Rabusa to file plunder raps vs 2 ex-AFP chiefs, other execs

(Updated 1:37 p.m.) Former military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa said he will file plunder complaints against almost 20 individuals, including two former Armed Forces chiefs of staff and two former military comptrollers. During Monday's launching of the "Mabuting Pilipino" anti-corruption campaign of civil societies, Rabusa said he will file a detailed complaint-affidavit before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday. The complaint-affidavit will initiate the DOJ's preliminary investigation into alleged corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Rabusa said the following persons will be among the respondents:

former AFP chiefs of staff Diomedio Villanueva and Roy Cimatu;

former AFP comptrollers Jacinto Ligot and Carlos F. Garcia;

the executive assistants of the said officials;

former Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philipines (ISAFP) auditor Divina Cabrera.

State auditors previously assigned to the military. The other charges to be filed against them "depend on the gravity of their offenses," Rabusa said. He declined to identify other respondents. Rabusa said former Defense secretary Angelo Reyes, who also served as AFP chief, was supposed to be included on the charge sheet, but Reyes' death last Feb. 8 extinguished all his criminal liabilities. Reyes took his own life days after he was implicated in the alleged corruption in the AFP. In an interview with the Philippine Investigative Center for Journalism (PCIJ) — believed to be his last media interview — Reyes said he would rather die than live without honor. Blanket denials Villanueva, Cimatu, Ligot, Garcia have all denied pocketing millions of pesos intended for the AFP. Rabusa had said Villanueva, who succeeded Reyes in March 2001 and retired in May 2002, benefited from the AFP's pabaon (send-off money) and pasalubong (welcome gift) systems. But at a Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, Villanueva denied using military funds for personal use. He also denied receiving a P5-million monthly allowance and P160 million in pabaon. Cimatu, for his part, also denied receiving payoffs when he retired from military service. Rabusa had claimed Cimatu got at least P80 million. Cimatu said what he got from the military were medals, not money. "I shall never allow anyone to debase and degrade these priceless honors," Cimatu had said. Ligot, Garcia's predecessor as AFP comptroller, was also tagged as among those who benefited from alleged corruption in the military. He has multi-million peso bank transactions in his name, while his wife has homes in the United States. Ligot, during the blue ribbon investigation, claimed he was unaware that his wife owned a number of properties abroad, although he admitted that he knew of other properties that his wife bought with the help of her "friends." Cabrera has also denied Rabusa's accusations she received payoffs so that military funds can be converted for personal use of AFP officials. Garcia's pending plunder suit Ligot's successor, Garcia, is already facing a P303-million plunder case at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan's Second Division. However, the Office of the Ombudsman entered into a plea bargaining agreement with Garcia. The agreement allowed him to plead guilty to two lower offenses and to post a P60,000 bail for his temporary freedom. The Ombudsman and Garcia made the controversial and allegedly anomalous deal even if the Sandiganbayan has not yet approved such agreement. On Monday, Rabusa clarified that while Garcia is already facing a plunder case at the Sandiganbayan, the charges he will file before the DOJ for preliminary investigation is a different one. "This is separate because we have new sets of evidence and testimonies," Rabusa said. — RSJ/VVP/KBK, GMA News