FORMER First Gentleman Jose Miguel T. Arroyo, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo V. Puno, ex-Philippine National Police chief General Jesus A. Verzosa and 17 others including eight senior PNP officers, four of them still in the active service, were charged yesterday with plunder before the Office of the Ombudsman by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in connection with the   purchase of three police helicopters, two of them used choppers which were passed off as brand new.

Apart from Arroyo, who has been tagged as the real owner of the two used helicopters passed off as brand new and sold for P105 million, Puno and Verzosa, also charged with plunder were retired PNP deputy chief for administration Deputy Director General Jefferson P. Soriano; retired PNP Comptroller Romeo C Hilomen; retired PNP Director for Logistics Luizo C. Ticman; retired PNP Director for Research and Development Ronald D. Roderos; Director Leocadio SC Santiago Jr. of the PNP Directorate for Operations; PNP Director for Logistics Director George Q. Piano; PNP Legal Service director Chief Supt. Herold G. Ubalde; and Senior Supt. Lurimer Detran of the PNP-DL.

Also charged were Archibald Po, director of Asian Spirit; Hilario de Vera, president of the Manila Aerospace Products Trading Inc. or MAPTRA; Renato M. Sia, also of Asian Spirit; Supt. Ermilando Villafuerte; Supt. Roman Loreto and Conrado Sumanga Jr., the former chief of the Napolcom Staff Service Installation and Logistics Service.

Except for Verzosa, the police personnel charged were members of either the PNP Bids and Awards Committee and negotiating team.

Verzosa, through his lawyer Benjamin C. de los Santos welcomed the filing of the charges as a “welcome relief.”

“Now the wheels of justice will start to move and we trust in the rule of law to ferret out the truth. At least now, we shall be dealing with the rules of court, evidence and basic rudiments of fair play. We maintain that Gen. Verzosa acted within the bounds of the procurement law and he shall eventually be cleared by our courts,” De los Santos said in a statement.

PNP-CIDG chief Director Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. said the officials were charged with plunder as defined by Republic Act 7080 and violation of the Government Procurement Act and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act under the Revised Penal Code. They were accused of “acting in concert with the private individuals and taking undue advantage of their official position, authority, relationship, connection or influence to unjustly enrich themselves of more than P50 million received in the form of pecuniary benefit in connection with the 2009 procurement of three Light Police Operational Helicopters (LPOH).”

Charged with violation of the Government Procurement Act and the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act were Chief Supt. Luis Saligumba, Senior Supt. Job Nolan Antonio, Senior Supt. Edgar Pataan, Senior Supt. Crisostomo Garcia, Senior Supt. Mansue Lukban, Supt. Claudio Gaspar, retired Supt. Larry Balmaceda, Chief Inspector Maria Josefina Vidal, Supt. Henry Duque, Chief Inspector Maria Josefina Recometa.

Lukban also welcomed the filing of the charges as he maintained his innocence and expressed optimism he will be cleared eventually.

The charges stemmed from the purchase in 2009 of the three Robinsons R44 Raven 1 helicopters worth P105 million ordered investigated by PNP chief Director General Raul M. Bacalzo.

The CIDG Anti-Fraud and Commercial Crimes Division investigated the allegedly anomalous purchase of the helicopters.

Pagdilao said the other active officials were charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in their capacity as members of the Bids and Awards Committee and as part of the team that negotiated the acquisition of the three choppers.

He said that CIDG’s investigation found out that the transaction was laden with irregularities.

He said that the specification issued by the PNP then was tailored to qualify no other helicopter except the Raven 1 of MAPTRA. Pagdilao added that the choppers were sold at a price too expensive even for a brand new Raven 1 helicopter, which only costs P15 million.

He said that the CIDG has found out that the Raven helicopters were second-hand and not brand new as the procurement documents said they should be.

“The procuring entity, in what appears to be blind submission to powers that be, ignored and disregarded the existence of flight log and engine logbook, which indicated that each of the two Raven 1 have registered an average of 500 hours of flight—a clear manifestation that these helicopters are used or reconditioned and not brand new as what they were made to appear,” he said.

Pagdilao also said that CIDG investigators found it disturbing that almost all respondents who signed the documents attested that the Raven 1s were brand new.

He added that some of the signatories were not even present during the actual inspection, yet they signed the inspection report.

Pagdilao added that there was also a clear and unmistakable deceit in the deliveries of the two Ravens. The two Ravens bore different serial numbers, and appear far older and dilapidated than the helicopters the supplier committed under the supply agreement.

“Simply stated, different units were delivered instead of what appeared in the agreement. This alone is enough for criminal indictment for unmistakable breach of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 against the respondents for causing undue injury to the government,” said the CIDG chief.

Pagdilao said that the conspiracy to commit plunder all started with the intention of former First Gentleman Arroyo to dispose of the two Raven helicopters. He added that their investigation showed that Po and De Vera originally hatched the plan to pass the old helicopters off as brand new to the PNP.