Coronavirus Lockdown: COVID-19 Situation Contained, China's Vital Role, and More!

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

The DOH says the pandemic has been contained.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/834268/covid-19-situation-in-philippines-seems-contained-says-duque/story/

The COVID-19 situation in the Philippines already seems "contained" although is "capable of springing surprises," outgoing Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.

"So far, given our measures, our interventions, mukhang contained na siya [it seems contained]. And the data will support that claim," Duque said during Kapihan sa Manila Bay, when asked about President Rodrigo Duterte's claim that his administration was able to contain the virus in a short period of time.

Still, Duque warned that it is still not yet the time to be complacent.

"At the same time, we are realistic to accept the fact that this virus is notorious for mutations," he said. "It is capable of springing surprises at every turn."

"And so we have to be realistic, we have to temper our expectations. What is more important is the realization that the virus is here to stay," he added.

"The virus is here to stay." So are face masks. However, in Cebu Province the governor signed an executive order limiting the use of face masks.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176417

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Friday said the executive order she issued making the wearing of face masks optional in open-space and well-ventilated areas is to ease the burden of her pandemic-fatigued constituents.

In a press conference, Garcia explained that there is nothing in Executive Order No. 16 that totally scraps the wearing of face masks, adding that it is still required in close and air-conditioned spaces but optional in well-ventilated and open spaces.

The order, she said, is rationalizing the situation amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“We are not saying do not use face masks. It’s your choice. Those that would wish to breathe in pure oxygen, the more beneficial sea air, then please, let's not bring the wearing of face masks to ridiculous levels,” she said.

However, Garcia advised the members of the provincial police not to apprehend anyone who is found not wearing a face mask, pointing out her policy not to effect arrest but to give a face mask, instead, to violators for humanitarian reasons.

Both the DILG and the DOH said this order is null and void because it contradicts nationwide orders. The PNP said they will continue to enforce the face mask rule while local cops said they will enforce the governor's executive order becasue it is now law. 

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/11/22/cebu-police-garcias-order-easing-face-mask-use-remains-the-law

Cebu's police leadership on Friday said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia's executive order easing the province's outdoor mask rule "remains the law."

Garcia's Executive Order No. 16 made optional the use of face masks in outdoor and well-ventilated spaces. 

It said that face masks are only required in indoor and air-conditioned spaces and for those with symptoms of COVID-19 when leaving the house.

"The PNP is mandated to enforce the law. Hence, Cebu PPO will support whatever is legal and supported by existing laws. E0 16 of Cebu signed by Hon Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia remains the law as far as Cebu province is concerned and we recognize that unless it is later on invalidated by proper authority,” Police Col. Engelbert Soriano said in his statement released on the Cebu Provincial Police Office's Facebook page.

"In all other situations, mask is still required. It actually encourages people to wear it in closed and crowded places and when with symptoms. In the latter case, the PNP will come in for appropriate enforcement," he added.

Garcia said she is standing by her order despite the Department of the Interior Local Government (DILG) opposing her directive and the Department of Health (DOH) insisting that outdoor mask-wearing should stay.

“I am only normalizing what people are doing these days, they are taking off the masks (outside)… Please, let us not bring the [use] of the mask to ridiculous levels,” said Garcia.

She claimed that breathing in the fresh air in open spaces such as near the sea or mountains is beneficial to the body.

So, you can see there is a lack of uniformity happening. This order just shows how stupid the face mask mandate is. There is no reason to be wearing a face mask all the time especially out doors. 

Did you know China is vital in the fight against COVID-19?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176423

The Philippines' continued partnership with China will help the country succeed in the fight against the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Friday.

During the formal ceremony for the second batch of laureates of the Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding (APPCU) at Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City, Marcos acknowledged China as the Philippines' "strongest" partner and a "good friend".

Marcos emphasized the need to maintain the Philippines' good relations with its allies to ensure the country's solid recovery from pandemic shock.

"Certainly in the Philippines, we can only do it with our partners and our strongest partner has always been, in that regard, our close neighbor and our good friend, the People's Republic of China," Marcos said in his speech.

Marcos said it is impossible for a country to "make its own way" to beat Covid-19.

Let's forget about the millions in aid including vaccines that the USA continues to send.

Experts are expecting to see a spike in cases in Quezon City in two weeks and Manila just might be placed under Alert Level 2 very soon.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1609952/metro-manila-may-be-under-alert-level-2-due-to-sustained-uptick-in-covid-19-cases

The Department of Health on Monday raised the possibility of escalating the COVID alert system to Level 2 amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR), Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Monday.

"The possibility would always be there when the cases continue to increase but what the public needs to understand is that we are learning to live with the virus. We know that this virus will not leave. It will stay with us."

"So, these mild and asymptomatic infections should be acceptable to the population. What’s important is we are not seeing a rise in severe and critical cases and there is no problem with our hospitals. By observing if there is an increase in admissions, we are not seeing that."

Of the 17 local government units in NCR, 13 have a positive two-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases.

While the growth rate is positive, the number of cases is still insignificant in terms of crippling hospitals’ operations, Vergeire assured.

