It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/13/over-500-metro-manila-cops-dismissed-800-more-punished-in-intensified-ncrpo-internal-cleansing |
More than 500 Metro Manila policemen were dismissed from the service while at least 800 more were punished since July last year as the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) stepped up its internal cleansing against erring cops.
NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr. said the policemen who were punished were slapped with various administrative charges, and those who were kicked out of the police service were facing serious offenses that warranted their dismissal.
Right now, Nartatez said he has already ordered to speed up the review of more than 4,000 documents pertaining to the administrative charges of other policemen slapped with administrative cases.
“There are more than 4,000 documents of administrative proceedings that remain pending, meaning there is no certificate of finality and therefore remain to be enforced,’ said Nartatez.
He said they are eyeing to resolve all those cases within two to three months.
The statement came amid the involvement of several policemen in various illegal activities, the recent was a police colonel who was arrested for carnapping in connection with a rented vehicle that was being sold in Parañaque City.
Nartatez said there is a need to focus on the reward and punishment in the NCRPO as part of the efforts to professionalize the organization.
“As commanders, we are responsible for the accomplishments and failures of a unit. We are responsible for what they do and what they fail to do,” said Nartatez.
More than 500 Metro Manila policemen were dismissed from the service while at least 800 more were punished since July last year.
A total of 26 personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) had been dismissed from the service since October 2022 for grave misconduct and gross negligence in the performance of their duties.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. on Thursday, June 13, said he will continue the internal cleansing of the bureau while he remains director general.
In a statement, BuCor said that ”there are 71 personnel being investigated by the bureau's Internal Affairs Office while 35 uniformed and one non uniform personnel are being investigated by the Intelligence and Investigation Division for various allegations and offenses.”
But BuCor said that Catapang is also determined to reward with promotions personnel who have been doing good in their jobs.
“We will continue to promote deserving personnel, and we will continue to recruit new blood and rest assured that as long as I am the Director General, I will continue to reform the bureau until everything is put in order,” Catapang said.
A total of 129 personnel had been promoted. Those promoted were with the rank of corrections chief superintendent, corrections superintendent, corrections technical chief inspectors, corrections chief inspectors, corrections senior officers IV, corrections officers II, corrections technical officers II and non-uniformed personnel.
A total of 26 personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) had been dismissed from the service since October 2022 for grave misconduct and gross negligence in the performance of their duties.
A village official of Maguindanao del Sur died on the spot in a gun attack in Pagatin village of Datu Salibo town around 11 a.m. on Thursday, a police official said.
Colonel Roel Sermese, Maguindanao del Sur police director, identified the victim as Mama Buat, village chief of Barangay Buayan in Datu Salibo.
According to Lieutenant Victor Lim, Datu Salibo police chief, the victim had just arrived at his son’s residence when two unknown assailants aboard a gray minivan, armed with unidentified firearms, shot him several times.
“He (just) attended a meeting at the town hall, about 300 meters from the crime scene, when gunned down by the suspects,” Lim said.
Buat succumbed to death due to several gunshot wounds in different parts of his body.
Pagatin village is about 10 kilometers away from Barangay Buayan.
Lim said that the family of Buat is still reluctant to provide information about the incident.
Police found 17 fired bullets in the crime scene.
A village official in Maguindanao del Sur has been assassinated.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1951739/cops-in-quiboloy-arrest-try-relieved-from-posts |
Several police personnel, including three officials, have been relieved from their posts as the Philippine National Police (PNP) investigates the alleged violations during the serving of an arrest warrant against fugitive televangelist Apollo Quiboloy.
Speaking to reporters on Friday at Camp Crame in Quezon City, PNP spokesperson Police Col. Jean Fajardo said the officials who were part of the police team that attempted to serve the warrant against Quiboloy were administratively relieved from their posts.
Fajardo identified the officials as Police Regional Office 11 director Police Brig. Gen. Aligre Martinez, PNP Directorate for Operations head Police Maj. Gen. Ronald Lee, and Intelligence Group Director Police Col. Edwin Portento.
She added that nine members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, two from the Special Action Force, and one from the Traffic Enforcement Unit were also relieved.
“They were administratively relieved to give way for the investigation that we will conduct to determine if there were lapses, excessive force, or if there was negligence of supervision,” she said.
According to Fajardo, the probe would allow the PNP to assess what really happened during the June 10 attempt by the police to arrest Quiboloy on charges of human trafficking and sexual abuse.
