Purisima lifestyle check underway

MANILA, Philippines - When Director General Alan Purisima opened the doors of his Nueva Ecija property yesterday for public scrutiny, not only members of media came but also representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman on a mission to conduct a lifestyle check on the embattled Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.

Purisima, facing charges of plunder, graft and indirect bribery for his unexplained ownership of several real estate properties and vehicles, is now being investigated by the ombudsman due to inconsistencies and discrepancies in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), sources told The STAR yesterday.

The sources said the anti-graft agency’s investigating unit for Military and Other Law Enforcement Officers (MOLEO) is spearheading the investigation.

The lifestyle check is also part of the ombudsman’s pursuit of separate criminal complaints recently filed against Purisima by Perfecto Jaime Tagalog of the Coalition of Filipino Consumers (CFC) and Dante Jimenez of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).

Purisima is being accused of acquiring and hiding ostentatious wealth and of engaging in indirect bribery for accepting donations for the construction of his official residence inside Camp Crame called the White House.

The first plunder, graft and indirect bribery charges filed by CFC against Purisima last Sept. 22 also took into consideration his refusal to release a copy of his SALN.

Tagalog said the indirect bribery charge stems from Purisima’s own admission that he received money and construction materials from his Mason brothers for the construction of his official residence.

The PNP chief, in a recent hearing at the Senate, clarified that he had never claimed having received anything from the Masonic Society and that what he had accepted from well-meaning friends were construction materials.

The plunder and graft charges against Purisima stemmed from his allegedly hiding the true value of his alleged mansion which he claimed to be worth only P3.7 million.

Such allegations prompted him to invite media for a tour of his house in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija, which he insisted was an ordinary house and not a mansion.

On Sept. 29, VACC filed separate plunder, graft and indirect bribery charges against Purisima before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Jimenez asked Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales to investigate and indict the PNP chief for plundering public funds.

The VACC also accused Purisima of being the real owner of a modern poultry farm in Cabanatuan City supposedly worth P90 million registered in the name of his 21-year-old son Rainier Von.

MOLEO is an office headed by a deputy in the Office of the Ombudsman in charge of cases against ranking PNP and military officials and personnel.

Earlier, Purisima said in a statement that he and his officials were ready to take the lifestyle check challenge posed by Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares.

“As what Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas said, those with star rank will be the first to undergo lifestyle check,” Purisima said, adding that they want to become role models for other policemen.

“This serves as an opportunity to clear the good name of the organization by eliminating suspicions and speculations of alleged ill-gotten wealth or involvement in criminal activities,” Purisima said.

He said a technical working group from the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the PNP Internal Affairs Service was crafting procedures for the lifestyle check for policemen.

Henares earlier dared Purisima and other PNP officials to follow the example of the DILG chief and voluntarily submit themselves to a lifestyle check.

Roxas declared he wanted to undergo a lifestyle check to set an example to police officers, many of whom were being accused of involvement in crimes.

For instance, at least 10 police officers have been linked to a highway robbery on EDSA last Sept. 1.

The policemen involved allegedly seized P2 million in cash from the victims. Two of the police officers, Senior Inspector Oliver Villanueva and PO2 Ebonin Decatoria, were said to have declared net worth in millions.

Villanueva, head of the investigation and intelligence branch of the Quezon City Police District Station 1, had declared a net worth of P6.5 million and assets of P8 million in 2013.

Decatoria, on the other hand, had a net worth of P4.9 million and assets of P6.6 million last year.