Hi, my name is...6

I suppose this feature has morphed into a regular rogue's gallery featuring grisly crimes and depraved criminals one would never want to meet. Nevertheless say Hello!

Hi, my name is Reynante Otero. I won't lie, I'm a bad man. A robber. A notorious robber even part of a band of highway robbers. I've been in and out of jail on robbery and weapons charges. Everyone knows who I am. Well someone got tired of my antics and they kidnapped me, tied my hands behind my back with my belt, covered my face with a cloth, then tied a rope around my neck and shoved my off a bridge to hang to death. Oh and they shot me a few times for good measure. They also wrote a sign and attached it me: “ayaw ko ninyo sunda tulisan ko (do not follow me. I am a robber).” No more robberies for me!

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/22/salvage-victim-hung-from-bridge-in-talisay-city/

Hi, my name is Dominico Servandel. I am a security guard. I work the night shift at a gas station. It's not very busy at night which means I have some time to get a little shut eye. I mean it just happens really. When you are sitting down in a chair in the cool night air and yawn a few times...boom! out like like a light. This time it really was BOOM! when a couple of robbers showed up while I was asleep.

One of the suspects, later identified as Reymark Pumatong, 27, allegedly took Servandel’s service firearm, a shotgun, and shot Servandel in the head, killing him instantly. The other suspect was identified as Bernie Doldol, 28. 

Axcel Rose Gemino, 25, cashier at the Phoenix station, was hit in the face. She was brought to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center for treatment. 

Police said the suspects took off with P25,000 from the station’s cash register.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1144372/guard-shot-in-the-head-cashier-wounded-during-armed-robbery-at-gasoline-station

Hi, my name is Anthony Trinidad. I am a lawyer who focuses on famers and activists. That's probably how my hame ended up on an anti-communist hit list. On July 23rd I had a court date in Guihulngan City. It's never safe there for me which is why I always ask the PNP for additional security when I do business there. It was on my home from a court hearing that a motorcycle creeped up on me and fired at the car and shot both me and my wife multiple times. I lost control of the vehicle and hit a pedicab driver before I crashed into the wall. They took me to the hospital but I was dead DOA. Now instead of defending the poor I am just another statistic. Another assassinated Filipino lawyer.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/236207-lawyer-anthony-trinidad-killed-negros-oriental-ambush-july-2019

Hi, my name is Sotero Manuguid Jr. I am a construction worker in Taguig City. One afternoon at about 3pm I saw a sweet little girl so I offered her some money to come with me to a vacant lot. Then I raped and choked the life out of her. She was dead so I stuffed her in a sack and ran. But it turns out she wasn't dead. She was able to get out of the sack and run home and tell her mom. Eventually they found me and now I am probably going to die in jail.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/702005/8-year-old-allegedly-raped-placed-in-sack-but-lives-to-tell-tale/story/

Hi, my name is Jamie Matthew Flanagan. One night after a heated argument with my girlfriend I woke from the couch to find that she had hung herself with 3 of my neckties. How awful and sad. Only whats really awful is the cops say I am the one who did it. I killed her. I deny the accusations of course. If I can make it through the legal process without dying perhaps I can prove my innocence. Even if it takes a few decades.

https://philippineslifestyle.com/australian-girlfriend-hanged-subic-murder/

Hi, my name is Roel Malagiño and I am a jeepney driver.  I am also the vice president of the local Stop and Go chapter. You remember us right? We are very much against jeepeny modernisation and phasing out. We even held a strike back in 2017. We cannot lose our livelihoods! Perhaps it is my activism that put a target on my back. Perhaps that is why I was shot dead on EDSA while driving my beloved jeepney.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145615/jeepney-driver-shot-dead-on-edsa

Hi, my name is  Nelson Siacor Torayno. I am a 32 year old Filipino and I love to have sex with children. Nobody pays me.  I just do it and then upload it to the "dark web" for fun.

“There is no evidence he may have benefited financially from this,” Marshall said. 

“You need to understand Mr. Torayno is a pedophile himself so there is an element of personal gratification from what he is doing,” he pointed out. 

Virtudazo also admitted that this is the first case the PNP encountered that no money was involved in the uploading of child porn. 