Why put this out this possibility and then say "we are learning to live with the virus" and that most of the cases are mild and asymptomatic and not filling up hospitals? Would they really change the alert level over those conditions? Or is it more fear mongering? I am going with fear mongering because one expert who said the public state of emergency has no retracted his statement.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1610158/expert-retracts-not-yet-time-to-remove-emergency-label-on-covid-19-in-ph

An infectious disease expert on Monday retracted his earlier statement, saying it is not yet the right time to lift the public state of emergency for COVID-19 in the country.

Dr. Rontgene Solante on June 1 said it was high time to remove the “emergency” label on COVID-19 in the country due to the persistent low number of infections then.

However, two weeks after, he retracted this after the Philippines saw an uptick of COVID-19 cases, owing to the several Omicron subvariants.

“With the threat of these variants of concern, especially these 3 variants of concern (BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.12.1) which is globally rising in terms of prevalence, I think this is not the right time yet to lift the public state of emergency,” Solante said in a Laging Handa briefing.

This is especially if the continued implementation of the public state of emergency will give the Philippines “more leeway” in implementing mitigating measures.

“If the public state of emergency will give us more leeway to implement the mitigating recommendations and policy para lang hindi lalaki ‘yung mga kaso, hindi tataas ‘yung mga kaso (so that cases would not increase), then I would agree that we will still be in a state of public emergency,” he said.

And there it is. The public state of emergency gives the government more power. That's what it all boils down to, power. It is this power that renders all decisions by local governments null and void unless they are in line with national directives.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176577

The President’s directives will prevail over all local government ordinances as far as the mandatory wearing of face mask is concerned.

Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is enabled by the President's orders.

“The IATF resolutions on the mandatory wearing of face masks, whether indoor or outdoor, are incorporated in and/or enabled by executive orders issued by the President," Guevarra told reporters in a text message.

Under the Constitution, Guevarra said the Chief Executive retains general supervision over local government units.

“As between an executive order issued by the President, as manifested in resolutions issued by the IATF composed of Cabinet secretaries who are the alter egos of the president, on one hand, and executive orders issued by local government units, on the other hand, the former shall prevail, as the President exercises general supervision over local governments pursuant to Section 4, Article X of the Philippine Constitution,” Guevarra added.

On June 8, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia issued Executive Order 16 making the wearing of face masks optional in well-ventilated areas and open spaces in an attempt to boost tourism but masks are still encouraged, especially in crowded outdoor areas.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año then stressed that the IATF-EID is the only body authorized to set health guidelines regarding the pandemic.

The Cebu Provincial government disagrees wholeheartedly. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1610949/cebu-board-reinforces-govs-defiance-of-mask-rule

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s controversial order last week making the wearing of face masks optional in open spaces has been adopted by the provincial board as an ordinance.

The board on Tuesday gave more teeth to Garcia’s Executive Order No. 16, despite an earlier opinion by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that a June 4 resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which keeps the wearing of face masks mandatory, will prevail over Garcia’s order.

It took the board only about 30 minutes to approve the EO as an ordinance, as proposed by Board Member John Ismael Borgonia, in a special session Garcia called to tackle the order.

Borgonia made his proposal on Monday, but it was not taken up for lack of quorum.

The next day Garcia sent a letter to the board certifying the EO’s approval—“on… 1st, 2nd and 3rd readings”—as urgent.

With the majority of the assembly being Garcia allies, the EO was immediately approved as an ordinance that would take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

“We made this EO an ordinance so that it will become a law in Cebu province. This ordinance will also repeal all previous ordinances in… [the] province that require face masks outdoors,” said Borgonia, chair of the committee on laws.

Those who especially advocate for federalism should be paying attention because this is what federalism looks like, sovereign provinces uniting only for military protection and economic cohesion. Under federalism there would not be a tyrant reigning from Malacañang dictating the polices for the entire nation.

In case you're wondering how long the face mask mandate will last the DOH says until the end of 2022.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1611081/doh-recommends-wear-face-mask-until-end-of-2022

The Department of Health on Wednesday recommended the wearing of face masks until the end of the year.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said face masks protected people not only from COVID-19 but from other diseases as well.

“As part of the Department of Health and a medical doctor, I would say that I would still recommend until the end of the year,” she said on ANC’s Headstart when asked if the mask mandate will stay until the end of the year.

“You know the mask did not only protect us against COVID-19. It also protected us from other respiratory infections, even with this monkeypox. This disease, we can be protected from monkeypox by just wearing the mask,” she continued.

Look at that. The mask protects against other infections not just COVID-19. That's their justification for the unjustifiable. I predict face masks will be mandated beyond the end of 2022.

The Things Robin Padilla Does Not Know Could Fill A Library

Of all the people who won a seat in the new Senate Robin Padilla is certainly the least qualified. The man has no inkling of how the political machine works. But don't worry he is going to surround himself with qualified people to tell him what to do.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1597385/robin-padilla-to-hire-panelo-as-legislative-consultant-adviser-mentor

Potential winner in the 2022 senatorial race Robin Padilla was considering hiring Atty.  Salvador Panelo as his “legislative consultant, adviser, and mentor.”

