Insurgency: Spot the Difference

It's a brand new year but it's the same old Mindanao. Martial law has been lifted but what does that matter when, lest we forget, the Philippines lies under a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence as per Proclamation 55 signed by Duterte in 2016. This proclamation states the following:

NOW THEREFORE, I, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article VII of the Philippine Constitution, do hereby proclaim a state of national emergency on account of lawless violence, and hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to undertake such measures as may be permitted by the Constitution and existing laws to suppress any and all forms of lawless violence in Mindanao and to prevent such lawless violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the Philippines, with due regard to the fundamental civil and political rights of our citizens.

Isn't it the everyday, ordinary, regular job of the PNP and AFP to suppress violence in Mindanao and elsewhere? What is the difference between martial law and a state of emergency? A state of emergency and no state of emergency?

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/01/03/1981558/spot-difference-mindanao-martial-law-vs-state-national-emergency

Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, said that Proclamation 55, "Declaring a State of National Emergency on Account of Lawless Violence in Mindanao,” remains in effect along with roaming troops. 

The Marine officer said there will be fewer checkpoints and soldiers patrolling the region, but maintained that security procedures will still be strictly observed. 

“If our enemies will see that we become relaxed in terms of security, they may slip through again,” Arevalo told DZMM on Thursday morning.

(Our operations will continue although certain areas where the security situation has improved will see fewer operations.) 

Parts of Mindanao have had a heavy military presence even prior to the declaration of martial law, Proclamation 55, and even the Duterte administration. 

However, the president himself equates the state of national emergency with martial law. 

“Remember that there is – there’s no difference actually between martial law and a declaration of national emergency. So I’ve been warning all. I’m warning all, including the human rights, it’s either we behave or we will have a serious problem again,” Duterte said in June 2018. 

Proclamation No. 55 cites lawless violence in Mindanao but covers the entire country and has been cited in the deployment of troops in other parts of the Philippines.

Duterte is obviously wrong that martial law is the same as a declaration of national emergency. Martial law means military rule and its administration is usually through an autocrat like Marcos. However the implementation of martial law in Mindanao since 2017 was hardly been anything like one would expect. A few checkpoints here and there but "hardly noticeable."

But in much of Mindanao, martial law is hardly noticeable. Around the port city Cagayan de Oro, for example, cars stop only between the domestic airport and downtown for routine checks. Police do not enforce curfews in the downtown mega-malls, upscale restaurants and major high-rise hotel. 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/10/martial-law-rebellion-must-be-stopped.html

It seems that there will be only a name change but no change in the operations of the AFP.  They will maintain checkpoints and they will deploy troops as needed. Their goal, as ever, is to crush the insurgency.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/12/18/1977947/duterte-afp-crush-terrorists-npa

Days after his latest peace overture with communist rebels, President Duterte has ordered the military to crush all terror groups that he said should include the New People’s Army (NPA). 

“Another enemy that’s ruining lives is the terrorists, including the NPA, the kidnap-for-ransom, and the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo. My order is, if they fight, crush them to put an end to Filipinos’ problem,” Duterte said in Filipino in his speech before military officers and personnel at the 84th anniversary celebration of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

It's funny that Duterte told them to crush the NPA when he is attempting to resume peace talks with the CPP and when the AFP is bribing NPA soldiers to surrender via E-CLIP. As for Abu Sayyaf, the AFP might just get some help from the MNLF.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1201958/misuari-vows-to-help-govt-crush-abu-sayyaf

“There is no place for them to go. We can assure the President that the MNLF will fully support the resolution of this problem. Try us on how effective we are,”Misuari said in a statement released by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP). 

OPAPP Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the military, police and MNLF forces on the ground could establish “close coordination” efforts through the peace coordinating committee to run after the terror groups.

Misuari offered to help fight against Maute during the Marawi siege and Duterte accepted the offer but the MNLF was never utilised. Last year Duterte has promised to create an MNLF region comprising Sulu and Tawi-Tawi which are Abu Sayyaf strongholds. Misuari's offer of help to crush Abu Sayyaf is by no means altruistic. 

Why does Duterte continue to deal with Misuari, a notorious terrorist, as if he is a normal person? Duterte appointed Misuari envoy to the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation). This did not sit well with people in Zamboanga city.

The appointment, however, has not been well received by some people in Zamboanga, a city sacked by Misuari and his men six years ago. More than 200 people were killed in more than two weeks of urban warfare, with a section of the city razed. The fighting displaced about 100,000 residents. 

