DOJ recommends plunder raps vs Ligot, Garcia and 9 others

  At a press conference on Thursday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that apart from Ligot and Garcia, other respondents include retired Generals Diomedio Villanueva (AFP chief from March 2001 to May 2002) and Roy Cimatu (from May 2002 to September 2002) and seven others.   The DOJ resolution stemmed from the complaint filed by former military budget officer and retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa, who claimed before a Senate investigation that several ranking officials benefited from the "pabaon" (send-off money) system in the military upon their retirement. "Out of 22 respondents, the DOJ panel recommended the filing of plunder charges against 11 of them," said De Lima before reading out from the 105-page DOJ resolution drawn up by the three-man DOJ panel.    Also recommended charged were:

• Cimatu's executive assistant Brig. Gen. Benito De Leon, who previously admitted receiving P10 million from Rabusa in four instances;
• Col. Cirilo Tomas Donato,  budget officer of the Intelligence Service of the AFP who would request cash allocation from the Office of J6;
• retired Lt. Col. Ernesto Paranis, whose participation was found by the panel to be "essential in facilitating the conversion scheme in the AFP;
• Generoso Castillo,  former chief of the accoutning division of the Office of J6;
• Divina Cabrera,  resident auditor of ISAFP for 13 years, who allegedly ensured the validation and perpetuation of the scheme, in exchange for a monthly support of P50,000 to P75,000;
• retired Maj. Gen. Hilario Atendido, alleged to be a "bagman" who had received P10 million during the last three months of Villanueva's term;
• Col. Roy Devesa, former executive assistant of the late AFP chief Gen. Angelo Reyes

The remaining 11 respondents were cleared from the charges for lack of probable cause. They were:

• retired Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan, who is now chief of Bureau of Corrections ;
• retired Maj. Gen. Epineto Logico;
• Navy Captain Kenneth Paglinawan;
• retired former AFP chief of staff Gen. Efren Abu;
• Army Col. Gilbert Gapay;
• Army Major Emerson Angulo;
• retired Maj. Gen. Ernesto Boac;
• Robert Arevalo;
• Arturo Besana;
• Crisanto Gabriel; and
• Manuel Warren

At Camp Aguinaldo, military information chief Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said they respect the recommendations of the Justice Department. "The AFP will honor and respect the findings and resolution of the preliminary investigating panel of the Department of Justice. We will make available active personnel who will be charged and we will cooperate with investigating authorities, " Burgos said.   De Lima said the DOJ only has recommendatory powers and that it will be up to the Office of the Ombudsman to decide whether to file the plunder charges with the Sandiganbayan.   "Our only mandate is to determine the truth and determine probable cause... The final say will fall on the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman will review the resolution of the panel and they will decide on the filing of formal charges," she said.   Rabusa — who served as a military budget officer from 1994 to 1998 and from 2000 to 2002 — earlier claimed in his complaint that the military officers accumulated "ill-gotten wealth through misappropriation, conversion, misuse, or malversation" of public funds worth more than P50 million. Tax evasion charges were earlier filed against Ligot and his wife, Erlinda, with the Court of Tax Appeals for their failure to declare a total of P164.3 million that they gained in 2003, which makes them liable for P153.2 million in taxes, excluding interest and penalty. The Ligot couple later posted a total of P40,000 bail, but the tax cout still placed them on the immigration's hold departure list. Rabusa had originally filed plunder charges against three AFP chiefs of staff, but the DOJ only decided to pursue the case against Cimatu and Villanueva, sparing Abu. In his Senate testimony in February last year, Rabusa accused Villanueva of renting a house inside a posh subdivision in Quezon City for "secret meetings" with public officials while he was still the AFP chief of staff. Rabusa claimed he was the one who paid the broker for the house rental P120,000 in monthly rental, or a total of P1.44 million for a one-year rent. Villanueva at the time admitted renting the house but said for only several months and not for one year. Rabusa claimed Atendido was with them when Villanueva inspected the house that was to be rented. Atendido denied ever accompanying the group. Cimatu, meanwhile, was accused of receiving at least P80 million in pay-off when he retired from military service. Cimatu denied Rabusa's accusations, and instead said the only "pabaon" he got from the military were some 40 medals he earned as a serviceman. Another former military chief who Rabusa accused of benefitting from the pabaon system was Reyes, who allegedly received a total of P150 million. Reyes, who denied the allegation, later committed suicide in front of his mother's grave in Marikina City. — VVP/KBK/RSJ, GMA News