Monday, March 29, 2021

The God Culture: Will the Feasts of the Lord be Reinstated in the Philippines?

Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture is a man with many heretical and anti-Christian doctrines. One of those doctrines is that we must keep the Feasts of the Lord.  There are seven Feasts and we are obligated to keep them all even in this day and age despite these Feasts finding "their fullest redemptive reality in the messianic work of Jesus Christ." It would appear that Tim does not believe that these Feasts or the law point to Christ and that they find their fulfillment in Him. Now, I do not want to get into a theological discussion because that is not the subject of this blog. However The God Culture teaches that the Philippines is the Garden of Eden, is the location of the Holy of Holies on earth, and that the Philippines is where these Feasts will be reinstated in full in the last days. So discussing this topic is quite in line with the subject of this blog which is the Philippines.

https://youtu.be/IfDwuaXYnTc

Obviously there is no temple in Israel today so no actual need to go there although certainly visit that's fine. But we don't need that anymore. In fact watch our Solomon's Gold series and you will find His Holy of Holies on earth has always been permanently in the Garden of Eden which we locate in the Philippines. And the one in Israel was very temporary of course. Thus everyone should really travel to  the Philippines for these feasts. How about that? Something to think about. And this is why we say that the Philippines is where they will reinstate these feasts in full especially.
It's an interesting doctrine that Tim has not really spent much time on apart from 2 videos which don't go into depth at all about the Feasts and how to keep them. Incidentally he admits he does not have the right calendar and so he does not know when to properly keep the Feasts.

https://www.facebook.com/376627072897316/photos/a.382595402300483/533518283874860/?type=3&theater
Let's be clear, no one has truly reconciled the Hebrew calendar of the Bible with our modern Roman one that we have found and this is not a "Jewish" holiday but a Biblical day which was not only kept by Hebrews but by Gentiles even in the time of Moses. This is a task we began a while ago and hoped to complete prior to this season but our research is just not ready on that yet. However, these are the dates we keep for the Feasts and we are sharing with you. There are many other interpretations out there. The point for all of us is keep the feasts even if you prefer a different calendar as Paul and Luke especially admonished rather than pagan replacements that are rebuked by scripture even.  
Would God really want Tim and the gang to be teaching that the point of keeping the Feasts is not the date but to simply keep the Feasts?  Why not keep Passover on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox if that is my interpretation? No. God appointed a specific time and place for each Feast. If the Feast is not kept on the right day that is false worship. If it is not kept the right way then that too is false worship.

Let's pretend that Tim has somehow figured out the correct calendrical calculations to celebrate the Feasts.  What would that look like? Remember Tim says these Feasts will be fully reinstated in the Philippines at some point in the future. I am going to go through each Feast and lay out how the Bible says we are to celebrate them. The Feasts are Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Harvest, Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles.


1. Passover

2. Unleavened Bread

Passover and Unleavened bread go together.  They each commemorate the night that Israel was delivered from Egypt. The directions to keep this feast is found in Deuteronomy 16.
1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night. 
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. 
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. 
And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days; neither shall there any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the morning. 
Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee: 
But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. 
And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. 
Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein.
To keep the Feast of Passover one must sacrifice a lamb at sunset. Numbers 9:3 tells us this is to be on on the 14th day of the month. This sacrifice must also be done in a specific place that the Lord has chosen.

For the Feast of unleavened bread one is required to eat unleavened bread for a whole week. That means flat bread which has been made without leven or yeast.


3. Firstfruits or Weeks

We find the correct observance of Firstrfuits in several places.

Leviticus 23:10-14
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: 
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. 
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. 
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Deuteronomy 6:10-12
10 And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: 
11 And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
12 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes.
Numbers 28:26-30
26 Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the Lord, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: 
27 But ye shall offer the burnt offering for a sweet savour unto the Lord; two young bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the first year; 
28 And their meat offering of flour mingled with oil, three tenth deals unto one bullock, two tenth deals unto one ram,
29 A several tenth deal unto one lamb, throughout the seven lambs; 
30 And one kid of the goats, to make an atonement for you.
The Feast of Fristfruits is to be celebrated in the place which the Lord has chosen to put his name. It requires the wave offering of a sheaf from the new harvest and the sacrifice of two bullocks, one ram, seven lambs, and one kid goat to make an atonement. There is also to be a meat and a drink offering.

4. Harvest or Pentecost

This Feast takes place at the end of the Feast of Weeks and fifty days from the Passover.

Leviticus 23:15-21
15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: 
16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord
17 Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals; they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord
18 And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the Lord, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the Lord
19 Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 
20 And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 
21 And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
On Pentecost we are to offer up a wave offering of two loaves of bread and then sacrifice seven lambs, one bullock, and two rams.  Additionally we are to sacrifice one kid goat for a sin offering and two lambs for a peace offering. This is to be a statue "for ever." That means the way this sacrifice is to be celebrated cannot and shall not be changed.