The political rookie in a Facebook post admitted that he would need Panelo’s help in crafting laws in the Senate, notably in his plan to push the country’s shift to federalism.

(I need someone in legislative discussions in the Senate. Charter change will not be easy since this would go against the rule of oligarchs under the 1987 Constitution.)

(Panelo will be my legislative consultant, adviser, and mentor.)

In effect Robin Padilla will be a front for Salvador Panelo and that is quite fitting. Panelo was the defense lawyers for the Marcos family in their ill-gotten wealth cases. 

There's a lot of talk going around that we must all give this massively unqualified dimwit who has no business being in the Senate the "benefit of the doubt."

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1605633/study-hard-zubiri-tells-robin-padilla-on-possible-committee-chairmanship

Zubiri said Padilla may end up being the chairperson of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments since he has asked for it and no other senator would like to head it.

(He should study the Constitutional amendments and revision of laws well. Laws that need to be amended, especially in issues surrounding criminal law and other corporate law, will pass through him and his committee.)

Zubiri said the committee is usually headed by a lawyer since revising laws, apart from Constitutional amendments, is also part of the tasks of the committee.

(In truth, lawyers usually head that committee but he wants it so he may show an effort for it.)

His only one appeal to the incoming neophyte senator: study well.

“I have to appeal to him and bigyan ko ng payo at advice, mag aral nang mabuti. Kailangan mag-aral ka nang mabuti kasi ang kausap mo diyan justices eh, constitutionalists,” Zubiri said.

Zubiri said that there is nothing wrong with hiring lawyers as part of his staff, but said Padilla would still have to study since he will be the one talking on the floor and debating with resource persons.

Zubiri, however, said that Padilla should be given the “benefit of the doubt” since he can study for the job before assuming the post.

Give him the benefit of the doubt because he can study for the job before assuming the post!?? Do you hire someone as a surgeon because they really want the job and then give them the benefit of the doubt because they can study before they assume the post?? Of course not! This man is not a lawyer and he cannot be expected to digest the law in a matter of days or weeks before assuming the job as Chairman of the Constitutional Amendments Committee. Zubiri is showing what a poor leader he is by encouraging Robin Padilla to be given the chair of any except the most basic committee and even then such a job would be leagues above his pay grade. 

Once his term officially begins and he has to debate or otherwise speak to his colleagues Robin Padilla says he will being doing so only in Tagalog.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1610647/senator-elect-robin-padilla-to-debate-in-filipino-im-not-facing-americans

Neophyte Senator-elect Robin Padilla said Tuesday he is “100 percent” ready to join the Senate, but will opt to debate in Filipino, saying he would be facing Filipino legislators, “not Americans.”

Padilla, who topped the 2022 senatorial elections, attended a legislative briefing  in the Senate ahead of the opening of the 19th Congress in July.

“One-hundred percent,” said Padilla when asked about his readiness to join the Senate.

Padilla said he is also ready to debate with his fellow legislators, but will do so using the vernacular, and not the English language.

(Tagalog… for one, I will not be facing Americans for me to speak in English. If I am facing Americans, well I’m willing to debate. But they are Filipinos, so let’s use Tagalog.)

Padilla topped the senatorial elections after receiving over 26 million votes.

As a neophyte senator, Padilla took lessons at the Development Academy of the Philippines in preparation for his role as a legislator.

Asked if he found preparing for the Senate to be easy or difficult, Padilla said: “Lahat madali. Wala namang mahirap kasi gusto mong gawin eh.”

(Everything’s easy. Nothing is difficult when you like what you’re doing.)

(If you wanna do something, it’s easy. It was just different. I was summa cum laude in cutting classes back in the day.)

Robin Padilla is so stupid that he thinks only Americans speak English. Incredible. It's like he has no idea that Canada, Ireland, Singapore, India, and the United Kingdom all speak English. English is the lingua franca of the world. It is spoken EVERYWHERE by billions of people. Filipinos are actually sought out to teach English as a second language to South Koreans. Tagalog is only one of many Philippine dialects which means Padilla is literally shutting out Cebuanos, Visayans, and others by insisting on using only that dialect. 

His arrogance is through the roof. He took a few classes to prepare him to be a Senator and he says it's easy?? Sure it's easy if you are a slacker who has no idea what he is doing. And then he brags about "cutting classes back in the day." What a moron. 

His refusal to use English because he "will not be facing Americans" is full of hypocrisy and stupidity. What does he have against Americans when he claims to be more American than English speaking Americans because he has Native American blood? His two children are American citizens!

https://entertainment.inquirer.net/346969/robin-padilla-defends-mariel-rodriguez-having-baby-in-us

Robin Padilla justified his and Mariel Rodriguez’s decision to have the TV host give birth to their second child, Gabriela, in the United States. 

Rodriguez gave an update about her pregnancy last Saturday, Sept. 28, days after she flew to the US to prepare for the delivery of their second child. 

“Another update is her head is now down getting ready for delivery,” she said in her Instagram post on Saturday. “[Please] pray with me I really want to push for another vaginal birth.”

“Enjoying the last stretch of my pregnancy,” Rodriguez added. 