“We are still in the process of healing. We lost our homes and had to live in evacuation centers. And they are rewarding the person who led the attack?” said one resident, who lost her home during the MNLF siege. 

The woman, who declined to give her name to BenarNews, said the fighting broke up and uprooted her family in Zamboanga. She, her husband and their five children ended up having to stay at an evacuation camp for two years, she said. 

“It has been a tough several years for us,” she told BenarNews. “All because of Misuari.”

https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/philippine/MNLF-leader-OIC-12172019143643.html

Last month Misuari also held a rally in Manila calling for RevGov and Federalism. 

https://www.rappler.com/nation/247689-mnlf-leads-new-call-duterte-declare-revolutionary-government

Hundreds of supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte gathered in separate areas in Manila and Cebu on Saturday, December 21, to urge the Chief Executive to declare a revolutionary government and quickly set up a federalist system. 

At the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Cordillera People’s Liberation Army wearing combat overalls carried flags and tarpaulins exclaiming “RevGov Na! (RevGov Now!)” 

The two former rebel groups had entered into previous peace agreements with past presidents, the MNLF with the Ramos adminstration and the CPLA with the Cory Aquino government.  

In Cebu, hundreds of supporters flocked to the Cebu City Sports Complex to show support for the same agenda: for Duterte to declare a revolutionary government and break up the country into federal states. They waved an MNLF flag and a Philippine flag throughout the event.

What was said at these events I do not know because except for the report above no media covered these events. An internationally known terrorist and his army calls for RevGov and apparently that is not news. What a sorry state the Philippine media is in. Here are a few pictures from that rally.

Federalism is an issue Misuari said he would go to war about if it was not implemented. Why is he calling for it now? What is his endgame? Does he even have a plan? Why not lock him up for his crimes? It was Duterte who asked the courts to suspend his arrest order over his role in the Zamboanga siege. Why did he do this if he wants the AFP to crush terrorists? Why is Misuari strutting around at Camp Aguinaldo for the installation of the new AFP Chief?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1209129/duterte-tells-afp-remain-relentless-in-fight-vs-lawlessness-terrorism

“I trust that you will work in unison with the incoming Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. as you remain steadfast in protecting our country against lawlessness and terrorism,” Duterte said in his speech at the Change of Command ceremony at the Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

Pretty ironic headline to accompany this photograph of one of the instigators of lawlessness and terrorism in the Philippines for the past 50 years! But it could be over soon. The new AFP Chief says he wants to end the insurgency by the end of his seven month term.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/720815/incoming-afp-chief-to-focus-on-ending-communist-insurgency/story/

"[The] urgent task to end local communist armed conflict through the implementation of Executive Order No. 70," Santos told GMA News Online when asked on what would be the focus of his leadership.

End the insurgency through E-CLIP.  That is his plan.  Not to crush them and destroy them through military force but to build roads, literal roads, and bribe NPA soldiers with housing, cash, and job training. He is sure he the AFP can do this by the end of Duterte's term in June 2022.

"We are conifdent that we will end insurgency before the end of the President's term," he said in an ambush interview after the ceremony. 

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/721040/new-afp-chief-santos-assumes-post-vows-pro-action-vs-local-terrorists-drug-problem/story/

2020 promises to be more of the same. More NPA attacks. More Islamic terrorist attacks. More surrenders and arrests of terrorists. More setting of deadlines which will not be reached. More reliance on the US military to assist the AFP. More flip-flopping from Duterte concerning the CPP. More business as usual in Mindanao. 

Forgotten Scandal: OFWs Sexually Abused by PHL Embassy Officials in Kuwait

This post was originally going to be a rehash of the past pointing out all the times that OFWs have been abused in Kuwait, which is rather often, but I stumbled onto something bigger and apparently forgotten: the sexual abuse and trafficking of OFWs by Philippine embassy officials.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/48294-trafficking-charges-ph-embassy-officials-kuwait

A Philippine embassy official has been implicated in the trafficking of migrant workers in Kuwait. 

In an initial report by the Kuwait Anti-Trafficking Task Force released Friday, January 17, trafficking and other related charges were recommended against Philippine consul Ibrahim Daligdig Tanandato, two embassy-hired contractuals, two embassy-hired lawyers, and 3 recruiters. 

Tanandato is the Assistant to (the) National Unit Head in the Philippine consular office in Kuwait. 

