MIRIAM: MOVE PURISIMA TO NEW JOB; WARNS OF BO XILAI CASE

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago said that in view of the serious charges of plunder and corruption against PNP Chief Alan Purisima, President Aquino should transfer him to an incompatible office.

Under the law, if a public official accepts an incompatible office, he is deemed to have resigned from the previous office, and thus Purisima would be deemed resigned as PNP chief.

Santiago suggested that Purisima could be transferred to the position of Napolcom commissioner, or as assistant secretary of either the DILG or the DND.

The senator cited the classic work on the law of public offices by Floyd Mechem: "that he who, while occupying one office, accepts another incompatible with the first, ipso facto, absolutely vacates the first office and his title is to be terminated without any other act or proceeding."

Mechem defines an incompatible office as one "where the nature and duties of the two offices are such, as to render it improper, from considerations of public policy, for one person to remain in both positions."

Santiago gave as example the incompatibility in the functions of the two offices, such as: judge and clerk of the same court; claimant and auditor; landlord and tenant; where one office is subordinate to the other, or where the relations of the two offices are inconsistent and repugnant.

Purisima is facing, among others, a P100 M plunder charge for alleged involvement in a license delivery deal, where the PNP allegedly entered into a contract with a bogus company not yet registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He is also said to have used alleged connections to establish a trucking business and a poultry farm worth some P90 M.

Recently, Purisima hogged all front pages with pictures of his estate in San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija consisting of some five hectares and containing a two-story house, guest house, gazebo, swimming pool, and landscaped premises.

Purisima, at a Senate hearing, himself admitted that he accepted money donations to recoup expenses incurred in building his official residence inside Camp Crame.

Other charges include the use of a bulletproof Land Cruiser vehicle not registered in his name, and the purchase of an SUV for some P1.5 M, when it sells on the market for some P3 M.

"Some people possess the epidermis of pachyderms," Santiago said, referring not only to the Purisima case but also to the plunder cases against three senators, and plunder cases against the vice-president and his family.

"This recalls the case of the Communist Party official Bo Xilai, who was convicted of corruption charges. He fought back during a 20-month scandal, but was given a life sentence by a Chinese court for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power," Santiago said.

Santiago noted that like Bo, high public officials now charged with plunder in the Ombudsman launched unusually vigorous defences, denying all charges, and blaming the corruption on others in their inner circles.

Santiago made the statement during her speech as guest speaker of the annual convention of the Philippine Association of Real Estate Boards (PAREB) last Friday, October 10. It was her first public speech after she was diagnosed with lung cancer, stage four.

Santiago said that after three months counted from her diagnosis, some 90% of the cancer cells have already been killed by so-called "targeted treatment," which operates on the molecular level.