“This is the first case we have encountered na walang money (no money) involved, just sharing of child abuse materials in the dark web,” he said.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/25/europols-most-wanted-sexual-offender-arrested-pinoy-pedophile-did-it-not-for-the-money/

Yeah I am a sicko but who cares?  I had my fun.  And now I am famous.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/236280-europe-most-wanted-child-sex-offender-arrested-cebu-july-2019

Picture of the Week: Pinoy Ingenuity

We've all heard of Filipino ingenuity. When in need of a fix Pinoys can come up with a solution rather quickly.  Remember the tank with wooden armour during the Marwai siege? Popular Mechanics said of this quick fix:

The armor is well-meaning, but probably not up to the job. So could wood armor actually work?

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a26804/wooden-armor-tank-rockets/  

"Well meaning but probably not up to the job." That is an apt description of the Philippines' construction industry. It's also a very fitting description of this week's picture of the week.

Nice door handle! Why even bother buying a new handle or door when you can fashion a handle out of some wire? Forget about the fact that the door does not need a handle to function properly because it pushes open and does not have a latch. It's a door and it needs a handle no matter what. I bet the security guard thought up this contraption.

Retards in the Government 112

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics. 

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/19/1936037/pnp-files-sedition-raps-vs-leni-opposition-bishops

Police have filed sedition and other criminal complaints against Vice President Leni Robredo, several members of the Catholic clergy, all but one of the opposition senatorial candidates and other administration critics for their alleged role in making and spreading the six-part “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos. 

Aside from Robredo, also named in the complaint filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday afternoon were Senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros, and former senators Antonio Trillanes IV and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV. 

They were among the 35 respondents in the criminal complaint of sedition/inciting to sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa and harboring a criminal/obstruction of justice filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG)  represented by Lt. Col. Arnold Thomas Ibay. 

In a statement, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would form a panel of state prosecutors to hear the complaint and conduct requisite preliminary investigation.

The last sentence is the most important. What is tell us is that the PNP has NOT conducted an investigation to find out wether or not the accusations against all these people are true.  Instead they are taking the accusations at face value even though the one making them, the alleged Bikoy, has changed his story several times and is not a credible person. Just more drama which we will have to wait and see how it plays out.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1143439/7800-police-in-philippines-punished-for-deadly-drug-raids

Communications Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael Banaag told a news conference that 14,724 police were investigated for their involvement in police drug operations that led to deaths from July 2016 until last April. She said 7,867 of them received administrative punishments for unspecified lapses. 

A tally presented by Banaag showed that 2,367 police officers have been fired, 4,100 suspended while the rest were reprimanded, demoted, had their salaries forfeited or deprived of certain privileges. 

Banaag, however, did not say how many officers have been criminally charged for serious lapses or outright crimes committed while enforcing the crackdown, which was launched by President Rodrigo Duterte as his centerpiece program when he took office in mid-2016. 

The amount of cops criminally charged for actions during drug raids is probably to low to even mention. Right now all I can think of are the cops who were convicted of murdering Kian Delos Santos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1144476/house-obeys-duterte-elects-cayetano-as-speaker

The House of Representatives elected Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano as its Speaker on Monday in a win for President Rodrigo Duterte who has tightened his grip on the chamber dominated by pro-administration congressmen.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1144518/paolo-sara-duterte-to-respect-presidents-decision-on-house-leadership

President Rodrigo Duterte’s children will respect his decision on the House leadership, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte said Monday. 

“To respect the decision of the President,” Paolo said when asked what his sister and Davao Mayor Sara Duterte told him. 

Asked if there will be a coup against presumptive Speaker Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano in the coming days, Paolo did not answer directly and said: “Saan si congressman (Martin) Romualdez? Siya makasagot nyan.” 

In a short speech during Cayetano’s breakfast, Paolo also said the “Davao Coalition” in the House would respect the President’s stand on the speakership. 

“The Davao Coalition, we respect the decision of the President tutal magte-term sharing, ‘yun ‘yung napag-usapan nila. Pero sabi ko nga ‘yung term sharing nila is an agreement between them and the President,” he said.

