ROXAS: VERSOZA ACTION NOT ENOUGH
SAYS SENATE SHOULD CONTINUE PROBE

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas today said PNP chief Director General Jesus Versoza's directive to file charges against retired PNP comptroller Eliseo de la Paz and other police officers involved in the "euro general" issue does not fully answer the nagging questions about the controversy.

Roxas demanded that Versoza "complete the investigation and file the necessary charges against all officials, however high their rank or position may be," with regards to the controversy while the Senate should continue its investigation into the issue.

"Maganda ang naging simula ng pag-iimbestiga ni General Versoza, pero hindi nito ibig sabihin ay lusot na siya. Kailangan ay ituloy pa niya ang imbestigasyon ke anong ranggo o posisyon pa ang sabit sa anomalyang ito (It's a good start as far as General Versoza's investigation is concerned. But this does not absolve him from his responsibility of charging those whoever was involved in this anomaly how high their rank or position may be)," the Ilonggo senator said.

Roxas, vice-chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee investigating the "euro general" issue, earlier supported Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago's position that the Senate should issue the warrant of arrest against De La Paz, who was caught with 105,000 euros in his wife's bag after attending an Interpol conference in Moscow.

"We still want the full story behind this controversy. It presumes that we are accepting the excuse that the money seized from De La Paz came from the intelligence funds, which we find incredible to believe," he said.

Roxas said other violations of the law must be accounted for, including the ban on foreign travel of retiring officials which DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno admitted he allowed in the case of De la Paz.

"Let's give General Versoza credit for this good start, but the public demand the entire truth behind this scandal, and we have yet to see the PNP giving us the entire story," the senator said.

Roxas noted in last Thursday's Senate probe on the matter, the PNP and DILG failed to provide any convincing explanation as to the origin and purpose of the 105,000 euros caught from De La Paz.