DND exec in plunder case offers to resign

A ranking official of the Department of Defense (DND) has offered to resign or go on an indefinite leave of absence without pay after being included in the plunder complaint filed by former military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa. At a press briefing Thursday, DND assistant secretary for comptrollership Ernesto Boac said he is considering these two options “so that this will also give the opportunity to prepare myself to answer the allegations." Boac, who heads the DND’s Bids and Awards Committee, said he has already verbally informed Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin of his options. “I have to formalize my options and I leave that to the secretary of national defense to make the decision," said Boac, a retired Army major general. “I believe that prudence should dictate that I should not continue with my functions because of the very serious case filed against me." Boac, 59, was among the respondents in Rabusa’s amended complaint filed Wednesday with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Other respondents were military officers, including past chiefs of staff, and several state auditors. Boac served as chief of the budget operations division at the now-defunct Office of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) deputy chief of staff for comptrollership in 1996. In his complaint, Rabusa alleged that Boac amassed about P330 million in ill-gotten wealth. “I strongly deny that," Boac said of Rabusa’s allegation. Boac said he first took a leave of absence after his name came out in a Senate hearing as among those who allegedly benefited from corruption in the AFP and DND. He said he returned to work two weeks ago because a formal complaint had not been filed against him. — KBK, GMA News