Corrupt Government Agency Hires Basketball Players to Convince Public the Agency is no Longer Corrupt

The Bureau of Customs is currently embroiled in a scandal. Allegations of corruption. Bribery. Declarations that the swamp needs to be drained and all the bad apples let go. Same old same old. What bureaucracy of the Philippine government is free from the slightest tint of corruption?

This recent round of scandal started with an investigation into the 6 billion pesos worth of shabu which made it through customs back in May.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/919029/senate-probes-p6-b-drug-smuggling-through-customs

The most interesting tidbit to emerge from this investigation is the fact that the Bureau of Customs hired basketball players to gather intelligence for the bureau.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920484/philippine-news-updates-commissioner-nicanor-faeldon-retired-athletes-bureau-of-customs-drug-smuggling-scandal-kenneth-duremdes-marlou-aquino

Embattled Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon on Friday defended his decision to hire almost 30 active and retired athletes as customs “technical assistants,” saying they were the “most effective intelligence information gatherers.” 

“That’s precisely why they are there … because nobody expects them to be gathering information for the bureau … None of you will ever expect that they are part of the organization,” Faeldon told a press briefing.

“But today, they are no longer effective because they have been exposed. They will never be effective. Their covers have been exposed,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzFuycHn_0

Secret agent basketball players.  Brilliant!  Who would ever expect it?  "Most effective intelligence information gatherers?" Wow. What sort of intelligence did they gather that proved their effectiveness?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920917/athletes-say-they-receive-p40k-salary-as-customs-intelligence-officers

A Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) athlete said he has been receiving a salary of up to P40,000 from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as an intelligence consultant, contributing to the agency’s “image-building.” 

During the resumption of the House committee on dangerous drugs’ inquiry on the P6.4 billion shipment of drugs into the country on Monday, basketball star Edward Joseph “EJ” Fiehl said they receive a monthly pay of P40,000 through a Landbank payroll account. 

Asked by Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo if he had provided any intelligence information to the bureau, Fiehl said none. 

Fiehl then explained that his function as BOC employee was to help promote the agency to the public. 

Aside from Fiehl, stars Kenneth Duremdes, Marlou Aquino, among others, as well as volleyball player Alyssa Valdez were hired by the BOC as either intelligence officers or technical consultants. 

Duremdes said Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon personally hired him to the BOC. 

Other players said Duremdes contacted them about the job opportunity. 

Duremdes said as BOC employees, the athletes are doing community work to convince the public that the BOC is no longer corruption-ridden. 

Anderson confirmed that the athletes were hired as technical assistant for special activities by Faeldon himself 

“The commissioner put in a lot of projects. Whatever he does is good for the bureau,” she said. 

But she admitted that although the athletes were not qualified to carry out intelligence work on smuggling, they provide intelligence work by getting “feedback from people on what they want customs to do.”

These basketball players did not provide any intelligence and yet Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon testified just the opposite!  Isn't that perjury?

These basketball players were hired to do PR work to convince the public that bureau was no longer corrupt and to get "feedback from people on what they want customs to do."  That is not gathering intelligence. That is Public Relations. These basketball players might as well have been going door to door with surveys or doing cold-calls from a phone bank. It's bad enough that these so-called professional athletes are nothing more than living, breathing advertisements for coffee, hot dogs, and car wax.  PBA is first and foremost an advertising vehicle. But to sell yourself to the government?  And one of the most corrupt governments in the world at that! 

They were paid to convince the public that a single bureau of one of the most corrupt governments in the world is no longer corrupt. You can't make this up!

Why does this government agency, or any other government agency, need PR work? It's not as if if you can avoid going through customs when you arrive from another country or if you receive shipments from overseas.  The whole idea that the Bureau of Customs needs image builders to promote the agency to the public as being no longer corruption-ridden is ridiculous. The public already knows that the whole government is corrupt. The fact that these unqualified athletes were hired to gather intelligence but did nothing of the sort and that Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon lied about it to Congress shows  just how corrupt and wasteful the Bureau of Customs actually is.

