It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1740833/cotabato-city-mayors-staff-slain-in-maguindanao-del-norte-gun-attack |
A lone gunman shot dead on Thursday night a staff member of Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Bruce Matabalao as he was walking home in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao del Norte.
Major Regie Albellera, Datu Odin Sinsuat town police chief, identified the victim as Faizal Malagiok, 40, more known as “Popeye,” an office staff of Matabalao, and a resident of SPDA subdivision, Barangay Semba, Datu Odin Sinsuat.
“He died on the spot from about five gunshot wounds in the head and body,” said Albellera of the shooting that took place at 7 p.m.
“We are still facing a blank wall as to the motive and identity of the lone attacker,” he added.
Albellera said Malagiok, a singing artist, was walking along a poorly lit alley leading to his boarding house when a lone gunman opened fire.
Quoting witnesses, Albellera said the gunman fled on board a motorbike.
Matabalao was saddened by the news and called for a speedy probe into Malagiok’s death.
“Justice for Popeye,” Matabalao said in a social media post, describing Malagiok as “a reliable staff at the office of the city mayor and a good friend.”
A staff member of the Mayor of Cotabato City has been assassinated.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197037 |
A policeman and three alleged contract killers yielded some PHP306,000 worth of illegal drugs and firearms after being separately arrested in this city, a top police official bared Thursday.Col. Alexander Lorenzo, Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) director, said the three alleged contract killers were arrested by joint police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency personnel in an anti-drug operation around 9:15 a.m. Thursday in Barangay Cabatangan.Lorenzo identified them as Jonathan Espina, Rodel Julian, and Dexter Herrera. Another cohort, Yamato Francisco, managed to escape.Seized from the suspects were some 15 grams of suspected shabu worth PHP102,000, a .45-caliber pistol, a .38-caliber revolver, a .45-caliber replica, and other pieces of evidence.Two of the suspects, Julian and Francisco, were involved in two recent shooting incidents in Barangays San Roque and Talisayan here, Lorenzo said.Meanwhile, Master Sergeant Marlon Demaisip was arrested Thursday afternoon at the office of the Special Investigation Unit-Criminal Investigation and Detection Management Unit (SIU-CIDMU) of ZCPO.Demaisip, 40, was arrested while in possession of a sling bag containing some 30 grams of suspected shabu worth PHP204,000.Lorenzo said Demaisip was ordered to report to the SIU-CIDMU to shed light as the three suspects arrested in the buy-bust operation in Barangay Cabatangan pinpointed him as the group’s alleged mastermind.Also seized from Demaisip were his service sidearm, two lighters, and other pieces of evidence.Demaisip is currently assigned to the ZCPO Station 7 anti-illegal drug enforcement team.
An anti-drug cop has been busted for drugs and tagged as the mastermind of a criminal group.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197051 |
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has charged a village chief in this city and two others in Kabankalan City, both in Negros Occidental province, for alleged involvement in the illegal operation of the Small Town Lottery (STL).
The filing of criminal charges against Noli Villarosa, barangay chair of Tangub here, as well as Joel Alibango of Barangay 5 and Franz Leonard Siguero of Barangay 6 in the southern city, before the Kabankalan City Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday was confirmed by NBI-Bacolod agent-in-charge Renoir Baldovino.
Villarosa immediately denied the charges. "I have no involvement in illegal gambling. I'm willing to be investigated," he told reporters in a telephone interview.
Baldovino said the investigation showed that in Kabankalan, Villarosa is the "financier" while Alibango and Siguero are the "protectors."
Also charged was an alias "Ma'am" or "Jane Joe", tagged as the "manager."
Villarosa said he cannot be a financier since he does not have the money, adding that it should be proven that he is receiving bet money from the illegal STL operations.
Asked for his reaction on Thursday, Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said Villarosa's alleged links to illegal gambling surprised him.
"I'm surprised since I have no reports towards that. Probably the NBI has a basis of what they are doing," he said.
With the charges filed against Villarosa, the village chief will be given the chance to clear his name and defend himself from the accusations in a proper forum, the mayor added.
Baldovino said the criminal charges filed against the four respondents are for violation of Presidential Decree 1602 as amended by Republic Act 9287, which penalizes persons involved in illegal numbers games.
