It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
“We will preserve the recovered materials. That will form part of the evidence in the cases we will file after today. We will be able to identify the violators,” said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.
He added that the poll body has already sent notices to candidates who own the illegally posted campaign materials.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is taking legal action against a partylist group for failing to remove an oversized campaign billboard on top of a building on Lacson Street here.
We shall see if the Comelec really will be filing cases against errant candidates. There are many illegally placed posters everywhere!
A provincial board secretary was gunned down by three unknown gunmen in the municipality of Maramag in the province of Bukidnon.
According to the police, Lacson was heading to Brgy. Kuya with his father and nephew when three unnamed suspects onboard a white Toyota Fortuner shot five times at the victim and fled right after.
Another LGU official assassinated.
Naval, Biliran Mayor Gerard Espina warned municipal employees to focus on public service rather than wasting time on mobile phone and online games and apps during office hours or find a new work place.
In an office memorandum dated March 1, 2019, Espina said that “a significant number of employees” were reported to be playing mobile games, particularly Mobile Legends and Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) during office hours.
The mayor further said that he hopes the said memorandum would prompt erring employees to “level-up” their “maturity in terms of the seriousness of public service or ‘squad up’ to find a new place of employment.”
Why not ban Facebook too? And watching videos. Just ban all social media use during work hours.
When asked if this was not interference on the judiciary, Panelo said it was “persuasion” and not interference.
I suppose it's not surprising that the Palace does not see anything wrong with the President "persuading" the court to allow a terrorist wanted for rebellion to leave the country to attend conferences in the UAE and Morocco.
Eighty-three politicians, including mayors, vice mayors, governors, vice governors, and congressmen, were reportedly included in the list.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said releasing the list is unfair to politicians as it can be considered negative campaigning by the government.
Duterte's so-called narco list has been floating around since 2016. Some want the list released so voters know who to not vote for. Some want the list to not be released because the names are not verified. The problem with this list is that if it is indeed verified these people are indeed involved in the drug trade then they should be apprehended and charged. But they are still free and no charges have been brought. So what is the point of the list?
Prosecutors insisted that former Senator Jinggoy Estrada received over P70 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, as they opposed his motion for leave to file demurrer to evidence.
The prosecution quoted the Anti-Money Laundering Council bank inquiry report which disclosed financial transactions supposedly made by Estrada or through his former senate staff Pauline Labayen and others identified as Carl Dominic Labayen and Juan Ng.
“Such verification and confirmation by the AMLC is nothing less than corroborative to the testimonies on record that indeed Estrada received kickbacks/commissions, thereby amassing, accumulating and acquiring ill-gotten wealth,” prosecutors led by Deputy Special Prosecutor Cornelio Somido said in the opposition.
Estrada’s motion for leave filed before the Sandiganbayan 5th Division will pave the way for the filing of a demurrer to evidence for the outright dismissal of his plunder case.
The prosecution thinks their case is airtight and Estrada is guilty. Would be a shame if he was eventually acquitted like Revilla.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Director General Aaron Aquino on Tuesday said the agency was not the source of President Rodrigo Duterte’s estimate that there are around 7 to 8 million drug users in the country.
Aquino however said he thinks the estimate is correct as the President might have included drug pushers in the figure.
“The figure did not come from us, and when I asked where the figure came hindi pa malaman kung saan nanggaling ‘yung figure (the source of the figure is still unknown) but I believe the President,” Aquino told reporters.
The estimate also did not come from the Philippine National Police, its chief General Oscar Albayalde said, but added that the President has unlimited sources of information that might have been his basis for the figure.
This number didn't come from the PDEA or the PNP and no one knows the source yet the believe him. Why? Because he is the President and the President is always right. Remember when he fired DDB Chairman Benjamin Reyes for contradicting his figure of 4 million back in 2017? "You do not contradict your own government."
The President criticized the Otso Diretso slate and almost all of its eight senatorial candidates — save for one bet because she's a woman.
He said the opposition party, backed by Vice President Leni Robredo, is going straight to hell for their endless criticisms.
"Sinong ipalit mo diyan sa 'yang 'Otso Diretso' papuntang impyerno? Walang ginawa 'yang mga tao na 'yan puro criticize," he said in a campaign rally in Zamboanga City on March 3.
You
criticise the President and you go to hell.
You go to hell and you die!
Aquino said the 64 politicians are among the 82 included in the government’s drug watch list, which includes mayors, vice mayors, governors, vice governors, and congressmen.
“I think it’s 64. They filed their COCs (certificate of candidacies) and the remaining 18 decided not to file [their COCs],” Aquino told reporters when asked on the number of politicians in the narco-list who are seeking another term for their respective posts.
"If they feel like they've been libeled, they can file a case," Panelo said in a media briefing when asked if the Department of Interior and Local Government's (DILG) planned release of "narco list" will go against the "presumption of innocence."
"Me, as a lawyer, mas gusto kong ilabas niyo ang pangalan ng kliyente ko. Para I can immediately respond to it at magawan ko ng paglilinis kung inosente naman," he said.
[Translation: Me, as a lawyer, I would rather have my client's name released so I can immediately respond to it, especially if he or she is innocent.]
If the PDEA knows who these people are they should file charges. It is the duty of the accuser to prove guilt because innocence is alway assumed. File a libel case? Ridiculous. Panelo the lawyer should know that.
“I hope that the next presidential debates in the coming years would be a more educated one, give all the time to the candidates to expound and talk about the issues, the one to bring to the people,” Duterte said in his remarks.
“Otherwise, it’s just an exercise of money and you know expenses are — they do not come easy,” he added.