5. Trumpets

Leviticus 23:23-25
23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  
24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.  
25 Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
An offering made by fire means another animal sacrifice.

6. The Day of Atonement

Ten days after the Feast of Trumpets is the Day of Atonement. No need to leave that high holy day out since as Tim likes to remind us that the Feasts and holidays and the entire Mosaic law is to be observed "forever throughout our generations." Again from Leviticus 23:
26 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 
27 Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 
28 And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement, to make an atonement for you before the Lord your God. 
29 For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. 
30 And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people. 
31 Ye shall do no manner of work: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 
32 It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath.
The specifics of this atonement are to be found in the whole of Leviticus 16. 
Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. 
And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.
13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: 
14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 
29 And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: 
30 For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord
31 It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.
The Day of Atonement requires many sacrifices as well as the two goats, one of which will be set free to wander in the wilderness. This is a "statue for ever." Remember Tim says that the law being FOREVER means Christ has not fulfilled the law so that it is now done away with.  We are still commanded to keep the law and that means the sacrifices of Passover, Frisfruits, Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement.

Five days after the Day of Atonement is the Feast of tabernacles or booths. 

7. Tabernacles

Agin from Leviticus 23 we read:
34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord. 
35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 
36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.
Not only are burnt offerings to be made but the people are required to make and dwell in tabernacles or booths or tents. This must be done for seven days.
39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. 
40 And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 
43 That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Again this is a "statute for ever."

Last but not least let's include the weekly Sabbath which Tim says must be kept foreverContrary to what most believe it is not a day of doing nothing. God commands certain things to be done on the sabbath.

Numbers 28 details the daily sacrifices that are to be offered every morning and evening. Moses then tells what sacrifices are to be offered every Sabbath.
And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the Lord; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering. 
The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; 
And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil. 
It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord. 
And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering. 
And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.
And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: 
10 This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.
Two lambs are to be offered up as a burnt offering every Sabbath day as well as a meat offering. That is in addition to the daily sacrifices of one lamb in the morning and evening.

Is the picture becoming clearer? Tim says the Feasts will be fully reinstated in the Philippines at some point in the future. Properly celebrating these Feasts requires the sacrifice of various animals. That would mean a new Ark of the Covenant since the Ark and its mercy seat are required to celebrate the Day of Atonement which the High Priest sprinkles with blood. Additionally there would need to be some place where the Lord has put His name as that is the only place where the Feasts can be celebrated. Because all the Feasts including the weekly Sabbath require sacrifices there will also need to be a reinstatement of the Levitical priesthood. Only the Levites can be priests and perform the sacrifices required by the Feasts. The Day of Atonement requires a High Priest and only someone in the line of Aaron can hold that position. 

A new Ark, a new place where the Lord has put His name, and a reinstatement of the Levitical priesthood including the line of Aaron for the High Priest. That is what Tim is saying the future holds for the Philippines. Since many sacrifices took place inside the Holy of Holies in the temple and since that temple is no longer standing it is imperative that Tim locates a new Holy of Holies so that the proper sacrifices can be made. He has done this.

According to the Book of Jubilees, which Tim considers to be scripture, the Holy of Holies is the Garden of Eden. It is in the Philippines.

Solomon's Gold Series - Part 12E: Garden of Eden, Mount of the East Found: Ophir, Philippines

As we covered before, the Carpenter Report, CNN, World Bank, and many others now record the Sulu Sea specifically the Verde island passage from Mindoro to Batangas as "The Center of the Center of Marine Biodiversity on Earth" and as we established, that indicates the origin of life on Earth not old bones of humans nor animals. Therefore, this even proves out scientifically as that is just above the Garden of Eden which is enclosed within the Earth. Somewhere to the East is an entrance and we do not claim to have found the entrance nor do we wish to attempt to enter. We believe we even find support in the Hebrew name if a large underwater reef famous for diving in the center of the Sulu Sea in fact just above the Garden.

Tubbataha Reef

Hebrew: Tub: טוּב: good things

Hebrew: ba: בָּא: in the

Hebrew: ta: תָּא :chamber

Hebrew: ha: הא: The

Our interpretation: The Good Things in the Chamber


To what chamber might this be referring? Perhaps the enclosed Garden of Eden just below. If this is coincidence, calculate the odds of such impossibility.


"The Search for King Solomon's Treasure," pg. 310-312

However, according to Tim the Garden of Eden is beneath the Sulu Sea. So that location is no good. You cannot sacrifice there. 

This article has gone on long enough. What I really want to drive at here is that despite Timothy Jay Schwab of the God Culture telling us we must keep the law including keeping the Feasts he is really telling us to break the law by keeping the Feasts in a manner not prescribed by the law.

