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Filipino policemen should know better than to try and do a James Bond, going around with a huge amount of money thinking they could get past Russian customs officials. Instead, the whole incident involving recently-retired PNP comptroller Gen. Eliseo dela Paz has turned out to be a scandalous and highly-embarrassing fiasco for the Philippine National Police.

Former PNP Director General Sonny Razon finished his term on a high note, but this “Moscow scandal” is a very bad start for new PNP chief Jake Versoza. This “police matter” involving Dela Paz is raising more questions than can be comfortably answered by the PNP leadership.

Obviously, the Euro 105,000 (approximately P6.9 million) far exceeded the Euro 10,000 allowable limit in Russia. A colleague of Dela Paz (who was among the PNP delegation to the 77th Interpol General Assembly in St. Petersburg) tried to explain the incident as just a case of “forgetfulness” on the part of Dela Paz, adding that it was “hard to read documents at the airport (since) all were in Russian.” Granted the retired official experienced a major “memory gap” moment, still, nobody goes around carrying that much cash. And if they only bothered to look, they would have probably found an English version of the customs form.

Prior to the trip, the PNP could have coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and the office of our friend Vic Garcia, the Philippine Ambassador to Russia, to acquaint delegates of that country’s laws and prevent the “lost in translation” episode which delayed the transmission of official documents proving the money was not from dubious sources.

A cursory check on Russian Federation Laws regarding currency regulation and control reveals that people leaving Russia with more than $10,000 in cash or travelers checks are required to fill out a customs declaration form, which should be stamped by a customs official for validation. There is also a document that has to be issued by a bank to allow non-residents to carry out cash to cover business trip expenses abroad.

I spoke with Russian Ambassador Vitaly Vorobiev who said it was unfortunate that the PNP official did not declare the money he was carrying, since that is a standard procedure regardless of who you are. Violators would normally be detained or their money confiscated. Lucky for Dela Paz they were attending a conference; otherwise, Russian authorities would have been less considerate.

But usually in many countries especially in the United States, they are clear about the $10,000 limit being carried in and out of the US, which must be declared. Anything above that will raise red flags and suspicions that the money is from drugs or money laundering activities, or worse, from terrorist groups. Usually, US customs officials are not very accommodating. And even if you are a top cop or James Bond, they would most likely confiscate the money if you don’t have a good explanation since they have zero tolerance for drugs, money laundering and terrorist-related activities.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome claims the P6.9 million is a contingency fund for the delegates. There’s nothing wrong in being prepared for unforeseen circumstances when one travels abroad, like when you get sick and need hospitalization. But what gets the goat of many Filipinos—and that includes junior officers from the PNP—is the staggering amount, not to mention the P2.3 million total expenses already shouldered by the PNP—which includes a $467 per diem per delegate for the duration of the six-day conference.

Compare that to the very modest $171 daily allowance allocated by National Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring for the two senior officials who attended the same conference. If the NBI can send only two delegates with modest allowances, why can’t the PNP? People are asking why—at this time when every government agency should be cost cutting—the PNP had to send eight officials with high per diems and a huge contingency fund.

Ping Lacson says there’s no such item as “contingency fund” for official travel expenses—and he should know, having been the former top cop of this country. Ping has virtually promised a Senate grilling over the “Moscow scandal”—and you can bet this is one investigation people will be watching with keen interest.

Initial attempts by Dela Paz to explain the issue only succeeded in creating more disbelief, saying the P6.9 million includes his personal money of $10,000 or P470,000, carried by his wife. The presence of PNP wives during the trip also fueled suspicions that the Interpol conference was a junket. Nobody really believes the wives used their own resources considering that policemen have long been complaining about low salaries. And while Dela Paz resents comparisons with the AFP’s Gen. Carlos Garcia, still, people can’t help but be cynical since both men had the position of comptroller.

Whether they like it or not, the incident puts the PNP under the glare of unfavorable public attention once again. There are speculations that the money must have been a “retirement gift” for Dela Paz. The official is now the butt of jokes saying that he should have shared the money with the rest of the delegates since the Christmas Season is almost here and hence avoided the whole fiasco.

Even the memorandum issued by Gen. Versoza suspending all foreign trips pending review of existing policy is eliciting snide remarks that it is once again a case of “too little too late.” At this time when people are finding it difficult to cope with rising costs of commodities, the PNP hierarchy better come up with some very convincing explanation since none of them qualify to be a “Double O-Seven” with a large expense account.