Despite all this assertions to the contrary everyone knew the decision of House Speaker would be Duterte's. Now at least his children admit it if no one else will.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145138/coa-dost-fails-to-collect-p251m

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has failed to collect some P251 million from the beneficiaries of its flagship Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (Setup), meant to empower micro, small and medium enterprises, the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed. 

Under the program, qualified beneficiaries receive financial assistance, with the commitment to refund the money to the DOST once they start earning. 

However, in its annual audit report, the COA said that due to premature termination of some contracts, the DOST failed to collect millions meant to be returned to them, the COA said. 

But since the businesses of the beneficiaries were not very successful, this led to the DOST’s failure to collect, the COA said. 

“Other receivable balances pertaining to Setup projects include P461.150 million past due accounts for over one to 10 years, of which P251.040 million reported with uncollected refunds due to the inadequate/ineffective monitoring and evaluation on the viability of projects,” the COA said. 

“Termination of contract agreements by various beneficiaries was due to the following: weak market demand, health problems of the owners, internal conflicts with the organization, low sales and others which ultimately led to nonpayment of their obligation to the government,” the COA said. 

The audit body also flagged the “lax enforcement” of the provisions of the memorandum of agreement between the DOST and the beneficiaries as another factor for the millions of pesos which remain uncollected.

Perhaps the government should not be in the business of financing small businesses. Funny how the government touts the strength of the economy and business climate but small business entrepreneurs aren't doing so well even with the assistance of the government.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145423/negros-oriental-village-chairman-dies-after-allegedly-drinking-pesticide

The chairman of Barangay Mabato in Ayungon, Negros Oriental died Tuesday after allegedly drinking pesticide, days after he was invited for questioning over the murder of four police officers on July 18. 

Col. Raul Tacaca, provincial director of Negros Oriental police, told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview that Sunny Calderon died at around 11 a.m. in a hospital in Dumaguete City. 

Tacaca confirmed Calderon was being investigated on the murder of intelligence officers, reportedly perpetrated by the communist New People’s Army. 

The police official, however, said investigators have yet to confirm Calderon’s motive for his alleged suicide or if he had any involvement in the ambush of four officers. 

The four officers were believed to be ambushed, then dragged, beaten up, hogtied, and buttstroked by several armed men on their way to the house of a supposed contact to confirm reports of alleged presence of NPA fighters in the area.

His suicide basically an admission of guilt. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145084/duterte-im-willing-to-be-jailed-for-ejks-if-theres-unlimited-conjugal-visits

In his fourth State of the Nation Address (Sona), Duterte, as if posing a challenge to critics, said: “Extrajudicial killings? Report to the ICC (International Criminal Court)? Go ahead. As long as I have a comfortable cell.” 

“It should be heated during wintertime, installed with air-conditioning during the hot weather,” he added. 

Further, the President suggested, “And conjugal visits, unlimited. Para we can understand each other,” drawing chuckles from his Sona audience of lawmakers, Cabinet Secretaries, celebrities, and dignitaries at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday.

Nothing new here really. Making light of EJKs with a sexual joke and getting laughs from the audience composed of those who run the government. 

https://www.rappler.com/nation/236051-duterte-sexist-remarks-sona-2019

Fresh from Malacañang's announcement of his signing the Bawal Bastos or Safe Spaces Act, President Rodrigo Duterte let forth sexist remarks in no less than his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA). 

During his July 22 speech, Duterte made 3 remarks that objectified women, sexualized them, or stripped them of self-determination – definitions of sexist remarks.

Rappler wants us to know that Duterte has violated a law he recently signed into being. But the real problem here is that he makes these comments all the time. Perhaps he should get a speech writer especially for the SONA which is arguably the most important speech of the year which is to tell the nation what is going on. Who cares if he had a stinky girlfriend at one time?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145443/ex-cebu-city-mayor-osmena-says-he-just-restored-mayors-office-to-2016-state

It was a restoration and not demolition. 

This was how former Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña explained why he stripped his office bare before his term ended on June 30. 

On June 30, Labella was surprised to find the mayor’s office stripped to its raw concrete floor. 