He said the charges are supported by the testimonies of the village watchman and the bet collectors arrested during an entrapment operation on Feb. 15 in Kabankalan City.
A local official has been charged with operating an illegal gambling game.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1741291/south-cotabato-town-councilor-arrested-for-alleged-rape |
Police arrested in General Santos City on Friday morning a municipal councilor of Tantangan, South Cotabato who is facing rape and sexual abuse charges.
Tantangan Vice Mayor Cesar Dasilao told DXOM Radyo Bida-Koronadal that councilor June Seneca, 60, did not resist arrest when law enforcers presented him a warrant for his arrest in Barangay Bula, General Santos City.
Dasilao said Seneca has not been attending the town council’s regular sessions, special sessions and other legislative activities since January 16.
After learning that a warrant had been issued against him, Seneca, who is on his third term as municipal councilor, went into hiding.
Seneca served three terms as chairman of Barangay Poblacion before getitng elected to the town council.
The court has recommended no bail for the local official.
A town councilor has been arrested on rape charges.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1741398/p102000-shabu-seized-village-watchman-3-others-nabbed-in-camarines-sur-alleged-drug-den |
Anti-narcotics operatives arrested four suspected drug personalities, including a barangay tanod (village watchman), and recovered P102,000 worth of “shabu” (crystal meth) in a buy-bust operation in Caramoan town in Camarines Sur province on Saturday morning, March 11.
Mark Anthony Viray, chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Camarines Sur, said in a report that Jose Fernan Llagas, 33; Gesel Angeles, 23; Cyrus Kim Hernandez; 30; and Richard Dianela, 47, were arrested in Barangay (village) Orocosoc at around 10:05 a.m.
Dianela, the village watchman of Barangay 4 in Garchitorena town, was a visitor at the alleged drug den operated by Llagas.
Viray told the Inquirer in a chat message that Llagas was identified as the supplier of illegal drugs in the said town and to some tourists in various beach resorts.
Recovered were five sachets or 15 grams of shabu, five transparent plastic sachets with traces of illegal drugs, aluminum foils with a residue of shabu, and other drug tools.
The suspects were facing charges of violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
A village watchman has been arrested on drug charges.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1742298/cop-found-guilty-of-2-teenagers-killing-in-2017-drug-war |
In the second criminal conviction of law enforcers for drug war killings during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte, a dismissed Caloocan policeman was convicted on Monday for the murders of teenagers Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman in 2017 and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
“After careful examination and perusal of the several pieces of evidence presented as well as the testimonies of all parties, this court finds accused [former Police Officer 1] Jefrey Sumbo Perez guilty [beyond reasonable doubt]…,” Judge Romana Lindayag del Rosario of the Navotas Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 287 said in her 80-page decision.
The court ruled that Perez “intentionally killed” the two teenagers based on medical findings that showed Arnaiz had five bullet wounds while De Guzman was stabbed 28 times.
It sentenced him to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua, or 40 years in jail without eligibility for parole. On top of this, he was ordered to pay the kin of each victim P100,000 for civil indemnities, P200,000 for moral and exemplary damages, and P45,000 for actual damages.
A former police officer has been found guilty of murdering two teenagers.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197254 |
Criminal charges were filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Monday against police officers who allegedly killed or witnessed the death of three young men in Sultan Kudarat province in December last year.
Lawyer Ronald Halilid Torres said evidence suggest that at least one of the victims was kneeling when he was shot.
Murder, planting of evidence, falsification of documents, grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, and irregularity in the performance of duty were slapped against Lambayong Municipal Police Station chief, Maj. Jenahmeel Toñacao, and seven others.
The co-accused are Senior Master Sgt. Syril Mahaddi, Cpl. Elpedio Garlit, Cpl. Joffrey Apalla, Pat. Nicol Dion Toreja, Pat. Basser Mako, Pat. Mario Rombaoa Jr. and Pat. Roldan Claveria.
The complainants thanked the National Bureau of Investigation for pursuing the cases.
Police claimed it was a shootout after Samanudin Ali, 19; Horton Ansa Jr., 20; and Arsad Ansa, 18, who were on a motorcycle, escaped a checkpoint.