Many wonder about the accurate dates for the Feasts as do we. This is a massive project and though we have a calendar available on www.thegodculture.com, we are uncertain of it's true accuracy in reconciling the real Hebrew calendar which is nowhere near the Jewish calendar which claims to be Hebrew and is not. We show Passover on the 27th with Unleavened Bread beginning the 28th. Some are celebrating the 26th and others, other days as many are trying to figure out this reconcile today. In time, we will all know this again. The important thing is to celebrate this Passover Season in your homes rather than Easter which is not a Biblical Feast in any sense.


We would encourage everyone to just stick to the Word on this and keep it simple. For Unleavened Bread, just don't eat leaven (yeast) for 7 days. For Passover, have a meal and there is no specific diet as we do not sacrifice lambs anymore and that was what was eaten. You do not need to serve lamb though a neat thing if you can. 

Here Tim admits he does not know the proper dates for the Feasts. He also says you don't have to sacrifice a lamb or even eat a lamb on the Passover but if you do serve lamb than that is "a neat thing!" He also says just have a meal. That is not how the Lord commands the Passover to be celebrated. A lamb is to be sacrificed and eaten! It is not "neat" it is mandatory. Imagine being a Christian and eating a lamb on Passover and thinking that in doing so you are offering up acceptable worship to God. How horrendous a thing that would be as such an act would be a total repudiation of Jesus Christ who is our Passover lamb. Yet Timothy Jay Schwab has no problem with such an outrageous and anti-Christian act of sacrilege. He thinks such blasphemy is "a neat thing."

Tim's reliance on the Book of Jubilees also gives him the strange doctrine that the Passover is actually tied to Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. The scripture contradicts that notion many times by tying ALL OF THE FEASTS to the exodus from Egypt.

Isaac's Sacrifice: The Calendar That Drove Messiah's Sacrifice. Answers In Jubilees: Part 7

Tim also tells his followers to break the Sabbath at the same time he tells them to keep it.

Understood and we all must face this in some form at some point. We hear from many who have to work Saturday and they have no choice. If you choose to do so because you must, remember what the day is and keep meditating on Him that day regardless. You can remain in the right attitude regardless and do the best you can. Ultimately, there is debate about the beginning time and day right now which will resolve in the coming age. Perhaps you can still set aside a full day in time another way. In the meantime, pray that He will provide a job that fits His schedule. Yah Bless.
This lady asks for solid advice about how to keep the Sabbath since she has to work on that day. Tim says set aside another day perhaps. An astute commenter notes that Tim has instructed this woman to disobey the commandant of God concerning the Sabbath. It's amazing he did not delete that comment since he is fond of muting and banning any dissenting opinions especially those that expose him for the fraud and hypocrite he truly is.

In another place he contradicts the law by saying we don't have to sacrifice anymore on the Sabbath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfAybCvlAuM
1:04:37 No, you do not have to offer an animal sacrifice. Messiah did that for us but he did not replace the Sabbath. Never, ever does any scripture say that.
If the scripture never abrogates the Sabbath then it never abrogates the rules for keeping the Sabbath. Those rules include offering two lambs in addition to the daily morning and evening sacrifices. Here Tim hypocritically tells us to keep the Sabbath and break it at the same time.

He also hypocritically teaches here that Jesus Christ fulfilled the animal sacrifices of the Sabbath and that sacrifices are done away with. Elsewhere and throughout his teachings he is adamant that the law has not passed away! It remains in full force and we are bound to keep it. These two teachings do not jibe. Either Christ fulfilled the law and it is done away with or he did not. There is no partial fulfillment.

The clearest rebuke against Tim's doctrine of keeping the Feasts is found in Colossians 2:16-17.

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 

17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

The dietary laws, holydays, new moons, and sabbath days (Feasts as well as the Sabbath) are all shadows of things to come. What was to come? Christ. The body is of Christ. Pretty simple. Now listen to Tim mangle this verse.

Colossians 2. What Did Paul Say? Not What We Are Told.
24:25:  Have you ever thought about if something is a shadow of things to come then that didn't mean it already passed away because those things didn't come yet?
It's hard to believe that a man who went to seminary, is an ordained Reverend, and has over 30 years experience in the Christian ministry does not understand that Jesus Christ has indeed come. The law is the shadow and Jesus is the reality or the body as this verse says. Tim is literally telling his listeners to look to the shadow, the law and the Feasts, and not the body, The Lord Jesus Christ. His continual directing people away from Christ and to the law, he teaches the law is what redeems us, is what makes Timothy Jay Schwab an anti-Christ.

Let's bring this to a close. Tim is very particular about keeping the law. He teaches that keeping the law and not the work of the Holy Spirit is what engrafts us into Christ. He also teaches that we must keep the Feasts. The day does not matter just so long as we keep them. But he never says exactly what it means to keep the Feasts and how we are to do so. The Bible gives us exact instructions on how and when to keep them. Tim says we can ignore those instructions.

