Purisima probe ongoing – ombudsman

MANILA, Philippines - An investigation into allegations of corruption and other irregularities against Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima is underway, the Office of the Ombudsman said yesterday.

“The office is already probing the matter,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said in reaction to a Senate committee report urging the anti-graft agency to look into the reported donations to the top PNP official for the construction of his official residence at Camp Crame.

She welcomed the completion of the report of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs on the allegations against Purisima, adding that “the investigators shall study it as soon as the report is received.”

The ombudsman initiated a lifestyle check on Purisima after the filing of a complaint on June 25 against him by an anonymous litigant in connection with the questionable donation for the construction of the so-called White House for the PNP chief.

Morales said the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (OMB-MOLEO) is gathering more evidence and looking into other possible leads.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) also filed a supplemental complaint against Purisima in September and October.

Purisima and other PNP officials are also facing preliminary investigation and administrative proceedings on cases arising from alleged anomalous courier service contract of the PNP with WERFAST Documentary Agency.

The complaints allege that the PNP chief and other officials siphoned funds from the mandatory delivery fees paid by gun owners in securing their gun licenses through WERFAST.