DOJ gives 3 ex-AFP chiefs, military execs more time to answer plunder raps

A top-level Department of Justice panel has extended the period for the filing of counter-affidavits to the plunder complaint filed by former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) budget officer George Rabusa against several military officials. Prosecutor General (formerly Chief State Prosecutor) Claro Arellano, head of the country's National Prosecution Service, said the respondents are required to appear before the DOJ panel on July 28 to swear and subscribe to their counter-affidavits. Arellano heads the three-member panel conducting the preliminary investigation into Rabusa's complaint. A preliminary probe seeks to determine if there is probable cause that warrants the filing of the appropriate criminal charges before the proper courts. The 22 respondents, including former AFP chiefs Diomedio Villanueva, Roy Cimatu and Efren Abu, were supposed to submit their counter-affidavits on Monday, July 18. However, most of the respondents sought more time to answer the plunder complaint. The DOJ panel's move is in response to the string of motions for extension filed by the respondents. The other respondents in the complaint include former military comptrollers Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia and Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot. Also impleaded as respondents are Maj. Gen. Hilario Atendido, retired Maj. Gen. Epineto Logico, Brig. Gen. Benito de Leon, Col. Cirilo Donato, Col. Roy Devesa, Maj. Emerson Angulo, retired Maj. Ernesto Paranis, Col. Gilbert Gapay, Col. Robert Arevalo and Capt. Kenneth Paglinawan, North Luzon Command head Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan, and retired Maj. Gen. Ernesto Boac. Rabusa also implicated retired and incumbent state auditors from the Commission on Audit, namely Arturo Besana, Crisanto Gabriel, and Manuel Warren, Generoso del Castillo and Divina Cabrera. In his complaint, Rabusa alleged that the respondents are liable for misuse and conversion of some P2.3 billion in military funds from 2000 to 2005. — Sophia Dedace/KBK, GMA News