It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1235829 |
Police arrested the chairperson of a village in Maguindanao del Sur in his residence in Sultan Kudarat on Thursday afternoon for illegal possession of firearms.
The arrested official was identified as Norodin Utto Jr., 35, who resides in Barangay Poblacion, Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat despite serving as the chair of Barangay Panadtabah in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur.
"Utto maintains a residence in Lambayong while holding office in Rajah Buayan," Capt. Jayson Cepeda, municipal police chief of Lambayong, said Friday.
Armed with a court-issued arrest warrant, police officers arrived at Utto’s Lambayong residence at about 3 p.m. and apprehended him for violating Republic Act 10591, the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.
“Utto did not resist the arrest,” Cepeda said, adding that the court granted Utto a bail of PHP10,000 for his temporary liberty, through his legal counsel.
A village chairman has been arrested for illegal firearm possession.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/10/18/albay-governor-reveals-ombudsman-suspension |
Gov. Edcel Greco "Grex" Lagman of this province announced on Friday, Oct. 18, that he has been issued a preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Lagman did not detail the reason of the suspension in his official Facebook account.
He instead informed the department heads and offices that Vice Gov. Glenda Ong-Bongao will assume as acting governor at the soonest possible time.
“Good morning, dear department heads, assistant department heads, heads of offices: The event I was expecting has come to pass. I have received my preventive suspension order from the Ombudsman today. Therefore, VG Glenda has to assume as acting governor at the soonest possible time," Lagman said.
Lagman assured that work in the provincial government will not be affected by the suspension.
He was suspended months after self-proclaimed "jueteng" (an illegal numbers game) bagman former barangay captain Alwin Nimo of Barangay Anislag, Daraga, Albay filed a graft case against him before the Ombudsman for allegedly receiving "payola" (grease money) when he was still the vice governor.
Nimo accused Lagman of receiving a total of P8 million in bribes from illegal gambling operators.
Lagman was elected vice governor in the May 2022 elections and became governor in December 2022 by succession when the Commission on Election (Comelec) disqualified Gov. Noel Rosal for election violations.
Albay Gov. Edcel Greco "Grex" Lagman has been issued a preventive suspension by the Office of the Ombudsman.
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| https://www.inquirer.net/418176/maguindanao-del-sur-village-councilor-eyeing-town-council-seat-killed/ |
A village councilor in Barangay Poblacion who was eyeing a town council seat in Datu Hofer, Maguindanao del Sur was shot dead by unidentified gunmen along the national highway on Saturday night, police said on Sunday.
Toto Gogo Kensa, 45, was killed on the spot due to multiple gunshot wounds in the head and body, according to Capt. Alberto Pansoy, Datu Hofer municipal police chief.
Kensa filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for a seat at the municipal council under the Lakas-CMD party early this month.
Pansoy said Kensa was driving a motorbike with his wife on it from the town’s market around 6 p.m. on Saturday. They were heading home when two men riding on separate motorbikes opened fire, hitting Kensa, who fell from his motorbike.
His wife, Bai Norhaya, was unhurt.
“We are still unsure of the motive and the identities of the perpetrators but we continue to investigate,” Pansoy said.
Colonel Roel Serese, Maguindanao del Sur police director, has ordered the creation of a Special Investigation Task Group to speed up the investigation.
A village councilor in Barangay Poblacion who was eyeing a town council seat in Datu Hofer, Maguindanao del Sur was assassinated.
The Sandiganbayan has convicted former Maguindanao governor Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan of graft and malversation of public funds involving P393 million when he was governor in 2009.
In a decision handed down last Oct. 18, the anti-graft court’s third division sentenced Ampatuan to prison term ranging from eight years and one month to 12 years for graft. He was also barred perpetually from holding public office.
For malversation of public funds, Ampatuan was meted out a jail term of reclusion perpetua (imprisonment ranging from 20 to 40 years) and ordered to pay a fine of P393 million and restitute the government of the same amount with six percent interest annually until fully paid.
Ampatuan’s co-accused, Danny Taki Calib – then provincial auditor – was acquitted of both charges.
