RETIRED STATE AUDITOR SAYS DOJ SHOULD INDICT RABUSA

RETIRED STATE AUDITOR SAYS DOJ SHOULD INDICT RABUSA

A RETIRED government auditor wants the the justice department (DoJ) to reconsider its decision placing whistleblower Col. George Rabusa under the state witness protection program and said the former military budget officer should himself be indicted.

In an open memorandum, retired former state auditor Arturo V. Besana said the government should consider "that the cloak of witness protection over Rabusa be removed and that he (Rabusa) himself be placed under the bar of justice just like the rest whom he unjustly accused,"

"Why (was) Rabusa placed under the witness protection program? Rabusa was involved in schemes aimed at looting the military's coffers.He admitted having P 200 million deposit in a private bank,pocketed P 500,000 as private allowance,amassed illegally an additional P 17 million and was charged by the Ombudsman for lying, for dishonesty,for grave misconduct,for conduct unbecoming of a public officer and for violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices act," Besana asked.

The auditor claimed that by placing Rabusa under the cloak of government witness protection, "his handlers have unwittingly crafted him into a monster, the like of a Frankenstein,destroying the hierarchical structure of the defense institutions and shaking the very foundation of a nation,"

The auditor also claimed that "Rabusa is now engaged in blackmail and extortion" adding that Rabusa's revelations resulted in "traditions ravaged and dishonored. Important names have been smeared"

During yesterday's hearings, Prosecutor General Claro Arellano gave the parties in the case ten days to file their counteraffidavits in the case and three days to file a manifestation on whether they want an extension to file the

One of the defense lawyers Edgar Avila who represents Col. Roberto Arevalo claimed Rabusa's complaint is defective and said the latter should have filed a P21 million filing fee.

The DOJ earlier summoned three former Armed Forces chiefs-of-staff and 19 others implicated in the plunder complaint
filed by retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa, the former military budget officer who blew the whistle on alleged corruption in the military.

The DOJ panel chaired by Arellano has ordered former AFP chiefs Diomedio Villanueva, Roy Cimatu and Efren Abu and the others to submit their answer to Rabusa's allegations in a hearing set on July 6. Also summoned were former military comptrollers Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot and Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia.

The others are: North Luzon Command head Lt. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan, retired Maj. Gen. Ernesto Boac, Col. Cirilo Tomas Donato, Col. Roy Devesa, Maj. Emerson Angulo, retired Maj. Gen. Hilario Atendido, B/Gen. Benito de Leon, retired Lt. Col. Ernesto Paranis, Capt. Kenneth Paglinawan, Col. Gilbert Gapay, Col. Robert Arevalo, and Maj. Gen. Epineto Logico; former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) resident auditor Divina Cabrera, state auditors Arturo Besana, Crisanto Gabriel and Manuel Warren and accountant Generoso del Castillo.

In his complaint filed last April, Rabusa submitted to the DOJ details and supporting documents on corruption in the military through misappropriation and conversion of millions of public funds, which he had exposed in congressional inquiries some three months ago.

"Respondents took advantage of their official positions, authority, and influence to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense and to the damage and prejudice of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines," he alleged. ###