Not a lot of murder in this instalment of Retards in the Government but plenty of corruption. Too much corruption!
Let's start this off strong, man.
Duterte has made the cover time again. This time as one of four strongmen of the apocalypse. Being called a strongman again ought to make him mad.
Wha??? They are embracing it? But just a year ago the NYT published the following article.
And they were vehemently against it.
“One would expect more from The New York Times. Their article, ‘Becoming Duterte: The Making of a Philippine Strongman, sounds like a well-paid hack job for well-heeled clients with shady motives,” Abella said.
Last year Malacañang was blurting out sinister conspiracy theories about the media being used by wealthy people to discredit Duterte. Now they are embracing the claim that he is as strongman. This is just like when disparaged fringe groups start "taking back" those words used to malign them by using those epithets to refer to themselves.
But then again....maybe not!
In the midst of all these attacks on his character may Duterte stay strong, man!
According to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), a certain Flexis Jeffrey Posadas, together with his driver, Efren Ferrer, were nabbed by elements of PS-11 at the corner of E. Rodriguez and Tomas Morato in Barangay Kristong Hari around 6 a.m. Thursday.
The arrested men were accused of bearing an unlicensed gun by the arresting unit of PS-11 DEU in what police claimed was a buy-bust operation. Two other men–Celso Luna III and Erwin Madrid–were also nabbed by the operating team. All four men were brought to QCPD Station 11.
The NCRPO said the police then demanded P200,000 from Posadas and Ferrer, to which they paid through the former’s nephew, Lorenzo Miguel Soriano, inside the QCPD SDEU office around 9 a.m. Thursday.
The police did not release the suspects and instead demanded another P100,000 for their release which they said should be made on or before 9 p.m. the same day.
This prompted Soriano to seek the help of QCPD’s District Special Operations Unit (DSOU) and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), thus, resulting in a raid at the PS-11 minutes after midnight Friday.
Instead of first seeking the help of the QCPD's DSOU and SWAT these men PAID the money! It was only when the cops got greedy for another 100 grand that they declined to pay and sought help. It's a two way street. Crooked cops play the game because they know, or think, their victims will play along. I wonder if they got their 100 grand back.
PhilHealth suffered a P9 billion lost last year and yet the President of PhilHealth spent 627,000 pesos and travel and P143,881 in allowances for herself. This is not the first instance of financial irregularities with PhilHealth.
Albayalde ordered the immediate relief of Chief Insp. Juan Saldua Cipriano Jr., of the Southern Police District; and Senior Police Officer 4 Ronnie Arimbuyutan Druja, of the PNP Aviation Security Group.
Reports said both police officers were caught by Inter-Agency Council for Traffic (I-ACT) and the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) driving unmarked vehicles illegally being used as passenger vans.
It sounds good but what does it mean? What does relief mean? Will they be back on duty? Will they be charged with a crime and face jail time? Those kinds of details matter.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, however, said that filing charges against the sacked officials is the job of the Office of the Ombudsman, not of Duterte.
"The filing of cases for the officials the President has fired is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ombudsman. Don't you understand that? At a certain salary grade, it is the Ombudsman who must investigate," he said on Thursday, May 3.
However, it is also within Duterte's or Malacañang's power to file complaints against these officials with the Ombudsman to initiate a probe that could lead to actual charges.
Duterte also has his Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission to draft such complaints.
If these people Duterte fired for corruption are actually guilty of corruption then they should be charged and face the consequences. Passing the blame by saying it is not Duterte's job to file complaints is not going to cut it. Without Duterte or someone else filing a complaint to the Ombudsman no charges will ever be brought and these corrupt government workers will be off the hook.
Armando Dela Cruz, 43, a kagawad of Barangay (village) Pinmaludpod, was driving through Manaoag on his way back to Urdaneta when two motorcycle-riding men drove close to his car and opened fire at about 9:50 p.m., according to SPO1 Henry Catabay, Manaoag police investigator.
Another dead politician murdered by the hands of unknown motorcycle gunmen for unknown reasons.
The gun ban is really curbing the violence. Not!
Aside from “dumbing down” the elections, candidates using images from blockbuster movies like the Avengers for their campaign posters can get themselves sued for copyright infringement, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.
“By the way, actually it is not cool to replace the face of an Avenger with your own face. Baduy yun (It’s in bad taste),” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez posted in his Twitter account @jabjimenez.
Jimenez’s reminder came as the country prepares for the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
“So what now? Does it mean that whoever has the coolest poster should win? Just like that? You treat the voters like stupid,” he said.
Candidates who resort to such campaign gimmicky “should be sued for copyright infringement,” Jimenez said.
Disney isn't going to be suing anyone for copyright infringement and it's not as if Filipinos care anyway. I see copyright infringements all the time. He is also overestimating the intelligence of the Filipino voter. There are literally athletes, comedians, and actors in the Senate. Filipinos voted for Mayor of Manila a man convicted of graft and plunder while President!