The complainants were allegedly hired by an embassy official to work as domestic helpers, even without any proper documentation as migrant workers. They were given a monthly salary of P8,000. 

The same official was also accused of deceiving one of the helpers into believing that her back pay had not yet been released by her previous employer.  

Sexual abuse, unpaid back pay, and a 20-hour work per day with no or limited food were just some of the conditions that complainants endured in the hands of their employers, based on sworn statements. 

Kuwaiti OFWs alleged that an official of the Philippine embassy in Kuwait hired them to work as domestic workers without proper documentation. They also allege they were subject to long days, little or no food, and sexual abuse by their employers. The DOJ recommended charges be brought against Philippine consul Ibrahim Daligdig Tanandato and many others.

In a nutshell, the complainants alleged in their Sworn Affidavits that a government official hired them to work as  domestic helpers with a salary of only fifty (50) Kuwaiti Dinar (KD) a month, and without any proper documentation from POLO-OWWA; that with abuse of power and position, the same government official took advantage of one of the victims by deceiving her that her  backwages have not been paid yet by her previous employer; that the Embassy-hired lawyers, together with the Embassy-hired contractuals and government  officials, demanded money from the complainants as Attorney's fees; and that a government official and an Embassy-hired lawyer advised and insisted that she settles her case in exchange of money. Two of the complainants also alleged that they were recruited as handlers of K-9 Bomb Sniffing Dog with a monthly salary of Php30,000 to Php35,000; that one of the complainants paid Php10,000 to one of the respondents as training fee, and Php23,000, purportedly, for the immigration officer; however, upon arrival in Kuwait, they were made to sign a document with a salary of only 110 KD per month. 

Further, the Task Force recommended that the DFA and the POEA look into the abuses allegedly committed by Kuwaiti or other foreign  employers/nationals, and that after conducting the necessary investigation, to study the possibility of permanently blacklisting them from employing OFWs, or representing them in  legal cases. 

It appears that a number of the complainants have been maltreated by their employers, or by the wives of their employers; that the Embassy-hired lawyers failed to assist the complainants in the prosecution of their cases against the offenders; that some employers did not pay the complainants' backwages; that a complainant was made to work for twenty (20) hours with limited or no food at all; that employers locked two of the  complainants in the house to prevent them from escaping; that a  complainant was sexually abused by her employer and his son; and that one employer touched and pinched the butt of one of the complainants.

https://www.doj.gov.ph/news_article.html?newsid=252

Amazingly there is no information on what happened next to Ibrahim Daligdig Tanandato or anyone else whom the DOJ recommended charges be filed against. They all practically disappear from the news and from the internet. No word on if they were actually charged and convicted or what. Nothing.  

Aside from Kuwaiti embassy officials trafficking OFWs one official was involved in a sex-for-flight scheme. The NBI recommend charges be filed.

https://www.doj.gov.ph/news_article.html?newsid=225

Said Final Report recommends that charges for Attempted Rape and three (3) counts of Abuses Against Chastity be filed against a male Assistant Labor Attaché (hereafter referred to as "the ALA") assigned to a Philippine Embassy in the Middle East, for acts allegedly committed against three (3) distressed, female Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were seeking assistance from the Philippine Embassy. Also recommended to be charged with Attempted Rape and Abuses Against Chastity, is a local hire, who served as the driver of a Labor Attaché (hereinafter referred to as "the LA") assigned to the same Philippine Embassy. 

One witness, a male distressed/runaway OFW and a volunteer worker at the POLO Office, stated in his Sworn Statement that he witnessed the attempt of the ALA to rape complainant AAA on 18 May 2013, as he was inside the pantry, where the divider was only made of glass and through which he could clearly see the room or office where the assault was taking place. He saw the ALA forcibly kissing AAA, while the latter tried to get away. The ALA, however, held her hands and, thereafter, pulled her into a rest room. Two (2) to three (3) minutes thereafter, the witness saw AAA run out of the room.  

Another complainant ("CCC"), on whose account the third count of Abuses Against Chastity against the ALA is based, sought help from POLO-OWWA after escaping from her abusive employer, who, at some point, had locked her in a room for two days and two nights without any food and water, causing her to pass out and be hospitalized. She was interviewed at the POLO Office, the last of which was conducted by the ALA, who also brought her to Bahay Kalinga. She, too, in her Sworn Statement, alleged that she was verbally abused and disrespected by the ALA, including one occasion when, while they were inside a car, the ALA asked her if she was ever touched by her employer end, if not, whether he (the ALA) could touch her instead. 