The glass dividers were gone along with the ceiling and some ceramic tiles. The kitchen tiles were also gone. 

All tiles in the washroom had also been removed. 

Bimbo Fernandez, then Osmeña’s executive assistant, said the former mayor owned the fixtures and furniture after he spent for office renovation as the council denied his budget request of P2 million. 

Now Osmeña is changing his story. Previously he only said he was taking back what was his. Now he is saying he was in the process of resorting the office but was stopped before it could be finished. But he never mention restoring the office before.  The bolded last sentence is very important as it shows us the way his mind is working. The city council denied a budget request to renovate his office so he used his own money to do the renovations therefore all the renovations belong to him. It's ludicrous but that's his claim.

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/22/swift-passage-of-death-penalty-bill-seen-after-president-dutertes-renewed-call/

President Duterte’s renewed call on Congress to pass a measure restoring the death penalty in the country would help ensure the swift passage of death penalty measures in both houses of Congress, one of the authors of the bill said Monday. 

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said Congress will unlikely turn down the request made by President Duterte during his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA). 

“It will hasten the deliberations of my proposal and may result to no objection,” he said in a text message. 

President Duterte called on Congress anew to reimpose the death penalty for heinous illegal drugs-related crimes and plunder, citing that illegal drugs and corruption remain to be the country’s problems. 

Barbers earlier filed House Bill 2026 seeking to reimpose the death penalty on certain heinous crimes. 

“Crimes disturb the order of society. The alarming rise of heinous crime in our country calls for the re-imposition of capital punishment. The death penalty is said to be the strongest deterrent society has against such crimes. It aims to restore order and adequately punishes criminals. The death penalty also serves as retribution for victims and their families,” he said. 

“Since the government has the highest interest in preventing heinous crime, it should use the strongest punishment available to deter unlawful acts—the death penalty. If criminals charged guilty of committing heinous crimes are sentenced to death and executed, potential criminals will think twice before committing crimes for fear of losing their own life,” Barbers pointed out.

With all his men in place Duterte can basically say what he wants and expect the proper legislation to follow. The problem with the death penal bill is it only allows death for drug related offences and not violent crimes qua violent crimes. Murder must be committed under the influence of drugs to qualify for the death penalty. At least that is how it was last time around when this was all debated.  I cannot find HB 2026 on the Barbers' Congressional profile online.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1815326/Tacloban/Local-News/Gunmen-attack-village-chairwoman-family-in-Leyte

UNIDENTIFIED gunmen chased and fired upon a vehicle loaded with a village chairwoman and members of her family, including children, in Jaro, Leyte on Sunday, July 21. 

Initial police investigation revealed that the victims were onboard a brown Suzuki Ertega headed to Tunga, Leyte from Tacloban City when the gunmen chased their vehicle and shot them. 

Police identified the victims as Leopoldo Po, 44, driver and businessman who sustained a gunshot wound in the head; Estrella Geraldo, 62, married, chairwoman of Barangay San Pedro, Tunga, who sustaindd a gunshot wound in the back portion of her body; Ailen Po, 40, married, a teacher, with gunshot wound in the head; and Rachel Cuña, 27, married, with gunshot wound in back portion of her body.

At least no one died but if the barangay chairwoman was the target then the assassins will likely try again.

https://globalnation.inquirer.net/178244/sotto-on-ph-china-fishing-deal-how-can-we-act-on-something-we-dont-have

But in a statement, Sotto said the Senate does not “practice motu propio ratification or repudiation on something not submitted to us.” 

The President’s appointed Foreign Affairs Secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr., had earlier said that the Duterte-Xi verbal fishing deal could not be enforced. 

“The verbal agreement cannot be enforced because it’s verbal, exactly as (Senator) Frank(lin) Drilon said that you need a document to prove an agreement. It’s just the way it is,” Locsin said in an interview last July 3. 

The foreign affairs chief also said that allowing China to fish in the country’s EEZ is “not policy.” 

But the stance of the two Cabinet secretaries differ from that of Duterte’s chief legal counsel and spokesman. 

For Secretary Salvador Panelo, the Duterte-Xi unwritten fishing pact was “legally binding.” 