Tim also says that the law and Feasts will be reinstated in the Philippines in whole. But this is impossible. Without an Ark of the Covenant and a temple or a tabernacle or any place where the Lord has put his name there is none of the infrastructure required to do the proper sacrifices. Likewise without a Levitical priesthood there is no one who can lawfully perform the sacrifices.  

The solution to this mess is to accept Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the law in toto. The law is a schoolmaster which leads us to Christ. We do not go back to the law. Tim's teaching of the Philippines restoring the law in full in the last days as a way to condemn the New World Order is based on the lie that we are bound to keep the law. We are not bound to keep the law. But we are bound to believe on Jesus Christ who kept the law for us. Both the law and the Feasts find "their fullest redemptive reality in the messianic work of Jesus Christ."

Friday, March 26, 2021

Retards in the Government 199

   It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.


 


https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134219

Authorities have arrested six kidnapping suspects, including an active police officer, in a series of operations in Makati City on Thursday.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Officer-in-Charge, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, identified the suspects as Master Sgt. Felipe Woo, assigned at the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) in National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO); Cyril Nolan Malana, Maverick Sapitanan, Mary Grace Sapitanan, Celso Lozano, and Gao Ya Qiong, a Chinese national, were arrested during a series of police operations initiated by joint operatives of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and NCRPO.

The suspects were arrested for the alleged kidnapping of businessman Patrocenio Chiyuto.

Police officers are now hunting down eight other suspects who remain at large.

It is not clear why they abducted this man but a PNP officer was involved.


https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134160

A police officer from Davao is now facing dismissal after testing positive for illegal drug use.

PNP officer-in-charge, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said on Friday he has already ordered the conduct of a pre-charge investigation and summary dismissal proceedings against Cpl. Donree Gall Adug.

Eleazar said Adug was among 41 personnel of the Regional Police Security and Protection Unit 11 at Camp Capt. Domingo E. Leonor in Davao City who underwent a random drug test last March 15.

Only Adug tested positive for methamphetamine while all 40 others yielded negative results for drug use.

Another cop sacked for drug use.


https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/03/19/2085527/qc-cop-dismissed-threatening-civilians-excessive-drinking

The Quezon City government on Friday said it dismissed a policeman for threatening and hitting his neighbors on several occasions last year.

Based on a press release from the local government, Barangay Pasong Tamo resident Vilma Ballao filed a complaint against Sgt. Audie Biscarra for threatening and inflicting harm on her son thrice in Barangay Pasong Tamo.

Last May 2020, after drinking in public without donning a face mask, Biscarra bullied Jason Ballao, Vilma's son, before punching him in the face. Two days later, the cop, said to be inebriated, yelled at and threatened the entire Ballao family. 

On the third and final incident, which took place last August 20, Biscarra threatened to kill Ballao's son after pointing his gun at a crowd earlier that same night.

The QC People's Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) found Biscarra "guilty of grave misconduct, particularly oppression and conduct unbecoming of a police officer." The local government added that Ballao's complaint was corroborated by statements of competent witnesses, CCTV footage and Barangay Blotter Entry.

The QC PLEB is a check and balance mechanism against erring policemen headed by civilians.

In addition to being removed from service, Biscarra's dismissal will include "the cancellation of his eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and disqualification for re-employment in any government service."

The QC PLEB also said that Biscarra was previously suspended by the National Capital Region Police Office for being absent without filing a proper notice of leave.

This guy seems to be the quintessential bad cop.


https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/368983/liloan-cops-securing-detention-cell-probed-after-shabu-cellphones-found-inside-cell

Policemen assigned to guard the Liloan Police Station detention cell will be investigated after contraband including a medium size pack of suspected shabu was found and confiscated inside the detention cell during Saturday’s (March 20) greyhound operation. 

( I directed my investigation officer to conduct an investigation on the matter and to identify who are the officers involved.) 

Collado said he ordered members of the CPPO Provincial Intelligence Unit to conduct a greyhound operation or surprise inspection of detention cells of Cebu Province police stations on Saturday and this included the Liloan Police Station detention cell, which turned out to have the most contraband found inside the detention cell. 

Among the confiscated items were a medium-size pack of a suspected “shabu”, drug paraphernalia, 19 cellular phones —11 of which are keypad phones and eight are smartphones —, two reams of cigarette, two cigarette lighters, cellphone chargers, tattoo equipment, and P2660 cash. 

Collado said that it was the primary responsibility of the policemen assigned to guard the detention cells to check the things brought by the visitors of these persons deprived of liberty (PDL) to avoid the entry of illegal items. 

He said that cellphones and illegal drugs were strictly prohibited inside the cell and so officers should closely monitor those visitors and the things they would bring for their relatives. 

(The responsibility of the jailer is to see to it that all items should be checked. It will serve as a warning to everybody. We are not tolerating this act because they are negligent of their jobs.)

These jailers were either negligent in their duty or allowing these items into the cells.


https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1410401/police-station-chief-4-cop-execs-nabbed-for-extortion-robbery-in-zamboanga-city

A police commander here was arrested, along with four other officers, for alleged robbery and extortion after an entrapment operation Monday.

