PNP to file charges vs Dela Paz

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) will file on Friday criminal charges against a recently retired official who allegedly withdrew millions of pesos in unauthorized funds for a foreign mission. In a telephone interview, Sr. Supt. Isagani Nerez, chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-National Capital Region said the criminal charge is being finalized against retired director for comptrollership Eliseo D. Dela Paz before the Office of the Ombudsman. "The charge that we hope to file on Friday is for violation of Republic Act 7653 or the New Central Bank Act. We already have a certification from the Bureau of Customs that the money brought by Mr. dela Paz was undeclared," Mr. Nerez told BusinessWorld. He said they are coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration for a certification that the travel of Mr. dela Paz and the seven other PNP senior officials was an official trip. "We expect to receive the certification [today]," he added. On Oct. 11, Mr. dela Paz and his wife were barred from leaving the Moscow Airport in Russia after customs officials discovered under his possession an undeclared money worth €105,000, which exceeded the allowable limit of €10,000. Mr. dela Paz and seven other senior officials attended the 77th International Police (Interpol) Assembly in St. Petersburg, Moscow on Oct. 7-10. Mr. Nerez said other criminal charges such as violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices or Republic Act 3019 and malversation of public funds will be filed "probably" next week against Mr. dela Paz and three other PNP officials, namely, Senior Superintendent Tomas Rentoy, chief of the budget division, directorate for comptrollership; Superintendent Samuel Rodriguez, disbursing officer for directorate for intelligence; and Chief Superintendent Orlando Pestaño, chief of the PNP finance services for the unauthorized release and disbursement of PNP funds. Mr. Nerez is head of the special intelligence task force group created by CIDG director Chief Supt. Raul Castañeda to investigate and determine charges to be filed against Mr. dela Paz and the three other PNP officers. On Monday, PNP chief Director-General Jesus A. Verzosa disclosed to media the initial results of the investigation conducted by the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detection Management. The investigation found "reasonable basis to file criminal as well as administrative charges against the concerned police officers, particularly those involved in the funding, release and disbursement of funds used in the official mission of the PNP delegation to the 77th Interpol General Assembly." In a separate interview, Mr. Castañeda said criminal charges may also be filed against the seven PNP officials who attended the Interpol Assembly "if they failed to liquidate within 60 days their individual liquidation reports of the P274,070 cash advance that each of them received." "We will also coordinate with the Commission on Audit to monitor if these PNP officials followed proper auditing procedures," he said. Meanwhile, in a telephone interview with reporters, Mr. Verzosa said the Russian government reported to the PNP Directorate for Intelligence that the documentation on the P6.9 million or €105,000 seized from Mr. dela Paz has been completed. "Based on the report of the Russian government [yesterday]..., we expect [the amount] to be wire-transferred to the PNP bank account within this week," he added. The PNP leadership has yet to state its position on the wives of senior police officials who also went to Moscow, including the spouse of Mr. Verzosa. — E. T. Marcelo, BusinessWorld