“It’s legally binding… Alam mo, there are as many opinions as there are lawyers. It’s a free country. They interpret it that way, eh ‘di hayaan mo. Basta ako, kung ano ‘yung sinabi ni Presidente ‘yun na ‘yon,” Panelo previously told reporters at Malacañang.

Sotto is being disingenuous here. Of course there is an agreement. Duterte as said as much. Panelo says it is legally binding. Contrary to Locsin the Palace says allowing China to fish in the EEZ is policy. What Sotto should be doing is finding a way to hold the President accountable for his actions rather than throw up his arms and say we cannot do anything.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1815647/Pampanga/Local-News/Ex-cop-nabbed-for-criminal-activities

A former police officer was nabbed recently for his alleged involvement in various illegal activities during a drug bust launched in Porac town recently.  

The suspect was identified as Police Officer 1 Mark Anthony Gamit, who went on absence without official leave (Awol) from his service, and is included in the high-value targets’ list of the Porac Police Station. 

Confiscated from the suspects’ possession are five sachets of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, a fake firearm and hand grenade, the marked money used in the operation, as well as a police uniform. 

Further investigation revealed that Gamit was also involved in several other cases including robbery and extortion in the said municipality.

An AWOL cop involved in robbery, extortion, and drugs. A paragon of the PNP ethos.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145494/pacquiao-wants-firing-squad-for-drug-crimes-injection-for-plunder

Initially, Sen. Manny Pacquiao wanted the death penalty done by hanging, but now he would prefer capital punishment by firing squad or by lethal injection. 

The senator said on Tuesday that he would want a public firing squad execution of those convicted of drug-related crimes, while plunderers would get the lethal injection. 

“Kung sa droga siguro firing squad para makita ng tao na huwag tularan. Pag plunder, pwede na ring lethal injection,” Pacquiao told reporters in an interview. 

[If it’s a drug case, maybe it should be done by firing squad so that people would not do other same. For plunder, maybe lethal injection would do.]

Manny may not realise that death is death. Countries where the death penalty is enforced do not have various types of deaths for various crimes.  And as to the issue of lethal injection...

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1146105/pnp-chief-death-penalty-via-lethal-injection-is-enough

Death penalty through lethal injection is enough for drug-related and other heinous crimes, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde said Thursday. 

Albayalde, however, explained that the means for enforcing capital punishment will “depend on what the law will say.” 

“We are civilized people here so probably lethal injection would suffice,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel. 

His preference differs from that of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, his predecessor as PNP chief, who wants death penalty through a firing squad to instill fear among criminals. 

Albayalde stressed that enforcing capital punishment, aside from good law enforcement, will be a “good deterrent” against crimes.

The Philippines civilised? Sure, whatever. But aside from that the death penalty is not a deterrent, it is punitive and leah injection is not exactly humane.  It is painful if not administered correctly and the cocktail of drugs needed for the procedure are not being manufactured anymore which is why the USA is having a hard time administering lethal injections.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1146060/doh-keeping-expiring-drugs-supplies-worth-p367m-says-coa

Some P367 million worth of medicines and medical supplies being kept by the Department of Health (DOH) are set to expire or have already expired, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). 

In its annual audit report, the COA said that as of January 2018, the DOH had stored in warehouses medicines and medical supplies valued at P294.767 million and with expiry dates set 12 months later or earlier. 

Medicines worth P72.391 million had been distributed to regional offices and hospitals less than a year before the expiry dates. 

In its recommendations, the COA ordered the DOH to revisit its policies on determining which medicines are needed. 

Executives of the inventory committee and pharmacy division of the department were told to plan procurement based on “need, past consumption data, expiration, inventory balance and utilization of inventory items,” to prevent wastage of government funds.

It seems the DOH bought a lot of drugs they did not need and did not even distribute them properly. Now they are rotting away in storage.  What a waste.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1146008/go-files-resolution-congratulating-pacquiao-for-victory

Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go filed a resolution congratulating and commending Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao for defeating reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Welterweight Champion Keith Thurman jR. on Sunday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to claim the said title. 

“His victory is the victory of the whole nation,” Go said. “His life story, hard work and dedication to serve God and the people is an inspiration to all Filipinos.”

