Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., on Tuesday, February 6 refuted Senator Raffy Tulfo’s allegations there is corruption in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) decommissioning process, saying he is ready to prove it.

Tulfo, during the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation’s hearing, alleged there is corruption in the way amnesty is given to communist and Muslim rebels. 

The senator suspects there is corruption noting the discrepancy in the number of decommissioned MILF combatants and the number of firearms surrendered to the government.

Basing his presumptions on the records provided by Galvez, Tulfo noted there were more than 26,000 decommissioned MILF combatants that have each received P100,000 cash assistance from the government, yet the number of firearms surrendered were only at 4,000.

“Hindi niyo sana ni-release ang P100,000 doon sa nagsu-surrender na walang baril na kapalit (You shouldn’t have released the P100,000 to those who surrendered without their guns in exchange of it),” Tulfo said. 

Tulfo could not help point out there is corruption in and asked the OPAPRU to investigate. Otherwise, he said, he will call on lawmakers to slash the agency’s proposed budget for next year.

“Gusto ko kung mayroong susunod na hearing, yung result ng gagawin niyong investigation ngayon, sino-sino ang involved sa corruption. Meron corruption dito, whether you like it or not. Mayroon po, ang laking discrepancy (I hope that should there be another hearing, you submit the result of the investigation and who are those involved. There is corruption here, whether you like it or not. There is, the discrepancy is huge),” Tulfo told Galvez.

In response, Galvez took offense and said he is will show evidence that the agency is not engaged in corruption.

“You’re honor, I could proudly say that there is no corruption in the decommissioning. Do not tell us we are corrupt,” Galvez pointed out.

To which Tulfo said: “I’m not saying you are corrupt. What I’m saying here is mayroon pong mga tao diyan sa loob ng inyong organization (There are people in your organization) who are. There are people there that are not doing their job or maybe they are involved in corruption.”

“Definitely, I take offense, senator. That you are already telling us that there is corruption. I believe that it is not the correct accusation to us,” Galvez responded. 

“I beg to disagree that there were some who took advantage of the decommissioning because I myself I am really implementing this. I will show proof that we are not corrupt,” the OPAPRU chief added.

Senate panel chair, Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, for his part, said he also sense some irregularity in the decommissioning process and urged Galvez to submit the necessary papers. 

“I understand Sen. Tulfo and I understand where Secretary Galvez is coming from. 

Estrada said it makes sense to ensure that each combatant will surrender their firearms to ensure that these would not be used by other militant groups against the government. 

“That makes sense kasi pag di natin kinuha itong mga baril na to baka lumipat sila sa ISIS, so mas malaki ang problema natin (If we don’t get the weapons, they may shift and join the ISIS, so we will have a bigger problem). So yes I agree (with Tulfo). That makes sense,” Estrada told reporters after the hearing.

“Kita nyo nangyari sa Marawi , baka yund di natin kinuha sa gobyerno, baka mas lumipat sila dun sa mas matinding grupo (See what happened to Marawi City? If the government failes to retrieve these weapons, the rebels may join other militant groups that are more dangerous),” he said.