Many of her fans wished her well, but one Instagram user, a certain @georg_supreme, did not seem to be in favor of Rodriguez’s giving birth in the US.

The netizen, addressing US President Donald Trump’s Instagram account (@realdonaldtrump), pointed out that Rodriguez only goes to the US to give birth. He/she added that it made Rodriguez a “birther,” and that it was not allowed.

After being asked by another Instagram user about what was wrong in giving birth in the US, the netizen chose to “research” about the celebrity couple. He/she then asked why would Rodriguez leave the Philippines to give birth if Padilla prided himself on being nationalistic. The said comments have since been deleted. 

In response, Padilla said, “Ang pagiging [Filipino-American] ay hindi pagtataksil sa Inangbayan (Being Filipino-American is not betraying the motherland).”

He then claimed that he and his wife are more American than those who speak English and live in the US, after pointing out that Rodriguez is an American citizen, and stating that he bears some Native American blood.

It's simply amazing that this man was elected to the Senate. It's amazing that Filipinos consistently vote for people who are incompetent and who brazenly show they do not care about this nation. Robin Padilla literally said EJK's are part of fighting crime. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1549310/robin-padilla-says-ejk-part-of-crime-fighting-duterte-drug-war-most-successful

Actor Robin Padilla, who is running for senator in the May elections, said Thursday that extrajudicial killing or EJK is part of the government’s fight against crime, especially in the battle versus illegal drugs.

Padilla was asked during an interview with ANC’s Headstart about his thoughts on the brutal anti-drug campaign of the current administration and EJKs, which has largely marred the so-called drug war of President Rodrigo Duterte.

(That’s really part of it, the EJK. Andres Bonifacio was the first victim of it. It’s part of it.)

To recall, Bonifacio was tried and sentenced to death for treason on then-President Emilio Aguinaldo’s orders after trying to establish his own rebel government. He and his brother Procopio were killed in the mountains of Marogondon.

This man thinks killing people is a part of fighting crime. He does not know the law and he does not even know Philippine history. What exactly does he know? That could fill a library. 

Insurgency: Two More Years

All throughout out Duterte's term the public has been told that the insurgency would be defeated by the time he left office. Now that we can see that such prognostications will not come to pass a new date has been set.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1607290/ntf-elcac-can-wipe-out-insurgency-in-two-years-duterte

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) can wipe out insurgency in about two years, President Rodrigo Duterte said in his taped weekly “Talk to the People” briefing that aired late on Monday.

“On a scale of one to 10, ang success of Elcac, this whole-of-government approach, if maintained, will be easier,” Duterte said, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English. “I would think that, given the way Elcac is running, give it another two years, it [the insurgency] would be almost wiped out. There are places that have only platoons.”

Duterte said as he was criticizing terrorist groups who he said had been killing more people, especially barangay officials, than the military and police personnel.

“How many people who did not want to follow you have you killed? And how many times have you done it to barangay captains? Is there any case pursued by the human rights [groups], international or the local, to at least equalize the situation by also going after the terrorists, who are criminals?” Duterte said.

“They are no longer revolutionary. There is no more revolutionary fervor in their movement,” Duterte said, apparently referring to the New People’s Army, the fighting group of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

“This is just m. I’m not addressing it to anybody. This ELCAC — this brainchild of General Esperon — is a very good one, and it can really help the country in its insurgency problem,” he added.

When Duterte took office there were an estimated 4,000 NPA fighters at the beginning of 2017. In April of this year there were an estimated 5,000 left nationwide.

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/philippine/rebels-killed-04072022120955.html

“The CPP-NPA continues to wallow in irrelevance on the 53rd year of its campaign of terror and violence that has only made life more miserable for poor people in the countryside,” Gen. Dionardo Carlos, the chief of national police, said on March 29.

The NPA’s strength is estimated at around 5,000 fighters nationwide, down from at least 20,000 at its peak in the 1980s. 

That is 1,000 fighters gained in 5 years. It sounds like the NPA, far from being irrelevant, has no problems with recruiting new members. In fact there is a huge campaign warning students about being recruited by CPP fronts which belies the AFP's claim about them being irrelevant.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176311

 A former New People's Army (NPA) member and also a high-ranking official of Communist Party of the Philippines' (CPP) legal front organization warned the public anew against the communists' recruitment of youth, especially students, into the armed revolution.

During Thursday's episode of SMNI’s Laban Kasama ang Bayan, Mae “Ka Loren” Garcia, said a student can be recruited into armed revolution through the communist underground organizations.

Garcia, who was also a former youth and student organizer for the League of Filipino Students (LFS), lamented that legal front organizations are being used to introduce the communist doctrines to the students and later on they will be recruited to become NPA members.

She was then a student when she was enticed to join the CPP-NPA's legal front organization.

Like any other NPA members who surrendered, Garcia said she also went through the CPP-NPA’s Maikling Kurso sa Lipunan at Rebolusyong Pilipino (MKLRP).

She noted that the MKLRP is designed to brainwash the new recruits, particularly the activist students.

It also serves as the initial path for armed revolution.