Brigadier General Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, director of the Police Regional Office 9, identified the officer as Major Orlyn Leyte, officer-in-charge of Police Station 9 in Barangay Ayala.

Leyte was nabbed after receiving P90,000 to settle a supposed drug-related case.

Leyte’s victim was the subject of an earlier drug buy-bust operation during which her jewelry and cash representing the weeklong income from her store were lost.

Leyte was on duty and wearing a police uniform when his colleagues collared him at his station.

Ylagan said cases of robbery, extortion, and violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard for Public Officials and Employees are being prepared against Leyte and four others.

The four officers are Staff Sergeants Hegenio Salvador and Asser Abdulkadim and Corporals Ismael Sasapan and Juman Arabani.

They are now under custody at the Zamboanga City Police Office, Ylagan said.

According to another story this drug bust was fake and an excuse to rob the poor woman.

However, Col. Rexmel Reyes, ZCPO director, said the businesswoman filed a complaint that she was robbed of jewelry and a week's worth of her store earnings by policemen in the guise of an anti-drug operation on March 11, thus, the launch of entrapment operation.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134571

How many more robbery/extortions have these cops gotten away with?


https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1410338/pastillas-scam-mafia-tagged-in-trafficking-of-filipino-women

The group at the Bureau of Immigration allegedly behind the controversial “pastillas” scam was tagged in another scheme, this time, involving the outbound trafficking of Filipino women to Syria.

During a Senate women committee hearing on Tuesday, panel head Senator Risa Hontiveros said the “same cast of characters” linked to the “pastillas” scam are being mentioned in the alleged involvement of immigration officers to the trafficking of Filipino women.

(The names being repeatedly mentioned by our whistleblowers in the illegal entry of Chinese nationals in the Philippines are the same names our witnesses have been giving in the trafficking of Filipino women. Same cast of characters, different crimes.)

Senator Hontiveros unveiled these scheme a few weeks ago and now we find out that the people behind it are the same actors involved in the pastilles scheme which she also uncovered last year.


https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134619

Authorities have arrested a military official and an enlisted man in an entrapment operation for gun smuggling in Zamboanga Sibugay province, a top police official said Tuesday.

Arrested were Capt. Christopher Galvez Eslava, 41, and Cpl. Laure Larot, 35, of the 9th Regional Community Defense Group (9RCDG) of the Army Reserve Command (ARESCOM), according to Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Genaro Ylagan, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director.

Ylagan said Eslava and Larot were arrested around 12:15 a.m. Tuesday in Barangay Sanito, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

They yielded three caliber 5.56 M4 Carbine rifles, two 9mm Glock pistols, a rifle grenade, three 40mm grenades, six M-16 magazines, three caliber 40, and PHP1.2 million boodle money, Ylagan said.

Westmincom says they are investigating these two men.



https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134765 

The Sandiganbayan has convicted two former officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) over irregularities in the purchase of medical emergency kits in 2003. 

In its 36-page decision written by Associate Justice Karl Miranda and dated March 22, the anti-graft court’s 6th Division convicted former ARMM disbursing officer Serda Hassan-Bangsa and former ARMM Manila Liaison head Socorro Natividad of violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and sentenced them to up to 10 years in prison.

The court also ordered the two to pay supplier Geneve SA Philippines PHP5 million for the balance of the purchase price of the GPI rescue kits.

In the same decision, the anti-graft court ordered the case against former ARMM governor Dr. Parouk Hussin and former ARMM accountant Ricardo Luna to be archived until they are brought within the jurisdiction of the court.

Two former officials of the ARMM convicted of graft over irregularities in the purchase of medical emergency kits 18 years ago!


https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/03/25/2086927/10-gunmen-surrender-barmm-police

Ten gunmen identified with a slain mayor included on President Rodrigo Duterte's list of alleged narco-politicians surrendered to the police Thursday.

The group, led by Andih Anso, turned over assorted firearms, including a .50 caliber rifle to Police Maj. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, during a simple surrender rite in a police camp in the city.

Anso also turned in three live rifle-propelled grenades and two 40 millimeter grenade projectiles.

Ferro said Anso and his men were followers of a former mayor who was killed in an anti-narcotics operation in Cotabato City about three years ago. 

What does it mean that they were "followers of a former mayor" but that they were his own private army?  How many more mayors have private armies?

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Coronavirus Lockdown: World's Longest COVID-19 Lockdown, Travel Bubble, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

Yes it has been a when year since the lockdowns began. They are still going on as cases surge.


https://time.com/5945616/covid-philippines-pandemic-lockdown/

Edd Gumban sleeps on a foldout bed in an office in central Manila. The 57-year-old photojournalist has a wife and a home in Bulacan, part of the commuter belt 14 miles north of the Philippine capital, but he is too afraid to go there. The Philippines began imposing stay-at-home orders last March, in a bid to halt the spread of COVID-19. There are confusing variations in rules from locality to locality, however. The armed police that man checkpoints have also, at times, been encouraged by President Rodrigo Duterte to shoot lockdown violators dead.

