It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
A sugar farmer from Negros Occidental has filed graft complaints against officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) led by Administrator Hermenegildo Serafica involving the order on the importation of 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar.
Enrique Tayo, chairman of the Negros Occidental Federation of Farmers Association (NOFFA), charged the SRA officials with violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on Wednesday.
A copy of the complaint was furnished to reporters on Thursday by the Negros-based Asociacion de Agricultores de la Carlota y Pontevedra Inc. (AALCPI), which also announced that they will join Tayo in the filing of the complaint.
Aside from Serafica, also included as respondents were Deputy Administrator for Regulations Guillermo Tejida III and other SRA officials who “endorsed, approved, aided and abetted in the commission of acts constituting graft and corrupt practices”.
“We will also file graft and corrupt practices cases against industrial users of sugar who conspired with public officers in the commission of these unlawful acts,” AALCPI general manager David Alba said in a statement.
In the first week of May, the United Sugar Producers Federation (UNIFED) called out the SRA and the Department of Agriculture for proceeding with the importation of refined sugar mandated by SO 3 since there is a pending case against such action.
SO 3 allows the importation of 200,000 metric tons of refined sugar for industrial users, mainly major food and beverage manufacturers, between March 1 and May 1, but the sugar producers called it “ill-timed” as it would happen at the peak of the milling season.
“These industrial users will have to temper their corporate greed and instead consider the plight of millions of sugar stakeholders who will be severely affected by the entry of imported sugar,” Alba said.
Officials of the Sugar Regulatory Administration are being accused of graft for allowing the importation of 200,000 MT of sugar which would hurt local farmers and manufacturers.
The mayor of Rosario town in Agusan del Sur is facing a complaint for violating the elections rules after he went to the precincts on the eve of election day and told members of one electoral board to move the vote-counting machine (VCM) near the window of the classroom being used as a voting center.
The camp of former mayor Jose Cuyos Sr. filed the complaint at the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office against reelectionist Mayor Jupiter Abulog.
Cuyos, a former three-term mayor, defeated Abulog in the vote.
Former town councilor Menio Orcullo said their supporters have seen Abulog and some town councilors going around the precincts on Friday and the order to move the VCM was witnessed by Lina Bayados, a resident of Purok 4 in Barangay Poblacion.
Orcullo said the mayor’s order was apparently to carry out the so-called “open ballot scheme” whereby voters had to show a particular camp’s watcher to assure that they voted for the candidate giving them money.
A local mayor is facing an election violation complaint for order gin vote counting machines moved close to the window where ballots could be easily observed.
A rifle grenade exploded inside the residential compound of a village official in Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao Sunday evening but no one was hurt, police said.
Lt. Col. Sabri Lakibul, the municipal police chief, said Monday no one claimed responsibility for the explosion in the residential yard of Guiaber Dalindingan, chairman of Barangay Crossing Simuay, Sultan Kudarat town.
However, Dalindingan believed it was related to last week’s national and local elections. He did not elaborate.
A village official's residence was attacked with a grenade.
A grenade explosion rocked the residential compound of newly elected mayor Amanoden Ducol of Pualas, Lanao del Sur on Friday.
Col. Christopher Panapan, Lanao del Sur police director, said no one was hurt in the attack, but the blast triggered panic among villagers in Barangay Danugan.
Ducol and his relatives said they are certain the bombing was politically motivated.
Witnesses said two men, who remained unidentified, were behind the explosion, believed to be a grenade attack.
The residence of a newly elected mayor was attacked by unknown men using grenades.
The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of the former president of the now defunct National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) for paying P4.7 million to a financial advisor without documentary evidence to support the payment claim.
In a resolution, the anti-graft court denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Honesto F. Baniqued who had been sentenced to a prison term ranging from six to eight years for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
NABCOR was engaged in the production of livestock and agriculture products and was an attached corporation of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
The graft charge against Baniqued arose from the hiring of Rodolfo V. Romero as NABCOR’s financial advisor.
The prosecution told the Sandiganbayan that Baniqued allowed the payment of P4.7 million which represented Romero’s 50 percent claim of the stipulated remuneration in the Contract of Service, despite lack of sufficient documentary evidence to support the payment claim.
The conviction of the former NABCOR president for graft has been upheld by the Sandiganbayan.
Seven barangay captains were arrested on Monday over the slander charges filed against them by Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan, the police said.
Detained at the Criminal Intelligence and Detection Group-Central Visayas (CIDG-7) facility were Eduardo Cuizon (Barangay Bankal), Eleonor Fontanoza (Gun-ob), Regina Ibanez (Looc), Triponia Abayan (Tungasan), Joselito Tibon (Suba-Basbas), Reynaldo Tampus (Canjulao), and Rosalino Abing (Maribago).
