20 AFP EXECS FIRED OVER GHOST DEAL
Palace says AFP’s health service command undertook several anomalous purchases
President Rodrigo Duterte has axed around 20 high-ranking military officials over the supposedly P1.491-million ghost procurement in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Medical Center, otherwise known as V. Luna Medical Center, in Quezon City.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said on Monday, Aug. 13, that Duterte ordered the relief and court martial proceedings against the top military officials, including AFP Health Service Command commander Brig. Gen. Edwin Leo Torrelavega and V. Luna Medical Center commander Col. Antonio Punzalan.
“It was brought to the President’s attention that alleged corruption activities have been taking place at the V. Luna Medical Center. The President has since read the reports of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) and the [AFP] chief-of-staff General Carlito Galvez,” Roque told Palace reporters.
on the reports, several high-ranking officials and employees of the V. Luna Medical Center, health service command of the AFP undertook anomalous purchases of equipment and engaged in fraudulent transactions, including ghost purchasing, splitting of contracts to circumvent mandatory bidding processes, and conceiving fictitious suppliers,” he added.
Roque said the information about the supposed corruption within the military hospital came from an unnamed whistleblower.
Duterte was “personally aggravated and angered” to learn that the anomalous procurement, with a total amount of P1,491,570, was “one transaction alone,” Roque said.
On top of the P1.491-million worth of ghost deliveries, there were also several anomalous transactions amounting to “hundreds of millions of pesos” made by officials of the V. Luna Medical Center,” the Palace official added.
“He (Duterte) is ballistic... He was personally aggravated when the information on corruption was confirmed in V. Luna (Medical Center). Personally aggravated and angered,” Roque said.
“Because only recently, he ordered that the sum of P50 million a month be released to V. Luna [hospital] to make sure that V. Luna will have sufficient funds to cover all medical requirements of members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines of course, only to find out bulk of the funds or much of the funds may be going to the pockets of the corrupt officials of the Armed Forces,” he added.
Roque said Galvez already made his commitment to heed Duterte’s order to relieve and conduct probe against the allegedly erring military officials.
“The chief-of-staff, General Carlito Galvez, has also said that he will immediately relieve General Torrelavega and Colonel Punzaln and will convene court martial proceedings against them, without prejudice to the investigation to be conducted by the Ombudsman for the military,” he said.
“I suppose the entire office that has to do with procurement will be relieved... Apparently, it’s a conspiracy. It was institutional corruption in V. Luna,” he added.