She also recounted receiving phone calls from a certain "Muhammad", who offered her a part-time job involving "going to heaven" or just a one-night stand, in exchange for her ticket to the Philippines. She received such calls on more than one occasion, and when she rejected his offer, he requested a photo of her in her underwear instead. She reasons to believe, however, that "Muhammad" is actually the ALA, based on, among others, her familiarity with his voice, the fact that he was the only one who knew her contact number, and the person's knowledge about personal details about herself that only the ALA knew about. When she finally arrived back in the Philippines late in May 2013, she found out that she already had a ticket as far back as February 2013, which the ALA never disclosed to her.

The report is long and lewd and a must read. Whatever happened to this man though? No idea. But a few months after this DOJ report three men involved in the sex-for-flight scheme were rehired at the Kuwait embassy.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/pinoyabroad/359202/embassy-labor-officer-accused-of-sex-for-flight-in-kuwait-rehired/story/

The three men have been identified by the government's Kuwait Anti-Trafficking Task Force as Case Officers Joselito Atienza, Omar Khalil, and Saleh "Casley" Watamama. All of them are staff members under the Philippine Overseas Labor Office/Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (POLO/OWWA) of the Department of Overseas Labor and Employment (DOLE).  

The “sex-for-flight” scheme first erupted in Philippine media as part of revelations by Rep. Walden Bello in June of 2013 that involved Philippine officials in other embassies in the Middle East.   

Assistant Secretary Lila Ramos Shahani of the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cabinet Cluster, under the Office of the President, told GMA News Online that she had earlier informed her superiors there is ample evidence to suggest such activities had been taking place since the mid-1990s.   

Several other embassy-based personnel who have been accused were recalled to the home office to face charges, but the three men remained in Kuwait. They have even retained the same positions despite a January 17, 2014 memorandum from Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz ordering the non-renewal of all POLO-OWWA local hires in Kuwait.  

In March, or two months after the order from Baldoz, labor attaché Cesar Chavez issued a memo retaining the three men. He told GMA News Online in a phone interview from Kuwait that doing so would make it easier to investigate them.  

“It was the collective decision of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the DOLE to hold on to those implicated in the sex-for-flight controversy, because we are expecting the Department of Justice to conduct a preliminary investigation on the matter,” Chavez explained in a memo justifying the contract renewal.

These three men were accused of improper and criminal activities but were rehired because it would "make it easier to investigate them." But was there an investigation? What happened to this men? Were they charged and sentenced? Again no idea. Their names disappear and the trail goes cold. 

As the above article says it was in June 2013 that sexual scandals inside the Philippines' embassies were exposed when Rep. Bello made several stunning accusations.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/31556-embassy-officials-prostitution-overseas-filipino-workers

Philippine embassy staff in various posts in the Middle East are sexually abusing and prostituting distressed overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). 

This was disclosed by Akbayan Rep Walden Bello, chairman of the House committee on overseas workers' affairs, on Tuesday, June 18.  

Branding them as "predators," Bello identified the officials as: 

• Mario Antonio, the assistant labor attaché in Jordan

• Blas Marquez, a local hire or a contractual employee of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Kuwait

• A certain "Kim," who is a member of the Augmentation Team of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at the embassy in Damascus, Syria

"Sexual abuse on our womenfolk perpetrated by their hosts in a foreign country is an awful crime. But there is something more awful, and that is their exploitation by their own compatriots in that strange land," Bello said in a press conference.  

Bello gathered the information through interviews with department and embassy insiders, affidavits of witnesses, and confidential reports. 

"I am asking [Foreign Affairs] Secretary Albert Del Rosario and [Labor] Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, two individuals that I respect greatly, to move immediately to recall the officials I have identified, dismiss them from government service, and criminally prosecute them," Bello said. 

Antonio and Marquez are accused of running "prostitution rings" in Jordan and Kuwait, respectively. Antonio supposedly sold at least one female OFW for as high US$1,000 (about P40,000) for sex, according to Bello.  

"Kim," on the other hand, was supposedly caught in January "in an intimate act with a female OFW at the embassy shelter for distressed OFWs.  

Bello said these "predators" should be "stripped of their positions," recalled from their posts, and prosecuted in the Philippines.  

Bello's exposé is based on his interviews with "unimpeachable sources" at the DFA and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). These sources "asked us to expose the criminals in their ranks because their acts are giving their agencies a bad name," Bello added.