This happens after all of Pacquiao's victories but it's not any less stupid and pointless. Will any Senator ever file a resolution to investigate Marawi?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1146140/bikoys-statements-substantially-accurate-supported-by-evidence-pnp-chief

“Remember, the statements of Bikoy or Peter Joemel Advincula accordingly were substantially accurate because they are supported by other documentary evidence and other sources,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel. 

“That is according to the investigation conducted by the CIDG,” he explained, adding that those accused “will have their time in court.” 

But despite the filing of the cases, Albayalde said the PNP is not saying that it trusts Advincula and his claims. He said it is up to the court to decide on Advincula’s credibility.

“The filing [of cases] as I have said is already substantiated by evidence that necessitates [and] that would suffice for the conduct of preliminary investigation, and now the DOJ (Department of Justice) has the sole discretion on the case, not us to determine if the VP is involved,” Albayalde said. 

“I think since the start we already said that Bikoy has to support his allegations with evidence. That’s precisely what he did. He came out with this CPU, this computer, his laptop, and all other sources according to investigators,” the PNP chief said.

Read these statements closely. Albayalde says Bikoy is telling the truth and that the VP and all the other caused are basically guilty BUT then he says they don't necessarily trust him despite just saying his allegations are supported with evidence! 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1075992

A barangay captain and two employees of the Department of Education (DepEd) in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental were shot dead hours apart from each other early Thursday for still unknown motives. 

A report from the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO) identified the victims as Romeo Arbole Alipan, 64, married, the barangay captain of Buenavista, Guihulngan and a resident of Larena, Barangay Poblacion of the same city, and Arthur Cordevilla Bayawa, 55, single, school principal of Guihulngan Science High School and his younger sister, Ardale Cordevilla Bayawa, 49, single, CID chief of DepEd Division of Guihulngan and both residents of Barangay Hibaiyo of that northern city. 

Initial sketchy police reports said that at around 12:55 a.m., unidentified armed men forced their way inside the house of the Bayawa siblings by destroying the padlock of the main door and shot the two DepEd employees.

So just a few days ago a lawyer was assassinated in this same town and now a barangay captain and school principal and his sister have also been assassinated for unknown reasons by unknown people.

The Philippines' Culture of Fraud and Deceit

This week in stupid legislation: Senator Ralph Recto wants to pass a law giving lifetime validity to birth certificates.  The problem? They already have a lifetime validity!

https://www.rappler.com/nation/235851-recto-files-bill-birth-certificates-without-expiration

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has filed a bill seeking to give "lifetime validity" to birth certificates, his office said on Saturday, July 20. 

In filing the bill, Recto said he wanted to end the practice of government and private offices requiring applicants for documents, permits, services, or jobs, to provide recently issued birth certificates. 

Under the proposed bill, a "birth certificate certified and issued by the PSA [Philippine Statistics Authority] shall not expire and shall be considered valid at any time.”

He said to the credit of the PSA, “it has never been remiss in explaining that birth certificates it has issued have no expiry dates, but this assurance remains unheeded in many offices which continue to require that the submitted birth certificate was issued within the past 6 months." 

Recto said Filipinos shound not incur unnecessary expenses and go through the trouble of applying for a new birth certificate.  

(The birth certificate is not food or sardines that go bad. It's sad that so many offices require newly acquired birth certificates, which is another burden on applicants.) 

Only a law, said Recto, would stop “an unnecessary, expensive, and oppressive” requirement.

The senator also urged the government to persuade foreign embassies in the country to stop asking visa applicants for birth, marriage and other PSA-issued certificates issued only in the past 6 months.

Let's cut right to the heart of the matter. If procuring new birth certificates and marriage licenses and other documents every time one applies for a job or a passport or a visa or anything else where those documents are required is expensive and oppressive the only ones to blame are Filipinos themselves. In the Philippines there is a culture of fraud which permeates the entire nation. Ground Zero is Recto University in Manila.

http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/152690/recto-university-you-name-it-they-have-it/

From an ID card to a driver’s license, thesis paper, receipt, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) red ribbon, diploma or any other document, you can get it here. One can order these items for anywhere between P200 and P1,500 and collect it after two hours at most. But of course, it’s fake. 

