Palace defends ex-general's appointment as prisons chief

Malacañang on Thursday defended President Benigno Aquino III’s appointment of a retired military general facing a plunder complaint as the new head of the Bureau of Corrections. At a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said retired Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan is “presumed innocent until proven guilty." Pangilinan, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1979, is one of the respondents in the plunder complaint filed by former military finance officer George Rabusa with the Department of Justice (DOJ). In his plunder complaint, Rabusa claimed that Pangilinan received P88.2 million in the alleged conversion of military funds for the personal use of some of its top officials. Earlier in the briefing, Lacierda said Pangilinan could not be charged with plunder because the crime was not yet in the statute books when the former military official was with the Armed Forces. “If it’s a crime of plunder, it’s elementary that you cannot sue someone for the crime of plunder when that crime did not exist at the time of the alleged commission of the acts. That’s basic sa criminal law. At that time, yung panahon ni General Arturo Enrile, I don’t know what year was that, wala pang crime of plunder nun. So you cannot sue someone of crime of plunder kung wala pa yun," Lacierda said. He later retracted his statement when told that the plunder was enacted into law in 1991 and Pangilinan’s supposed illegal act happened in 1995. Lacierda said Malacañang is giving Pangilinan the benefit of the doubt. He added that President Aquino believes in Pangilinan’s expertise in counter intelligence and his ability to reform the system. The last post Pangilinan held in the service was commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Northern Luzon Command based in Tarlac, Aquino’s home province. He retired on July 25 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56. “He (Aquino) believes that with his (Pangilinan) experience and expertise in counter intelligence he would be able to initiate or make the necessary reforms at the Bureau of Corrections," Lacierda said. “Yung mga nakakapuslit na mga bisi-bisita, yung pag-alis alis… A lot of things are going there which we were not aware of. Mr Pangilinan should really go into the bottom of all the shenanigans in the BuCor," he added. He further said that Pangilinan should be given a chance to prove his worth amid the complaint he is facing. “He has discipline, he is a military man. Let’s look at his performance and I believe he could contribute greatly to the reform of the agency." Asked if the President is following the practice of his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, of appointing military men in her Cabinet, Lacierda said Aquino appoints based on qualifications. Aside from Pangilinan, Aquino earlier appointed former Armed Forces chief of staff General Ricardo David Jr as head of the Bureau of Immigration. Pangilinan took his oath Thursday before Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who announced the appointment on the same day. Asked on the belated announcement of Pangilinan’s appointment, deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said the papers were signed on July 19 but they were not able to a make it public as they were busy preparing for the President’s State of the Nation Address. Pangilinan will replace Ernesto Diokno, who resigned last May following the controversy over the supposed VIP treatment being extended to convicted killer Antonio Leviste, a former Batangas governor. — KBK, GMA News