These are explosive accusations and apparently the only thing that happened is Mario Antonio and Blas Marquez were relieved from their positions. Their trail goes cold rather quickly. Were they charged? Convicted? What about all the other people allegedly involved in the abuse of OFWs in the Jordanian and Kuwaiti embassies?

And what about the evidence Lila Ramos Shahani claims to have that this kind of activity has been happening since the mid-1990's? What is the nature of that evidence? Who does it involve? Has anyone from the NBI or DOJ investigated this evidence? Are these activities still continuing at the Philippines' embassies? Are the stories above just the tip of the iceberg of decades of sexual abuse of OFWs at the hands of Philippine embassy officials?

Despite the abuses OFWs in Kuwait and the rest of the Middle East face at the hands of their employers the government still allows them to be sent to their doom. Why is that? Just a few days ago the government issued another ban on OFWs to Kuwait. The previous ban was nearly two years ago when the same situation, the death of a maid, occurred. 

In 2011 the government threatened to place a ban on OFWs going to Kuwait because they could not guarantee their protection which is the same scenario happening now.

https://www.arabianbusiness.com/uae-kuwait-qatar-face-ban-on-filipino-maids--418458.html

Ultimately Kuwait did not make the cut of 41 countries the government banned OFWs from working in. That does not mean Kuwait was or is safe for OFWs. It's not. History makes that abundantly clear. 

Stabbed in the vagina 

An OFW who has sought help from Embassy officials told of her experience of abuse and exploitation. 

"Kris," not her real name, said she decided to escape from her Kuwaiti female employer after the employer stabbed her vagina, inserted pepper inside her private parts and sprayed it with a liquid bleaching product. 

She sought the help of then head of the DFA Assistance to Nationals Section Ibrahim Tanandato who assured her a case will be filed. 

Kris said her case did not move even after one year of her stay at the POLO-OWWA shelter. 

Shortly after, she was surprised when she was informed she lost her case already. 

Kris told ABS-CBN that it was a staff member of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait who helped her after learning about her case from another source. It was the American who recommended a human rights lawyer to follow up her case in court. It was only then that the case eventually moved.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/01/20/14/ph-officials-kuwait-linked-human-trafficking

"Kris" was disgracefully and shamefully abused by her employer and the Philippine embassy sat on their butts!  It took the help of a U.S. Embassy staff member to get her case moving. How's that for meddling in the Philippines' sovereign affairs!

The current ban on OFWs to Kuwait won't last forever but it seems OFWs will continue to be abused by their employers, their employer's pet lions, and those who are tasked with protecting them.

Retards in the Government 135

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277647/police-officer-niece-shot-outside-cebu-city-home

A police officer and his nine-year-old niece landed in a medical facility after they were shot several times outside their house located along Cabreros Street in Barangay Basak San Nicolas around 9 p.m. on Thursday, December 26. 

Police Staff Sergeant Nelson Esolana, desk officer of Mambaling Police Station, identified the police officer as Patrolman Percival Eborlas who is currently assigned in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental. 

Witness accounts said that a gray van was seen passing by the area. 

It stopped a few meters from the house where Eborlas was staying. 

A man came out of the fire and then fired several times at Eborlas who was with his niece when the shooting incident happened.

Could be drug related. A search for this man's name brings up an article discussing his, or a man with his same name, alleged involvement in the drug trade by receiving payola and letting suspected go free. 18 Cops Linked To Drug Payola.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1204816/palace-on-us-ban-we-are-not-bothered-by-it

“We’re not bothered by it,” Panelo said. “First, that’s their process. We cannot intrude in the same way we react when they intrude in our process. Number two, the very provision says there should be credible information before they ban any official in the Philippines.” 

The Palace official expressed confidence that the US government would not be able to establish “credible information” in the alleged “wrongful” detention of De Lima as he insisted that the senator’s imprisonment went through the proper judicial process.