Several police personnel, including three officials, have been relieved from their posts as the Philippine National Police investigates the alleged violations during the serving of an arrest warrant against fugitive televangelist Apollo Quiboloy.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1226944 |
Criminal and administrative charges have been filed before the Office of the Ombudsman in Davao City against two village officials involved in the deduction of PHP8,500 from the PHP10,000 worth of aid given to a pregnant beneficiary on June 6.
In a Friday news release, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that its Field Office-11 (Davao Region) assisted Anne Villarin in the filing of charges against the Barangay Sinawilan chief and a councilor in Matanao, Davao del Sur.
The two officials admitted in a video interview with Brigada News FM Davao to giving only PHP1,500 to the pregnant beneficiary, distributed in Digos City under the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fishermen and their Families.
“Our office has also provided Mrs. Villarin with an additional PHP8,500 because she refused to accept the money being returned by the barangay officials after the post went viral,” Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group and DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said.
Based on the instruction of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian, a complaint affidavit was jointly executed by Villarin and DSWD FO-11 Regional Director Vanessa Goc-ong, a lawyer, on behalf of the Department.
The formal complaint was submitted to the Ombudsman in the Davao Region, together with the affidavit of witnesses and authentication executed by the Brigada News FM Davao reporter and Field Office-11’s legal assistant.
“As guaranteed by Secretary Gatchalian, the barangay officials will be held accountable and be given the harshest action. We will also ensure to maintain an open communication with Mrs. Villarin throughout the pendency of the case and to assist her as she nears the end-stage of her pregnancy,” Dumlao assured.
She emphasized that DSWD cash aids are for the beneficiaries alone, and nobody, not even government officials, should take a cut.
Criminal and administrative charges have been filed against two village officials who deducted and pocketed money from a pregnant beneficiary.
A laborer was gunned down and a barangay chairman and his two siblings were wounded while on their way to a court hearing in this town on Friday.Police identified the victim as construction worker Demy Peralta, a resident of Barangay Calot here.
Peralta was onboard a van driven by his brother-in-law Barangay Calot Chairman Robert Bio with his brothers Benson and Raymart when they were shot in Sitio Silag, Barangay Calot, at about 7 a.m.
Peralta died from multiple bullet wounds and the Bios sustained bullet wounds and were taken to a hospital.
Police recovered empty bullet shells from the crime scene.
A barangay chariman survived an assassination attempt.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1227027 |
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) operatives on Sunday arrested a cop in a drug buy-bust operation in Parañaque City.
NCRPO Director Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. identified the suspect as Cpl. Neil Bagunu, 31, presently assigned at the National Police Training Institute (NPTI).
He was arrested in Purok-2 Formost Street in Barangay BF Homes, Parañaque City after receiving the marked and boodle money from a poseur buyer as payment for shabu at around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
Nartatez said the operatives seized drug paraphernalia worth PHP136,000 and a .45- caliber pistol.
The cop, he said, was brought to the Paranaque Police Station to face criminal and administrative charges.
He said over 500 policemen in Metro Manila have been dismissed from the service as part of the NCRPO’s internal cleansing since July last year.
A cop has been arrested for drugs.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1951945/makati-suspends-barangay-magallanes-chair |
The Makati City Council has unanimously passed a resolution suspending for 12 months Barangay Magallanes Chair Jose Mari A. Alzona for abusing his authority when he withheld the salaries of two barangay workers without due process.
In City Resolution No. 2024-048, the council suspended Alzona for improperly withholding the salaries of administrative aides Sarah Jane M. Cama and Robert P. Sunga without proper notice and without seeking an explanation for absences.
The two cases were consolidated and the council’s Committee on Laws, Rules, and Ethics held a hearing where evidence was submitted and testimonies were heard from the two complainants and the respondent. Following the hearing, the committee recommended Alzona’s 12-month suspension and the council passed the resolution on June 5.
The suspension is set to take effect on June 20.
A baranagay chairman has been suspended for abusing his authority when he withheld the salaries of two barangay workers without due process.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/18/2363760/caloocan-court-finds-four-police-guilty-drug-war-killings |
Four Philippine policemen were found guilty Tuesday of killing a father and son, court officials said, in a rare case of law enforcement officers being prosecuted for taking part in former president Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug war.
The low-ranking officers were all sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for the shooting deaths of the two victims at a Manila slum during an anti-drug police operation in 2016, Manila regional trial court judge Rowena Alejandria said in her written verdict that was read in court Tuesday.