Cuizon is also an ex-officio member of the Lapu-Lapu City Council, being the president of the Association of Barangay Council (ABC).
Armed with a warrant of arrest, the joint team from the CIDG-7 and the police station 3 of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office nabbed the barangay captains from their respective places.
Their arrest stemmed from grave oral defamation charges in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175, or the CyberCrime Act of 2012, which Chan filed against them in March this year.
Regional Trial Court Branch 53 Judge Anna Marie Militante, who issued the warrant for their arrest, recommended bail of PHP36,000 each.
The village chiefs earlier filed a complaint of malversation of public funds and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Chan, members of the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), and the winning bidder over the alleged questionable purchases of coronavirus disease 2019 related items that amounted to more than PHP47 million.
Lawyer James Allan Sayson, chair of Lapu-Lapu city government’s BAC, said they included the provisions of cyber libel in the case after the allegation against them was posted on social media.
“The barangay captains willfully and deliberately attacked his reputation by making defamatory utterances, maliciously and with evident ill-will,” Chan said in his complaint.
The village officials alleged that the city government under Chan purchased food items and non-food relief items from a supplier identified as a furniture exporter.
Seven barangay captains have been charged with cyber libel after filing charges agains the Lapu-Lapu City Mayor and posting them on line.
The Supreme Court has admonished a La Union Regional Trial Court judge for posting photos of himself half-dressed and exposing his tattoo art.
In a decision uploaded on May 13, the SC Second Division found Judge Romeo Atillo Jr. guilty of conduct unbecoming of a judge and sternly warned that a repetition of the same shall be dealt with more severely.
The Court reminded the magistrate “to be more circumspect in his professional and personal dealings in social media”.
Atillo claimed that his Facebook account was hacked on Aug. 11, 2019 and his privacy setting was set from private to public.
He also claimed the photos were only meant for him and his friends and not for public viewing.
The Court held that “setting posts or profile details' privacy is no assurance that it can no longer be viewed by another user who is not Facebook friends with the source of the content”.
The Court said all social media users face the same risks when sharing content in cyberspace.
“The Court once again reminds judges to mindful of what they communicate in social networking sites -- regardless of whether it is a personal matter or a part of his or her judicial functions -- as such content indubitably creates and contributes to the public’s perception not only of the concerned judges, but, more importantly, of the Judiciary as a whole,” it said.
Printed copies of photos allegedly posted by Atillo used as “cover photos” and “profile pictures” on Facebook were received by the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA).
The OCA found Atillo guilty of violating the New Code of Judicial Conduct, as well as OCA Circular No. 173-2017 when he posted the subject photos on his Facebook account and recommended a PHP15,000 fine and that he be reprimanded with a stern warning.
The Court adopted the findings of the OCA but modified the penalties.
It agreed with the OCA that Atillo “had breached his duty to avoid impropriety, or even just the appearance of impropriety, when he posted the subject pictures showing his half-dressed body and tattooed torso on his Facebook account that eventually became readily accessible to the general public”.
Citing its 2014 ruling in Lorenzana v. Judge Austria, the Court held that “while judges are not prohibited from becoming members of and from taking part in social networking activities, we remind them that they do not thereby shed off their status as judges”.
In the Lorenzana case, the respondent judge was found guilty of impropriety when she posted photos of herself wearing an “off-shoulder” suggestive dress on a social networking site and made it available for public viewing.
The Court clarified that the impropriety relates solely to the judge's “act of posting the subject picture on social media, and it has absolutely nothing to do with his choice to have tattoos on his body”.
“Simply put, by posting the pictures on Facebook, [the respondent judge] placed himself in a situation where he, and the status he holds as a sitting judge, became the object of the public’s criticism and ridicule,” the SC said.
A picture a judge posted on Facebook brought disgrace to both him and his profession.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he won’t forget the backstabbers in the City Hall who turned against him before he won the May 9, 2022, election.
In his speech during Barug PDP-Laban's victory party, he said that “enough is enough” for employees and officials who are thieves, lazy and incompetent, messy, gossip-mongers, don't pay debts, quarrelsome, and back-stabbers . ”
He said they need to part ways in order to have a more efficient and united City Hall when he starts his official term as elected mayor on June 30, 2022.
In a phone conference on Thursday, May 19, 2022, Rama said that these employees or officials know who they are and they should take note of his words.
“They already know. Those casuals, non-renewal, right job orders, non-renewal. Those regulars, they can be assigned somewhere,” said the mayor.