It turns out this was a lie. Of course the Palace is deeply bothered by it as seen in their threat to impose visas on American tourists and in banning the two US Senators behind this law.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277693/ph-bans-entry-of-2-us-senators-backing-de-lima

“The President is immediately ordering the Bureau of Immigration to deny US Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy, the imperious, uninformed and gullible American legislators who introduced the subject provision in the US 2020 Budget, entry to the Philippines,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing Friday.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277690/ph-to-require-visas-for-americans-if-us-ban-on-filipino-execs-is-enforced

“Should a ban from entry into US territory be enforced against Philippine officials involved in – or by reason of – Senator de Lima’s lawful imprisonment, this government will require all Americans intending to come to the Philippines to apply and secure a visa before they can enter Philippine territory,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

"Should" is very important. No one has been banned entry in to US territory yet. There is the potential for this to happen but it hasn't actually happened yet. Funny that Duterte has banned the two Senators from entry into the Philippines and not all the legislators for voting for the bill and Trump for signing it into law.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1206790/almost-90-rogue-cops-dismissed-under-gamboas-watch

“We have dismissed almost ninety personnel, almost two policemen dismissed everyday, and continuing ito (and we are continuing this),” Gamboa told reporters after firecracker inspection at Bocaue, Bulacan on Saturday.

It's good they are dismissing corrupt cops but it's not good that there are so many corrupt cops who need dismissing! And what about criminal charges?  Will these cops face time in prison?

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/720369/army-unit-apologizes-admits-manipulating-photo-to-protect-former-rebels/story/

The Philippine Army's 9th Infantry Division has admitted that its line unit manipulated a picture supposedly depicting the surrender of New People's Army rebels in Masbate recently. 

Major Ricky Aguilar, the spokesperson of the 9th ID, said there was no intention to mislead; only to protect the identities of the "former rebels." 

"We admit to have committed a mistake though by manipulating the picture for the sole purpose of ensuring the safety of the lives of the FRs and their families. We apologize for the honest mistake. We are hoping for your kind understanding," he added. 

Research by GMA News indicated that there were similar photographs of supposed rebel returnees that the military released as early as 2017.

The Army lied to the public by manipulating a photo. They added a group of alleged rebel surrenderes to a picture of rifles sitting on a table. What else have they been lying about? How many more photos and press releases are fake?

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/277949/ex-zambo-del-norte-mayor-current-vice-mayor-guilty

The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has found former Labason, Zamboanga del Norte, Mayor Wilfredo Balais and incumbent Vice Mayor Virgilio Go guilty of graft in connection with the anomalous purchase of a secondhand vehicle in 2011. 

Both were sentenced to up to 12 years in prison aside from being perpetually disqualified from public office. The case stemmed from the municipality’s procurement, through Go, of a secondhand Nissan Patrol from Eduardo Ayunting of Oro Cars Display Center for P960,000. 

However, there was no proper public bidding and the prosecution said the vehicle was previously sold to Balais through Ayunting for only P500,000.Both Go and Balais told the court they had actually conducted a public bidding but prosecutors were able to present evidence that the process was rife with irregularities.

Guilty of graft and facing up to 12 year sin prison because of an anomalous purchase of a used car.  They did not go tutor get proper public bidding process.  Imagine ending your political career and going to prison over a used car!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1089664

The commander of the police community precinct in Barangay Turo here was relieved for abandoning her post on Friday. 

Col. Emma Libunao, acting Bulacan police director, relieved Capt. Norheda Usman, 3rd platoon leader of the 1st Provincial Mobile Force Company, who allegedly attended a Christmas party. 

Aside from Usman, four other members of her platoon were relieved by Libunao. 

They were Master Sgt. Siegfried Dizon, Staff Sgt. Benjamin Villasis Jr., Patrolman Ronald Manzanade Jr., and Patrolwoman Imee Sheryl Florentino. 

"Aside from abandoning her post, Usman has not yet replaced the police directory in front of their office with Gen. Oscar Albayalde still listed as the PNP chief," Libunao added.

Looks like female PNP officers are not any better than the men.

https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/12/30/duterte-ano-pnp-chief.html

President Rodrigo Duterte said he will leave the Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Interior Secretary. 

In a speech delivered in Cotabato Monday, Duterte said that this is because Manila police officers cannot compare to those in the provinces. 

[Translation: The police in the provinces are good, but the ones in Manila? That's why I didn't appoint a PNP (Chief).] 

Instead, Duterte said that he would leave the organization in the hands of Interior Secretary Eduardo Año. 

[Translation: I told General Año to handle it. You fix the police so when we make an exit two years from now, Filipinos don't have that big of a problem.]

If the police in the provinces are good why not point someone from there? The problems plaguing the PNP are way too big to be fixed in two years. In fact they have been fixing the same problems with the same solutions for years! Read all about it here. Also the DILG Secretary already has enough on his hands without being de facto PNP Chief.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/12/30/1980834/duterte-tells-abs-cbn-owners-just-sell-tv-network

Three months before the expiration of ABS-CBN's franchise, President Rodrigo Duterte Monday said the television network should just be sold as he vowed to give its owners an episode they won't forget. 

