It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
A village councilor in Irosin town in Sorsogon was shot and killed on Thursday morning, police said.
Police Staff Sergeant Eugene Equipado, chief investigator of Irosin police, said Shyrma Medel, 38, resident of Barangay (village) Bulawan, was shot by still unidentified assailants in Barangay Gabao at around 8:20 a.m.
Initial investigation said Medel was driving his tricycle with his wife, who was not identified in the report, as a passenger along Maharlika Highway when the incident happened.
The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds on his body that resulted in his instant death, while his wife was unharmed.
A village councilor was assassinated by unknown men for unknown reasons.
State auditors flagged the unnecessary hiring of consultants by the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) that led to additional cost of over ₱3 million.
In its 2021 audit report, the Commission on Audit noted the NAPC hired a total of 13 consultants -- six for legal, four for media, and one each for financial, gender and development/indigenous people, and economic affairs.
COA said upon reviewing the tasks and functions, and accomplishments of these personnel, hiring of such is not essential or redundant.
NAPC also hired professionals who have tasks and functions that were not aligned to its mandate, the state auditing firm said.
One example provided was having a financial consultant that was seen redundant since such has the same functions as the commission’s AFMS- Financial Unit and Internal Audit Unit, state auditors noted.
It is also unnecessary since NAPC is not into investing, COA added.
“Hiring of unnecessary consultants resulted in the incurrence of additional expenditures totaling ₱3,398,636.36 which is considered not essential and which can be dispensed with without loss or damage to property,” COA said, adding that this could have been avoided had the management properly assessed whether the hiring is needed.
The state auditors recommended to the NAPC to stop hiring consultants with redundant functions. The latter said this will be disseminated to its different offices that require future consultant services.
COA also called out NAPC hiring of consultants that did not undergo posting requirements to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System that is contrary to the provisions of the Government Procurement Policy Board.
“Hiring of consultants were not done through competitive bidding as individually checked through their Procurement Monitoring Report for CY 2021,” COA said. “No documents were also provided evidencing the procurement of such consultants under alternative method upon confirmation with Bids and Wards Committee.”
The audit report noted that the total budget of NAPC for consultancy services was only ₱300,000 last year, but total disbursements reached ₱8,219,636.
NAPC was told to strictly comply with the requirements of the law and to strictly observe its budget and ensure that disbursements do not exceed the allocation.
The National Anti-Poverty Commission has been flagged by the COA for hiring unnecessary consultants.
A councilor in Barangay Bulawan in Irosin town, Sorsogon died after being shot while driving a tricycle Thursday morning.
The victim, identified as barangay councilor Shyrman Medel, 38, sustained gunshot wounds to the head and various parts of his body.
The victim's wife, who was sitting inside the tricycle, survived the shooting.
During the initial police investigation, the couple was on their way to Sorsogon City when the shooting happened.
Police are still investigating the alleged four unidentified culprits behind the shooting and the motive for the crime.
Aside from being a barangay councilor, the victim was also riding a tricycle, according to police.
A barangay councilor was assassinated by unknown men for unknown reasons.
An Army official with a rank of major was shot dead and another soldier, a sargeant, was wounded in a shooting incident at Camp Weene Martillana in Pili town in Camarines Sur province on Saturday morning, June 18.
Maj. John Paul Belleza, the Army’s 9th Infantry Division public affairs office chief, told Inquirer in a text message that the incident transpired at the satellite finance unit of the camp at around 1:30 a.m.
The suspect, who was an Army captain, also died when he allegedly shot himself inside the camp after shooting his fellow soldiers.
A solider killed his comrade and then himself.
The Court of Appeals (CA) convicted a former village chief in Manila for illegal possession of firearms during the election gun ban in 2004.
The CA on June 13 said there is “no compelling reason” to reconsider its Jan. 25, 2021 ruling that sentenced Guillermo Dadios, former chair of Barangay 187, Zone 17 in Obrero, Tondo, to up to two years imprisonment.
The original CA decision affirmed the October 2018 verdict of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 10, which also disqualified Dadios from holding public office and exercising his right to suffrage.
The Manila court similarly ordered the forfeiture to the government of the firearm, a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.
On March 3, 2004 which was covered by the election gun ban, Dadios responded to a commotion at the corner of R. Papa and F. Aguilar Streets where a man was mauled following a traffic altercation.
Dadios joined the group in harming the man and fired his revolver when police officers arrived.
Dadios denied firing shots and said he usually leaves his gun at his office. He admitted though that he did not apply for exemption, contrary to his earlier pronouncement when arrested.
In convicting Dadios, the court noted several witnesses, including the mother of the man mauled and responding policemen, who testified that he brandished and fired his firearm in public.
The Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Barangay captain for violating a gun ban.
A village councilor was shot and killed on Monday, June 20, in a coastal area in Baleno town in Masbate, the police said in a belated report on Tuesday.
Police Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib, Bicol cop spokesperson, said Romnick Drio, 33, was sleeping inside their compound when two unidentified men approached and shot him around 2:30 p.m. several times in Barangay Obongan-Diot. Drio died instantly.
The police recovered three fired cartridge cases for caliber .45, five for 7.62mm, and 27 for 5.56mm guns.