"It must be worthy to note that the accused themselves did not deny their presence and participation in the police operation conducted, the same event where the victims Luis and Gabriel were killed," Alejandria wrote.
Luis Bonifacio was 45 and his son Gabriel Bonifacio was 19 when they were killed.
Manila policemen Virgilio Cervantes, Arnel de Guzman, Johnston Alacre and Artemio Saguros, who attended the court session wearing their blue police uniforms, were also ordered to pay 400,000 pesos ($6,820) each in damages to the victims' heirs.
The family has alleged more than a dozen police officers took part in the nighttime raid at the northern Manila slum community.
The family insisted the two were not involved in drugs and were unarmed when police opened fire.
The defendants pleaded self-defence, alleging the suspects were armed and had shot at them.
But state prosecutors went with the lesser charge of homicide against only four officers, instead of murder, which involves deliberate intent to kill and which carries a heavier penalty.
Four PNP officers have been foudn guily of homicide during the drug war.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/18/coa-flags-malabon-city-over-p2-18-b-unreliable-year-end-cash-in-bank-balance |
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Malabon City government over its P2.183 billion "unreliable" year-end balance of Cash in Bank (CIB) and the P4.265 billion Property, Plant, and Equipment (PPE) accounts.
In letter to Malabon City Mayor Jeannie N. Sandoval, COA said: "The accuracy, existence and validity of the year-end balance of the CIB account totaling P2.183 billion was unreliable due to the noted discrepancies of P392.859 million and (P24.877 million) when compared with the balances per cashbook and per bank confirmation, respectively."
The letter dated May 16, 2024 was sent to Mayor Sandoval by Atty. Maria Carmina Paulita B. Juguilon Pagayawan, director IV of COA.
In its letter which summarized the annual audit report for 2023, COA said the "unreliable" balance was attributable to the absence of reconciliation between the subsidiary ledger (SL) and cashbook and the "significant delay" of the city government in the preparation and submission of the Bank Reconciliation Statement (BRS), which it said was contrary to Section 74, Chapter 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1445, Section 181.c of Government Accounting and Auditing Manual (GAAM), Volume I, and COA Circular No. 96-011.
COA has asked Sandoval to direct the City Accounting Department (CAD) to properly document and adjust in the books the derecognition of three bank accounts declared as closed by the Philippine National Bank (PNB).
Moving forward, Malabon's CAD has been asked to regularly prepare and submit the BRS to COA within the prescribed period.
As for the City Treasury Department (CTD), COA said CTD should record in the cashbook the two bank accounts maintained with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) with a combined book balance of P1,087,657.71 and recognize in the cashbook the time deposit maintained with the same bank amounting to P1,547,535.39.
At the same time, COA questioned the "unreliable" year-end balance of the city's PPE accounts amounting to P4.265 billion. One concern was the "lumped" PPE items, which were described as "Beginning Balances" and without appropriate description amounting to P37.638 million, it said
Another issue cited by COA were the PPEs inclusion in the Report on the Physical Count of PPE (RPCPPE) but not recognized in the books of accounts, as well as the PPEs taken up in the books but not in the RPCPPE in the amounts of P56.859 million and P554.116 million, respectively.
It said its auditors wondered why the RPCPPE included 41 units of PPE items without costs and 36 units of missing properties worth P4.473 million, which resulted in the "unreconciled discrepancy" of P497.258 million between the accounting records and the inventory report.
It then tasked the CAD to determine the composition and details of the PPE items lumped and recorded as Beginning Balances and without appropriate description.
The Inventory Committee, on the other hand, needs to establish the costs of the 41 units of PPE items while the City General Services Department (CGSD) needs to verify whether the missing PPE were disposed of or transferred to other government agencies, it said.
The Commission on Audit has flagged the Malabon City government over its P2.183 billion "unreliable" year-end balance of Cash in Bank and the P4.265 billion Property, Plant, and Equipment accounts.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/18/pcg-personnel-faces-dismissal-after-firing-gun-at-drinking-spree-in-manila |
An enlisted personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is in danger of losing his job after allegedly firing his service gun indiscriminately while on a drinking session with his buddies in Manila before dawn Tuesday, June 18.
PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo identified the erring personnel as Apprentice Seaman (ASN) Christopher Busilan. He hails from Solana, Cagayan but is currently residing in Port Area, Manila.
Busilan was arrested by elements of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) after he allegedly fired a gun while drinking alcohol with a group of men along R. Papa Street around 1 a.m.