“Based on the documents that we have, they were shot. We have a post mortem report, we have an autopsy, we have ballistic reports. So we have complete documents showing their misdeeds,” Torres said in a media briefing outside the DOJ office in Manila, in disputing the police version.
8 cops have been charged with murdering 3 students.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197315 |
Policemen have arrested a municipal councilor wanted for violation of anti-terror law during a law enforcement operation at the Cotabato airport in Maguindanao del Norte province Monday afternoon.Abdulwadod Sangki, a member of the Ampatuan town council in Maguindanao del Sur province, was served with an arrest warrant for violation of Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-terrorism Act of 2020 as he was about to disembark from the plane that landed past 1 p.m. at the Cotabato airport.Sangki, 27, did not resist arrest, according to Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, police regional director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).Sangki was the town’s most wanted man and also the fourth most wanted at the regional level, Guyguyon said.“Subject wanted person was allegedly involved in the bombing incident during the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections at the Datu Abdullah Sangki Elementary School, Barangay Poblacion, Ampatuan, Maguindanao,” the police official said in a statement.Sangki is the president of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation and sits as an ex-officio member of the Ampatuan town council. He had just attended the 11th Councilors League 2023 National Convention held at World Trade Center in Pasay City.Sangki is detained at the detention facility of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-BARMM in Cotabato City.
A town councilor has been arrested for bombing a school.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1742756/village-chairman-wife-dead-in-cebu-town-shooting |
A barangay captain and his wife were shot dead by two motorcycle-riding assailants along the national highway of Asturias town, Cebu on Tuesday.
Manguiao barangay captain Mario Delfin Tundag was riding a motorcycle with his wife Edna when two persons on board another motorcycle fired at them.
Police said the still unidentified assailants may have been trailing the couple and got the chance to fire on them at Barangay Poblacion.
In his report, Asturias town police chief Major Alden Zambrano said that the Tundag couple came from neighboring Balamban town and were on their way home to Manguiao in Asturias.
After the shooting of the couple, the two suspects immediately fled towards Balamban.
Zambrano told reporters that the shooting could have been political in nature though they were still looking at other possible angles.
The investigators are now checking who are the political opponents of barangay captain Tundag.
Footage of a closed-circuit television secured by the police showed that the suspects were wearing black helmets and white long sleeve shirts.
A hot pursuit operation was already launched by the police following the incident.
Another barangay captain has been assassinated.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1743036/maguindanao-del-sur-village-exec-slain-in-gun-attack |
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a village chairperson of nearby Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
Colonel Ruel Sermese, Maguindanao police director, identified the victim as Hadji Basit Zangkala, village chairman of Barangay Labu-Labu 2.
Quoting a report from Shariff Aguak municipal police office, Sermese said Zangkala was sitting inside his car parked beside the highway while waiting for his wife who was buying rice at a roadside store.
Two men on a motorbike approached the victim’s car at past 5 p.m. and opened fire using a caliber .45 pistol.
Major Haron Macabanding, Shariff Aguak town police chief, said responding police and civilians rushed the victim to the provincial hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police found seven empty shells for a caliber .45 pistol.
Sermese on Wednesday ordered the creation of a Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) to speed up the probe.
He said police are still clueless as to the identities and mastermind behind the killing of Zangkala.
Another village chairman has been assassinated.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/03/15/2251908/rep-teves-2-sons-face-criminal-raps-over-loose-firearms-explosives |
The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group has filed criminal complaints against Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. and his two sons over loose firearms seized in the house of the lawmaker.
PNP Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson of the agency, said in a streamed press conference that the complaint was filed before the Department of Justice on Wednesday afternoon.
Fajardo said the complaints are for illegal possession of firearms, and of explosives.
The PNP spokesperson said that they have secured ten search warrants for different properties in Negros Oriental province. The complaint filed before the DOJ this afternoon stemmed from the search warrant implemented in Teves’ house in Bayawan “where [we] seized high-caliber unlicensed firearms and explosives.”
Fajardo said the lawmaker and his sons will undergo preliminary investigation.
The PNP-CIDG on Tuesday said they have filed illegal possession of firearms and of explosives complaints against the lawmaker’s aide and five others. This was following the raids conducted in five different addresses in Basay and Bawayan City, in Negros Oriental on March 10.
