It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Three workers in the plate-making plant of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) have been arrested for organized theft of license plates, with another suspect still at large.
In a press conference at the LTO headquarters in Quezon City on Friday, LTO–Intelligence and Investigation Division (IID) Chief Renante Melitante said the arrests were made in an operation with the Philippine National Police (PNP) after a report of suspicious activity at the plant in December.
“We immediately informed [LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II] about what is happening and he gave us a directive to hold an intelligence build-up,” Melitante said
By the first week of January, he said a witness, who is also a worker at the plant, surfaced and expressed willingness to give a testimony, in addition to the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the suspects.
Based on the directive of Mendoza, we sent a letter to the PNP and to the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) itself for the coordination of the operation,” he said.
The license plates stolen by the suspects were “made-to-order” and had no presence in the LTO system or corresponding documents, while having the same security and authentication features as legitimate plates, making their use ideal for criminals.
After manufacturing these illegal plates, he said the suspects will hide them within the plant, while the mastermind is responsible for bringing them out of the plant.
“Their leader, he was seen on CCTV how it’s done, he’ll hide it in his back then he’ll place them at the box of his motorcycle. And after duty, he’ll bring them home,” Tan said.
The arrests were made on Thursday by members of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and the Special Project Group of the DILG, after one of the suspects was spotted taking out some of the stolen license plates.
The three arrested suspects were not identified but were on “job order” status in addition to the alleged mastermind who is still at large.
The mastermind began working at the LTO in 2018, while the arrested suspects have been working at the LTO since 2019 and 2020.
These stolen plates, he said, can be used by criminals in the "doble plaka (double plate)" and "labas casa (outside the dealership)" schemes.
“They can easily change the record or identity of the car so it will be harder for law enforcement to chase these criminals,” he said.
The "doble plaka" scheme involves changing the license plate of a vehicle while the "labas casa" scheme is a scam that targets public school teachers by enticing them to apply for a pre-arranged car loan and will then steal the car once the loan is approved.
Melitante assured that the illegal activities inside the LTO’s plate-making plant will be rooted out.
Meanwhile, QCPD director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said the suspects had been threatening their fellow LTO personnel within the plate-making plant.
He said the suspects are temporarily under the custody of QCPD and will face charges of qualified theft and robbery.
Three LTO workers have been arrested for stealing "made-to-order" license plates to be used in crimes.
Two individuals were found positive of using illegal drugs during the drug test initiated by the City of Lapu-Lapu Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (CLOSAP) on Wednesday afternoon, January 24, 2024.
Twenty six personnel from the City’s Clearing Team underwent the drug test, after Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan called a meeting.
Chan earlier issued a marching order to CLOSAP to conduct a surprise drug tests to all City Hall workers to ensure that their employees were clear from using illegal drugs.
“Mayor Chan want to ensure that all city hall employees are clear from illegal drugs since they carry the name of the city government,” Garry Lao said, executive director of CLOSAP.
Lao said more employees will undergo mandatory and surprise random drug tests throughout the year.
On Monday, January 22, 115 job order employees from the city hall and traffic enforcers from the City Traffic Management System (CTMS) underwent random testing.
Of the 115 tested, three CTMS personnel were allegedly found positive for using methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as shabu.
Two members of the Lapu-Lapu City cleaning team have tested positive for drugs.
An argument over an absence without leave (AWOL) case resulted in the death of two soldiers in Labrador, Pangasinan on Friday.
Initial report from the Labrador Police Station stated that Technical Sgt. Marianito Bolante, 47, was shot dead by M/Sgt. Henry Malong Quiajado at the latter’s residence in Barangay Uyong.
Quiajado later killed himself during a standoff with responding cops.
Quiajado also fired at five other collegues who were with Bolante, who died on the spot, while the others were unhurt.
They are members of the First Scout Ranger Regiment-Philippine Army based in Camp Tecson, Barangay Tartaro, San Miguel, Bulacan.
In a phone interview, M/Sgt. Glenn Ancheta, investigator of the Labrador Police, said the police tried for about three hours to convince Quiajado to surrender after he locked himself in his house.
Recovered from the crime scene were one Glock 17 Gen4 9mm, 12 pieces of live ammunition owned by the suspect, 11 fired cartridge cases of caliber 9mm, and one fired cartridge case for 5.56mm.