“(After getting indoctrinated by the movement and with other courses propagandized by the communist, once you accepted then one day you will end up being an NPA. That’s the worst mistake there. You can help our country in peaceful manner, not by armed revolution),” she said.

Garcia cited there are some courses in the MKLRP that advocate good things such as human fellowship and fighting for the protection of the underprivileged, but it does not really justify the need to go to the mountains and become an NPA.

“(They told us to help the masses, but the real mistake I saw there was that you hold firearms, fought the government and aim to overthrow your government. That's not helping anymore),” Garcia added.

She urged the youth to be vigilant against the organizations that are being used in the recruitment for the communist armed revolution.

The AFP is even setting up libraries which will be full of government propaganda in order to counter CPP-NPA propaganda.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176308

The chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Visayas Command (Viscom) on Thursday said they will collaborate with the private sector in establishing more learning hubs in the communities as a way to counter the narratives of the communist terrorist groups that the government is militarizing campuses.

Lt. Gen. Robert Dauz, Viscom chief, said the mini-library they turned over on Wednesday to the community in the hinterland Cambubho Integrated School in the northern city of Danao is a testament that such an initiative of providing learning hubs to grassroots is possible with the partnership of the private sector.

Dauz said they built the second learning hub in Danao City to counter the narratives from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) that they are imposing military rule inside campuses.

“This project is our project. We don’t claim it as ours (in the military) although this is one of our initiatives. This is one way of countering the narratives of the communists who are saying that if we enter schools, all that we do is militarization,” he said in a message.

From the picture it would look like these libraries are targeted towards children. Never mind the fact that 9 out of 10 Filipino children are illiterate.

What does Duterte mean that the CPP-NPA are no longer revolutionary? What about the alleged fronts who have members in the House of Representatives?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1175935

Parents’ groups and multi-sectoral organizations on Monday renewed their call to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to delist the party-list organizations affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Members of the League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP), Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIPI), and Makabagong Alyansa (MK) staged a protest rally in front of the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila to ask anew for the disqualification of party-list groups Kabataan, Anakpawis, Act Teachers and Bayan Muna for being front organizations of communist terrorist groups.

Remy Rosadio, LPP president, asked the Comelec to listen to the cries of mothers who lost their children because of communist recruitment.

“(They are openly siding with CPP-NPA. Stop playing blind and deaf. Look at the evidence against them, the testimonies of mothers who are crying until now because their children are being held by these groups),” Rosadio said during the rally.

Rosadio said the Comelec should realize that “these party-lists don’t deserve seats in Congress as they are only fixated in toppling the government” under the orders of exiled CPP founding chair Jose Maria "Joma" Sison.

Nolan Tiongco, MK secretary general, said despite their strong warning and constant reminders for the public to be critical of and vigilant against the party-list organizations that have links with the CPP-NPA-NDF, many still “fell prey to their lies”.

“(It’s sad that still many people have been recruited and many still voted for these party-list despite clear evidence. That’s why we are asking the Comelec to delist these party-lists),” Tiongco said.

According to this group not only are these fronts seeking to topple the government from within but they are also holding their children who have been recruited into the NPA. That does not sound like irrelevance. That sounds like the CPP-NPA is very active both militarily and politically.  And let us never forget the 300,000-400,000 CPP-NPA-NDF allies the NICA claims have infiltrated various government offices. 

The AFP says that remnants of the NPA in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur are on the run.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176362

The remaining New People's Army (NPA) fighters between the boundaries of Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur provinces are “always on the run” amid the military's sustained raids on rebel hideouts.

The focused operations against NPA remnants in both provinces have triggered a series of surrenders recently, said Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Barandon, commander of the Army's 403rd Brigade (403Bde).

“Recent losses during encounters and our relentless peace and development efforts here in Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur made their situation very difficult and always on the run,” Barandon said in a statement Friday.

Barandon described the state of the NPA remnants in those areas as “exhausted” and “losing their morale.”

Seven of NCMRC's guerrilla fronts have already been dismantled, Mamawag said, while remnants of its “vertical forces are weakened.”

“Their futile attempt to recover their previous influenced areas has been a complete failure as the communities continue to work hand in hand with the government forces to fight terrorism,” Mamawag said.

It's funny how the NPA are painted as being exhausted and "losing their morale" and yet the public is warned to watch out for recruitment efforts.

The spokesman for ISIS-East Asia was killed this week during military operations.

https://www.kalinawnews.com/joint-operation-in-maguindanao-results-to-the-neutralization-of-isis-east-asia-spokesperson/

The Western Mindanao Command’s Joint Task Force Central successfully neutralized the spokesperson of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-East Asia (ISIS-EA) in a joint operation in Maguindanao on Monday afternoon, June 6, 2022.

Joint elements of the 601st Infantry Brigade, 40th Infantry Battalion, and the intelligence units conducted a special operation at Crossing Salbo, Barangay Poblacion, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao. The operation resulted in the death of Abdulfatah Omar Alimuden, a.k.a. Abu Huzaifah.

Aside from being the spokesperson of the ISIS-EA, Abu Huzaifah was also in charge of the financial transactions of the Daulah Islamiyah-Philippines to the ISIS Central.

