[February 11, 2011] AFP corruption probe to proceed -- de Lima Tweet Feb 10, 2011 (The Manila Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- "This is not just about Secretary Reyes. We have a higher issue here, which is the corruption in the military," de Lima said on Wednesday, stressing that other high Armed Forces officials supposedly are also involved in wrongdoing. "We have to take the opportunity to look into this alleged corruption and this is the best time to do it," she added. Reyes war reported to have shot himself dead on Tuesday. The Justice chief said that she does not see any indication that whistleblowers--retired military budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa, Air Force Col. Antonio Ramon Lim and former state auditor Heidi Mendoza--were lying when they testified on the alleged corruption in the Armed Forces. "We should not ignore what Col. Rabusa, Col. Lim and Heidi Mendoza have been doing. We must continue the investigation," she added. Rabusa revealed the existence of a "pabaon system" in the military and that former Armed Forces chief Reyes personally amassed about P150 million from military funds. Lim, a deputy budget officer, corroborated the statements of Rabusa. The system supposedly is a traditional practice in the military wherein AFP chiefs who are about to retire are given pabaon, or send-off money, in the millions. Mendoza testified against former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, who was accused of plunder for allegedly amassing P303 million during his stint as comptroller of the Armed Forces. De Lima recently said that would create a panel that will look into the allegations. The order creating the panel has not been issued because the Justice secretary is still contemplating whether to make it a fact-finding committee or a panel for direct preliminary investigation. Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Special Prosecutor also on Wednesday asked the Sandiganbayan to penalize by citing in contempt the former bosses of the two agencies--former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo and Dennis Villa-Ignacio--for allegedly fooling and deceiving President Benigno Aquino 3rd and the public in connection with a plunder case against former Armed Forces comptroller Garcia. In a 22-page petition, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and Special Prosecutor Wendell Barreras-Sulit stated that both Marcelo and Villa-Ignacio lied to President Aquino and the public when they said that the case against Garcia was strong because the demurrer to evidence was denied by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan. The Ombudsman argued that there was no such pleading involving a demurrer to evidence and there was no resolution from the Sandiganbayan involving the matter. Under the Rules of Court, indirect contempt carries the penalty of imprisonment and fine. WITH REPORTS FROM JOMAR CANLAS AND JOHN CONSTANTINE G. CORDON To see more of The Manila Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.manilatimes.net. Copyright (c) 2011, The Manila Times, Philippines Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]