At the very least, Gumban risks being detained, or even beaten, if he finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. So rather than commute each day, he only risks the journey every few weeks, when he needs to pick up some things or grab new clothes. The rest of the time, home is a corner of the press office of the Manila Police District. But even there, it seems, he can get no clarity

“Everything is confusing,” Gumban tells TIME. “There are no clear cut policies to follow. The national government says one thing and local governments impose another.”

Such is life in what must now be one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns. The first community quarantine, as it is locally called, was imposed on the island of Luzon on Mar. 16, 2020, when its 53.3 million people—including the capital’s 12.8 million residents—were ordered to stay at home. Since then, community quarantine orders of varying severity have been rolled out across the other islands of the Philippine archipelago.

The climate of fear is undeniable. TV operators in the Philippines used to reserve late-night slots for crime tales and horror shows. These days, they allocate the time to equally grim fare: weekly COVID-19 “updates” from Duterte, shown at the head of a table of military top brass.

Lockdowns are happening to one degree or another across the country on a rotating basis as LGUs see fit to contain the spread. There are calls to put the whole of Metro Manila back under a strict lockdown but DOH Secretary Duque says no for now.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III is not recommending a strict lockdown for Metro Manila despite the surge of COVID-19 cases. However, he is not discounting the possibility of it happening in the future.

Duque on Wednesday said he thinks localized lockdowns being implemented by local governments are “starting to yield some positive outcomes.”

“As of now, I don’t,” Duque said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel when asked if he would recommend placing Metro Manila under a stricter lockdown.

“Hopefully the reversal of spikes will be observed in the next few days,” he added.

The reversal did not happen. On March 22nd the nation recorded a single day record of more than 8,000 cases. In response to the rising cases the National Capital region has been placed on a GCQ lockdown for two weeks.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134377

The national government will be imposing additional restrictions in Metro Manila and other areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) status from March 22 to April 4, 2021, Malacañang announced Sunday. 

In a virtual presser, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said additional restrictions were approved by President Rodrigo Duterte through Inter-Agency Task Force Resolution No. 104 due to a spike in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the country. 

Starting Monday, Roque said Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal will be joining Metro Manila under the GCQ classification. 

Under IATF Resolution No. 104, he said only essential travel into and out of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal will be allowed. 

Roque described this as a “travel bubble” where residents will only be allowed to travel within the said areas.  

Traveling into and out of Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal will be prohibited. We will have a sort of bubble in NCR, and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal,” he said.

Travel of authorized persons outside their residences (APORs) such as essential workers, health and emergency frontline services personnel; government officials and government frontline personnel; duly-authorized humanitarian assistance actors; persons traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons; persons going to the airport for travel abroad, returning overseas Filipinos and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will be unimpeded for as long as they show their respective work identification cards.

"Travel bubble" is a strange term for "lockdown." This is practically back to square one. The NCR is now in the same situation it was a year ago even if it is only for two weeks. And who can guarantee that?

Duque's predecessor says the government is actually 10 steps behind square one in its handling of the pandemic.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/18/21/philippines-10-steps-back-from-square-one-in-addressing-covid-19-ex-health-chief

The coronavirus situation has worsened in the Philippines, and the country is 10 steps backward from the time it initially addressed the pandemic last year, a former Health Secretary said Thursday.

"Talagang nag-worsen kumpara sa (It has really worsened, comparing) March 2020 at (and) March 2021," Dr. Esperanza Cabral told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

In a statement released Wednesday, Cabral said, "We are not back to square one. We are ten steps back from square one," as she recalled the challenges, especially of the health sector, when the country first confronted the pandemic.

 Officials and analysts attribute the current surge in COVID-19 cases to increased mobility of people, non-compliance with health protocols, and the presence of more transmissible COVID-19 variants.


         (We could have been faster in our response, and covered more. I think that was our problem.)


         (We have deficiency in terms of contact tracing, border control and now, the vaccine rollout.)


"Assuming that there is a steady supply of vaccines, 'pag ang speed ng vaccination ay katulad ngayon (if the speed of the vaccination is the same as now), it will take us more than 12 years bago matapos 'yong 70 million (before we finished the 70 million)," Cabral said.


Asked if her remark is harsh to government, Cabral, said: "'Yan ang palagi kong sinasabi sa mga kasama ko sa DOH dati (This is what I always say to my colleagues before in DOH). I know you are doing your best. You have to do more than your best, because it's not good enough at this point."

