This week it's China again plus sleeping cops, murdered politicians, more lawsuits, and North Korea makes an appearance.
“It is very irresponsible of Senator Trillanes and Congressman Alejano to say na walang patrol (that we stopped patrolling the WPS),” Cayetano told reporters.
To illustrate his point, the secretary, who is fond of using analogies, said that what Alejano and Trillanes did was like a bank telling everyone that they’ve shut down their security systems and dismissed its security guards.
“They endanger our security and standing sa dispute na ito,” Cayetano said.
Someone is definitely lying and whoever it is should be fired or resign. Cayetano's analogy falls apart because if there are still patrols then there is nothing to worry about. There is no danger to PH security. On the other hand if there really are no ships patrolling the area then it is not Trillanes and Alejano who have endangered the security of the PH but rather those at the top who have ordered such stoppage. All of this is easily verifiable and I expect to see records and video soon enough.
The DFA is having a heck of a time getting the passport service running smoothly. One commenter mentions passport appointments are available for sale on OLX. He is right.
Does the DFA know about this?
"I do not believe we can be rice sufficient," Duterte said in a speech to officials of state universities at the presidential palace.
"If you'd ask me, in the next how many years, we will just have to import rice," Duterte said.
He said shrinking farmland and a growing population made it difficult to produce enough rice to meet domestic needs.
Such realism is refreshing.
Feeling alluded to, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez declared that he had nothing to do with the June 7 murder of newspaper publisher Dennis Denora in Panabo City.
“I don’t kill people, I file cases,” Alvarez told reporters on the sidelines of Tuesday’s Independence Day celebration here.
He said he sued Denora, 67, publisher of the Davao del Norte-based weekly, Trends and Time, for libel but was prevailed upon by Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy, his and Denora’s mutual friend, to drop the case.
Manibog, however, declined to comment on the statement made by Communications Undersecretary Joel Egco, head of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security, that a “very influential politician” could be behind Denora’s killing.
So it's Alvarez who is the "very influential politician" alluded to in connection with this murder.
Trillanes wants to see whats in everyone's bank account!
Licup said the incident happened about 3 a.m. yesterday when joint personnel of Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit-Palawan together with Balabac Municipal Police Station, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Mimaropa, Western Command Philippine Marines, Philippine National Police Maritime Group and Philippine Coastguard implemented a search warrant against the barangay chairman who is listed in PDEA’s high-value targets (HVTs).
They brought in everyone. And then they killed him when a struggle ensued I'm guessing because they don't say and we all know drug suspects are not being routinely murdered by authorities.
SPD director Chief Supt. Tomas Apolinario Jr. ordered the relief of Supt. Maurito Caraguian and Chief Insp. Ritchie Salem, assistant chief of police for operations of Taguig and Pateros police stations, respectively.
Apolinario said the two police officials failed to deliver on the four parameters set by the District Oversight Committee, which is composed of SPD’s top officials.
The four parameters, which were used to gauge the police officials’ performance from January to June, were: “crime solution efficiency, enhanced managing police operations, police community relations and war against illegal drugs.”
Caraguian’s relief was also due to command responsibility for his failure to supervise Chief Insp. Juan Cipriano Jr., who was earlier suspended by the chief of the Philippine National Police himself, Director General Oscar Albayalde.
Cipriano was among the two officials caught by the Inter-Agency Council for Traffic moonlighting as a driver of a colorum (no franchise) passenger van in April.
It's hard to tell but it seems they have been recycled and not actual fired as in sacked from the service and no longer PNP officers.
Superintendent Rodelio Marcelo, head of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said Negrito is allegedly a one-man investment scammer who primarily targeted his fellow police officers.
His victims ranged from rookies to ranking officials, some of whom invested almost P1 million from their retirement funds.
Aren't these cops trained to sniff out scams? There is a big problem if cops cannot tell the difference between a scam and something legit.
Puyat said that the Commission on Audit (COA) had already asked the Tulfos to return the money, and that the family has six months to reply.
"It's really between the COA and the ones involved. And then once they return it they will give it to the Department of Tourism and then we will return it to the Treasury," Puyat explained.
The Tourism chief hopes that the money will be returned by the end of the year.
But they said they already returned it! What happens if they don't return the money?
"PDP-Laban is ready to do its part to facilitate closer ties with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Our Party will send a delegation to Pyongyang to meet with their counterparts from the Workers’ Party of Korea,” Energy Secretary and PDP-Laban National Vice Chairman Alfonso Cusi said in a statement.
The delegation will be led by PDP-Laban Vice President for International Affairs Sec. Raul Lambino, Cusi said.