So does the fact that BoC officials were bribed in order to get all that shabu into the country.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/07/17/customs-broker-names-officials-allegedly-pocketing-bribes

Martial Law: 20,000 Soldiers Under Duterte

Slowly but surely the AFP is whittling down the remaining number of Maute militants hidden throughout Marawi.

http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/maute-stronghold-in-marawi-down-to-two-barangays-—military/ar-AAprvhw

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/01/1723469/maute-fighters-marawi-down-40-lorenzana

Progress is slow because the AFP have been directed to take care for hostages. This means that despite capturing a bridge that leads directly ground zero to which the AFP now has access for the first time (consider that in 2 months they have not had access to ground zero!) they cannot rush right in, give the fatal blow, and recapture the city thereby ending the siege.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/31/1723245/troops-focus-rescue-not-assault-after-capturing-key-marawi-bridge

Troops have captured a key bridge leading to the main position of Islamic State group-linked Maute militants in Marawi City but won't stage a major assault and will instead press efforts to rescue civilian hostages, an official said Monday. 

"We now have direct access to ground zero," Padilla said at a news conference in Manila, referring to the bridge over Marawi's Agus River that can now be used to rapidly transport troops and combat supplies. "Our main objective is to rescue the hostages."

Not having direct access to ground zero until now, how does the AFP know there are hostages or how many Maute members are actually left?  On what basis do they make these calculations when they have been outside the perimeter for these two months? Silly me but I thought the main objective was to retake the city and if there are civilians don't worry about it because such is war.

The AFP better hurry up and finish the job or they won't be able to cash in on that free trip to Hong Kong or time with an actress Duterte has promised.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/07/1726089/rody-marawi-troops-stay-alive-and-visit-hong-kong

In egging them to stay alive, President Duterte promised the soldiers who fought in Marawi City an all-expense-paid trip to Hong Kong and other perks as soon as they get the job done. 

“We are winning in this battle. And as a prize for your valor, I might treat you to a trip to Hong Kong,” Duterte said during a pep talk with troops at the frontline over the weekend. 

He said the trip to Hong Kong would be an all-expense-paid family treat. 

“Hong Kong – that’s for free. You could even bring along your partner or wife,” he said.
And if anyone does not want to avail himself of the all-expense-paid trip, Duterte joked they could choose to spend time with an actress.Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Duterte vowed to give the troops more surprises. 

“Go on (and stay alive). You will have so many surprises coming your way. I hope that (you) stay alive, fight cool, do not be in a hurry, do not go into a rage or you could lose yourself,” he told the troops. 

So many surprises?? Wow-wee that sounds exciting!  A brand new car perhaps?  At the very least the heroes of Marawi will be receiving The Order of Lapu-Lapu.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/03/1724650/duterte-expands-order-lapu-lapu-honor-marawi-heroes

President Rodrigo Duterte has expanded the Order of Lapu-Lapu to honor the heroism of government forces involved in the operations in battle-ravaged Marawi City.  

The president added a fourth type of medal under the Order of Lapu-Lapu.

The Kamagi Medal will be awarded to government officials and personnel and private individuals who do not fall under any of the three other medals but who "actively participated in and contributed significantly to an activity pursuant to a campaign advocacy of the president."

A kamagi is a kind of beaded gold necklace from pre-Hispanic Visayas and Mindanao.

This is an exceptionally long and ancient kamagi. 15 feet!

A beaded gold necklace for fighting the terrorists. What a prize! It's like Mardi Gras. Show us your valour!

An interesting article was posted a month ago outlining the reasons why a new terrorist attack would inevitably take place again.  Five reasons actually.  Take numbers four and five:

4. Duterte Himself 

The next reason that Marawi is likely to happen again lies with Duterte himself. In trademark bluster, he recently warned: “The objective of ISIS is to kill and destroy. I will also kill and destroy!” But this was not the enemy he wanted or was ready for. 