In a March 11 statement, the CIDG said they conducted simultaneous implementation of search warrants through its intensified campaign against loose firearms or Oplan "Paglalansag Omega" in the province of Negros Oriental.
Fajardo explained in the press conference that they sought search warrants from the courts following the filing of multiple murder complaints against Teves and “associates close to him” over 2019 killings. This, the police spokesperson said, prompted them to check whether the respondents are keeping loose firearms.
Representative Teves and his two sons have been charged with possession of loose firearms and explosives.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1742612/bantag-others-indicted-for-murder-of-percy-lapid-bilibid-inmate |
A panel of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Gerald Bantag and several others over the killing of broadcaster Percival Mabasa, who was popularly known as Percy Lapid, and Bilibid inmate Jun Villamor.
In a resolution, the DOJ panel, also named Sr. Supt. Ricardo Zulueta and inmates Alvin Labra and Aldrig an Galicia as respondents for two counts of murder alongside Bantag.
Likewise named respondents for Lapid’s killing are Joel Escorial, a certain Edmon Dimaculangan, a certain alias Orlando, inmates Denver Mayores and Alfie Peñaedonda, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) detainee Christopher Bacoto. Escorial is the confessed hitman in the veteran broadcaster’s ambush slay case.
For Villamor’s murder, the panel has also named as respondents Mario Alvarez, Joseph Georfo, Christian Ramac, Ricky Salgado, Ronnie dela Cruz, and Joel Reyes.
“The preliminary investigation established that the murders of Mabasa and Villamor were attended by conspiracy between and among the respective respondents. The plan of the respondents to kill them both, includng its execution, was shown by the evidence for the complainants,” read the DOJ briefer.
“The prosecution notes that the death of Villamor were intertwined with the death of Percival and that the death of the former was used to cover-up the death of the latter,” the briefer stated.
Lapid was killed on October 3, 2022, near the gate of the subdivision where he lived in Las Piñas City.
Suspended Bureau of Corrections Director Gerald Bantag and several others have been charged with the murder of broadcaster Percy Lapid and a Bilibid inmate.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1197526 |
The chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region (CIDG-NCR) and 12 other policemen were relieved from their posts over allegations of extortion on a group of Chinese businessmen in Parañaque City.
CIDG chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Caramat Jr. said Thursday the move was based on the complaint of the victim who sought the assistance of Lt. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy chief for administration, after the operatives allegedly took expensive watches and other personal belongings from their group on March 13.
Sacked were Col. Hansel Marantan, director of the CIDG-NCR, two other officers and 10 police non-commissioned officers.
The victims also told Sermonia that the CIDG operatives took PHP3 million from a vault and also demanded money from them in exchange for their freedom.
Caramat, however, clarified that the relief of Marantan was based on the concept of command responsibility since those involved were his officers.
“In fairness to Col. Hansel Marantan, I just received a courtesy resignation from being the regional chief of the NCR field unit. Maybe so as not to influence the investigation we are doing regarding the robbery extortion activity,” Caramat told reporters in a chance interview.
“The matter is now being investigated. Their relief is an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) so as not to have undue influence over the case,” he added.
For his part, Sermonia said the policemen entered one of the houses of a Chinese businessman who was then playing mahjong with friends and fellow businessmen.
He said the cops told the victims that they went to the area over noise complaints of the neighbors.
“They started arresting those people and then allegedly, their offense was illegal gambling,” Sermonia told reporters.
He said the policemen allegedly took two expensive watches, a Patek Philippe and Richard Mille and other pieces of jewelry.
“The 13 arrested personalities were brought here at the CIDG-NCR office (Camp Crame) and then in exchange for their freedom, according to the complainants, they gave money to our operatives,” said Sermonia.
Some of the jewelry, including the two expensive watches, were recovered.
Sermonia said as the PNP's second highest official, he has a duty to ensure internal discipline is being upheld at all times.
“If they (police) caught them and they have violations, they have should have charged them immediately. Then, it also involves expensive possesions and a big amount money. This is why I immediately summoned the CIDG director if they have records of the operation. The CIDG director's action is swift about this matter and I also told the Chief PNP (Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr.) about this. He immediately ordered a probe and if there is a lapse on the part of our police officers, they are going to be charged,” he explained
13 CIDG Officers have been sacked for extortion.