Despite her remarks and other negative viewpoints such as Moody's Analytics which is forecasting herd immunity might be achieved in the Philippines by 2023 the government thinks things are going well.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1408400/govt-target-in-2021-a-better-christmas-herd-immunity-galvez

The Philippine government is targeting to reach herd immunity this year amid its battle against COVID-19 as it hopes for a “better Christmas” for Filipinos, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said Thursday.

Galvez said this can be achieved if there will be a stable supply of COVID-19 vaccines in the country.

“Ngayon ang aming declaration is we will have a better Christmas this year. Kailangan ‘yun ang target namin na we will have a better Christmas. We will inoculate 70 million at nakita namin kaya natin ito kapag nagkaroon tayo ng steady supply ng [vaccine],” Galvez said in an interview with ABS-CBN News.

“Ang target pa rin natin si yung 50 to 70 million. Talagang ang target natin ngayong year is herd immunity,” he added.

Should the Philippines reach its goal of herd immunity this year, the target for 2022 is for the country’s “exit strategy” to eliminate COVID-19, said Galvez.

Meeting their goals depends on the vaccine.  A few vaccines have been mishandled and were leaking or did not contain enough doses per vial. There has also been a lack of testing which has contributed to likely inaccurate death counts. Even after a year there is much to be done.

There are a few variants of COVID-19 going around but the Philippines does not want a namesake.

The Philippines changed tune in using the place of origin to name novel coronavirus variants after a new one was detected on a patient from the country. 

Local health authorities used to call the other coronavirus variants United Kingdom and South Africa. 

It used to call the coronavirus variant from Brazil as “so-called Brazilian variant.” 


Early this March, the Department of Health confirmed that a new coronavirus variant was detected on a male traveler in Japan came from the Philippines. 

Japanese authorities were the first to announce this on March 13. Japan Times reported that the variant its health ministry found was distinct from the ones discovered in UK, South Africa and Brazil. 

The DOH stated that there are already 98 cases of P.3 in the country.

To prevent discrimination  

In a briefing on the same day, Dr. Anna Ong-Lim of the DOH technical working group on COVID-19 variants said that they assigned P-3 to this variant to avoid discrimination of the residents who live in these places. 

“They’ve come back to us and told us na ito nga ay bagong variant and they are assigning it the P-3 lineage—or the designation of P-3 ‘no, iyon po ‘yung ating tawag doon,” said Ong-Lim. 

Kasi iyon nga eh, medyo ayaw na natin iyong practice na ginagamit iyong pangalan ng isang lugar to assign the name of the virus or the variant kasi nga medyo nakaka-cause ng discrimination doon sa mga nanggagaling sa bansang iyon when in fact puwede naman siyang nakikita rin sa ibang lugar,” she added. 

The health official also reiterated that they are veering away from the Philippine variant name in formal speeches, citing it an unacceptable practice.

“We want to do away nga with referring this as the PHL variant of the Philippine variant kasi nga hindi acceptable practice iyong ganoon na we assign place names, we’re trying to veer from that,” she said.

The Philippines does not want a COVID variant named after them. Hilarious!

Do you wear a mask?  How about two masks??

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/03/18/2085330/treatment-czar-urges-double-masking-enhanced-precautions-vs-covid-19

The country's COVID-19 treatment czar on Thursday encouraged the public to practice enhanced health standards, including the wearing of two face masks, as he admitted that the transmission of the virus is getting out of hand.

Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said OCTA Research Group's forecast that the daily COVID-19 cases in the Philippines would swell to as much as 11,000 by the end of March would materialize if nothing is done to contain the virus.

"So, the way I look at it, these are alarm bells...And if you do nothing, we would fall into that, and the assumption is only based on mathematical projections. But more important is how we are going to respond to the increasing crisis right now," Vega said at a press briefing.

"You have to enhance it (minimum health standards), if there is a double masking, you have to double mask, you have to do all of the things that the minimum health standard requires plus the executive power of the local government units to provide what they call granular lockdowns or zonal containment because this is very effective, and we have seen this last year," he added.

Vega clarified that his proposal to wear two face masks is just his personal recommendation, not an official stand of the health department. He said a change in behavior towards health and safety measures would allow one to contribute for the common good of the community. 

Hopefully this recommendation remans his personal opinion and does not become mandated.

 The OCTA is seeking a return to a hard lockdown as cases surge.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/19/21/octa-group-suggests-hard-gcq-metro-manila-covid-19-surge

The government must implement a "hard GCQ (general community quarantine) to address the continued increase in COVID-19 cases, which may exceed records of 2020, the OCTA Research Group on Friday said.

This, as the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 announced the 2-week closure of some industries in areas under general community quarantine, including Metro Manila, to help curb the spread of the virus.

“The status quo is not enough. We need more mobility restrictions,” said Prof. Ranjit Rye of the OCTA Group during a virtual forum.

“We are in a surge that is very different and is more serious than the last surge,” he said.

The “Hard GCQ” suggested by the group includes discouraged social gatherings and indoor dining and a more significant work-from-home set-up for industries that can implement it. For workers who are still required to work outside, quarantine pass will be required and mass transportation should be available.