Western Mindanao Command Chief, Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario, Jr., commended the operating troops for this significant accomplishment and urged them to sustain the momentum.

This is a good thing. Maybe now their finances will dry up. Maybe not. There is always someone to take their place. Either way the fight against Abu Sayyaf continues. Now the terrorist group MNLF wants to help.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176171

The Joint Task Force (JTF)-Sulu and the Sulu island-based Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) have vowed to work together in ending the Abu Sayyaf Group terror activities in the province.

Col. Allaric Avelino Delos Santos, JTF-Sulu civil-military office chief, said Wednesday the agreement was reached when Sulu-based MNLF leader, Commander Abraham Joel, and JTF-Sulu commander, Maj. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, met at Camp Gen. Teodulfo Bautista in the island’s capital town of Jolo.

The meeting took place when Joel, along with his field commanders, recently visited Patrimonio in Camp Bautista, Delos Santos said.

“I came here together with my field commanders to convey our support to Maj. Gen. Patrimonio, who we treat as our brother, in fighting the ASG terrorists,” Joel was quoted by Delos Santos as saying.

Patrimonio also thanked Joel for the assurance to support the peace and development campaign to end terrorism in Sulu.

“It is assuring to know that we have come into understanding on our one purpose and one mission to totally end terrorism in the province of Sulu,” said Patrimonio, who is also the 11th Infantry Division (ID) commander.

President Rodrigo Duterte led the activation of the 11ID during his visit at Camp Bautista in Barangay Bus-Bus, Jolo, Sulu, in December 2018.

The 11ID is dedicated to fighting the Islamic State for Iraq and Syria (ISIS)-affiliated terrorist groups in Sulu.

“Let us continue to collaborate in attaining our collective vision of lasting peace and sustainable development in Sulu,” Patrimonio said.

Well, you know what they say.  You have to set a terrorist to catch a terrorist.

The Status and Disposition of the Recovered Marcos Assets

Social media is undeniably one of the biggest cancers to plague the modern world. But even outside the modern world in isolated backwaters like the Philippines Twitter remains a formidable threat to the collective intelligence of the nation. Just look at this tweet from someone who is 100% behind Bongbong Marcos so much so that she has lost the ability to think.

https://twitter.com/baLaw846/status/1534360642739896320

This is not the stupidest tweet she has tweeted out of her tweeter but it is representative. 

Has the PCGG ever produced an accounting of all sequestered and forfeited assets, proceeds from the sale of these assets, and what happened to the proceeds?

And then the response from way out of left field from some clown who apparently lives in Macau and has a troll name.

None that we've known of.

Everything about the answer and the question is wrong. Did the man forget that aside from civil cases Imelda Marcos is a bonafide convicted felon? The question is bait to get those who read it to think that the PCGG has never released such a list because no-ill gotten wealth was recovered. That is literally what this lady told me!

https://twitter.com/theadtan/status/1533445760099835905

Not proven in court, sorry. And no evidence to prove.

What a load of bunk. The Supreme Court says otherwise.

https://hrvvmemcom.gov.ph/ill-gotten-wealth-recognized-by-the-philippine-supreme-court-2/

On July 15, 2003, The Supreme Court of the Philippines reaffirmed the Sandiganbayan’s initial decision, concluding over 25 Billion Pesos worth of Marcos Assets as ill-gotten wealth. In its decision, it reiterated a number of key facts: 

1.Throughout the proceedings of the trial, Imelda and her children had in fact admitted to the existence of said deposits and their ownership thereto. In one instance, Imelda and her children denied clandestinely stashing the country’s wealth in Switzerland, stating that such assets had been legally acquired.

2. The five foundations imputed into the case were established precisely to hide the money stolen by the Marcos spouses. Imelda did not deny the existence and authenticity of her own signatures on several files proving her ownership over said funds and said foundations. These included documents under the names of “Jane Ryan” and “William Saunders” – which actually referred to herself and her husband Ferdinand, respectively. She had even admitted in 1998 before the Sandiganbayan that she was the sole beneficiary of 90% of the subject matter in controversy with the remaining 10% belonging to the estate of Ferdinand Marcos. 

3. The assets acquired by the Marcoses and kept in these deposits are manifestly disproportionate to their salaries as government officials. The only known lawful income of the Marcos Couple from 1966 to 1985 was determined in the sum of US$304,372.43 – the equivalent of P2,319,583.33 at the time. It is keen to note that neither Ferdinand nor Imelda filed any Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SAL) as required by law, from which their net worth could be determined.

4. As public officials, neither Ferdinand nor his wife Imelda were even allowed to engage in the management of foundations. This was held by law under both the 1935 Constitution and the 1973 Constitution which was created under his administration.

This tweeter is pretty stupid. The proper way to resolve this question is to send an FOI request to the PCGG not shout out loud in Twitter for socmed points. Thankfully someone did this already and only a few weeks ago on May 16, 2022.

