It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://www.philstar.com/nation/2024/03/02/2337558/cotabato-city-lgu-disaster-response-official-dies-ambush |
Gunmen killed the operations chief of the Cotabato City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in an ambush here on Friday night, an incident that saddened the personnel of different government and private volunteer emergency response contingents he was closely associated with.
Col. Querubin Manalang Jr., director of the Cotabato City police, said on Friday that Jose Raymond Marquez, most known here by his nickname Choco, was on his way home on a motorcycle when he was attacked near a gasoline station at the intersection of the Sinsuat Avenue and Luna Street here.
The 42-year-old Marquez, a scion of the Ante and Marquez clans that are both among the city's pioneer Catholic clans, was operations chief of the CDRRMO under the office of Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao.
His attackers, armed with .45 caliber pistols, immediately escaped using getaway motorcycles, according to witnesses.
"Police investigators found at least three empty shells of .45 caliber ammunition in the crime scene," Manalang said.
Matabalao, a first-termer mayor who is presiding chairperson of Cotabato City's multi-sector peace and order council, has condemned Friday's murder of Marquez and urged the local police to identify his killers for prosecution.
The operations chief of the CDRRMO for Cotabato City has been assassinated.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/1/kidapawan-village-dad-nabbed-in-buy-bust |
A barangay councilor was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Kidapawan City on Thursday, February 29.
The suspect was identified as Vergel Banga, councilor of Barangay Katipunan, Kidapawan City.
Seized from Banga by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Kidapawan City Police Station was several grams of suspected shabu worth P5,000.
PDEA-12 Regional Director Aileen Lovitos said the suspect had been placed under surveillance the past month following intelligence reports that he was involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Banga was listed as a drug surrenderer in 2017 who underwent rehabilitation.
He ran and won in the 2023 barangay elections. Banga faces appropriate charges.
A barangay councilor has been arrested for drugs.
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| https://manilastandard.net/news/314422159/sc-sacks-rtc-judge-for-soliciting-bribes-from-lawyers-litigants.html |
The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the dismissal of a judge in Roxas City, Oriental Mindoro after finding him guilty of directly soliciting bribes from lawyers, litigants, and even local elective officials in exchange for favorable decisions.
In an en banc decision, the SC found Edralin Reyes, presiding judge of Roxas City regional trial court (RTC) Branch 43, guilty of gross misconduct, among other corrupt practices following an investigation by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).
As a consequence, Reyes would lose his retirement and other benefits, except accrued leave credits. He is also perpetually disqualified from re-employment in any branch or agency of the government, including government-owned or controlled corporations.
Additionally, he was ordered to pay a fine of P7,500 for simple misconduct, for his negligence in supervising his court staff and ensuring proper and safe record- and evidence-keeping system in his court, resulting in missing firearms, exhibits, and pieces of evidence that were in court custody.
Reyes’ pattern of unethical behavior was discovered in 2019 when Judge Josephine Carranzo, who was appointed as his substitute at Roxas City RTC Branch 39, returned an office-issued laptop he used to the SC Management Information Systems Office (MISO) for repair and replacement.
As a matter of protocol, the MISO examined the laptop and found a backup of iPhone messages, some of which showed that Reyes was engaged in corrupt practices. The OCA then hired a forensic expert to extract data from the laptop, resulting in the recovery of more incriminating information.
Three judicial audit teams were organized to conduct the investigation involving RTC branches 39, 41 and 43. The probe uncovered that Reyes solicited bribes, borrowed money, and received gifts from individuals with cases before his court.
The SC audit findings further revealed his irregularities in handling firearms-related cases and failure to turn over confiscated weapons to the authorities. Despite Reyes’ claims of privacy violations, the high court maintained that government-issued devices are subject to monitoring and regulation.
The SC emphasized that such devices are provided to facilitate official duties, not for personal use. “These circumstances convince this Court that Judge Reyes cannot successfully claim that the State unduly intruded into a personal matter,” the SC said in its decision.
The high court noted that an administrative investigation would have been conducted, and the judicial audit team would have found the incriminating information, even without the SMS/iMessage exchanges from the laptop.
“Thus, in the natural course of events, the evidence and information contained in the judicial audit team report would have reached this Court,” the SC added.
A judge has been sacked by the SC for soliciting bribes.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/899369/raps-filed-vs-5-nueva-ecija-cops-over-alleged-evidence-planting/story/ |
A complaint has been filed against five members of the Cabiao Municipal Police Station in Nueva Ecija for allegedly planting a grenade in a resident's home to justify his arrest.
The complainant, Noel Montano, accused the respondents of violating Republic Act 9516 and of gross misconduct, conduct unbecoming of a police officer, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, among others.
“Respondents are all policemen who willfully and feloniously conspired to plant a grenade as incriminating evidence inside my house to affect my illegal arrest on February 21,” Montano said in his five-page complaint-affidavit filed with the Office of the Ombudsman.
The respondents were identified as Police Major Shariel Paulino, Police Captain Sherwin Veloria, Police Corporal Arvin Rove Velasco, Police Corporal Jordan Talavera, and Police Staff Sergeant Joy Kristine Villar, as well as several "John Does."
In his complaint, Montao said he was taking care of his elderly mother who had recently undergone an intestinal surgery when the police officers came to him with a search warrant.
After being informed that a search warrant has been issued against him for allegedly keeping firearms, Montano said he requested the team leader to invite barangay officials to stand as witnesses during the search.