Contract tracing has been pushed as a fundamentally necessary way to curb the spread by tracking all those who the infected come into close contact with. The DILG now admits that proper contract tracing is impossible.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/780546/dilg-admits-1-30-contact-tracing-ratio-virtually-impossible-to-achieve/story/

The Department of the Interior and Local Government on Sunday admitted that the ideal contact tracing ratio is "virtually impossible" to achieve amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country.

In a "Dobol B TV" interview, DILG spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya reacted to the statement of contact tracing czar Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who lamented the low national contact tracing efficiency ratio.

Magalong said the ideal ratio for urban setting is 1:30 to 37, while for rural area is 1:25 to 30.

But Malaya said that the set ideal contact tracing ratio of 1:30 is hard to achieve, much less the 1:37 ratio, in the current rate of COVID-19 infections.

Malaya explained this by illustrating that for every COVID positive person, contact tracers will reach out to 30 of his close contacts. But when one of those close contacts turned out positive as well, another 30 of his close contacts should be looked out for, so on and so forth.

"So exponential yung pagtaas and we do not have that many na tao na nagko-contact trace," he said.

Of course its impossible to trace everyone. But what's more important is now they have everyone scanning cards just to get into the shopping mart! Maybe that was the real purpose all along?

The health authorities have once again reminded the public why they should not take the vaccine.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134432

In an interview on Monday, PHO chief Dr. Anna Ma. Teresa de Guzman said even though the country has started its vaccination program against the dreaded Covid-19, the vaccines do not give full immunity.
 
De Guzman said all kinds of vaccines do not guarantee an individual who was inoculated would not acquire any diseases or infect other people.
 
“The objective of the vaccination program is to give additional protection to your body to fight the virus but it does not guarantee you not to acquire nor transmit the virus,” she said.
 
De Guzman encouraged the public to properly wear face masks, face shields, and religiously observe physical distancing, as well as frequent hand washing and coughing etiquette.

This admission likely does not even apply to the many variants which the government has finally admitted are driving the surge.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1410147/doh-virus-variants-driving-metro-surge

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus had been detected in all cities in Metro Manila and these may be driving the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the metropolis in the past few weeks.

The DOH conceded that the presence of the highly transmissible variants in Metro Manila is a factor in the faster increase in daily cases than at the height of the pandemic in July and August last year.

“We saw that in all the cities (in Metro Manila) we have either the UK variant or South Africa variant. In other cities, there are both the UK and South Africa variants,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosaria Vergeire told reporters on Monday.

“So, yes, we can say the variants are here and yes [their presence] has contributed to the increase in the number of cases, how they increased very fast. But that is not the only factor,” Vergeire said.

She said the root of the problem was the public’s failure to comply with health measures and some “institutional gaps.”

The DOH still can't help but to blame the public even though surveys show the public is complying with all the protocols including masks and shields.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/octa-research-survey-filipinos-wear-masks-wash-hands-prevent-covid-19

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the country, a survey of Octa Research showed majority of Filipinos are complying with the minimum health standards set by the Department of Health (DOH).

The survey, conducted from January 26 to February 1, said 9 out of 10 Filipinos use face masks and wash their hands with soap and water or alcohol and sanitizer to avoid contracting COVID-19.

"The use of face mask and regular cleaning of hands using water and soap or alcohol top the measures Filipinos practice to avoid contracting COVID-19, with 91% and 90% of Filipinos practicing each, respectively," the report said.

The survey released on Tuesday, March 9, also found 89% of Filipinos use face shields. Further, 67% observe social distancing while 60% stay at home when it is not necessary to go out. 

So why does the DOH insist on continuing to blame the people for the surge?

If you thought health officials, doctors, would be the best people to lead the response to the pandemic then you are not thinking like Duterte.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1134594

Malacañang on Tuesday insisted that retired military officers are the best people to lead the government’s Covid-19 response and vaccination rollout because of their expertise in logistics.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this remark after an opposition senator called for an overhaul of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), saying that it should be led by public health officers and not ex-military officers.

Aside from their knowledge in logistics, Roque explained that ex-military officers were leading the IATF because they were also appointed as members of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet.

(No one has been appointed to the IATF outside of the secretaries and heads of office. It’s true that there are a lot of military who are members but one reason why the President trusts them is because the military excels in logistics),” he said in a virtual press briefing.

Roque pointed out that National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez, who is also vaccine czar, also possesses an impressive set of qualifications.

(If we’re talking about the fast delivery of vaccines when 80 percent of countries have already pre-ordered vaccines of course the President and I think that the best person for the job is an ex-military, ex-chief-of-staff, and hero of Marawi, Secretary Carlito Galvez),” he added.

Logistics are important in getting the vaccine distributed but that's not the only thing that matter in responding to the pandemic. Let the Palace stop denying that their response has been militarized.