Let us be clear, Duterte is not going to defeat the militants through force, but that is exactly what he is opting for. His campaign of 8,000 extrajudicial killings did not end the sale of drugs on the streets, but he shows no sign of reversing course. Indeed, one of his cabinet officials dismissed the Maute’s ideological goals, and linked the siege to the desire to control the drug trade. His campaign against the Abu Sayyaf have not ended the group’s spate of kidnappings. 

This is just his temperament. 

Insurgencies flourish because of weak governance. Duterte’s contempt for the rule of law and democratic norms, his authoritarian tendencies, his campaign of extrajudicial killings, jailing of political opponents, routine threats to extend martial law beyond Mindanao, will collectively weaken the hardwood rule of law, governance and system of checks and balances that the Philippines has achieved in the past 30 years. 

The Maute and Abu Sayyaf Group militants are likely to retreat and regroup to the mountainous hinterland that straddles Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao provinces, long the MILF heartland. If the AFP is tasked with going in hot pursuit of the militants, they almost definitely encounter MILF forces. And there is every reason to fear another Mamasapano-style “tragic encounter” that caused the peace process to collapse in 2015.

5. The Philippine Military’s Limited Capabilities 

Even if Duterte thinks he can shoot his way out of this, the AFP is all too aware that it has neither the manpower nor resources to cope with the host of threats that it faces. The AFP was sorely tested and resources and manpower were stretched very thin in Marawi. Yes, urban combat is very hard and it is new for them. 

In the midst of the Marawi siege, the BIFF staged a siege of a school in neighboring Maguindanao province. Were other fronts to open, the BIFF, the Ansuar al-Khalifa Philippines (AKP), a spate of ASG kidnappings, or should talks with the NPA break down, the AFP would be overwhelmed. There is too much space, and the AFP has such limited capabilities that similar attacks are inevitable. 

http://thediplomat.com/2017/07/why-another-philippines-terrorist-attack-is-coming/

Maute  militants are likely to retreat and regroup? The AFP has limited capabilities? How shocking. The AFP have already admitted that close to 300 have escaped the city. The longer the siege continues the more time Maute has to get its bearings set and launch another attack. Other fronts could soon open with the NPA increasing its attacks throughout the nation. MILF has recently launched several attacks in Maguindanao. Perhaps this is why Duterte has warned of another and even larger attack to come.

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/08/02/Terrorism-Philippines-Mindanao-Duterte-ISIS.html

President Duterte warned congressional leaders of a new Islamic State (IS)-inspired terror threat in Mindanao that could be “bigger” than the attack on Marawi City, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said yesterday. 

Duterte raised the specter of more terror attacks in Mindanao during a hastily called three-hour meeting with leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday night in Malacañang. 

Aside from Sotto, also present during the meeting were Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas and Senators Francis Escudero, Sonny Angara and Panfilo Lacson. 

Sotto said the way he understood it, around three areas in Mindanao are under threat from IS-inspired Maute, which is being supported by other extremist groups like the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. 

“The security situation will be very serious if we don’t confront it now, nip it in the bud. I think that is the message of the President, what he wanted to relay to us. He wanted us to support and help him nip it in the bud so that it does not escalate into a larger problem than what we have now in Marawi City,” Sotto told reporters. 

Sotto said he sensed a strong urgency in Duterte’s tone when he spoke of new terror plots outside Marawi City.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/08/03/1724224/duterte-bares-new-threat-mindanao

A strong sense of urgency when speaking about new terror plots outside of Marawi City?  Somebody alert the Mindanao bloc of the Philippine Councillors League.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/07/28/1722387/councilors-shrug-travel-warnings-mindanao

“These travel warnings is temporary and it will not be there forever. Besides, even if there’s a travel warning, their citizens are still coming anyway because it’s peaceful in many parts in Mindanao,” Garcia said in a conference here.