Duterte, who has accused ABS-CBN of biased reporting and of "swindling" him for not airing his campaign commercial, said there is no assurance that the network's franchise would be renewed. The Lopez-owned network's franchise is set to expire on March 30, 2020. 

"Your contract is about to expire. You will try to renew it but I don't know what will happen to that," the president said during his visit to earthquake victims in M'lang, North Cotabato. 

"Kung ako sa inyo ipagbili niyo na 'yan. Kasi ang mga Filipino ngayon lang makaganti sa inyong kalokohan (If I were you, I would sell it. It's only now that Filipinos would be able to get back at your wrongdoings). And I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever," he added. 

Duterte also accused broadsheet Philippine Daily Inquirer of being a "mouthpiece" of oligarchs. 

"You son of a b****, Inquirer, everyone. You are silent. Because you are the mouthpiece of oligarchs in the Philippines. You son of a b**** Inquirer, you are on the take," the president said.   

"You are no better than a prostitute. You sell your talent to the rich. Against the poor. Yan. That's why I have always been angry with the rich," he added. 

Duterte claimed owners of the broadsheet have used their influence to evade taxes. 

"They did not pay taxes, just like donut, just like Inquirer," the president said, apparently referring to the Prietos, the family that owns the broadsheet and the
exclusive Philippine franchisee of Dunkin' Donuts.

More ranting from Duterte about ABS-CBN. If Inquirer did not pay taxes then why did the BIR not go after them? The fault goes both ways in that matter.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1207448/village-exec-who-had-surrendered-as-drug-suspect-shot-dead

A village councilor, who had surrendered himself as a drug suspect, was shot dead by still unidentified assailants aboard a pickup on Monday (Dec. 30). 

The Eastern Visayas police reported that Sony Buranday, 54, councilor of Calsadahay village, Burauen town, Leyte province, was ambushed while driving his motorcycle past 1 a.m. at the village of Rizal, La Paz town, also in Leyte. 

Buranday died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds. 

Buranday was among those who had surrendered themselves to authorities in the early days of the anti-drug campaign of the Duterte administration.

The man was on a list and now he is dead.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208105/south-cotabato-village-chairman-shot-dead-in-polomolok-market

A barangay chairman in Polomolok, South Cotabato was shot dead on New Year’s Eve at the town’s public market. 

Abdullah Nilong II, chair of Barangay Lapu of Polomolok town, had just emerged from a drug store and was walking along Miranda Street at the town’s public market when a man wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet shot him in the head and body at past 1 p.m. Tuesday, according to Lt. Colonel Lino Capellan, spokesman of the Region 12 police. 

Police said after shooting, the gunman walked away and boarded a motorcycle being driven by his cohort.

Motorcycle assassins strike again!

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1207516/duterte-kill-list-now-includes-recruiters-who-sell-ofws-as-slaves

Renewing his threat to kill government officials and men in uniform involved in the drug trade, Duterte said he saw no ofher way to deal with the rogue officials and officers than kill them. 

“I am warning you again… be it the police, the mayors or village officials: You will die. If you engage in drugs, there is no other way to deal with you except to kill you,” the President said. 

“I would also like to kill those recruiters responsible for the agony of Filipinos in Arab countries,” he said. “Not all, but there are Arab countries that still practice slavery.”

Will illegal OFW recruiters now be killed by motorcycle assassins?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208241/cop-arrested-after-he-shot-two-companions-in-cavite-during-new-year-revelry

A 50-year-old policeman was taken under police custody after he allegedly shot two people in Cavite during the New Year celebration. 

A police report on Wednesday identified the suspect as Staff Sergeant Rolando Luzana, who is assigned at Camp Crame Crime Laboratory Office. 

Police reported that Luzana had a heated argument with victims Mark Jason Rael, 22, and Jedrick de Guzman, 18, along Barangay Pag-asa 2, Imus City on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. 

At he height of the altercation, Luzana reportedly drew his firearm and shot Rael and De Guzman.

Cop gets in argument with two people and shoots them both. At least no one died.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208120/lawyer-shoots-cop-on-new-years-day-in-n-vizcaya

A 39-year-old lawyer of the Commission on Audit was arrested on New Year’s Day (Wednesday, January 1) after he allegedly shot at police officers who accosted him for illegal gun discharge in Nueva Vizcaya town of Solano. 

