KIKO SMACKS DE LA PAZ TESTIMONY; CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE FILING
OF CASES AGAINST EURO GENERALS

Following the appearance of Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz and other so-called Euro-generals before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan today condemned the testimonies given before the Senate saying "the inconsistencies are glaring and they have dug their own graves with their admissions" and called on appropriate agencies to immediately file raps against the said officials.

"It's incredible how violations against the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the Customs Law, the Immigration Law, EO 298, and the BSP Circulars, among others, have been committed for this trip. If this is a glimpse of how our police force is being run by those at the very top, we should all be very afraid," Kiko lamented.

Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz stirred a controversy after being held at the Moscow International Airport in Oct. 11 for traveling with a total of P9.2 million in his possession. De la Paz and his wife, who also went on the trip, initially snubbed the subpoena issued by the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and was issued a warrant of arrest. De la Paz surrendered to the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Friday, and stayed the night at the Senate premises.

"RA7653 or the new Central Bank Act requires that a person who is bringing into or out of the Philippines a foreign currency in excess of $10,000 or its equivalent furnish the Monetary Board with a statement in writing disclosing the source and purpose for carrying the amount of money. De la Paz says he did not submit any form to that effect, which either means that he is ignorant of the law...which is absolutely no excuse...or that he believes he can get away with it scot-free," Kiko said.

"RA 9498 or the General Appropriations Act also provides clear restrictions on the use of government funds, providing that no personnel or employee including uniformed personnel of the DILG and DND will be sent to the conference when they are due to retire within 1 year after the said foreign travel. De la Paz retired last October 9, so with this in mind, how can the PNP justify his mere presence in that trip?"

"The NAPOLCOM memo circular No.95-025 on official foreign travel provides that priority shall be given to all those who are 45 years old and below, and also qualified candidates who do not have previous training. We can go on and on about the many other violations they have committed but the bottom line is there has been a wanton disregard for our laws by our very own law enforcers. Heads must roll, lest we send out the very dangerous message that ours is a lawless country," Kiko added.

"The leadership of PNP must step up. In the final analysis, they are liable for this embarrassment. We do not wish to erode the public trust on our police force, and they need to salvage their reputation by acting decisively on this matter. The cavalier attitude displayed by these high-ranking PNP officials in blatantly disregarding rules on disbursements suggests that this has been going on repeatedly and that they have been up until now been getting away with it. The Ombudsman and the PNP Internal Affairs Office should undertake a no-nonsense lifestyle check on De la Paz, Rentoy and all those involved in his mess and determine if their lifestyles are commensurate to their take home pay in the PNP," Kiko ended.