How this guy can be so stupid and wilfully blind is beyond me.  The whole island is under a state of martial law and there are terrorists looking for tourists to kidnap for ransom and Duterte himself has warned of more and bigger attacks to come and this guy just looks the other way because maybe you can go to the mall in Davao or to some filthy beach somewhere and relax for a few hours without getting blown up. Mindanao is not peaceful. It has not been peaceful since the Spanish came and started conflict with the Muslim Moros. The fact that the whole island is under marital law and that even officials from Davao and Zamboanga say martial law has made their cities safer belies the whole notion that Mindanao is a peaceful place.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2017/05/28/zero-crime-rate-davao-3-days-after-martial-law-544331

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2017/05/29/martial-law-helps-reduce-crime-rate-zamboanga-city-544587

When the crime rate is so bad that it takes martial law to reduce it, you have got a problem. When you can live safely in the Philippines without transforming your home into a high security prison with concrete walls topped by barbed wire and several dogs patrolling the inside perimeter then the claim that it is peaceful anywhere in the Philippines, let alone Mindanao, might be believable.

But as long as they remain entertained Filipinos will never ever admit there is a problem.  

And entertained they are.  With one hand Duterte appoints entertainers to his administration.

https://twitter.com/inquirerdotnet/status/887930831972556800

And with the other hand he appoints ex-military officials to his administration all the while joking about his de facto junta.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/610254/after-announcing-ano-s-appointment-duterte-jokes-about-junta/story/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920644/duterte-ex-military-officers-appointed-because-they-get-job-done

Unlike civilians, men in uniform get the job done fast, he said. 

“I was Davao mayor a long time,” he said. “It’s difficult with the civilians, those with eligibility. When you give them instructions, they take a long time to do it.” 

“When you tell them to finish it in one hour, these people – susmaryosep. After lunch break, they go to the mall, stroll around,” he added.

That must explain why the Marawi siege is still on-going and why earlier in the year Año stuck his head in the sand and denied there was ever a threat in Bohol despite the AFP monitoring the Abu Sayyaf militants who took a boat to Bohol in order to look for tourists to kindap for ransom and despite the pledge in January that Abu Sayyaf would be defeated by June. They are getting the job done fast.

Notice that two of the news articles from two different news organisations quoted in this blog post use the same photo.  Why is that?

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/920445/philippine-news-updates-president-duterte-marawi-islamic-state-secretary-delfin-lorenza-bong-go

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday visited Barangay Kilala here to cheer up troops fighting Islamic State-inspired militants. 

The full details of Duterte’s visit were not made available as it was off limits to reporters. 

In a set of photos released by Go, the President was shown mingling with soldiers with Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. and 103rd Infantry Brigade chief Brig. Gen. Rolando Bautista.

It's because when Duterte visited Marawi this week for the second time reporters were off limits and the only photos of the event were released by his trusted assistant Christopher Go. Not that journalists were allowed access during the first visit either.

Journalists tried to request entry to the brigade headquarters but were turned down.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/176203-duterte-visit-marawi

Excluding the media is controlling the narrative and is one of those little steps toward the dictatorship Duterte promised.  Little steps that are hardly noticeable at first but as they say, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

The Garbage Bench

Outside of the house there is a nice little bench on which to sit. Right next to the gate. Relaxing spot when you want to people watch and talk with the neighbours.

Doesn't it look lovely?  The problem is the whole neighbourhood has taken it upon themselves to use our little bench as their own pit stop and restaurant.  After buying snacks from the sari-sari store they sit there and eat them.  The unfamiliar smell of strangers causes the dogs to bark. Thankfully we all know how quietly Filipinos conduct their conversations.  

But not only do they treat our little bench as their own rest spot, they also use it as a garbage dump.  Take a look at all the trash they stuff in the trees and bench and toss on the ground.

