PRESS RELEASE

No.

Releasing Officer:

 

Date

Mar 27, 2008

 

MARINA M. AGUSTIN

 

 

Acting Chief, Office for Public and Legislative Affairs

Office for Public Affairs, Department of National Defense, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City

 

Telephone Nos:  911-3339 / 911-4529

 

Catex: 911-6001 to 12, loc. 8445/8444

     Fax No.: 911-7113

 

DND chief intensifies drive vs. PVAO, AFP ‘fixers’

PVAO employee nabbed for alleged extortion

  

In line with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s instruction to weed out ‘fixers’ in the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. has intensified the campaign to stamp out these unscrupulous individuals not just in PVAO but in the entire Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

“These criminals rob the veterans and their dependents of what are rightfully theirs. This must not go unpunished,” Secretary Teodoro said.  

In an entrapment operation conducted by joint operatives of the Department of National Defense (DND) and the AFP, a PVAO employee was recently arrested for alleged extortion. The suspect was identified as Oscar Carlos assigned at the PVAO Legal Division. 

The entrapment was prompted by a complaint by Master Sergeant (MSgt) Avelino Andres for alleged extortion.  

MSgt Andres is assisting 2nd Lieutenant (2Lt) Jacinto Andres, who is currently residing in the United States, for the restoration of his PVAO Old Age Pension.  

MSgt Andres said the suspect asked 2Lt Andres thirty percent (30%) of whatever amount he will receive from PVAO in order to facilitate the release of said claim.  

The suspect was caught in the act receiving Php47,000 from MSgt Andres during the entrapment operation. He was later turned over to the Anti-Graft Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for filing of appropriate charges.   

Earlier, two (2) alleged PVAO ‘fixers’ operating in PVAO Field Office II in Tuguegarao City were apprehended by the Defense Intelligence and Security Group (DISG). They demanded from a veteran-dependent fifty percent (50%) of the arrears claim amounting to around Php300,000.  

The suspects were identified as Marilyn Soliven and Ma. Angustia “Anjie” Rivera who, according to DISG operatives, promised PVAO pensioner Nida Baladad to expedite the release of said claim.

To ensure that this intensified campaign against fixers will be given utmost attention, a special PVAO Team headed by Dir. Nostradamus A. Villanueva was created.  

This PVAO Team shall be working with the DND and the Representatives of the Office of the President, particularly Presidential Assistant for Veterans Affairs, Assistant Secretary Jesus Terry F. Adevoso. 

Secretary Teodoro stressed that the DND is relentless in its drive against fixers. “Our campaign to cleanse PVAO and the entire AFP of fixers is comprehensive. All mechanisms are in place, so it is just a matter of time before we nail down the next frauds.”