Purisima faces perjury charges

Ex-PNP Chief Gen. Alan Purisima at Thursday’s (Feb 12, 2015) Senate hearing on the Mamasapano clash (Photo courtesy of Sen. Grace Poe’s Facebook page)

Suspended Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Alan Purisima is facing another case before the anti-graft court, this time for perjury for allegedly failing to fully disclose his possessions in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net worth (SALN).

The case cited possessions including firearms and his wife Maria Ramona Lydia Purisima’s properties.

The complaint detailed that Purisima’s wife had a land property under her name, in which he did not include in his SALN in 2006 and 2007.

More land properties were not declared in 2009. Two were of his wife’s, while another was under his name.

In 2011, the mentioned land properties were still not included, and an addition of two firearms belonging to the ex-police chief.

The following year 2o12, three land properties, and three firearms were not disclosed, and in 2013, the number of land properties undeclared was retained to three, with four firearms not included in his SALN.

Land properties were not disclosed in the year 2014.

Purisima got eight counts of perjury, in which he was accused of “willful and deliberate assertion of falsehood” in his SALN’s covering years 2006 to 2009 and 2011 to 2014.

According to the charge sheets, he can bail for P48,000, charging P6,000 for each criminal charge. The sheets were signed by Assistant Special Prosecutor III Irenio Paldeng.

“The disclosure and declaration is required under Section 7 of Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft Law) as amended and Section 8 of Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees),” it read.

Apart from these recent charges, Purisima has been dragged in other criminal complaints of graft and usurpation of public functions in connection Mamasapano incident in January 2015 where 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF) lost their lives. Another case he is facing is the WerFast Documentary Agency courier deal which got him dismissed from his police post is his involvement