It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Gunmen on Saturday fired at the convoy of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua who was heading to this city from Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte where he attended an event of the Bangsamoro Federalist Party (BFP).
“The chief minister is safe, he is unharmed,” one of his security personnel told reporters.
The ambush occurred at around 4:45 p.m. along the national highway in Barangay Bitu, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte.
Amod the assault, the convoy continued until it reached the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City, Macacua’s aide said.
Macacua’s armored vehicle was hit by several bullets, including one on the driver’s side.
Two other armored vehicles in the convoy were also hit.
Hours earlier, the guests who attended the BFP general assembly in Barangay Gambar, Kabuntalan had to wait for several hours while bomb experts were checking on suspected improvised bombs along the roadside in Barangay Payan.
At the BFP event, Macacua officially joined the party and was elected chairman and president.
Macacua has yet to issue a statement on the incident.
The convoy of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua was fired upon.
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has arrested 12 individuals, including two of its own personnel from the Pasay District Office, in an entrapment operation against illegal fixing activities in Pasay City on Aug. 14.
In a statement on Monday, LTO chief Assistant Secretary Markus Lacanilao said the two LTO officials were relieved from their posts pending administrative investigation.
The operation was carried out by the LTO Law Enforcement Service–Field Enforcement Division (LES-FED), in coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), including personnel from the Pasay City Police Station and Substation 8.
Lacanilao said the arrests are part of his 7-Point Reform Agenda, which seeks to rid the agency of corrupt practices and restore public trust in LTO services.
"Hindi kami magbubulag-bulagan sa ganitong gawain. Alam namin kung paano kumikilos ang mga fixer, kabilang ang mga empleyado ng LTO na maaaring nasasangkot dito, at patuloy naming palalawakin ang operasyon para matukoy ang mga taong nasa likod nito (We will not turn a blind eye to this kind of activity. We know how fixers operate, including LTO employees who may be involved, and we will continue to expand our operations to identify the people behind this)," Lacanilao said.
He added that the agency will not stop until these practices are rooted out from LTO offices.
Those arrested will undergo investigation and face appropriate charges if proven involved in illegal fixing activities.
Lacanilao said the agency will continue to strengthen its anti-fixing operations in coordination with other law enforcement agencies to hold perpetrators accountable and maintain clean and honest public service.
The public is also urged to avoid transacting with fixers and to report any suspicious activity through the official Facebook page "Ireport Mo Kay LTO Chief" or through the website https://ireportmokayltochief.ph/ for verification, investigation and immediate action.
Two LTO officials have been arrested for illegal fixing activities.
The incumbent vice mayor and former local chief executive of Pampanga’s Magalang town face an Office of the Ombudsman complaint over an alleged “ghost” housing project they purportedly initiated.
Vice Mayor Eller Pecson and former Mayor Romulo Pecson are the subject of the complaint, including graft, which was filed before the anti-graft body Monday with assistance of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
“Their participation, allegedly, according to lawyers, they are the ones who initiated [the project],” said VACC President Arsenio “Boy” Evangelista, of the Pecsons.
Vice Mayor Pecson said he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint.
“I will just wait for the official complaint first,” he said in text message to Inquirer in Filipino when asked for comment. “That’s all I could say for now.”
Inquirer also sought the side of the former mayor for comment, but he has yet to respond as of posting.
The complainants did not provide a copy of the complaint-affidavit to the media.
But Evangelista explained that “the issue of this case is about ‘ghost pabahay’ with most of its buyers being those really underprivileged who dreamed of having a house.”
Evangelista said there are more than 1,700 complainants who said they gave an initial down payment for the house since “pre-pandemic” years, but nothing was built so far.
“They only conduct groundbreaking, but not even one [was] built—that’s why it is ‘ghost’,” Evangelista said.
Complainant Solomon Roque, who also went to the Office of the Ombudsman, said, “Nothing was delivered there—not even one hollow block.”
The incumbent vice mayor and former local chief executive of Pampanga’s Magalang town face an Office of the Ombudsman complaint over an alleged “ghost” housing project they purportedly initiated.
An unidentified gunman strafed the vehicle of a municipal councilor from Maguindanao del Sur while it was traveling in Lambayong town, Sultan Kudarat, on Monday.
Bin-Nazriff Buayan Utto Silongan, 40, municipal councilor of Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur, told reporters that he and a companion were on board a gray Toyota Hilux heading home from Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, when they were fired upon at about 10 a.m. along the national highway in Barangay Tinumigues, Lambayong.
Silongan and his companion, both residents of Barangay Sampao, were unharmed, but his vehicle sustained three bullet holes.
He said that he noticed a man standing at the roadside as they approached Purok Kaunlaran, Barangay Tinumigues.
As his car passed by, the man suddenly opened fire using an assault rifle.
Silongan said they did not stop and proceeded to Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao del Sur, and reported the incident to the local police.
