It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149593 |
A mayor in South Cotabato province is facing administrative and criminal charges for allegedly using public funds for personal use.
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said on Friday the local government has filed an administrative complaint for dishonesty and abuse of authority before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) or provincial board against Tboli Mayor Dibu Tuan.
He said the case, which was received by the SP on Thursday, involved the supposed unauthorized and personal use by the mayor of the municipal government’s real property tax (RPT) collections.
The complaint for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act will be filed within the day by the Provincial Legal Office at the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao, he said.
“Our audit team tracked down and documented these illegal transactions, and gathered substantial evidence to warrant the filing of charges,” he said in an interview over radio station Bombo Radyo in Koronadal City.
The governor said the case stemmed from the discovery early this year by the Provincial Treasurer's Office (PTO) of numerous real property owners, including companies, in Tboli that have standing RPT delinquencies.
He said it came out during the tax mapping by the PTO in January and February in line with the province-wide condonation of penalties and interests for RPT payments.
Tamayo said the provincial audit team confirmed during their validation that some of the supposed delinquent real property owners have already paid their taxes, with some reporting advance payments, but these were not remitted to the municipal government's coffers.
It included the PHP6 million RPT payment made last year by Sumifru Philippines Corp., which operates banana plantations in Tboli, he said.
Since the payments were not reported as remitted by the municipal government, he said the province did not receive its 35 percent share from them.
The municipality retains 40 percent while the barangays get 25 percent of the RPT payments.
During the audit, Tamayo said some of the RPT payments could not be located and municipal treasurer Ritchie Calvo eventually admitted through an affidavit that the funds were allegedly “borrowed” by Tuan for “personal use.”
He said some of the transactions were reportedly signed by the mayor himself and a member of his staff.
When the controversial transactions came in April, he said the municipality paid the “borrowed” RPT collections using its peace and order funds, “making their situation more complicated.”
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| https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/8/9/Manila-tanod-curfew-quarantine-violator-mental-health.html |
Authorities have arrested a barangay tanod for fatally shooting a man with a mental illness for allegedly violating curfew hours.
The Manila Police District on Monday said Eduardo Geñoga, a 59-year-old scavenger, was found lifeless along Tayuman Street after witnesses heard a gunshot on the night of Aug. 7. The victim's brother relayed to the police that Geñoga had mental problems.
After further investigation, tanod Cesar Panlaqui was arrested, but his motive for shooting Geñoga remains unknown. A CCTV footage provided by police showed the two in a discussion, but when Geñoga walked away, he was shot by the tanod,
Police added that a revolver without a serial number was recovered from the suspect.
"'Yung napatay niya is parang may diperensya sa utak. Kung mapapansin niyo po sa CCTV camera sinabi rin ng tanod na parang hinabol sila ng pamalo nung victim," MPD-7 Station Commander PltCol Harry Lorenzo said.
[Translation: The victim has a mental problem. You will see in the CCTV that the suspect said the victim chased him with a stick.]
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1471240/ombudsman-suspension-vs-7-cops-over-illegal-arrest-of-suspects-in-bohol-town-mayors-slay |
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the three-month suspension of seven policemen who were accused of illegally arresting three suspects in the 2017 killing of Mayor Gisela Boniel of Bien Unido town in Bohol.
Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer Myra dela Rama-Gargaceran found sufficient grounds to penalize the seven policemen for simple misconduct.
The resolution was based on the complaints filed by Bryan Sayson, Lobo Boniel, and Wilson Hoylar who claimed to be arrested by the respondents even if their names were not in the arrest warrant issued by the court.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1471380/coa-flags-p-154-2m-in-pcso-payout-to-govt-broadcaster-sans-contract |
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) paid P154.212 million to the People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI) for the airtime and production of its lottery draws without a contract.
The Commission on Audit (COA) said this was contrary to provisions on agency-to-agency procurement under Republic Act No. 9184, or the Government Procurement Reform Act.
A 2020 audit report on the PCSO said, “The absence of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the PTNI did not serve the best interest of the PCSO as there were no well-defined or concrete terms and conditions that should have bound both parties.”
“[S]anctions and penalties, in case of nonfulfillment or partial fulfillment and/or poor rendition of services, cannot be enforced in the absence of a MOA,” it noted further.
PTNI, the government’s flagship broadcaster, first produced the “Philippine Lotto Draw” in 1995. In 2013, the program was renamed the “Philippine Lottery Draw” and three years later it again had a new name, the “PCSO Lottery Draw.”
According to the state auditor, “Further verification disclosed that the latest MOA entered into by the PCSO with the PTNI expired in December 2018 and was not yet renewed.”
The P154.212 million disbursed to the state television network after that period was for the airtime, production, technical equipment, microwave transmission facility and postproduction of the PCSO’s lottery draws from January 2019 to March 2020.
From January 2019 to February 2020, the PCSO made monthly payments of P10.7 million to PTNI—for a total of P149.8 million covering 14 months—and disbursed P4.412 million for March 1 to March 17, 2020.
However, the disbursements were not properly supported with a MOA, contrary to the agency-to-agency procurement provisions under RA 9184’s implementing rules and regulations.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Department of Tourism (DOT) over lapses in the utilization of millions of pesos intended for its COVID-19 response lastyear.In its 2020 annual audit report, COA noted that the agency allocated a total of P72.5 million for its COVID-related procurements and activities for the year. Of the amount, P65.5 million came from its realigned regular funds while P7 million was sourced from its attached agency, the Tourism Promotions Board.