Rama said he is not inclined to accept them even if they promise to do better or become more efficient in their work as they have lost his trust and confidence.
“If they are right, then can I forget what they did to me? No, not at all, ”he added.
Although the mayor did not specify who these employees and officials are, it is speculated that the mayor is referring to those who acted against him during the height of the election season.
Rama’s ascension to mayorship after the death of Mayor Edgardo Labella in November 2021 had been marred by controversies with the changes of officials and transition of administration.
After winning the 2022 elections, Rama’s proclamation speech highlighted a warning for employees who are dishonest and corrupt as he will not be tolerating shenanigans under his administration.
The newly elected mayor says he will not tolerate those who backstabbed him during the election or any corrupt officials.
State prosecutors have indicted three agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and four police officers over a botched anti-drug operation in February 2021 where four people died in a shootout between government personnel.
The Department of Justice said in a statement released on Thursday that it issued, on May 2, a resolution indicting the following PDEA agents for homicide over the death of Police Cpl. Eric Elvin Garado:
- Khee Maricar Rodas
- Jeffrey Baguidudol
- Jelou Satiniaman
Prosecutors are also set to file charges against the following cops for direct assault:
- Police Cpl. Paul Christian Gandeza, for injuries of PDEA agent Raymart Bayote
- Police Lt. Honey Sesas, for injuries of PDEA agent Prince Bernard Gallego
- Police Maj. Sandie Caparroso, for injuries of PDEA agent Brenson Sulang
- Police Maj. Caparroso and P/SMSg. Melvin Merida, for injuries of PDEA agent Allan Capiral
The DOJ said the Information or charge sheets will be filed before Quezon City courts.
3 PDEA and 4 PNP officers have been charged in connection with a shootout which happened during a botched raid in 2021.
Cash aid amounting to P147,000 intended for 35 people was claimed by just one person in Magalang town in Pampanga, contrary to rules set by the Department of Labor and Employment.
This was among the “deficiencies” flagged by the Commission on Audit on Pampanga’s implementation of the DOLE’s one-time cash-for-work program called Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Displaced/Disadvantaged Workers, which the province got P91.18 million for.
The COA said in its annual audit report that the one person who took the cash aid intended for 35 people should have been personally claimed by the beneficiaries themselves or an immediate family member.
Worse, the COA said only 15 confirmed having received their cash aid, while 10 did not receive any financial assistance. The report is silent on whether the other 10 beneficiaries received aid or not.
State auditors recommended that Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda require the Provincial Treasurer’s Office to ensure that only those authorized by the DOLE can claim financial assistance.
A review by the COA also showed that of the 21,710 beneficiaries in the province, 5,012 have either the same names and birthdates, contact numbers, type of ID or ID numbers. Meanwhile, 850 contact numbers were “not reliable” as they were unreachable or incorrect.
“Thus, it would be difficult to confirm actual receipt by beneficiary of the financial assistance since most of the numbers called belong only to one beneficiary,” state auditors said.
Further, the COA reported that 22 of the beneficiaries denied having received cash aid twice, contrary to what was reported in the master list which claimed that P92,400 was received by those people.
Five beneficiaries told state auditors that they received cash aid twice, resulting in a double payment totalling to P21,000.
“The excessive payments to the beneficiaries due to the lack of control measures in the processing of claims deprived the other qualified applicants who have not availed of any financial assistance,” the COA said.
The COA has documented several irregularities in the DOLE's cash aid program in Pampanga.
The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has found a former cashier of the Alcala Water District in Pangasinan guilty of malversation.
The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division affirmed the February 22, 2021 decision of the Villasis, Pangasinan Regional Trial Court Branch 50 finding Darwin C. Viloria guilty, sentencing him of up to seven years imprisonment.
The graft court ordered Viloria to pay a fine of PHP163,436, the amount of the malversed funds and PHP155,239 in civil liability to the water district.
The prosecution said Viloria, between 2000 to 2006, misappropriated some PHP163,436.
According to the RTC, the missing funds were “imputable to the accused’s acts of issuing cash advances, not issuing official receipts, and issuing fictitious ones."
The court was not swayed by Viloria's claim that it was his boss, former general manager Elpidio Sacayanan, who instructed him to give the collections as cash advances to him instead of remitting it.
“There is no doubt that accused-appellant was given the opportunity to explain the unremitted collections. However, he failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the same, and he even admitted his liability for the unremitted collections when he offered to pay the same,” the court said.
A water district cashier has ben convicted of malversation of funds in the amount of 163,436 pesos.