He said that with his invitation, he was accompanied by a barangay councilor back to his house. On the way there, he said they saw men in civilian clothes riding in tandem from the direction of his home. He said he believed that these were intelligence officers of the police station.
Upon arrival at his house, he was informed that a group of cops had already arrived in the vicinity of their house and left.
“I was shocked when after searching the loft, the policemen declared that they found a grenade under the pillow of my sick mother. I protested the finding because first, I never owned any explosive, especially a grenade that may put our lives in peril,” Montano said.
“And second, no one in his right mind would hide a grenade under the pillow of his ailing mother that just just went under the knife,” he added.
Prosecutors eventually dismissed the charges against Montano, saying that “there is nothing enumerated in the search warrant that was recovered from the possession of the respondent.”
“My predicament has caused so much injustice, public humiliation, anxiety, and undue persecution as my rights were directly violated,” Montano said.
5 cops have been accused of planting evidence.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/4/da-implements-ombudsman-s-suspension-order-against-139-nfa-officials-employees |
The Department of Agriculture (DA) has implemented the preventive suspension order of the Office of the Ombudsman against 139 officials and employees of the National Food Authority (NFA) who are allegedly involved in the “improper sale” of thousands of tons of NFA rice.This was announced by Agriculture Secretary Francisco “Kiko” Tiu Laurel Jr. during a media briefing at the NFA central office in Quezon City on Monday, March 4.Laurel said that he will concurrently head the NFA in the meantime to “avoid any delays in the services and projects of the agency.”“Today, we are implementing the preventive suspension order of the Ombudsman against 139 officials and employees of the National Food Authority who are being investigated for alleged involvement in the controversial sale of rice buffer stocks,” Laurel said.“I condemn this at hindi natin palalampasin ang ano mang uri ng korapsyon. Kaisa ako sa ating Ombudsman sa layunin nitong alamin ang katotohanan at parusahan ang dapat maparusahan ( I condemn this and we will not ignore any kind of corruption. I am with our Ombudsman in his goal of finding out the truth and punishing those who deserve to be punished,” he added.According to the DA chief, suspended NFA officials include Administrator Roderico Bioco, Assistant Administrator for Operations John Robert Hermano, and several regional managers and their warehouse supervisors all over the Philippines.“NFA Administrator Bioco had earlier filed leave of absence last Friday to allow investigators a free hand to undertake the probe which we expect will go beyond this controversy,” said Laurel.He said the agriculture department seeks to dig deep as far as 2019, adding that they welcome all who want to come forward and aid them in cleansing the NFA.Laurel said that he has been in contact with the Ombudsman since the controversy started.“I also created a special panel of internal investigators to determine the culpability and see how we can prevent it from happening again in the future,” he went on.To recall, an NFA official had accused several agency executives of improperly disposing of rice buffer stocks without bidding, and at prices that were allegedly disadvantageous to the government.NFA executives, meanwhile, denied any impropriety, claiming the sale followed procedures.
In a statement, the NFA pointed out that it had the mandate “to keep and dispose of 99.9 percent stocks in good and consumable condition.”
“The rice we are selling are all sold at the mandated selling price of P25/kg, although aging stocks need to be re-milled before they could be released to the consumers,” it stated.
Upon learning about the issue, Laurel formed an investigative panel to probe into allegations that certain NFA officials permitted the sale of milled rice kept in the agency's warehouse for P25 per kilo without bidding and after purchasing the grains in palay form for P23 per kilo.
He said said that they also welcome any government agency that may choose to conduct their investigation to find out the facts.
139 NFA officials including the Chief have been relieved while an investigation into the improper sale of rice is ongoing.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/6/article-1978 |
Three cops implicated in a robbery incident in Kawit in February have been relieved from their respective units and placed under restrictive custody.
The development was announced by Police Regional Office (PRO) 4A director Brig. Gen. Paul Kenneth T. Lucas at a press conference in Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba City, Laguna, on Wednesday, March 6.
PRO 4A said the suspects forcibly entered two residential houses in Barangay Magdalo-Potol in Kawit on Feb. 13.
They reportedly tied the victims and held them at gunpoint while carting away valuable items, including cellphones, identification documents, a short firearm, and cash.
The investigation by the Kawit Municipal Police Station and the Provincial Intelligence Unit revealed that the van used by the suspects was rented to Senior Master Sergeant Jhon Paolo Maigue Mellona, assigned at the Cavite Provincial Intelligence and Detective Management Unit.
This initial lead has facilitated the identification of additional suspects implicated in the robbery, including Senior Master Sergeant Reynaldo Andrada Quilit Jr. of Cavite Provincial Intelligence Unit and Corporal Lynard Pastrana Pareja of the Laguna Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit.
Two civilian cohorts and four John Does also face charges of robbery in band following a formal complaint filed by the victims against the suspects with the Cavite Prosecutor’s Office in Imus City on March 5.
The three relieved cops have been reassigned to the Regional Headquarters Holding Area Section.
3 cops implicated in a robbery have been dismissed from the force and arrested.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1915394/village-councilor-stabbed-dead-in-legazpi-city |
A village official died Wednesday after being stabbed inside his residence in this city.
Noel Vargas, 66, councilor of Barangay Sabang, was repeatedly stabbed at 5:15 p.m. inside his house, by a suspect who was unidentified in the report, the initial police investigation said.
The suspect used a bladed weapon, the police reported.
Vargas was taken to a hospital but died while being treated.
The suspect was arrested after the incident while the investigation was ongoing.
A village councilor has been stabbed to death inside his home.