The PNP is so corrupt this police Chief wants to award officers for doing what they should already be doing!
“I’m the tough guy here, not you. My rules, not yours, will be followed here,” he said on Monday during his “man-to-man” talk with convicted drug lords detained at Building 14 of the maximum security compound.
He said he would be applying the internal cleansing program he implemented as PNP chief to BuCor to stop drug trafficking at the NBP.
Dela Rosa said he was hopeful that with the implementation of R.A. 10575 which raised the salaries of BuCor personnel, making these at par with policemen, corruption would be reduced, if not eradicated.
Since we all know that neither his internal cleansing program nor the raising of salaried actually cleansed the PNP of corrupt elements what can we expect here but more of the same continuation of corruption and illegal activity under Bato's watch?
Really? She did not know her brothers hosted the show which the DOT required to air ads? Does she not have a close relationship with her brothers? These denials are getting ridiculous.
Asked whether buying items to mark the birthdays of officials and staff is a regular activity of the department, he replied: "This is still undergoing procurement process."
The questions on and criticism of the procurement of reversible jackets for the DOT birthday celebrators came after its bidding document DOT-BAC IB No. 2018-009 circulated online.
The 69-page bidding document was also released and published on DOT’s official website.
In its invitation to bid, the DOT called on prospective bidders to offer proposals for the reversible jacket contract amounting to P1,294,500.
It seems the jackets have not actually be procured yet and they will likely end this process just like Duterte has ended Teo's tenure at the DOT.
Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo has tendered her resignation following a one-on-one meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday evening.
Teo earlier insisted that she will not resign despite calls for her to step down following the P60-million worth of advertisements that the DOT placed in a television program produced by her brothers, Ben and Erwin Tulfo.
Ferdinand Topacio, Teo's legal counsel and spokesperson, insisted that Duterte did not demand Teo to resign.
"Her decision to leave her position was made after a long and deliberate reflection and soul-searching with respect to the events that have transpired the past few weeks," Topacio said in a statement.
Come on! We all know what happened. Don't jive us with "reflection and soul-searching."
Now that's closer to the truth! Teo is out. Her husband has resigned. Her brothers have returned the P60 million. A senate investigation and possible charges are looming over her shoulder. What a way to start the week! Could anything else with the DOT go wrong?
It’s “very sad,” said new Tourism Attaché to New York Susan del Mundo, that people would vandalize Philippine tourism billboards.
“Sad because effort ito ng mga Pilipino,” she told members of the Fil-Am media in a press conference. “We would like to promote our country to have a very good image. And then they have to do this.”
You know what's sad? That the Philippines has a tourism attaché in NYC. How much money is wasted on promoting the Philippines instead of actually developing the Philippines?
Intense political rivalry was cited as the main reason why these 28 villages, located in the towns of Carigara, Hilongos, Leyte, Inopacan, MacArthur, La Paz, Burauen, Alangalang and Albuera were identified as election hot spots.
Imagine being so vain and ambitious that you are willing to kill to be the barangay captain of your little barangay nobody in the world has ever heard of or cares about! Let the bodies hit the floor as long as you reign in your little bamboo fiefdom.
The younger Lagman said he asked the driver to drop him off the condominium where he lives.
He admitted forgetting to tell the driver to proceed to the garage instead of the parking on the side of the street.
This sounds pretty dumb. A few questions. Was the driver sitting in the car with the engine running? Or did he come into the house? Had the driver ever been there before and did he know to park in the garage? If Lagaman was being dropped off then why was the car parked instead of returning to its owner since the vehicle does not belong to him? Why is the media at this seemingly insignificant event?
The COA said AFPCES had deposited cash in the private banks without the Department of Finance’s approval.
This sounds highly suspicious and definitely needs to be investigated thoroughly.
The 27-year-old and neophyte mayor is also facing complaints of grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and oppression.
Sorongon told Manila Bulletin the councilors were trying to get back at him after he filed a complaint before the Ombudsman for the 77 infrastructure projects that he claimed are anomalous.
A tale as old as time. A new mayor, a young buck not accustomed to the ways of career politicians, gets elected and wants to clean up the place. So he files complaints against anomalous projects. The old men on the council counter by filing a litany of complaints against him to both discredit and waste his time. The glory of petty Philippine politics.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) hopes to use Boracay as instructional material to tell the world what environmental destruction and efforts to reverse it could bring.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said he expected to tell a good story about Boracay’s rehabilitation during its six-month closure to tourism.
The DENR, he said, hoped to turn Boracay into a showcase of rehabilitation when the Philippines host the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress in November.
4 - 6 months is not enough time to reverse the effects of 30 years of environmental degradation. Instead of seeking to toot their horn and the horn of Duterte the DENR should focus on the task at hand.
