FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City – President Benigno S. Aquino III Saturday vowed that heads will roll for those who will be found to have selfishly benefited from the national coffers, as well as prosecutors found to be involved in the plea bargaining agreement with former military comptroller retired Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia.

The President, who was at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in Baguio City as a guest during the traditional alumni homecoming celebration, said the filing of charges against military officers and prosecutors involved in the controversial plea bargaining agreement on the plunder case against retired Gen. Garcia is the answer to the long-standing clamor to rid the AFP of corrupt practices that have resulted in the depletion of its resources needed for the agency’s operations.

Speaking at the PMA alumni homecoming here, Aquino said he still believes in the courage, integrity, and loyalty of men and women produced by the PMA, reiterating his full support to the institution and the AFP.

“As your commander-in-chief, I can feel how affected you are with this controversy,” Aquino said, citing the “pabaon” (send-off cash) system initially revealed during the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

He said that just like him, who chose to run for President instead of continuing his remaining three-year term in the Senate, there are still PMA graduates who have chosen the right path.

Aquino, however, said he is sure there are influential people behind those who abused their power during their stint in the AFP, adding that they will have to pay.

He added that prosecutors who were involved in the Garcia plea bargaining agreement will also be investigated.

“Iimbestigahan po natin kung paano masasampahan hindi lang po ‘yung mga tinutukoy ngayon ng kaso kundi pati na rin po ang mga kakuntsaba nila kasama na po ‘yung mga prosecutor na kasangkot sa Garcia plea bargaining agreement [We will investigate not only those alleged in this controversy, but also others who may be involved, including prosecutors involved in the Garcia plea bargaining agreement],” Aquino said.

During the last Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing, it was revealed that another former military comptroller, retired Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot, has R740 million in his personal account which was questioned by senators.

Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada had earlier revealed that there were eight houses in the US traced to Ligot’s wife, Erlinda, as well as 42 travels abroad from 1999 to 2004, which were reportedly done with the wife of the late former AFP chief of staff Angelo Reyes.

Ligot retired in 2004 as the military comptroller, and was replaced by then Maj. Gen. Garcia, who is now facing plunder charges but has entered into a plea bargain.

“I don’t think he’s too old to be senile,” Aquino said in Filipino, referring to Ligot’s statements in the Senate that he does not know anything about the allegations.

“I will not allow the sins of the past to happen. If they have done something wrong, they would have to pay,” Aquino said.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the decision to charge Ligot for plunder rests on the Office of the Ombudsman.

“That initiative should come from the Office of the Ombudsman because we know that there are certain intricacies of the law,” she said.

Aside from his assurance of full support to the AFP despite the controversy, Aquino meanwhile assured to narrow the housing backlog among military and police personnel.

“Hindi po bababa sa 20,000 pabahay ang ipagkakaloob po natin sa kawani po ng AFP at ng PNP [We will provide over 20,000 housing units to AFP and PNP personnel],” he said.

Aquino said additional housing for military personnel will come from government savings incurred through the current administration’s drive against corruption as well as austerity measures.

Corruption in the military is being investigated by the Legislature following the government’s strong opposition against the plea bargain requested by former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia,
who is facing plunder charges for amassing ill-gotten wealth.

Corruption within the military was further exposed by former Lt. Col. George Rabusa, who alleged that there were former AFP chiefs who received “pabaon” or send- off money before retiring from military service.

Meanwhile, Aquino assured the military of the construction of more or less 20,000 housing units for the benefit of those in the uniformed service. The funds will be taken from the realized savings of the government, claiming that the same could be more, depending on the assessment of concerned agencies.

Earlier, the President increased the combat pay of the soldiers and granted other benefits to empower them to work in restoring the trust and confidence of the people in the military.

He stressed much had been done in solving the problems left by the previous administration, especially in the armed forces, and more efforts will be done to lead the people to follow the right track.

At the Senate, the Blue Ribbon Committee has scheduled at least two more public hearings before winding down its inquiry into alleged widespread corruption at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Despite the haze of allegations of corruption, what matters most are “insights as to how we make laws that this is not repeated again, and again and again,” Sen. Teofisto L. Guingona III, committee chairman, told Bulletin after he presided over a seven-hour hearing on the AFP corruption scandal.

“We are just letting all the resource persons finish their statements and soon we will be coming out with the committee report,” Guingona said after stressing that the committee hearings are all in aid of legislation.

Asked whether there is still a need to continue with the hearing after the Guingona committee had 33 resource speakers present in last Friday’s committee hearing, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said: “I think we are about to wind up, with the way things are.”

The committee will subpoena Mrs. Ligot, wife of retired Lt. Gen. Ligot, to appear in next Thursday’s hearing to explain allegations that she bought 10 houses in California. She wrote the committee last Friday that she could not attend the hearing because she was suffering from hypertension and that their properties are cited in a forfeiture proceedings pending at the Sandiganbayan.

“My lawyers say that the facts and circumstances relating to these properties are covered by the principle of sub judice. Furthermore, there were also questions about how I allegedly acquired these properties, which questions tend to incriminate me. I would therefore like to invoke my right against self-incrimination,’’ she said. (With a report from Mario B. Casayuran)