Claro M. Recto Avenue, known as “Recto University,” is a one-stop shop not only for students in Metro Manila but also for those from the provinces who need documents for a job. 

A year-round bestseller is the Land Transportation Office (LTO) driver’s license, which costs P500. Joey explained that they already have blank IDs ready to be filled up, whether it be a university or government ID. 

Another popular item for sale in Joey’s stall is the fake diploma. A high-school diploma is worth P250, while a college diploma is worth P500 (larger diplomas from certain colleges cost more). 

When asked whether he has a copy of diplomas of every university in Metro Manila, he says confidently,  “Oo naman.” 

Moreover, Joey bragged, “Recto U” is not limited to the universities in Metro Manila. There also are copies of diplomas from schools as far as  Mindanao and Visayas, some of them not known to Manileños. 

While it seems like most items are overpriced, Joey confessed that the money is barely enough to support his family on a weekly basis. He simply acts as a runner, while the forgeries happen behind closed doors. He  gets his cut of the payment weekly (daily, if business is good). 

Moreover, the cops reportedly take a weekly cut from these payments, as well. 

“Minsan ang kinikita diyan nabibigay din sa mga police. Bawal maglagay diyan hangga’t hindi sila nabibigyan ng kotong,” he says. “Minsan zero pa isang araw, eh, walang nagpapagawa.” 

Their cut ranges from P40-P300 a week, depending on the weekly profit of the stall. 

Through the years, “Recto University” has existed and numerous raids have been conducted by the Manila Police District. Business is bad for about a week. Then people start “graduating” again from “Recto U.”

I have already written about Recto University and the culture of fraud it perpetuates so there is no need to do it again. No need to rehash what everyone knows. A quick Google search for "fake birth certificate Philippines" will quickly inform you of this matter if you are unaware of it.

Surely Senator Recto knows the problem is fraud and not that these documents expire. Surely he knows that government agencies and private businesses are only safeguarding themselves. Surely he knows that his bill will make fraud much more easy. So what is the point of his bill?  It's just a whitewash to make it appear red tape has been cut and the government is now working in the best interests of Filipinos. But preventing fraud is certainly in the best interest of Filipinos which is why recently issued documents are usually required.

Recto University is not the only place fraudulent documents can be obtained but it is the most famous. So when will new Manila Mayor Isko Moreno shut the place down? That will not be as easy as driving away vendors from the main streets because the cops get a big cut of the profits. Recto University is still in operation as just a few days ago 22 forgers were arrested.

https://journal.com.ph/news/metro/22-forgers-nabbed-recto-university-raid

AGENTS of the National Capital Region Police Office yesterday raided several known fake diploma mills known as “Recto University” in Sta. Cruz, Manila, and arrested 22 persons for  manufacturing  counterfeit public documents. 

NCRPO director Major General Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar said the suspects were found either owning or maintaining stalls and other establishments along the stretch of Quezon Boulevard in Sta. Cruz which are known for producing fake diplomas, transcript of records, Voter’s ID, driver’s license, passport, birth certificates and Social Security System IDs. 

Eleazar said he ordered the raid following of persistent complaints about the presence of document counterfeiters that openly ply their trade between Claro M. Recto and Rizal Avenue in Sta. Cruz, Manila. 

He said anyone can acquire fake diplomas for P500 or more depending on the type of university. The suspects can also manufacture counterfeit passports provided they have the original. 

The presence of these ‘fake diploma mills’ have also prompted calls for new Manila Mayor Isko Moreno to order an honest-to-goodness campaign in the area.

Leave it to Senator Recto to whitewash the problem, exemplified by Recto University, as one of inconvenience rather than as one of fraud.

Here's a case of fraud and deceit that has to do with drugs.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1145584/nbi-agents-seize-p2m-meds-sold-in-sari-sari-store-in-iligan-city

Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), raided a sari-sari store in Purok 9, Barangay Palao here around 5 p.m. Monday, July 22, and seized various medicines worth around P 2 million. 

The store was owned by a certain Florencia Hinampas, who has been selling medicine samples and prescription drugs for about four years already, according to lawyer Abdul Jamal Dimaporo, NBI-Iligan head. 