It was not clear yet what the argument about the AWOL case was all about.
Former mayor Allan Xystus A. Gamilla of Bongabon town in Nueva Ecija has been charged before the Sandiganbayan with two counts of graft in the alleged irregular purchase of a lot in 2020 for the municipality’s cold storage facility.
Gamilla was charged with violations of Section 3(e) and (g) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, before the anti-graft court’ fifth division.
From June 8, 2020 to Dec. 2, 2021, Gamilla reportedly entered into a contract with Jocelyn R. Ceña for the purchase of a 20,199-square- meter lot at P950 per square meters, but they just agreed on the total amount of P20,000,000.
Government prosecutors said that Gamilla entered into the contract without prior authority from the Sangguniang Bayan of Bongabon. Also, they said that at the time the contract was signed, the Philippine Rural Development iBuild Program placed the prevailing market value at P72.31 per square meters, but Gamilla bought the property at P950 per square meters.
They also said that Gamilla entered into a Conditional Deed of Sale with Ceña on behalf of the municipality on May 10, 2021 under the condition that the buyer shall pay a full amount of P4,717,200. The buyer shall also pay P15,282,800 to be paid within five years in equal payments of P3,056,560 annually.
Thus, the prosecutors said Bongabon town paid P4,717,200, which caused undue injury to the municipality in the amount of P4,355,700, representing the difference between the market value and the purchase price.
Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Yasmin Soraya A. Masukat recommended Gamilla’s bail at P40,000 each for the two graft charges.
A former mayor has been charged with graft.
A possible case of adultery awaits a barangay kagawad and his mistress who were caught inside a motel in Mandaue City, on Friday evening, January 26, 2024.
The suspects were identified as Carl Nelson Arnoco, 41 years old, a resident of Tawason, Mandaue City, and Gilda Cadungog Labares, 60 years old, a resident of Barangay Camputhaw, Cebu City.
Arnoco was said to be a barangay kagawad of Brgy. Luz in Cebu City.
Based on the investigation of Mandaue City Police Station 4, the wife of Arnoco personally went to their station to ask for assistance, after she saw her husband entering a motel on Friday night.
The police immediately responded and found the suspects inside a room in a motel.
The two were arrested and were appraised about their constitutional rights and detained for proper disposition.
They will most likely be charged with adultery, authorities say.
A barangay councilor has been caught in the act of adultery.
Two former officials of the Urdaneta City University (UCU) in Pangasinan have been charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan for reportedly offering in 2013 extension classes without approval from the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Charged were former UCU president Elizabeth A. Montero and associate professor II Helen F. Dupale, also the then officer-in-charge of the university’s Graduate School in Olongapo City.
Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer II Juzzelyx B. Sulit alleged that two former university officials violated the requirements in implementing extension class under Section 24 of CHED Memorandum Order No. 40, series of 2008, in relation to Section 65 of the 2008 Manual of Regulations of Private Higher Education (MORPHE) and Section 5.2.5 of CHED MO No. 27 and CHED MO No. 30, both series of 2009.
The indictment alleged that they offered an extension graduate education program in Olangapo City to students on July 24, 2013 and conducted extension classes in the said graduate school extension even without approval of CHED.
Graft cases have been filed against two former UCU officials.
The Lapu-Lapu employee who drove away street kids sleeping on the welcome signage of the Mactan Economic Zone 1 was transferred to a different department.
The video of the incident went viral online and gained mixed reactions from netizens. In the video, the employee was seen approaching the kids with a broom hitting the carton they were sleeping on to rouse them from sleep.
Lapu-Lapu City Administrator Atty. Danilo Almendras on Friday, Jan. 26, said that the employee was transferred on Thursday after he got the memorandum.
Almendras said that he was transferred to the City Traffic Management System from the Nerve Center of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.
The city administrator said that the employee was called and asked about his side and how he treated the street kids before he was transferred.
Almendras said that according to the employee, he drove his wife to Mepza. He was not on duty at that time because his schedule was from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. but just decided to wear his uniform.
He said that according to his employees, the street kids have been sleeping around that area, asking people for money and throwing their trash everywhere. The City Social Welfare and Development Office also conducted a rescue operation but said they keep coming back.