Hmmmmm. I recollect this dude recently told Leni Robredo to shut up about the recount.
So he did! Maybe he should follow his own advice!?
I wouldn't trust any drug test in the Philippines because they do not use sterile cups. They use the same plastic cups Shaky's Pizza uses for condiments!
Based on a list obtained by reporters from the Ombudsman, there are five cases docketed under the name of the former vice mayor, including graft, forfeiture, perjury, violation of the code of conduct for public officials, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
Interesting. We will have to wait and see how this all turns out.
Another
dead politician murdered by motorcycle gunmen this time inside his house and not out in the street.
Several candidates in the forthcoming barangay elections here have identified themselves openly in campaign paraphernalia as associated with either of the two ruling political families in Davao City.
These acts violate election rules according to the Comission on Elections (Comelec) which urged politicians to keep the barangay polls non-partisan.
At a press conference Wednesday, May 9, Comelec XI election lawyer Krisna Samantha Caballero said these acts violate pre-election rules.
“It is illegal, so it’s not allowed. Because it’s a violation, that is already tantamount to an election offense,” Caballero told reporters.
But Comelec, she said, could not prevent the candidates from identifying themselves with incumbent politicians in local government.
She said “there must be a certain person who can stand up and complain, because if there’s no complainant how can we act on it.”
It's always the same. Someone openly breaks the law and the authorities, in this case the Comelec, clime they can't do anything about it because no one has lodged a complaint. These candidates are breaking election laws now but if they are elected to office what other laws will they break?
The Comelec strictly prohibits posting campaign materials on trees, light posts, electrical wires, schools, waiting sheds, sidewalks, bridges, health centers, public structures, airports, seaports, subdivisions, vehicles, and the like.
In Davao City, campaign posters are everywhere.
Under the rule, a candidate found guilty of the election offense may be sentenced from one- to six-year imprisonment without prohibition, disqualification from holding public office, and deprivation of the right to vote.
The posters should measure 2 feet by 3 feet, while leaflets should measure 8.5 x 14 inches, and streamers should be 3 feet by 8 feet. The printer of the posters may also be "criminally accountable" for the election offense.
All candidates are also hereby required to indicate in their printed material the phrase: "THIS MATERIAL SHOULD BE RECYCLED."
I can assure the Comelec these
violations are not just happening in Davao. They are happening everywhere. The candidates names are on the posters. So go after them! What is stopping enforcement of the law? Take pictures of the violations. Rip them down. But no someone has to file a complaint first right??
Another PNP officer busted for drug offences.
Corpus said authorities seized from Yambao's residence 9 pieces of heat-sealed plastic sachets of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu, one hand grenade, and 17 cartridges for a caliber .45 gun.
The PRO3 director said Yambao faces charges for violation of RA 9165, illegal possession of explosives under RA 9516, and violation of RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Act.
“The arrest of Yambao, who is a high ranking official of LTO, only goes to show that more and more unscrupulous government workers are involved in illegal drug and we continue to launch operations against all who are included in our target list and watch list,” Corpus said.
Explosives. Drugs. Another government worker caught up in wrong doing.
A complaint was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against Solicitor General Jose Calida on Thursday, May 10, accusing him of violating the Code of Conduct for Public Officials for a majority share in a security agency.
The complaint was filed by Jocelyn Nisperos-Acosta, a private individual who is a vocal supporter of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.
What this complaint boils down to is revenge. Calida files a quo warranto petition to sack CJ Sereno. This supporter of Sereno, or maybe a whole team of people assisting her, then pours over every detail of Calida's life including his stock portfolio in order to dig up some dirt and then files a complaint against him after finding said dirt. So what if all these accusations against Calida are true? They would not have been brought out if he had not filed the petition to oust Sereno. In fact the complaint filed mentions the petition as being unconstitutional and thus a violation etc., etc., etc.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde has reassigned to Sulu the 11 policemen who bashed him on social media.
Albayalde ordered the reassignment after he confronted on Tuesday the police officers who criticized him on the Facebook page “Buhay Lespu.”
“They have been relieved and reassigned to Sulu,” PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao said yesterday.
The reassignment is not a form of punishment but to prevent them from influencing other policemen, Bulalacao said.
Sure being reassigned to the most violent and dangerous area of the country is not a form of punishment. It's like King David sending Uriah to the front line so he would be killed.
However, “suspension of the tax reform program will certainly tend to slow down the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program,” Dominguez told finance reporters in a separate text message, referring to the government’s ambitious infrastructure program.
Also, suspending the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act would “possibly negatively affect the government’s ability to fund the free tuition program as well as increase in salaries of the police and the military,” Dominguez added.
Perhaps the government should not be offering free tuition at the expense of the economy collapsing. Shortsightedness with no real game plan except "Do It" is at fault here.
