PNP eyes civilian comptroller

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – The Philippine National Police (PNP) wants a civilian to manage its finances following the Armed Forces’ abolition of its own scandal-ridden comptroller’s office.

During the first command conference of the Northern Luzon Area Police Office here yesterday, PNP chief Director General Edgar Aglipay said he is conducting a "serious study" on the possibility and advantages of assigning a civilian as PNP comptroller.

Police Director Oscar Calderon currently heads the office, which is responsible for the management and auditing of the PNP’s financial resources.

"I am also conducting other studies to change some system in the PNP to make it more effective as a service-oriented and people-oriented organization," Aglipay told regional police officers led by newly promoted police Director Quirino de la Torre of Central Luzon, Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano of the Cordilleras, Chief Superintendent Claudio Cabreros of Cagayan Valley and Chief Superintendent Albert dela Vega of Ilocos Region.

Aglipay’s statement comes on the heels of the decision of new Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Efren Abu to abolish the military’s office of the deputy chief of staff for comptrollership, or J-6.

The AFP comptrollership post was shoved into the spotlight of controversies after embattled Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was accused last month of using the position to amass ill-gotten wealth. He headed J-6 for three years, allegedly enriching himself with nearly P200 million in unexplained wealth.

Garcia is facing graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman and is expected to face a court martial soon.

President Arroyo immediately gave her "full support" to Abu’s decision to abolish the AFP comptroller’s post as she vowed to recover ill-gotten wealth amassed by corrupt military and civilian officials.

With the abolition of the J-6, Abu said during the command turnover ceremony last Friday that the finances of the three branches of the AFP — Army, Air Force and Navy — will now be handled by "independent and credible" officials who will directly answer to him.

According to the PNP website, "the directorate for comptrollership is one of the ten directorial staffs created pursuant to Resolution No. 92-36 of the National Police Commission (Napolcom)."

The functions of this office include providing advice to the PNP "on budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, internal auditing and management improvement of the PNP."

During the northern Luzon police command conference, Aglipay admonished provincial, city and municipal police chiefs "to stay out of your offices and serve the people."

He also warned police officers against paying frequent visits to local politicians instead of checking on their constituents.

Aglipay pointed out police chiefs should know the problems of the community and work with them to solve it.

Police chief superintendents and provincial directors also got a tongue-lashing from Aglipay for their "old-style" briefings on their accomplishments by leaving out the specifics.

The PNP chief said what he wants are the numbers on the crimes solved, suspects arrested, criminal gangs busted or neutralized.

Also yesterday, Aglipay disclosed Vice President Noli de Castro, who is concurrent housing czar of Mrs. Arroyo, has approved the appropriation of P200 million for PNP housing projects in Metro Manila and several other areas.

Abaya gets flak

Meanwhile, ranking administration lawmakers lashed at newly retired Gen. Narciso Abaya yesterday, saying that as former AFP chief, he only has himself to blame for failing to act expeditiously and judiciously on the case of the suspended Garcia.

In a joint statement, Eastern Samar Rep. Marcelino Libanan and Davao Oriental Rep. Mayo Almario said Abaya was using the media and Congress as scapegoat for the AFP leadership’s failure to punish

Garcia and stop corruption in the military, which has caused demoralization among soldiers.

"The buck stops at retired General Abaya’s office, being the commanding officer of Garcia," Libanan said. "The ill-gotten wealth case would not have been blown out of proportion had General Abaya ordered his probe and the filing of appropriate cases against him."

Libanan, a member of the Commission on Appointments (CA), pointed out that the Office of the Ombudsman had informed the AFP about Garcia’s case as early as February but it took the military eight months before putting him on house arrest.

Clearly, there was no firm resolve on Abaya’s part to get to the bottom of Garcia’s case and punish all those involved in the corruption scandal, he said.

"This is the basic issue raised by our probing colleagues, which until now has not been satisfactorily explained by General Abaya," Libanan said.

The lawmaker also criticized Abaya for casting aspersion on the integrity of the CA by claiming politicians dangle congressional confirmation for an appointee to satisfy lawmakers’ ego.

He said the CA’s role is to establish the qualifications of any appointee so that only the best and brightest are included in the Arroyo Cabinet.

The CA members, Libanan said, were chosen by lawmakers themselves whose inclusion in the CA are based on nominal voting by their peers and that Congress judges the CA members’ own qualifications before they can judge the President’s appointees.

Almario, chairman of the House committee on games and amusements, said Abaya should be humble enough to admit his shortcomings in the delayed military trial of Garcia.

"Had General Abaya should ordered a full-blown investigation into Garcia’s case as soon as his son was arrested by US authorities for failure to declare $100,000 upon his travel to the US, then the Garcia case was resolved a long time ago and there was no need for Congress to inquire into Garcia’s case," Almario said.

He said the people are also dissatisfied by the light punishment imposed by Abaya on Garcia which was removing him from the J-6 post to a low-budget unit.

He said Garcia’s ill-gotten wealth was overwhelming that Abaya still has to explain why the general’s case was treated lightly or why the AFP failed to implement a recommendation by the Feliciano Commission to reform the procurement system in the military to eliminate corruption.

He said Abaya should be grateful to members of media and Congress for helping reform the AFP by dwelling into corrupt activities by crafty officers like Garcia.

"The anomalies committed by some military officers are the ones tarnishing the image of the military," Almario said. "Lawmakers are just doing their mandate to probe into issues of national interest and recommend remedial legislation."

Muntinlupa Rep. Rufino Biazon, a member of the House committee on national defense investigating the alleged web of corruption in the AFP, however said the CA should be more careful and discerning in screening those seeking confirmation from Congress.

Biazon noted that the previous CA may have overlooked the discrepancies in the statements of assets and liabilities of Garcia and other corrupt AFP officials. – With Paolo Romero