List of Assets Sequestered from the Marcos

Response to Request 

Your FOI request is approved. I enclose a copy of the following 

1. Recovered and Litigated Assets 

2. PENDING PCGG RECOVERY and Other Related CIVIL CASES 

3. WON & ADVERSE JUDGMENTS PCGG RECOVERY of Ill-Gotten Wealth Cases

Here is a list of recovered Marcos ill-gotten wealth and the status of their disposition.

I can just hear this twitter person tweeting, "THIS IS NOT ENOUGH!!" And you know, I get it. This is not a detailed breakdown of every asset recovered and its disposition. But this is what we have to work with. So, there are several bank accounts and stock portfolios which have been remitted to the treasury. It appears that 5 of 11 recovered properties have been sold. 15 of the paintings have been fully remitted to the Bureau of Treasury while it's not clear where the other 693 are. In 2018 3 paintings recovered by the United States were sold at auction. It appears this happened without the knowledge of the PCGG.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/684551/3-paintings-from-marcos-collection-sold-at-christies-s-auction-osg/story/

“The OSG had no prior knowledge of the sale and the details thereof or the supposed court order. While counsel for petitioner has requested the PCGG for details, the documentation is still forthcoming,” the OSG said.

The OSG “profusely apologized” to the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan—the lawful custodian of the paintings—and vowed “to provide further information as they become available.”

It is unclear whether or not the proceeds were remitted to the Philippine government but because these paintings are from the USA and thus foreign assets it would seem that the money has been fully remitted to the Bureau of the Treasury per the graph above.  There were also painting auctions in 1987, 1991, and 1999. In 2019 the Marcos family was ordered to forfeit 160 paintings.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/12/20/1978434/sandigan-forfeits-marcos-24-million-ill-gotten-paintings

“In sum, petitioner Republic was able to establish the prima facie presumption that the paintings and artworks valued at $24,325,500 acquired by the respondent spouses were significantly out of proportion to their aggregate salaries of $304,372.43 as public officials,” the ruling, penned by Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz read.

“Aside from the unsubstantiated ‘lack of sufficient knowledge’ in their Answer, respondents failed to present evidence to overturn the presumption that the paintings and artworks were unlawfully acquired. Hence, the forfeiture of said properties in favor of petitioner Republic is warranted,” it added.

The jewelry is being appraised so it can be sold at auction. Duterte approved this back in 2019.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1071501

President Rodrigo Duterte has “officially” ordered the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) to auction the jewelry collection of former first lady and now Ilocos Norte 2nd District Representative Imelda Marcos.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, in a message to reporters, confirmed that the Office of the President (OP) has officially informed the PCGG about the formal order to auction the PHP700-million jewelry collection.

The PCGG first asked permission to auction the jewelry collection in November last year.

"OP has officially informed PCGG that it interposes no objections to the proposed activities relative to the disposal of the Marcos Jewelry Collections, subject to compliance with existing laws, rules and regulations,” Medialdea said.

Strangely enough Imelda Marcos' shoes are on display in a museum.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-02/imelda-marcos-shoe-museum:-the-excess-of-a-regime/7877098

The museum's main feature is a portion of criminal convict and former First Lady Imelda Marcos's shoe collection (749 pairs as of 2020).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marikina_Shoe_Museum

Now, of course, there is more to this story. The majority of funding of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARP) comes directly from recovered ill-gotten Marcos wealth. The PCGG's latest report has more info on this.

https://pcgg.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2020-PCGG-Accomplishment-Report.pdf#page=12

The PCGG has provided substantial funding for the CARP, one of the social justice measures of the 1987 Constitution.

Under Section 63(b) of Republic Act 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, among the sources of funds for CARP are receipts from assets recovered and from sales of ill-gotten wealth recovered through the PCGG. Pursuant thereof, the PCGG has remitted the net proceeds of the disposed surrendered assets, to the BTr for the account of CARP from 1987 to December 2020, the total amount of Seventy-Eight Billion, Nine Hundred Thirty-Four Million, Five Hundred Forty-Nine Thousand, Ninety-Three Pesos and 15/100 (P78,934,549,093.15). 

These remittances were used to implement various CARP related projects, such as: construction of farm to market roads, bridges, irrigation facilities, acquisition of post harvest facilities, rural electrification, potable water supply, school buildings, extension and training services, credit assistance, scholarships grants, creation of Agrarian Reform Communities nationwide, and farmer organizations, and other related agricultural projects.

In addition, the PCGG has recovered and transferred to DAR 1,650 hectares of agricultural lands which were later distributed to farmer beneficiaries of Cavite and Laguna. While another vast tract of land in Biliran Province consisting of 1,407 hectares was transferred to the provincial government and distributed to legitimate farmer beneficiaries of the province.

This same report has a whole section on the disposition of the recovered assets noting that several items went up for sale.

 

1. Published disposable properties for 2019 as approved by PrC.

2. Conducted Marketing and Sales Activities for 16 real properties with approximate value P59M for 2019.

3. Assisted the Privatizations Division in Marketing to reach the potential buyers of the PCGG Properties.

4. Posted Notices of Sale for disposable properties in different government offices bulletin boards.

There is also a section where the PCGG documents show they monitor and preserve the properties which remain in their possession.

