Former PNP chief, retired Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. (PNA file photo by Lloyd Caliwan)
MANILA – Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, retired Gen. Benjamin Acorda, said Wednesday his conscience is clear amid allegations of involvement in illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), particularly on the escape of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo.
“I can say to anybody squarely, eye to eye, without flinching an eye na masabi malinis tayo diyan kay Alice Guo. Wala tayong pakialam diyan sa pagtakas niya. Hindi rin ako tumatanggap ng pera sa kanya (we can say that we are clean with Alice Guo. We don't have anything to do with her escape. I also do not accept money from her),” Acorda told Crame beat reporters in a phone interview.
Regarding the pictures of him with other personalities linked to POGOs that were shown at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, the former PNP chief said he neither tolerated nor transacted illegal activities with his acquaintances.
“Kung lumapit man sila or may maitutulong para sa bayan at saka kung ano mga dapat na napag-usapan, legal lang ako. Hindi ako nakikipag-transact sa illegal. Yan lang ang masasabi ko (If ever they came to me or I could help and whatever needed to be discussed, it was always legal. That's all I can say),” he said.
Acorda said it was he who ordered the operations against the Bamban POGO hubs.
He was the PNP chief when the Zun Yuan Technology, Inc. in Bamban was raided in March.
“Ako ang nagpa-operate sa Bamban (I was the one who ordered the operation in Bamban). That is to put the record straight. And yan, hindi tayo nakikipag-transaction, hindi tayo nakipag-negotiate kung whatever na gusto nilang insinuate (We never got involved in transactions, we never negotiated or whatever they want to insinuate),” Acorda said.
He said he was hurt by all the allegations he had been receiving after the photos were shown but expressed confidence that he did his job and served the country with honor and pride.
“All I can say is bilang Pilipino, I think nagawa ko lahat kung ano ang dapat kong gawin bilang Pilipino, lalong lalo na sa terms of national security and bilang pulis din, ginampanan ko rin ‘yung lahat dapat kong gawin as alagad ng batas (All I can say is that I have done everything I should do as a Filipino, especially in terms of national security, and I have done everything I should do as a law enforcement officer) without fear or favor,” he said.
During the continuation of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality inquiry into the illegal POGO operations in Bamban, Senator Risa Hontiveros showed photos of Acorda along with Mindanao-based businessman Tony Yang, the brother of former presidential adviser Michael Yang; Wesley Guo, Guo’s brother; and Sual Mayor Liseldo “Dong” Calugay, the alleged lover of the dismissed Bamban mayor.
This came after Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. official Raul Villanueva earlier said that a former PNP chief is being implicated in Guo’s departure.
Villanueva later said his pronouncement was “purely hearsay.” (PNA)