Alvin Endrinal was reportedly drunk when he began firing his cal. 40 pistol outside his home at the Salgado Apartment in Purok Ilang-ilang, Barangay (village) Quirino at 2:30 a.m., according to Police Major Ferdinand Laudencia, Solano police chief. 

Frightened neighbors called the police. But responding policemen took cover when Endrinal started shooting at them after they tried to pacify him.

A lawyer with the COA fires his gun in celebration of the New Year and then shoots at the cops who come to take him in. At least no one died.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208245/dbm-govt-pay-hiked-despite-budget-delay

The increase in salaries of government workers will push through as scheduled this month despite the delay in the signing into law of the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget.
Acting Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado told the Inquirer that the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 5 would be effective January. 

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign this year’s budget before Jan. 6. 

SSL 5 (for civilian government employees) is also awaiting Mr. Duterte’s signature. 

While the 2020 budget was yet to be signed by the President, Avisado said he had already issued guidelines for the advances to pay for personnel services as well as maintenance and other operating expenses at the start of the year. 

As for the programmed expenditures for capital outlay and regular programs, the funds will be released “after completion of publication following the signature of the President of the 2020 GAA [General Appropriations Act],” Avisado said. 

Last month, Sen. Sonny Angara, who chairs the Senate finance committee, said SSL 5 would cover yearly increases in government personnel salaries starting this year until 2023.

No budget yet but already prepping for salary increases. Why didn't Duterte sign the budget into law as soon as it came across his table? Why the delay?

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1208399/duterte-to-file-syndicated-estafa-vs-pangilinan-ayala-over-water-deals

Asked if the President has substantive evidence in filing the case, Panelo said, “the very evidence is the contract itself.” 

“Sinasabi niya it mirrors the provisions of the Anti-Graft. Lahat ng mga ginawa nila labag sa Anti-Graft (He [Duterte] is saying it [water deals] mirrors the provisions of the Anti-Graft Law. All they did was against the Anti-Graft law,” Panelo said.

Duterte keeps giving grief to "oligarchs" and "billionaires" but what about officials of the Philippine government who crafted the contract? What about Fidel Ramos who signed it and Arroyo who extended the contract? Will he be filing cases against them as well?

Drunk Firefighters

I take pictures of just about everything. Whenever I see something that strikes me I break out my camera and take a snapshot. Like this fire station.

What's so interesting about this you ask? Nothing. It's just an ordinary fire station and those are ordinary fire trucks.  But what's around the corner? Let's take a look.

The unknown beckons.  Let's plunge into it.

Why look at that! It's a bench with 5 empty bottles of Tanduay scattered about. These firemen cannot even clean up their trash after a rousing drunk. Why are they drinking on the job anyway? What if a call comes in and they have to go fight a fire? A drunk fireman is no good. They could also end up killing each other.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1089372

A personnel of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) here died while another was wounded after they stabbed each other following the station’s Christmas party that ended around 2 a.m. on Monday. 

The fatality was identified as Isaac Cabana and the wounded, Cornelio Silva, who both have the rank of Fire Officer 3. 

Initial police investigation showed the two firefighters remained at the venue, just in front of the city fire station on San Juan Street, Barangay 8, after the celebration ended. 

Maj. Sherlock Gabana, chief of Police Station 2, said Cabana sustained a wound in the neck and was declared dead at a hospital. 

Silva is being treated for abdomen and back wounds, he added. 

Gabana said their other colleagues saw them “hugging” each other, and then found the two already injured.

You can see in the forefront of this picture two cases of 1 litre size Red Horse beer. You can also see a bottle on the table. Hard to tell exactly what it is but it's probably alcohol. 

Why do Filipino firemen and policemen drink on the job and store alcohol in the staff kitchen? Why is this allowed? Who is monitoring these people? Just another problem in this problematic country.

Vegetable Vendors at the Grocery Store

There are a lot of things in the Philippines I do not and never will understand. One of those things is a grocery store, in this case Robinson's, allowing vendors to sell their vegetables on the steps of the store.

Look at these people.  They are simply in the way. In the last picture the vendor is leaning on someone's car! And in the picture before that the produce is in the of any car who wants to park!   Why does the management allow this?

Well it turns out they don't! I asked them about these vendors and they said they have been told to not come around but they cannot be controlled. They were told to go away but they keep coming back.  So what good are the security guards??

I think if Robinsons really wanted these people to leave they would make sure they left. It's not that hard to make unwanted people leave.