The official was baffled by the attack as he claimed that “he has no known enemies.”
The Lambayong police, headed by Maj. Hayson Ortega, is still conducting a follow-up investigation.
A municipal councilor from Maguindanao del Sur survived an assassination attempt.
A Land Transportation Office (LTO) employee who allegedly hit two pedestrians with his car and fled the scene in Rizal has been fired and permanently banned from driving, according to the agency.
In a press conference on Tuesday, LTO Chief Markus Lacanilao said he ordered the employee’s dismissal and the filing of administrative cases after finding that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol in Antipolo City last Friday.
Lacanilao also ordered the perpetual revocation of the employee’s driver’s license.
“You are from LTO and yet you drove drunk and fled? You were already blocked by police, and you still fled,” he said.
“We do not tolerate our own people. If we need to send them to jail, we will send them to jail,” he added, noting that the suspect is currently detained in Antipolo.
In a statement, the Rizal Police Provincial Office said the 39-year-old male suspect was driving a sedan when he struck two women along Sumulong Highway in Barangay Sta. Cruz late at night.
He sped away but was eventually caught and turned over to police custody after an off-duty cop witnessed the incident and chased the suspect.
Police also said the suspect is facing criminal charges for reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury and abandonment of one’s own victim.
The LTO chief also announced the dismissal of two other LTO employees involved in separate hit-and-run and illegal counterflow cases.
Lacanilao said he sacked an employee in Cebu who hit a cyclist with an agency patrol car and failed to stop to assist the victim. An employee in the Cagayan Valley region was also fired after being caught counterflowing without an emergency.
Lacanilao warned LTO employees against committing similar offenses, citing a “no tolerance” policy.
“To all our other employees in LTO, if you can’t follow my rules, leave LTO. We will not agree. Despite your positions, I will fire you,” he said.
A Land Transportation Office employee who allegedly hit two pedestrians with his car and fled the scene in Rizal has been fired and permanently banned from driving, according to the agency.
Ombudsman Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla has preventively suspended former Land Transportation Office (LTO) chiefs Vigor Mendoza II and Teofilo Guadiz III over the continued use of STRADCOM’s IT system and the resulting P13.3 billion in additional computer fees.
The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) suspended Mendoza, who now heads the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and Guadiz, the current Office of Transportation Cooperatives (OTC) chairperson, without pay for six months or while their administrative case remains pending.
In an order dated Aug. 17, the OMB found sufficient grounds to suspend Mendoza and Guadiz, citing “strong evidence showing their guilt” in the administrative charges of grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
“The continued utilization of the LTO IT System by GUADIZ and MENDOZA demonstrates a patent disregard of established government policy and prior official directives intended to transition LTO operations to the LTMS,” the ruling stated.
The Ombudsman said Mendoza and Guadiz were suspended to protect documents and evidence that may be under their control or custody and prevent the possible commission of further malfeasance or misfeasance in office.
“The Order is immediately executory,” the anti-graft body added.
According to the OMB, the complaints center on the continued use of STRADCOM’s LTO IT system despite the government’s implementation and acceptance of its replacement, the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
The order cited the Commission on Audit’s (COA) finding that operating both systems in parallel resulted in the “non-maximization of the benefits” expected from the LTMS project.
Per COA, computer fees charged by STRADCOM from 2019 to 2025 amounted to P13,379,196,499.73, causing an “additional burden and expense for the transacting public.”
STRADCOM began operating the LTO’s computer systems and other transaction-processing infrastructure under a Build-Own-Operate Agreement signed with the government in 1998, the OMB noted.
The then Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), now the Department of Transportation, issued STRADCOM a Final Certificate of Acceptance in February 2003.
The agreement’s original 10-year concession period ended on Feb. 10, 2013, but it was subsequently extended from month to month.
In 2016, the LTO and STRADCOM signed a Phase Out Agreement that allowed the old system to remain operational while the agency had no new or replacement IT system that was fully operational nationwide.
The government then contracted a joint venture led by Dermalog Identification Systems GmbH in 2018 to develop and deliver the new LTO core system, now known as the LTMS.
The LTO issued a Certificate of Project Completion and Final Acceptance for the LTMS in 2021.
Following its implementation and rollout, the LTMS became the government’s principal platform for motor vehicle registration, licensing, and related transportation transactions. LTO operations were also directed to gradually transition away from the STRADCOM-operated system.
The anti-graft body said the transition, however, did not fully take place.
According to the order, Guadiz “pushed for the continued use of the LTO IT System” and “favored STRADCOM” as LTO chief in 2022, saying “the old IT System provides a better solution.”
The Ombudsman said that Mendoza issued several memoranda during his term as LTO chief in 2023, “effectively reviving and institutionalizing the continued use of the LTO IT System through a parallel utilization alongside the LTMS.”
The OMB said Mendoza directed the processing of public utility vehicle registration renewals through the old system in January 2025 without requiring LTFRB confirmation.