Although it did not provide figures on the total utilization rate of DOT’s COVID funds, it noted that at least P15.8 million was obligated and disbursed by the Central Office and P11.1 million was downloaded to regional offices, which showed a low utilization rate “due to the late downloading of funds.”
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/393622/2-lapu-city-hall-employees-reprimanded-for-attempting-to-squeeze-in-relatives-in-vaccination-line |
Two regular city hall employees in Lapu-Lapu City were reprimanded after they were caught trying to squeeze through the line to accommodate their relatives in a vaccination site operated by the city.
Lawyer James Sayson, deputy for Local Vaccination Operations Center, said that the incident happened on Friday, August 6, 2021, wherein the city hall employees tried to insert their relatives in the line, even if they didn’t have a schedule yet.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1150200 |
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, on Thursday has ordered the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) to begin summary dismissal proceedings against a Manila policeman tagged in the killing of a businessman and another who was tagged as a supplier of illegal drugs.
"These scalawags have no place in the PNP. Rest assured that the cleansing of police ranks will continue with our Intensified Cleanliness Policy," Eleazar said in a statement.
Senior M/Sgt. Bernardo Oriol, Jr., was tagged as a suspect in the August 2 ambush of businessman Naiquian Yuan in Malate, Manila.
He was arrested along with his alleged cohort Shi Shanbang in Binondo, Manila last August 6.
Manila Police District (MPD) investigators said Oriol’s outfit looked similar to the clothes worn by one of the motorcycle-riding suspects and his motorcycle also matched the description of the one that was used in the ambush.
Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Manuel Bien and drug suspect Alfie Gomez were nabbed by police officers in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Plainview, Mandaluyong City on August 9.
Gomez identified Bien as his supplier of illegal drugs.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1472514/new-arrest-warrant-out-for-ex-palawan-gov-in-ortega-slay |
A fresh warrant of arrest has been issued against former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes for allegedly ordering the killing of broadcaster Dr. Gerry Ortega a decade ago, the Inquirer learned on Wednesday.
Judge Angelo Arizala of Branch 52 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Palawan issued the warrant on July 14, nearly two years after the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed in December 2019 its own decision in January 2018 to dismiss the murder case against Reyes for lack of probable cause.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/08/11/2119247/coa-calls-out-doh-deficiencies-p67-b-covid-19-funds |
Billions of pesos worth of funds in the Department of Health's COVID-19 response were riddled with deficiencies that contributed to challenges in the agency's pandemic handling, state auditors have bared.
The Commission on Audit made the assessment on the P67.32 billion funding in its 2020 report made public on Wednesday.
Of that figure, it attributed deficiencies in P66.28 billion mainly to "non-compliance of pertinent laws and rules and regulations."
Auditors gave DOH an adverse opinion, which noted its financial statements did not "present fairly, in all material respects," the agency's financial position.
"These contributed to the challenges encountered and missed opportunities by the DOH during the time of state of calamity/national emergency," COA said, "and casted doubts on the regularity of related transactions."
COA added that continuous audit showed additional deficiencies of some P1.036 million. The total stood at P67,323,186,570.57-worth of taxpayers' money.
Health officials have yet to respond to government auditors' findings in their yearly report.
"It can, thus, be said that these funds that remained idle as at year-end were not translated to much-needed health supplies," COA continued, "equipment and services that could have benefited both health workers and the general public during the critical times of the pandemic."
A manhunt is underway for an active policeman who gunned down a fisherman following a heated altercation in his own home in a village here on Thursday morning.
Lt. Clarizel Perez, spokesperson of the city police office, identified the suspect as Patrolman Jade Rio Mantua, 31, who was assigned under the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB)-12 based in this city.
She said Mantua reportedly shot dead victim Rusty Dumas, 35, while they were having an argument inside the cop's house in Block 3, Purok Diamond Valley, Barangay Tambler around 7:15 a.m.
The suspect immediately fled from the scene after the incident and has yet to surface as of noon despite reportedly sending initial surrender feelers to RMFB-12 colleagues.
“The pursuit operations are ongoing against the suspect,” Perez said in an interview.
Citing accounts from witnesses, she said Mantua already had an argument with Dumas, who is a distant relative, when they attended a wake early Thursday.
The two, who were reportedly still drunk, engaged in another heated altercation Thursday morning at the kitchen of Mantua’s home that resulted in the shooting, she said.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1149675 |
Police Regional Office - Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-BARMM) Director, Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, has ordered an impartial and speedy investigation into the murder of Sulu Police Director, Col. Michael Bawayan Jr.
Ugale also condemned the unfortunate incident and urged fellow police officers to offer prayers for the fatalities that included Bayawan’s alleged shooter, Staff Sgt. Imran Jilah, following a disagreement.
Bawayan, 49, was allegedly shot by Jilah, 43, his subordinate, who used his service M4 rifle in the incident on Friday.
His escorts also shot dead Jilah before he could fire at other police officers at the scene.
Bawayan died while being rushed to the provincial hospital.
Initial reports reaching the PRO-BARMM office said Bawayan was inspecting a police quarantine control checkpoint in Barangay Asturias, Jolo at 4:20 p.m. and had an altercation with Jilah who was sporting long hair.
Holding a pair of scissors, Bayawan allegedly approached Jilah to cut his hair but the latter opened fire.
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