The report said police were investigating the incident for the arrests of at least 12 suspected New People’s Army members involved in the killing.
A village councilor was assassinated by unknown men for unknown reasons. It might have been the NPA.
A village chairperson escaped a slay try in an ambush staged by still unidentified gunmen in Maguindanao’s town of Ampatuan, a police official said Tuesday.
Lt. Reynaldo Samson, Ampatuan town police chief, said Chairperson Zoraida Mamaluba of Barangay Kamasi had just alighted from her Mitsubishi Montero Monday afternoon when her vehicle was fired upon by the gunmen in a drive-by fashion.
“She is safe, she was not in the car when it was ambushed a few meters from her home,” Samson said.
Saudi Zacaria Dimaliba, the village chair’s driver, was slightly injured with broken windshield pieces after he accidentally stepped on the vehicle’s gas pedal and hit an electric post during the barrage of gunfire.
A barangay utility worker, Dolce Montery Mambantawan, who was in Mamaluba’s vehicle, also escaped unscathed.
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Samson said an investigation is ongoing to determine the motive behind the incident.
“We would like to find if this ambush incident has something to do with the cases that she (Mamaluba) resolved in the barangay court,” he said.
A village executive has survived an assassination attempt.
The Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation of Butuan City condemned Wednesday the killing of a colleague as they seek a speedy investigation to render justice to the family of the victim.
Nelbert Mancao Gacosta, 27, the SK chairperson of Barangay Lumbocan, was gunned down by an unidentified assailant at 9:40 p.m. Tuesday in Barangay Masao here.
“The untimely death of Mr. Gacosta reflects the horrible reality of our society where injustice and evil reign,” the SK Federation said in a statement.
The group also expressed “deep regret” for the passing of their fellow youth leader and demanded “immediate justice for Nelbert.”
A police report said the victim succumbed to five gunshot wounds in the upper right back of his body.
He was pronounced dead at around 10:07 p.m. Tuesday by an attending physician at the Agusan del Norte Provincial Hospital.
An SK chairperson was gunned down by unknown men for unknown reasons.
A 63-year-old village councilor survived a gun attack in Barangay Malabon Kaingin here on Monday (June 20) evening, police said.
Investigators identified the victim as Marianito Herminigildo, a resident of Malabon Kaingin.
Herminigildo was driving an electric bike and was on his way home from his farm when he was attacked by assailants on a motorcycle using a .9mm-caliber pistol.
The victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds, including a bullet piercing his face. The man is currently in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
Another village councilor survived an assassination attempt.
A police station commander and a jailer on-duty are now under investigation by the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) following the escape of three detainees under their watch.
DCPO spokesperson, Capt. Ma. Teresita Gaspan, identified those relieved from their posts as Maj. Alberto Abella, the Sasa police station commander, and Master Sgt. Roger Babao, the station’s on-duty jailer.
“They are now placed under careful watch while temporarily assigned to do administrative work. We are investigating whether they have involvements in the matter,” Gaspan said in a press briefing Wednesday.
Abella was replaced by Major Jose Rodrigo Mendoza in a turnover ceremony on June 20.
Gaspan said the two could be charged with administrative cases.
A police station commander and a jailer are under investigation because three inmates escaped on their watch.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for the supposed slow utilization of funds intended for the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
In its audit report for 2021, COA said the OCD’s slow construction of quarantine and isolation facilities in various local government units (LGUs) “deprived the intended beneficiaries of the needed facilities” to curb the spread of the virus.
State auditors said the implementing agency has received P4.5 billion under Republic Act (RA) No. 1194 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act for the construction and maintenance of isolation facilities.
In compliance with the law, the OCD transferred over P713.529 million across 24 LGUs in six regions, of which P335.293M was allocated for the operational requirements of two LGUs, while the remaining P378.235 million was intended for the construction of isolation facilities in 22 LGUs.
However, according to COA, Only four of the 22 LGUs completed the construction of the isolation facilities.
“The non-completion of these isolation facilities within the target completion date deprived the intended beneficiaries of the needed facilities to curtail the spread of the virus during the pandemic,” said COA.
“Moreover, failure of the LGUs to complete the construction within the deadline will result in the termination as provided under Section 4 of RA 1159 or the ‘Extending the Availability of the Appropriations under RA 11494’,” it added.
The audit agency, however, pointed out that the OCD has “deliberately made consistent efforts to ensure the timely implementation of the program and projects through the issuance of various memoranda which clearly set clear guidelines and conditions including the validity of funds for all recipient LGUs to be guided properly.”
For his part, OCD Administrator Ricardo Jalad said the COVID-19 funds are “demand-driven.”
Since the budget was allocated for the utilities and maintenance of COVID-19 facilities as well as for the basic needs of healthcare workers, Jalad said “it cannot be spent on other expenses.”
“If these requirements are meant, there’s no need for additional expenses. if these quarantine facilities will have a reduction in occupancy, there will be a reduction in expenses,” he said in an interview on ANC.
He said the slow implementation of funds is due to the late downloading of funds. He added that some of their personnel were also hit by COVID-19.
Despite the unused funds, Jalad said the OCD received an Unqualified Opinion from COA. The Unqualified Opinion is the highest finding bestowed on post-audit.
The Office of Civil Defense has been flagged for the slow utilization of funds.