Dimaporo said the operation stemmed from a request by courier company Air 21 to have its delivery personnel investigated for several instances of lost medicine shipment. 

The local franchisee of Air 21 has been facing numerous complaints from pharmaceutical distributors about missing shipments. This has alarmed Air 21 as its clients have refused to pay for the courier cost of the missing shipments. 

Ilian Macala, the franchise owner of Air 21 in Iligan, said he lost almost P500,000 from their clients who refuse to pay because the shipments were not delivered to them. 

One company, Boehringer Ingelhem (Philippines) Inc., complained about undelivered medicines for diabetes. 

Dimaporo said that the NBI was able to trace the missing shipments to Hinampas’ sari-sari store, sold to it by Air 21’s delivery personnel, 42-year old Jalil Bangcola. 

The said store has been selling prescription drugs and drug samples at prices lower than in pharmacies, Dimaporo added. 

After the raid, Bangcola admitted to two instances when he sold the medicines shipped through Air 21 to Hinampas, the first being sometime in March this year. 

He said the need to provide for his family pushed him to do the act. 

Hinampas admitted to being in the business of selling prescription drugs and medicine samples through her sari-sari store for four years now but said she did not know she is violating the law. 

During Monday’s raid, the store was manned by Hinampas’ nephew, Dindo Ebarle, who has attended to the store for some two years now. 

Ebarle revealed that the store’s supply of medicine samples come from medical representatives who offered him their horde of sample medicines, which he can sell at a competitively low price. 

He also confirmed to have transacted with Bangcola.

(These medicines for high blood, for diabetes, these antibiotics. These should be used based on the proper prescription so that these are not harmful to people. Many buy here without the required prescription from a doctor.)

For four years a sari-sari store has been illegally operating as a pharmacy selling sample medicines sold to them by medical representatives and also buying medicines twice from an Air 21 courier who stole them from customers rather than deliver them. The courier says he did this because he needed to provide for his family. Now he will not be able to provide for his family at all since he will be in jail and likely never able to obtain a job again.

How was this place able to operate for four years with impunity? Is it likely that no one in authority, the police or barangay officials, was aware that this sari-sari store was operating illegally as a pharmacy? With many buying there it is not likely. Possible but not likely. And what about the medical representatives? They are supposed to give those medicines to doctors and hospitals. By selling them cheaply to a sari-sari store they are guilty of fencing. How many other sari-sari stores are  illegally operating as pharmacies after buying fenced goods from medical representatives?

Allow me to end this article the same way I ended my previous article about Recto University.

"The foundations of this nation are rotten to the core. At surface level everything looks white and beautiful. But inside are dead men's bones and every sort of filth. A nation cannot be built on fraud. There must be trust. What kind of nation is it when you can't trust anyone and everything is a lie?"

Lechon!!!!

If you live in the Philippines or are visiting the Philippines then you either have or will inevitably be chowing down on lechon. It's the national food. Rice, Red Horse, and lechon. That's what Pinoys live on. But have you ever considered the process of how that tasty pork makes its way to your plate? Let me show you.

First of all you need a pig.  Can't make lechon without a pig.

That's a right fat looking oinker going on the last tricycle ride he will ever take. Those two gentlemen are delivering that pig to a house where a fiesta will be had and a pig is needed to feed all the guests.

Once the pig arrives he has to be killed. Simply plunge a knife into his throat and drain him of his life. After that he must be washed and gutted. Slash open the abdomen and remove all the entrails and replace them with spices like lemongrass and garlic and whatever secret combination your family might have on hand. Then sew him up and shove a pole right through his mouth and out his anus and you are ready to go.

While you were getting the pig ready hopefully someone else was preparing the fire pit where he is to be roasted. 

That may not look like much but it will get the job done. After two hours the pig corpse should almost be transformed into tasty lechon. 

Notice the pool of pig juice in the ash pit. Hungry yet?

The next step after the lechon is fully cooked and ready to eat is to box it up for the fiesta.  When it's party time, eat and enjoy. Don't forget the gravy.

If you ever wondered how a pig becomes lechon now you know!