PCDA, AFP Rot Uncovered

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee uncovered on 27 January 2011 (Thursday) the so-called Provision for Command-Directed Acitivities (PCDA), a name that sounded much like a pork barrel but that the AFP Chief of Staff controlls, and is being used to address his personal needs. This fund receives contribution from the J staff of the General Headquarter (GHQ) at Camp Aguinaldo (that the military refers to as the "White House"), the official residence of the Staff Chief.

In his testimony befor the committee, former AFP budget officer and retired Lt. Col. George Rabusa testified that his office is required to raise P40 million a month under the PCDA to fund the military chief's personal needs. And since the J staff contributions fall short, the major services in the Navy and the Army as well as key budgetary units like the AFP medical centers augment the shortfall in order to meet this P480 million requirement a year. The Vice Chief of Staff and the next lower ranked officers also benefited from PCDA. GMANews.TV reported the monthly allowance as P10 million with half of it used for personal needs. Vice Chief of Staffs supposedly received P1 million a month.

In fact, when former AFP Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes retired in 2001, he received from PCDA a send-off among of P50 million, according to Rabusa. A practice that has been in the military for the last 20 years. In his 20 months as military chief, he probably received around P100 million, Rabusa computed.

SOURCES
De Santos, Jonathan: "Ex-military chief's P50M 'send-off' gift exposed," SunStar Manila 28 January 2011
LBG/KBK: "Witness: Reyes got P50-M 'pabaon' when he retired from AFP," GMANews.TV 27 January 2011