Despite this, Almendras said that the employee could have just ask them to leave properly.
Mayor Junard Ahong Chan was also not happy with how the street kids were approached. Chan said that he could just ask them politely, rescue them, and bring them to the barangay.
In this way, the barangay can call their parents and guardians, talk to them to guide their children. Or if they were abandoned, a case of abandonment will be filed against their parents.
A Lapu-Lapu City employee who drove away street kids using a broom has been transferred to another department.
A barangay councilor was killed when he was shot at close range by one of the two suspects who pretended to eat at his cafeteria in San Ildelfonso, Bulacan last Saturday.
Acknowledged by P/Brig. Gen. Jose S. Hidalgo Jr., regional director of Police Regional Office 3 (PRO3), the victim Joel Alvaro, 49-years-old, resident and member of Brgy. Lean on the said town.
The report did not mention whether the victim was shot in the head or body by one of the two suspects, both wearing black jackets and hats. The victim was tending to his cafeteria when the suspects arrived and pretended to be customers.
When he got the timing, the gunman pulled out the cal.40 gun and shot the victim.
The police are investigating the motive for the murder to identify the mastermind behind the crime.
A barnagay councilor has been assassinated.
A former senior official of a disaster and calamity response outfit of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was killed in an ambush at a busy thoroughfare in Cotabato City on Sunday night.
Engineer Ramil Masukat succumbed to multiple bullet wounds at a hospital where he was brought by emergency responders for treatment
Masukat survived an ambush unscathed on Nov. 27, 2022 at the border of Shariff Aguak and Mamasapano towns in Maguindanao del Sur but his driver then, Alex Manuel, was not as lucky. He died from gunshot wounds in different parts of his body.
Col. Querubin Lugue Manalang Jr., Cotabato City police director, told reporters on Monday morning that Masukat and his driver were attacked at Rabago Street in Barangay Rosary Heights Mother at about 7 p.m. Sunday by gunmen who immediately escaped using a getaway motorcycle.
Masukat was a former directorate staff of the erstwhile ARMM’s Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team, or HEART, renamed Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao after BARMM’s creation via a plebiscite in January 2019.
The badly wounded Masukat and his companion managed to drive away from the spot where they were attacked and as their vehicle zigzagged through the street, hit several vehicles along the route and stopped at a fuel refilling station close to the Cotabato Police Precinct 2.
The gun attack that resulted in the death of Masukat, who belonged to a large Moro clan in Maguindanao del Sur, was preceded by the January 23 equally brazen murder by two men of a staff of the 80-member BARMM parliament, the 50-year-old Sulaiman Kusain Macabangon, near a mall not too distant from the capitol here of the Bangsamoro region.
A former senior member of the ARMM has been assassinated on the second try.
The Sandiganbayan has denied the motion of former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) deputy director general Dennis L. Cunanan to reconsider his convictions for graft and malversation of public funds.
For graft, Cunanan was sentenced to a prison term ranging from six to 10 years. He was meted out a jail term ranging from 12 to 18 years for malversation and was ordered to indemnity the government of P9.6 million.
Cunanan was one of five individuals found guilty for the misuse of the P9.6 milion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of the late Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Herminio G. Teves in 2007.
In his motion for reconsideration, Cunanan argued that the crimes of graft and malversation were not proven beyond reasonable doubt. He said that his act of affixing his signature on the disbursement voucher does not consummate the crime charged, since there are other steps that must be taken before the release of the PDAF-drawn funds.
He further argued that he was not part of any conspiracy, and there is no showing that he is a public officer as defined under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.
In denying his motion, the Sandiganbayan said: "The aforementioned grounds relied upon by accused Cunanan are not novel. The lengthy discussions on the said motions are essentially the same points raised during the trial which have been thoroughly and assiduously passed upon by the Court in the assailed decision.”
"Taken in such light, accused Cunanan is still liable under an allegation and finding of conspiracy even if we assume that his functions as Deputy Director General of TRC did not relate to custody or control over the subject funds," the anti-graft court said.
The Sandiganbayan has denied the appeal of an ex-TLRC official convicted of graft.
The Ombudsman suspended Mayor Receliste Escolin of President Roxas town, Capiz province, for three months without pay due to misconduct.