The NCRPO notified the PCG National Headquarters about the incident.
“CG ASN Busilan initially denied the incident and later admitted he was the one who fired the gun,” Balilo said.
Balilo said that PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan does not condone illegal activities of coast guard personnel.
Accordingly, Gavan directed the Coast Guard Inspector General and Internal Affairs Service (CGIG-IAS) to conduct a parallel investigation regarding the incident for appropriate administrative measures.
If proven guilty, Busilan “will be dishonorably discharged from the Coast Guard service,” Balilo noted.
Aside from that, Busilan also faces charges for violation of the Republic Act (RA) No. 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act and illegal discharge of firearm.
An enlisted personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is in danger of losing his job after allegedly firing his service gun indiscriminately while on a drinking session with his buddies in Manila before dawn Tuesday, June 18.
Still unidentified gunmen killed a barangay worker here while he was having lunch on Monday, June 17.
Police in Mambaling confirmed a shooting incident that took place in Brgy. Duljo Fatima that claimed the life of a 44-year-old man.
The victim was identified as Edward Abayan, 44, a resident of Alaska Mambaling who also worked as an administrative staff for the same barangay.
According to witnesses, Abayan was eating inside a carenderia along Spolarium Street in Brgy. Duljo Fatima around 1 p.m. on Monday when a man approached him and then fired his gun towards the victim.
He was declared dead on the spot.
Investigators continue to determine the identity of the suspects and possible motives behind the fatal shooting.
A barangay worker has been assassinated on his lunch break.
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| https://mindanaotimes.com.ph/eastmincom-denies-us-troop-presence-in-davao-city/ |
A policeman assigned to the Morong, Rizal Police is now under investigation after pulling out a gun on another motorist he had an altercation with along the zigzag area in the town of Teresa heading to Antipolo on Tuesday, June 18.
In a now viral video of Willy Ruiz, a motorcycle rider who identified himself as a police officer, was seen telling the latter to get out of his vehicle with a gun on his hand. The rider told Ruiz that he had allegedly cut his way up the mountain, prompting him to chase the victim.
The rider's motorcycle had no license plate.
According to Rizal Governor Nina Ynares, she had already seen the video of the incident and immediately coordinated with Rizal Police Provincial Office (Rizal PPO) Provincial Director Col. Felipe Maraggun to determine if the gun-toting man is indeed a police officer.
"I have already coordinated with Rizal PNP Provincial Director PCol. Felipe Maraggun to verify and identify the alleged policeman involved in the road rage incident. After a few hours, he confirmed to us that the rider is indeed a PNP personnel assigned to the town of Morong," Ynares said on Wednesday, June 19.
Maraggun assured the governor that the Rizal PPO will investigate the incident and make the policeman liable for his action.
"We are extremely condoning these kinds of incidents. We will make sure to keep an eye on the police's investigation and impose the appropriate punishment on the policeman," Ynares stressed.
A cop has been caught on camera threatening a motorist with his gun.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/20/article-2419 |
A dismissed police major was arrested by members of the Las Piñas Police Station Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) after he yielded suspected shabu an a gun during a buy-bust operation last Tuesday, June 18.
Las Piñas police chief Col. Sandro Taffala, identified the suspect as ex-Major Reynante Ibon, 54, a resident of Batangas City.
Tafalla said Ibon, who included in police gallery of high value individual (HVI), was nabbed at around 12:20 a.m. at the corner of Saging and Strawberry Streets in Barangay CAA, Las Piñas City.
He said confiscated from the suspect were 15 grams shabu placed in seven plastic sachets worth P102,000, one blue rubber pouch, a white Nissan X-rail with plate number ZRU718, and a cellular phone.
The city police chief said SDEU operatives also confiscated from the suspect one .45-caliber pistol with four rounds of ammunition.
Tafalla said Ibon along with the confiscated shabu was brought to the Southern Police District (SPD) Forensic Unit for drug testing, while the confiscated gun was turned over to the SPD Crime Laboratory for ballistic examination.
Police investigators are also conducting firearms verification to determine the registered owner of the gun.
Tafalla said charges for violation of Section 5 and 11, Article II of Republic Act (RA) 9165 (The Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2022) and RA 10591 (The Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunitions Regulation Act) were filed at the Las Piñas City Prosecutor's Office against the suspect.
A dismissed police major was arrested by members of the Las Piñas Police Station Drug Enforcement Unit after he yielded suspected shabu an a gun during a buy-bust operation last Tuesday, June 18.
