon," de Leon said. Asked what the money was for, De Leon said it was a form of "support administrative requirement" of Cimatu's office and was eventually used for operations to battle Abu Sayyaf forces in Basilan. De Leon admitted he felt it "unusual" to be given P10 million but received it anyway. He said he asked one of his staff to prepare a list of programs where the money could be used. He also admitted having prepared receipts for the P10 million.
Cimatu: I received medals, not money, as 'pabaon' Former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff retired Gen. Roy Cimatu on Friday said he has indeed collected "pabaon" from the military but these were medals and not money. In his first appearance in the Senate, the former chief of staff reiterated his earlier statement that he never received any "pay-off" when he retired from the service. Former budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa earlier claimed that the Cimatu received at least P80 million in pay-offs. Rabusa said it was former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia who instructed him to prepare the P80 million to be handed over to Cimatu. Garcia is currently out on bail for his 2005 plunder case, involving the former military comptroller's alleged amassing of P300 million in illegally-acquired money while in service. "Inaamin ko po ako ay nagkaroon ng pabaon... Ang pabaon sa akin ay isang box ng humigit kumulang na 40 medals given to me in my years of servcie as sundalo," Cimatu said. The retired general then drew out a photograph of all the medals he has received. "These medals I have never traded them for all the reasons in the world," he said, adding that no amount of money could replace the recognition he has received as a soldier. "I shall never allow anyone to debase and degrade these priceless honors," Cimatu said. He said he was prepared to face any investigation on supposed military fund scams. However, Cimatu said he never received money from public funds that he used for personal purposes. Earlier in the day, Cimatu's former executive assistant admitted receiving P10 million monthly from Rabusa in 2002. Read more Unusual transaction Sen. Franklin Drilon said the transaction seemed "very unusual." He also pointed out that De Leon admitted to preparing documents to support the release of money "de facto" or after the transaction has already been done. De Leon said he informed Cimatu about the P10 million delivered to the Office of the Chief of Staff. "Eventually I had to inform my superior... He gave me specific instructions that the money should properly be used to support the requirment of the chief of staff and it should be properly liquidated," De Leon said. Asked if the same amount was given regularly, De Leon answered yes but said the total could not have been more than P50 million.
Conflicting statements De Leon also clarified he never asked for the money to be delivered to the office of Cimatu, as Rabusa claimed. However, Rabusa belied this, saying De Leon called him up to request the P10 million on top of the P5 million already being given regularly to the Office of the Chief of Staff. "Obviously one of us is not telling the truth," De Leon said. Rabusa answered back,
"Mag-mistah tayo... But what I said in my affidavit is that this really happened." Rabusa and De Leon are both members of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1981.
Pichay During the hearing on Friday, former Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay also denied he received P500,000 every time he visited the office of then AFP chief Diomedio Villanueva. Pichay was the chairman of the House committee on national defense at the time. "I have never visited the office of Gen. Villanueva not even once," Pichay said. He added that senators can check the log book used in Villanueva's office. He said the only time he visited the General Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo was when he attended a comand conference on internal and external threats to the country. "The P500,000, that I still have to collect because I have not received a single centavo from the AFP," Pichay said. Pichay asked Rabusa if he had ever seen him inside Villanueva's office but Rabusa said no.
– VVP, GMA News 
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