"The PDP-Laban delegation is charged with the task of forging closer party-to-party and people-to-people ties between our two countries," Cusi said.
"We offer to the DFA our services to help establish more formal relations between our governments,” he added.
The Philippines and North Korea established formal ties on July 12, 2000.
"As part of our independent foreign policy, the Philippines should not hesitate to reframe our relations with countries that we have not significantly engaged with in the past," Cusi said.
The government does not need the aid of a private political party to strengthen diplomatic ties with a country. What happens when this party is no longer in power? For PDP-Laban to be allowed to do the work of the DFA sets a dangerous precedent and ought not to be allowed.
Ridiculous! Illegal cockfighting. I can't believe it.
According to the Ombudsman's central records, Bello is undergoing preliminary investigation for case docket number OMB-C-C-17-0341 and administrative adjudication for case docket number OMB-C-A-17-0295.
The records do not reveal any more than that, as pending cases at the Ombudsman are not available for public scrutiny.
Section 5, Rule 4 of the JBC's rules and regulations states that a person who has "pending criminal or regular administrative cases" is "disqualified from being nominated for appointment to any judicial post or as Ombudsman or Deputy Ombudsman."
Labor Secretary Bello has been nominated for the post of Ombudsman but it turns out he has cases pending before the Ombudsman! Surely they will find a way around all this so he can get that spot.
"Fortunately, I found out, Your Honor, that the case has been resolved in our favor," Bello told JBC member Maria Milagros Fernan-Cayosa, who asked him about the reported charges.
After the interview, Bello showed reporters a certification from the Office of the Ombudsman that says he has "no pending criminal and administrative cases" with the anti-graft body, contrary to reports that he still faces charges.
Wow! How fortunate that the charges were cleared up in just 5 days!
Well I am glad she cleared that up for us. Absolutely nothing suspicious happening here. Move along.
The higher projected dollar outflows means the peso will likely weaken further against the US dollar in the second half, according to traders.
Relax. Don't worry. It's only temporary for the last five years and now the next six months.
The project envisioned to build some 5,700 barangay health stations to "ensure access of every barangay to primary care, using public elementary schools as identified sites," it added.
"I tried to give the persons involved the benefit of the doubt. I am beyond frustrated. I am saddened and disgusted that the Filipino people are being shortchanged by the very people who were supposed to serve them," Duque said.
"Heads will roll. Big names, small names, past and present. There will be no sacred cows. Heads will definitely roll," he added.
"Heads will roll"? Sure. Sure they will. No department is without anomalous purchases or financial irregularities. Not a single one.
"I believe there was malicious imputation of a crime against me.... These kinds of unverified articles have been negatively affecting my reputation for the longest time," he wrote.
"My efforts to clarify my side were somewhat ineffectual by reason of the above-cited articles were shared by your readers to the social media, and those readers who knew nothing about the issue took them as the version of truth considering that those reports came from a well-trusted company like Inquirer.net," Sotto added.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said online news site Inquirer.net will take down articles insinuating that he whitewashed the rape case of the late actress Pepsi Paloma in 1982.
Sotto said this in a chance interview with reporters on Monday, June 18.
"They will [take it down]... because it's fake news. It's [the] original fake news," the Senate president said when asked if he would pursue libel charges against Inquirer.net if it refuses to remove the articles.
Sotto does not realise that to bring attention to an issue will only make it that much more noticeable. And the internet never forgets. If you want to read those articles wondering if Senate President Tito Sotto gang raped a 14 year old girl and then murdered her four years later they are archived here:
http://archive.is/80812 and here:
http://archive.is/emXCX.
In a 14-page resolution dated May 18, the Ombudsman said the 4 commissioners failed to strictly implement rules on the nature of bill deposits as "mere guarantee in payment of bills" which must be returned upon termination of the distribution utilities service.
"Meralco treated the bill deposits as part of its capital without the benefit of a reasonable return of interest to accrue to consumers – a practice which respondents appeared to have acquiesced in," the resolution states.
The suspension order stemmed from a complaint filed by the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore).
"In fact, without the letter of Nasecore, as represented by complainant herein, respondents will continue to ignore their mandate in promoting, safeguarding and protecting the interest of the public consumers by regulating, monitoring or checking Meralco's utilization of the bill deposits, at the very least," states the resolution.
According to Nasecore, consumers were allegedly robbed of about P34.84 billion. The group computed that consumers' deposits totaled about P61.36 billion from 2006 to 2016, while consumers' deposits amounted to only P26.5 billion in Meralco's financial statement.
Meralco had argued that it engaged in an accepted practice when it used bill deposits in its operations. But the Ombudsman said this did not mean the practice was legal or to the public's advantage.