Ampatuan and his co-accused were charged with graft for causing undue injury to the provincial government of Maguindanao in the release of P393 million funds for the supposed construction and/or rehabilitation of various farm-to-market roads.
The prosecution said the projects were unimplemented despite the release of the funds.
For malversation, they were accused of failure to account or return the P393 million funds despite demands.
The dispositive portion of the decision written by Associate Justice Bernelito R. Fernandez and concurred in by Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Ronald B. Moreno states:
“Wherefore, premises considered, judgment is rendered in the following manner – for Criminal Case No. SB-20-CRM-0015, this Court finds accused Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as amended.
“He is hereby sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment ranging from eight (8) years and one (1) month, as minimum, to twelve (12) years, as maximum. He shall likewise be perpetuallydisqualified to hold any public office.
“For Criminal Case No. SB-20-CRM-0016, this Court finds accused Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crime of malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and sentences him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua and to pay a fine equivalent to P393,OOO,OOO, representing the value of the amount malversed.
“As restitution, accused Ampatuan is further ordered to pay the same amount of P393,OOO,OOO the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, through the Bureau of Treasury, with interest of six percent (6%) per annum from the finality of this Decision, until fully paid. He shall likewise be perpetually disqualified to hold any public office.
The Sandiganbayan has convicted former Maguindanao governor Datu Sajid Islam Uy Ampatuan of graft and malversation of public funds involving P393 million when he was governor in 2009.
The Commission on Audit found mismanagement in the water district of Dueñas town, Iloilo province.
A report said the government-owned Dueñas Water District was found to have irregularity in its fiscal operations – zero enforcement of collecting overdue accounts that nearly amounted to P3 million in 2021 and 2022.
There was also a decrease in income under General Manager Edgar Lamera from P3.15 million in 2021 to P3.08 million in 2022; decrease of P71,303 in income despite the increase in water concessionaires from 1,086 concessionaires in 2021 to 1,108 in 2022; decrease of P1.32 million in assets from P11.33 million in 2021 to P10.04 million in 2022, and increase in DWD liabilities by P1.96 million from P18.27 million to P20.23 million in 2022.
The COA also found that DWD had unpaid penalties for a loan from the Local Water Utilities Administration that amounted to almost P300,000 in 2022.
It said that DWD “practiced granting of cash advances without specific legal purpose, sufficient documentation, and proper accounting” that resulted in “government funds have been exposed to risk of abuse or misuse.”
The DWD has a disallowance of more than P162,000, the COA said.
The report was sent to key national government agencies and key offices of the Marcos administration.
The Commission on Audit found mismanagement in the water district of Dueñas town, Iloilo province.
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| https://www.inquirer.net/418349/comelec-stops-253-barangay-execs-from-taking-office-over-vote-buying/ |
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) prevented 253 barangay officials from assuming their posts despite winning due to vote-buying charges.
Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said Tuesday that these village executives are among the approximately 1,000 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials charged for buying votes in the previous election.
The line of succession will be followed once village officials are stopped from assuming their positions.
“This is a lesson for all candidates: Don’t underestimate the commission because we could stop your proclamation,” Garcia said in a forum in Manila.
According to the Comelec chief, there was even a case where the entire roster of barangay officials who won the polls was not allowed to take office – that the town mayor had to appoint officers to take oversee the village.
Garcia, however, admitted that none of the approximately 1,000 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan officials charged for vote-buying have been convicted to date.
He noted that, in fact, none were convicted over vote-buying under his leadership at Comelec and even during the previous administrations.
“It’s very hard to convict over vote-buying because we need evidence that will establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt,” the Comelec head explained.
Garcia further lamented that most of the vote-buying evidence are weak and incomplete and that the majority of petitioners withdrew their cases.
He likewise noted that the Omnibus Election Code provides that vote-sellers are just as liable to criminal offense in vote-buying cases. But, Garcia pointed out, the poll body can exempt vote-sellers from charges.
“Even if we give them (vote-sellers) immunity, they still back out,” Garcia regretted.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) prevented 253 barangay officials from assuming their posts despite winning due to vote-buying charges.
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