A local political charged with violating the election gun ban.
The fresh complaint against Aquino is the third to be filed at the Ombudsman, following the plunder complaint filed by former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority chief Augusto Syjuco and graft charges filed by Gabriela party-list.
The third plunder complaint filed in relation to the Dengevaxia mess. Will there be more cases filed? There might be. If you throw enough mud something is bound to stick.
She admited she had “no idea what to do” yet with the mess in the department, but she vowed to check all documents.
She said she will ensure that the proper bidding processes are implemented.
“I have my lawyers to check documents before I sign,” she added.
Here we go again. An official is fired for corruption. A new guy takes the lead and promises to clean up the corruption. Mysteriously enough corruption continues from administration to administration until officials are caught and fired and replaced by new guys who vows to clean up the corruption. That is the circle of political life in the Philippines.
The biggest scandal of the week by far is China's installation of missiles on the islands it has built in the SCS. This is ultimately the result of weak Philippine policy towards China and transcends the Duterte administration for the roots of this momentous event lie somewhere in the murky past say in the early 90' with the closing of Subic Bay. Duterte's friendly turn towards China and his refusal to insist on the Philippine rights in the SCS as ruled by the UN is not helping matters at all. He has continually joked about the matter going so far as to say he would sell the land to China. China was never joking. But now China has the last laugh.
Here are just a few of the many headlines.
“So Aquino filed an arbitration case. We won. He was still there. Bakit hindi niya ginawa kung yan talaga ang gusto ng…’yan silang mga yellow [Why didn’t he do anything if that is what the yellow wanted]?” he said in a speech in Davao City.
“Panalo kayo nandiyan pa si Aquino not so many was there. Bakit hindi mo pinuntahan at sinita [You won and Aquino was still there, not so many was there. Why didn’t you go there and accost them]?” he added.
But the Philippines only won its diplomatic protest against China in July 12, 2016, a few days after Aquino stepped down from office.
Duterte also blamed US for its inaction when China started the reclamation activities in the disputed territory years back.
“And the only country who could have stopped them is America,” he said. “Walang ginawa at hinayaan [They did nothing, they just let it slide].”
Duterte simply refuses to take responsibility for the major steps China has taken in militarising the SCS since he took office. The UN decision against China came after Aquino left and Duterte, instead of following through with the decision, kept silent and sought closer diplomatic and financial relations with China all at the expense of Philippine sovereignty and the security of the SCS and the SEA. He has made jokes about the missiles and the islands and China has been laughing, not at his jokes, but at how weak and irresolute the Philippines is.
Duterte said China has also promised to protect the Philippines once the latter faces security threats.
“If America agrees to help, which I doubt, they have missiles. But the foot soldiers, America is allergic to that. They have lost so many wars. So China said, ‘We will protect you.’ We will not allow the Philippines to be destroyed. ‘Nandito lang kami at kung gusto mo, anytime, tawagin mo kami (We are here anytime when you need us),’” the President said.
“She’s (US) not going to protect us... I know the paradigm of the American,” he added.
Despite the firearms given by Beijing and Moscow, Duterte said he was not ready to forge new military alliances.
“We have the (Philippines-US) pact. If I already have a treaty here, I cannot enter into other treaties,” he said.
How will China protect the Philippines, and from what, if there is no military treaty or alliance with China? This is more double talk from Duterte who continues to allow US military operations on Philippine soil.
“We can never expect a foreign power, whether the United States or China or even the European Union, to protect and defend Philippine interests. It would be a fatal mistake and detrimental to our sovereignty to think our interests will be defended by other nations,” the senator said in a text message.
"We cannot take back all those artificial islands or all those reefs because we are now at the mercy of China so it's very important that we cultivate and enhance friendly ties with China so we can access those waters belonging to our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone)," he said.
"It’s technically directed at everyone within the range of that missile system and we’re nearest to the range of that missile system and so it is, in fact, directed at us," Hilbay told ANC's Early Edition on Tuesday.
The former solicitor general also warned that China has a "history of dishonesty" over its actions in the South China Sea.
China's militarization activities in the area are well within the Philippines' backyard as Mischief Reef, one of Beijing's "big three" islands, is within Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
"When China started reclaiming or took over those areas and the started building an island, they said that this was for civilian purposes, non-military, this was for weather purposes, for the protection of the fishermen. Now you realize that they have militarized the area," Hilbay said.
He added that China has no right to reclaim and militarize Mischief Reef as it is part of the country's EEZ, as ruled upon by the United Nations-backed tribunal in the Philippines versus China arbitration.
Ironically, the Philippines was the first of the claimant countries to build an airstrip in the Spratlys in the 1970s. The other claimants only followed suit.
The Philippines was the first to build an airstrip in the Spratlys and remains behind everyone else in maintaining and developing the islands it claims. This article is hard to neatly summarise and everyone should read it.
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