How many other government organisations are engaging in accepted but illegal practices?
The DOJ said there was no need to arm DOJ employees but Duterte sees a need to arm barngay captains.
Martin Dino, the interior department undersecretary responsible for barangays, said handguns would be provided for free, or private purchases subsidised, but only for those not involved in illegal drugs.
Mr Dino said: "The condition is that the barangay captain should fight drugs and crime. If he is conniving with criminals, he could be the one shot."
Duterte has repeatedly said thousands of community officials were involved in the trade, without elaborating.
But last week he vowed barangays will be provided with the same legal protection as soldiers or police, and they "will never go to jail" if they shot suspected criminals in the performance of their duty.
I love this sensational headline: "Give free guns to random members of the public." Hilarious but not true. It's not random members of the public but barngay captains who will be given free guns. And the DILG Sec. sees no problem with this proposal at all.
In the statement, Año said that barangay captains can buy firearms and they may be given a “permit to carry.” Aside from that, they may also be included in the Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) or in the Special Civilian Armed Auxiliary (SCAA).
DILG Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya also supported the proposal, saying that it is backed by legal bases.
(Section 387 of the Local Government Code allows the issuance of guns for barangay officials. The law states that in the exercise of the barangay captain’s job to maintain peace and order in the barangay, he or she has the right to own and bring a gun within the community, under regulations stated by the law.)
However, Malaya also recognized the need for the department’s assurance that mechanisms are in place to prevent the abuse of such measure.
Of course abuses will happen if this program goes into effect. That is a no brainer. Let's take a look at section 387 of the Local Government Code.
CHAPTER 2 - Barangay Officials and Offices
SECTION 387. Chief Officials and Offices. - (a) There shall be in each Barangay a Punong Barangay, seven (7) Sangguniang Barangay members, the Sangguniang Kabataan chairman, a Barangay Secretary, and a Barangay treasurer.
(b) There shall also be in every Barangay a Lupong Tagapamayapa. The Sangguniang Barangay may form community brigades and create such other positions or offices as may be deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of the Barangay government in accordance with the needs of public service, subject to the budgetary limitations on personal services prescribed under Title Five, Book II of this Code.
http://www.dilg.gov.ph/PDF_File/reports_resources/dilg-reports-resources-2016120_5e0bb28e41.pdf
There is nothing in this section about guns. Nothing! This is on the DILG's website.
Various government corporations and agencies owe the Public Private Partnership Center some P854.84 million representing costs of feasibility studies conducted on infrastructure and other projects that were not implemented.
COA made the recommendation in the recently released 2017 annual audit report for PPPC, an agency that was created by the Aquino administration which made public-private partnerships part of its centerpiece agenda.
However, last year, many projects were terminated as a result of the change in policy under the Duterte government.
Public-private partnerships were abandoned as President Duterte pursued its “build-build-build” infrastructure program through official development assistance or foreign loans.
COA said PPPC should recover the cost of feasibility studies for projects terminated as of 2017.
COA said PDC refers to the costs of pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, which are initially charged against the revolving fund called the Project Development and Monitoring Facility. In cases of terminated projects, guidelines provide for the implementing agencies to reimburse 100 percent of the PDC.
IN the audit report, COA acknowledged the PPPC’s efforts in pressuring agencies to pay up but “very low or non-collection of long outstanding receivables” remained unaddressed.
Interesting. Duterte's decision to rely on foreign loans terminated these projects. But how is it that these agencies are not returning the money? Where is the money? Is it all spent? This could be resolved with the Congress when they decide on the annual budget. Just compute the funds they supposedly have as being on hand.
“According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, this is a long-term plan, aside from surveillance and monitoring, to make sure that our hospitals are prepared with specialists who will manage the most difficult dengue cases,” Domingo added.
The experts will be fielded to some hospitals in Metro Manila, Region 3 in Luzon, and in Mindanao. The mission is to “convert the centers to be centers with the specialty in dengue.”
Meanwhile, the dengue experts from Asian countries, who will also be tapped by the Philippines to study the evidences on the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia controversy, have been identified.
The DOH is so incompetent that they need to call in outside help to manage a problem they should have had well under control a long time ago.
Alejano said he received information months ago from a "source of authority" in the Armed Forces that the president directed the military to stop its patrols in the West Philippine Sea.
"I believe this is still the present situation in the West Philippine Sea as also affirmed by the fishermen on the ground," Alejano said.
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is quoted in reports last November as saying the Philippine Navy had stopped sending ships to Scarborough Shoal, also known as Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc, to ease tension with China.
He said, however, that Philippine Coast Guard ships were still being sent there.