There have also been several property auctions. 

https://pcgg.gov.ph/pcgg-to-auction-marcos-ill-gotten-properties/

In March 2022 the BIR announced they will be auctioning off 11 more properties formerly owned by the Marcos family.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/28/bir-to-rebid-11-seized-marcos-properties/

This was disclosed by retired Tacloban City Revenue Regional Director Estrella V. Martinez whose information was later confirmed by revenue officials on condition that they should not be named.

Martinez said that when she was still with the BIR, she tried then to sell the properties in 1997 but disclosed that no one showed interest in buying any of them. The same happened to the other sequestered assets from the Marcos family located in Quezon City, San Juan and elsewhere.

There were also property auctions in 1993 and 2012. In 2013 there was another property auction announced which also featured stock portfolios and media firms once owned by the Marcos family.

https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/philippines-government-expects-windfall-from-sale-of-ferdinand-marcos-assets-1.1171081

The exercise, which will be held over two years, will auction off 16 properties, 28 share portfolios — seven of them in oil companies — and 400 pieces of jewellery owned by former first lady Imelda Marcos, now a congresswoman.

The PCGG is also offering a total of P4 billion (Dh355.3 million) for two media entities: P3 billion (Dh267 million) for the sale of assets and the franchise of the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp (formerly Channel 13); and P1 billion (Dh88.8 million) for DWAN Radio.

Also included in the sale are seven shareholdings of business associates that fronted for Marcos in oil companies such as Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp, Benguet Consolidated Inc, Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co, Oriental Petroleum and Mining Corp, Philodrill Corp, Philippine Oil Geothermal Energy Inc and Trans-Asia Oil and Mineral Corporation.

The PCGG is also selling the share portfolios of Marcos business associates in 11 other firms — Chemfields Inc; Imperial Insurance; Marcventures Holdings Inc; Philippine Airlines Holdings Inc; Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co; Phil Overseas Telecommunications Corp; Phil National Construction Corp; Puerto Azul Golf and Country Club; Oceanic Wireless; Radio Phils Network Inc; and Showa United Food Inc.

I would be remiss here if I did not mention the COA's recent accusations against the PCGG for not properly cataloging all recovered assets.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/06/10/2187278/pcgg-flagged-over-unrecorded-ill-gotten-wealth-recoveries

The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) over 122 art pieces and P54.61 million in surrendered or recovered stocks which remain unrecorded in its books.

In its 2021 PCGG Annual Audit released recently, the COA noted “laxity in the monitoring and recovery efforts” in connection with the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcos family and their alleged cronies.

For instance, 772,594,488 shares of stocks worth P54.614 million, which were surrendered by the defendants or were recovered by the government, remain unrecorded in the PCGG’s books as of Dec. 31, 2021.

The COA said that while the PCGG reasoned out that a majority of the shares of stocks were already inactive, the entire amount should have still been inventoried in its books.

“The non-recording of the surrendered/recovered shares is tantamount to voluntarily giving away possession and control of what is due to the government and without due regard to existing accounting and auditing rules and regulations,” the COA report said.

It pointed out that instead of outright non-recognition of the surrendered and recovered stocks, the PCGG could have requested the inactive ones to be dropped off from its books but only after submitting the “appropriate documents to support its derecognition, pursuant to existing accounting and auditing rules and regulations.”

In the same audit report, the COA also called out the PCGG over 122 pieces of artwork which are not entered in its books as of end-2021.

“One hundred twenty-two pieces of surrendered artworks such as paintings, statues, jars, framed wood carvings, wood carvings, tapestries, lithographs, framed cross-stitch artwork, wine goblet, upright piano, decanter, collage, brass item, abstract, news clipping, framed news print, drawings, plaque, and brass sculpture found at PCGG station remained unrecorded in the books of PCGG, thereby understating agency’s Abandoned/ Surrendered Property/Assets account by its total fair market value which are yet to be determined,” the COA said.

The COA recommended that the PCGG direct its Asset Management Department to “verify the accuracy of the inventory report, cause the appraisal of properties and coordinate with the Chief Accountant for proper accounting/recording in the books.”

Meanwhile, the COA said the PCGG’s laxity in transferring titles over several surrendered or recovered shares of stocks to the government led to the non-collection of dividends since 2005.

First of all one should not be shocked that an office of the Philippine government is plagued with mismanagement. That is par for the course. Second of all this news item only serves to confirm that ill-gotten wealth was recovered. Some of it wasn't documented properly which means there is more recovered than what is listed in the official FOI information above. Hopefully the PCGG can set it's bearings straight and fully document everything recovered from the Marcos family. 

There you have it. That is the status and disposition of the recovered Marcos wealth. It might not be as detailed as one would wish but this is the information which is publicly available. To pose questions that seek to undermine the reality that ill-gotten wealth of various kinds from paintings to land to stock portfolios have been recovered from the Marcos family and that this was all done in a court of law does a grave disservice to the nation. The fact is the Marcos family robbed the Philippines blind and enriched themselves. The PCGG has recovered some of the assets acquired by the Marcos family. And now that Bongbong is in the driver's seat recovery of what remains will be hard going if not altogether impossible.