The Ombudsman said the parallel use of the systems resulted “in the continued generation and collection of computer fees despite the expiration of the BOO Agreement” for STRADCOM.
Former Land Transportation Office chiefs Vigor Mendoza II and Teofilo Guadiz III have been suspended over the continued use of STRADCOM’s IT system and the resulting P13.3 billion in additional computer fees.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday confirmed that five criminal cases were filed against Marikina City 1st District Representative Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro involving two female police officers.
“The Department of Justice confirms the filing of five (5) criminal cases against Marikina City 1st District Representative Marcelino “Marcy” R. Teodoro: four (4) counts of Sexual Assault and one (1) count of Acts of Lasciviousness, involving two (2) female police officers who previously served as his security personnel,” DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez said.
The charges stem from a complaint filed against Teodoro in the DOJ’s National Prosecution Service in September last year.
The two policewomen allegedly involved were reassigned to Camp Crame in the wake of the filing of charges to ensure their safety and well-being, the Marikina City police said at the time.
The formal charges follow an investigation into allegations brought forward by the victim-complainants, who previously served as his security detail.
Martinez said the informations (charge sheets) for sexual assault were filed with the Regional Trial Court, while the Information for Acts of Lasciviousness was filed with the Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC), which has jurisdiction over such offense.
“The Informations have already been filed…along with a transmittal of the records of the cases,” Martinez stated. “The cases are now under the court’s jurisdiction and shall proceed in accordance with the Rules of Court for the conduct of trial.”
Meanwhile, Teodoro’s counsel, Atty. Alma Mallonga denied the allegations.
“Cong. Marcy welcomes the opportunity to have the complaint against him heard in court. Unless the case is heard and a decision is reached—one that exposes the lies and reveals the actual truth—the smear campaign and uncertainty will only persist. The reality is that this is exactly what his detractors want,” read the statement he sent quoting Mallonga.
She said, the case against Teodoro was handled and investigated for almost seven months by a panel of lady prosecutors. However, a different prosecutor signed the resolution.
(The complaints went through an investigation by a DOJ Panel created specifically for this purpose. The DOJ Panel held hearings and completed the investigation over seven months ago.)
(That is why it is surprising that a resolution was issued that was not prepared or signed by the DOJ panel that conducted the investigation. Instead, a different state prosecutor prepared and signed it.)
The Department of Justice on Tuesday confirmed that five criminal cases were filed against Marikina City 1st District Representative Marcelino “Marcy” Teodoro involving two female police officers.
Two male police trainees in Misamis Oriental were arrested and placed in custody for allegedly raping a female batchmate, the Police Regional Office-10 (PRO-10) confirmed on Tuesday, Aug. 18.
PRO-10 said the Misamis Oriental Police Provincial Office launched an investigation following the reported violation of the Anti-Rape Law of 1997.
Brig. Gen. Christopher Abrahano, PRO-10 director, told the Inquirer in a phone interview that the three trainees are undergoing a six-month field training program, assigned to local police stations in Misamis Oriental.
“PRO-10 has zero tolerance for any act of sexual violence or misconduct,” Abrahano said, pointing out that such behavior runs counter to the discipline expected of regional personnel and the Philippine National Police as a whole.
“We will ensure that the matter is handled fairly and in accordance with the law, while respecting due process and protecting the privacy and dignity of the [victim],” he added.
Col. Al Abanales, MORPPO director, assured the public of an impartial probe, saying that the command will not shield anyone from accountability regardless of status or affiliation.
Two male police trainees in Misamis Oriental were arrested and placed in custody for allegedly raping a female batchmate.
A barangay captain is facing multiple counts of attempted homicide for trying to shoot four people onboard a motorcycle with his unlicensed pistol in Cabatuan town, Iloilo province.
Barangay Captain Alfredo Cabar Jr. of Duyan-Duyan was charged on Tuesday, August 18, a day after he surrendered to authorities.
Captain Mary Gerbolinga, police chief of Cabatuan, told Manila Bulletin the prosecutor also charged Cabar with using an unlicensed firearm during the August 16 incident.
Based on initial investigation, it was past 9 PM of August 16 when Cabar allegedly flagged down a motorcycle driven by a 21-year-old man who had a 23-year-old security guard as passenger. They sped away after seeing the barangay captain pulling a pistol and firing shots at them.
A few minutes later, another motorcycle passed by. The barangay captain allegedly fired another round toward a 21-year-old driver and his 18-year-old passenger.
In both instances, the barangay captain did not hit anyone.
After surrendering, Cabar told police investigators he had no recollection of shooting anyone.
This is not the first time Cabar tried to shoot someone with a pistol. A similar incident occurred last year while he was allegedly under the influence of alcohol. At that time, he was charged with attempted homicide and illegal possession of firearm.
A barangay captain is facing multiple counts of attempted homicide for trying to shoot four people onboard a motorcycle with his unlicensed pistol.