Alejano's insistence makes it appear as if he is not the one lying. Only one way to find out. Call a Senate hearing and open the books. Or just open the books!
On Sunday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said he filed Senate Resolution No. 759 calling for an inquiry on the financial requirements of the infrastructure program to ensure “judicious, prudent and sound economic planning” by the government.
Gatchalian said the Senate should look into the country’s debt obligations closely, considering payments for these would otherwise go to important public services.
What will they find if they do a close inspection of this program and the loans funding it?
BARANGAY Babag Councilor Renante Bacarisas has surrendered on Tuesday morning, June 19, to Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, two days after shooting his cousin in an argument.
Bacarisas said he had plans to surrender but he explained that he just "cooled off" to clear his mind.
And the government wants to arm these people.
Six Pasig City policemen are facing administrative charges after being caught by their police chief sleeping on the job and abandoning their positions.
In the Philippines lots of people sleep on the job. I have seen it first hand and have plenty of pictures.
A TOTAL of 674 police personnel have been charged for various human rights violations since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde said Wednesday, June 20.
Albayalde said these charges show that the PNP respects human rights.
Of the 674 police officers charged, 19 have been dismissed while the others have been meted penalties ranging from demotion to suspension.
The charges were filed from July 2016 to May 2018 before the Internal Affairs Service and the Discipline, Law and Order Division of the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management.
“(The) Most common human rights violation cases stemmed from homicide, illegal arrest with grave threats, violation of POP (Police Operational Procedures), violation of Anti-Torture Act, maltreatment and abuse of detained person,” he said.
How does having 674 PNP officers charged with human rights violations, WITH ONLY 19 DISMISSED, show that the PNP respects human rights? Just because they charged them? Pinoy logic at its finest!
Fugitive town mayor Jabar Tago of Pantar, Lanao del Norte surrendered Tuesday morning, June 19, to the court that issued his warrant of arrest for murder.
This is the same guy who was mysteriously released into the custody of Duterte's foreign affairs appointee to Kuwait.
The Ombudsman said the indictment stemmed from the unlawful issuance of National Budget Circular (NBC) No. 541 to implement the DAP involving P72 billion public funds.
“A re-evaluation of the case establishes that the individual actions of respondent Aquino and respondent-movant Abad showed a joint purpose and design to encroach on the powers of Congress by expanding the meaning of savings to fund programs, activities and projects under the DAP,” the Ombudsman said, quoting a resolution issued on May 22, 2018.
Another case against Aquino along with the Dengevaxia suit.
THE Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-Central Visayas has placed all the personnel of Mandaue City Jail under investigation following the murder of inmate Steve Go, an alleged drug lord.
Chief Inspector Dennis Aliño, the BJMP-Central Visayas information officer, said the focus of their inquiry on how the murder weapon, a .38 revolver, was sneaked inside the facility.
Following PNP Chief
Albayalde's logic, if they find that it was a PNP officer who provided the weapon and they charge him this will prove that the PNP are not corrupt.
The COA said the properties have a total land area of 24,145.9407 hectares and were acquired either through a deed of donation or were turned over by the defunct Mindanao Development Authority.
The biggest parcel of land is the 24,000-hectare property in Wao and Bumbaran, Lanao del Sur that was acquired in 1981 but is now occupied by informal settlers.
The SPDA books also listed a 112-hectare fishpond project in Panigayan, Basilan and a 13.7915-hectare lot in Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat. Both properties were acquired in 1975 and 1982, respectively, but remain idle.
Others properties included in the COA report are located in Butuan City, Cotabato City, Davao City, Zamboanga City, and in the towns of Pikit and Libungan in Cotabato province.
The COA noted seven properties had no tax declarations, while two lots have no land title.
The COA said the SPDA had informed the commission that it has yet to appraise the properties to assess their real property values.
"The management also admitted the need to appraise the value of these properties as basis in recording for fair presentation in the financial statements, however, no action was made on the appraisal of these properties to date," the COA said.
"Failure of the management to appraise these items at its fair value violated (Philippine Accounting Standard) 16 and understated the land account in the financial statements," it added.
Seems very suspicious but not too out of the ordinary for the Philippines. Real land reform would mean first of all finding out who actually owns it and what is the value thereof.
But he will continue to curse them very publicly.
He not make such threats. The ex-Mayor of Iloilo will never return to the Philippines.
This guy could not even win the Vice Presidency so what makes him think he would win the Presidency? But with the way the wind is blowing and all the historical revisionism taking place, why not? The DDS crowd will need someone to latch onto in 2022.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a South Cotabato village official, who was previously arrested on drug charges, while he was attending a Farmers’ Congress in the town of Surallah.
Probably related to drugs.