Associate Ombudsman Arita Lapitan has issued an order to Gov. Fredenil Castro to implement Escolin’s suspension.
The order was issued last December but was only made public this week.
Escolin was suspended following a case filed by former Vice Mayor Alfonso Golero.
Golero accused Escolin last year of grave abuse of authority and grave misconduct.
Escolin allegedly left the province in 2017 without any permission from then Gov. Antonio del Rosario.
Castro has yet to implement the order as his office reportedly has not received a formal copy of the directive.
Escolin has filed a motion for reconsideration before the Ombudsman in Quezon City.
The Ombudsman has suspended the Mayor of President Roxas due to misconduct.
The assistant municipal treasurer of Pagsanjan town in Laguna failed anew in his attempt to convince the Sandiganbayan to reverse his conviction for malversation of public funds amounting to P483,529.31.
Denied was the motion for reconsideration filed by Elizalde G. Gabaleño who had been convicted by the Laguna regional trial court (RTC) and sentenced to a jail term of four to 11 years, including a fine equivalent to amount he misappropriated.
On Nov. 23, 2023, the Sandiganbayan affirmed the RTC’s decision. Gabaleño filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied.
He claimed that all the elements of malversation were not present in his case. He pointed out that the audit reports made by Commission on Audit (COA) auditors are "doubtful," since they merely alleged in their testimonies that they used all available financial records even without stating what particular documents were used during examination.
However, the Sandiganbayan denied his motion. “All things considered, there being no new or additional arguments or compelling reason raised by accused-appellant Gabaleño to warrant a reconsideration of the assailed decision of the court denying his appeal from the judgment of conviction rendered by the trial court against him, the denial of his motion for reconsideration for lack of merit is in order," the anti-graft court ruled.
The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of a Laguna town assistant treasurer for malversation of funds.
Argao police have filed murder charge against a retired Army officer who turned himself in hours after he allegedly shot his neighbor in Barangay Gutlang on Sunday afternoon, January 28.
The suspect was identified as Eugenio Ramos, 58, a retired Philippine Army officer and a resident of the same barangay.
Police Senior Master Sergeant Bienvenido Amil, investigator at the Argao Municipal Police Station, told CDN Digital in a phone interview that they filed the murder charge against Ramos at the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday morning, January 31.
Ramos allegedly shot his neighbor, Honorato Geverola, 66, which lead to the latter’s untimely demise.
According to Amil, Geverola was standing by the side of the road when Ramos, who was armed with a .45 caliber pistol, approached the latter at around 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Ramos allegedly shot Geverola once on his back before he fled.
Geverola was already dead when Argao police arrived at the crime scene, Amil said.
He added that a few hours later, Ramos appeared at the Argao Municipal Police Station to surrender. He also turned over the firearm that he used in killing Ramos.
Upon verification, Amil said they learned that the gun was registered under Ramos’ name.
The hand gun was immediately subjected to ballistics examination, he added.
During his surrender, Amil said that Ramos admitted to killing Geverola. Their investigation showed that Ramos had an earlier argument with Geverola but he would no longer say what caused the argument.
Amil said they now consider personal grudge as the motive behind the deadly shooting.
The retired army officer is currently detained at the custodial facility of the Argao Municipal Police Station.
A retired Army officer has been arrested for shooting dead his neighbor.
A 69-year-old chief tanod was arrested after police found unlicensed firearms in his home in Barangay Maslog, Danao City, northern Cebu.
Allan Rom, the chief tanod of the barangay, was found keeping unlicensed firearms in his home that was raided by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Mandaue City Field Unit shortly before 6 a.m. on Wednesday, January 31.
The raid was based on a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Josefa Pinza-Ramos of the Regional Trial Court Branch 90 in Danao.
Recovered from Rom’s house were a .45 caliber pistol, an Aresca Japanese rifle, and ammunition.
Police Capt. Nigel Sanoy said that prior to the raid, they received reports that the tanod brandished firearms several times that caused fear in the neighborhood.
The raid was part of CIDG’s “Oplan: Paglalansag Omega'' which runs after individuals possessing unlicensed firearms.
A barangay tanod chief has been arrested for possession of loose firearms.
