MANILA, Philippines – Despite calls to recall Ambassador Roy Cimatu from his government post due to recent allegations made by former Lt. Col. George Rabusa, Malacañang said Monday that Cimatu is doing his job in his capacity as Special Envoy and would have to answer the allegations hurled against him when he comes back from Egypt. President Benigno S. Aquino III has extended the services of Cimatu as the Special Envoy of the Presidential Middle East Preparedness Committee (PMEPC) until June 30, 2011, by virtue of Executive Order (EO) No. 20 due to tensions, political instability, and armed conflicts in some parts of the Middle East and Africa.
Cimatu was on his way to Egypt Monday as part of the three-man crisis team.
“I think we’ll let Ambasador Cimatu answer those particular allegations,” Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte said in a press briefing Monday.
“He will be the best person to answer that and we will let him answer those allegations,” she added.
Cimatu was among those allegedly accused by Rabusa of allegedly benefitting from the “pabaon system” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The Palace, meanwhile, veered away from allegations that former President Joseph Estrada is behind the exposé of Rabusa. It was Sen. Jinggoy Estrada who invited Rabusa to the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee last Thursday.
“We really cannot say. Because apart from what Mr. Rabusa has been saying, he feels that it is the right time to come out because of the change in the administration,” Valte said.
Valte assured that there will be fair investigation on the issue.
“It’s not just the DND (Department of National Defense) that will investigate, but it’s also the DoJ (Department of Justice) that will investigate,” Valte said.
During the hearing last Thursday, Rabusa disclosed that former AFP Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes allegedly received not less than P50 million in “pabaon” or send-off money upon his retirement from the military service. This, however, was denied by Reyes, a close ally of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Some former AFP chiefs, including Cimatu, were also implicated.
The DoJ has already formed a fact-finding panel that would investigate Rabusa’s allegations while the DND formed a five-man team to look into the anomalies in the military, including the alleged “pabaon” system.
No ‘pabaon’ in PNP
Amid the new controversy regarding the alleged multimillion “send-off money” for the military chief of staff, Director General Raul Bacalzo, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said there is no “pabaon” in the police organization.
“Sana meron, because I will be retiring this year,” said Bacalzo said in a jest.
“But kidding aside, I don’t think there is a policy on that here (PNP). That is illegal,” said Bacalzo, referring to the so-called “pabaon” for retiring AFP chiefs of staff as exposed by Rabusa.
While some camps claimed that it has been a tradition in the military to give send off money, Bacalzo said he had not heard of the same in the national police organization.
He added that he has not heard also of the so-called “pasalubong” or multimillion peso welcome money for the incoming PNP chief.
Bacalzo explained that there is neither a traditional policy nor an opportunity for the PNP chief to commit such wrong doing, noting the very limited budget of the organization.
For his part, former President Fidel V. Ramos denied that such policy of giving send-off money for retiring AFP chief of staff occurred during his time as top military commander during the administration of the late Corazon Aquino.
“During our time, we are busy with the internal security operations so we have no time for that,” said Ramos.
Madel Sabater & Aaron Recuenco, Manila Bulletin