If sitting on your neighbour's bench and treating it like a garbage dump isn't the definition of rude then I don't know what is.

Iglesia Ni Cristo Plants Trees and Leaves Garbage Behind

During an early morning run I came across the following sign:

Tree Planting Activity? Sounds interesting and just the kind of reason I bring my camera every time I leave the house. Tree planting is certainly a noble sort of thing to do. Ecologically friendly. We can always use more oxygen and the Philippines can certainly use more beautification efforts.

I came across a guy carrying a very large professional camera set-up and I knew this was the guy to ask where everything was happening.  He said everyone was meeting at the stadium.  So that's where I headed.  It's actually just a basketball court though.  He said he was from the mayor's office but I never did see the mayor.

Loud music is always the signal for Filipinos on where to gather and this morning was no exception.

This little place with coffee and music is next to the basketball court and when I asked where are the trees at, the guys pointed to a place far in the distance on top of a hill just outside the barangay.  I knew exactly how to get there and proceeded accordingly and slowly though all the mud. Rains had been heavy the previous night and since the road is not paved it turns to thick slushy mud whenever it rains.

This was it. This was where they were going to plant the trees. But where are the trees?

Those are the trees.  Little seedlings.  And there didn't seem to be too many of them. Nothing a few people couldn't handle in a couple of hours anyway. Maybe it's just me but shouldn't they have waited until these delicate seedling were a little bigger and sturdier before they go planting them? Seems like they would want to plant something more substantial than just seedlings.

Why are they planting trees at all? No one I asked seemed to know.  The area in which the seedings are being planted is large and open and unprotected.  It's also an area used for growing crops. Pretty odd choice to sow a forest.  Could it be for beautification?  But the area is far away from people outside of the barangay. And if it's beautification they are after why not pick up the trash scattered all over the place?

So much garbage that needs picking up

The hour was getting late and I did not want to stay much longer.  No reason to really. But then I looked back towards the barangay from where I had come and I noticed a lot of vehicles had arrived. People were starting to show up. With all the mud the traffic cops had to direct the people to a safer and dryer direction.

People were arriving in droves. It was like Woodstock. You could say by the time I got to the barangay they were half a million strong.

The only shovel I saw.  Also notice the little paper flags.

I came upon several of these children of God walking along the road and asked them why they were going to plant trees but none of them knew what to tell me.  For people going to plant trees some of them seemed too nicely dressed and it looked like only one of them brought a shovel.  I don't even recall seeing shovels in the area where they were going to be planting the trees. A few were also waving the INC flag which looks like the Italian flag.  But why?  Why did they bring little paper flags to a tree planting activity?

It was time for me to go home.  But they just kept coming.

And coming.

And coming!

Every member of the INC in the area must have showed up.  Seems pretty silly. Why would hundreds (thousands?) of people be needed to plant a few seedlings? Did I mention they only had two outhouses to accommodate all these people?

Notice how the waste goes out a pipe and into the field! What is the point even?

I decided to come back in the afternoon and view the results.

This is what one planted seedling looks like. Surrounded by bamboo slats and planted firmly in the earth. It looks as if they used the bamboo as a shovel since the disturbed area is not as big as one would expect from a shovel.  Here is what a a whole field looks like.

Will these defenceless tress make it? Will anyone be checking on these trees to monitor their growth? Reforestation is a science. Is Iglesia Ni Cristo up to the task? I am going to go out on a limb and say no.  I mean look at the garbage they left behind.

The mark of Iglesia Ni Cristo 

If the INC really cared about the environment and the tree planting was done out of environmental concerns then they would not have left their trash all over the place. If the tree planting was done for beautification they also would not have left their garbage behind. Pretty disgusting. But not as disgusting as the human waste left behind from the porta-toilets.

So much for the pointless tree planting activity which no one seemed to know why it was being done and for which several hundred unneeded people showed up and left their garbage behind.