Former Philippine National Police chief-turned-senatorial candidate Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa defended Hugpong ng Pagbabago's (HNP) style of campaigning, which has been chided by some opposition bets as mere entertainment.
"Mag-prangkahan tayo. 'Yung mga tao na 'yan, pupunta diyan purposely ba para lang makinig ng issues? I don't think so. Ang mga tao na 'yan pumupunta diyan para sumaya. Kung mapatawa 'yung tao diyan, gagaan na 'yung loob sa'yo," Dela Rosa told CNN Philippines' The Source on Tuesday.
[Translation: Let's be frank. Those people, would they purposely go just to listen to issues? I don't think so. Those people go there to be happy. If you make people there laugh, they'd be more at ease with you.]
Bato certainly has his hand on the pulse of the nation more than Duterte does in this case.
Foreign governments have supplied the Philippines "wiretapped" information regarding criminals and politicians alleged to have links to the illegal drug trade, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Tuesday.
Panelo issued the statement as he vouched for the integrity of the list of candidates in the May midterm elections with drug ties. The government plans to release the so-called "narco-list" next week.
"Ang mga nagpo-provide sa atin ibang bansa eh. Ang magagaling diyan Israel, magaling diyan America, Russia, China. In other words, they provide us with the information. Kung tayo lang, eh wala, kopong-kopong pa yata iyong mga instrumento natin," he told reporters.
Panelo, meanwhile, reiterated that the public deserves to know about the narco-list.
He said candidates with drug links do not enjoy the presumption of innocence.
"How can you demand that you are presumed innocent when you are involved in something criminal? Another thing, the due process clause applies to the life, the liberty or property," Panelo said.
So Israel, the USA, Russia, and China have the nation wiretapped? And the Palace is ok with that? Panelo's understanding of jurisprudence, especially the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence, is woefully lacking. How is he even a lawyer??
PDEA Director and spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon said “as far as PDEA is concerned, the narco-list came from its counterparts from the local anti-narcotics agencies.’’
With regards to Malacanang’s earlier pronouncement, Carreon noted that PDEA is not privy to the information that the narco-list came from foreign sources.
PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said the information about politicians named in the narco list came from local government agencies.
“Wala po kami natatanggap na mga information or intelligence regarding sa narco list na nanggagaling po sa ibang bansa (We have not received any information or intelligence with regards to the narco-list that came from foreign sources),” Aquino said.
Either the PDEA or the Palace is lying. Who do you think it is?
Panelo told reporters that he does not have any information whether a foreign government is wiretapping Filipinos suspected of links to illegal drugs and other criminal activities.
The Palace official said his statement during a press briefing on Tuesday regarding wiretapped information provided by foreign governments was based on “logic” and “educated guess.”
“As far as I know, walang nagpo-provide sa atin ng wiretapped information,” Panelo said as he admitted he used the wrong word when he said other countries “provided” information based on wiretapped conversations.
It was Panelo! But he wasn't lying. He was just guessing.
Auditors have flagged P3.6 billion worth of transactions in the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), adding to the list of financial irregularities that the agency has to answer for.
Rappler obtained two Audit Observation Memoranda (AOMs) showing that, on February 11 and 18, resident auditors found that:
- P1.75 billion worth of allotments were issued without final contracts or even bidding;
- P1.91 billion worth of programs remain unliquidated.
Millions worth of flagged transactions have hounded the PCG for years now, with the COA constantly reminding it to fix its financial control mechanism. The COA has repeatedly found in PCG records millions worth of fake receipts as well as transactions “disowned” by suppliers.
Past anomalies have subjected top level officials of PCG to graft charges; some of them were even suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman last year. (READ: Duterte again promotes PH Coast Guard officers facing graft raps)
If it's been happening for years it will likely continue for years.
The entire anti-drug team of the Pasay City Police Station 1 was sacked on Wednesday, March 6, after allegedly extorting from the family of a detained drug suspect in exchange for freedom.
According to the report from the police Counterintelligence Task Force (CITF), they received a complaint from a certain Joan dela Torre who alleged that her partner George Revilla was arrested by the Pasay station's drug enforcement team (SDET) then demanded P100,000 for his freedom.
The rule here is that everyone knows so everyone is liable. Especially the men in charge.
During the Senate committee on economic affairs' inquiry into the Duterte administration's "Build, Build, Build" program, Finance Assistant Secretary Maria Edita Tan admitted that the Philippine government goes through a limited competitive bidding process when it comes to China loan offers.
"In the case of the Chinese, they first would want to have a contract for us to go through a bidding process before they say 'Okay, I'm okay to confirm to finance it,'" Tan told the Senate panel headed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.
Tan also said the Chinese usually starts with providing three contractors of "good standing" before the bidding process.
The Chinese want to be assured first that they will be getting a Chinese contractor if they will be funding a project as it would be a tied loan.
If China is going to lend the Philippines money they want a guarantee that Chinese contractors will be leading the project. Nice. Build, build, build with the Chinese.
Everybody lies anyway.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio had this to say Wednesday as she asserted that honesty should not be an issue in this year’s elections, defending her candidates under the regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) accused of dishonesty and corruption.
“Sinasabi ko sa kanilang lahat: Walang isang kandidato d'yan na hindi nagsisinungaling kaya hindi dapat nagiging issue ang honesty ngayon.”
(I tell them all that there is no single candidate who does not lie so honesty should not be an issue now.)
Duterte-Carpio said Alejano and his fellow opposition candidates also “deliberately say false statements” against the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Lahat sila sinungaling, lahat ng tao sa mundong ito sinungaling,” she said.
(All of them lie. Everyone in this world is a liar.)
Everyone is a liar. Sure. That means Sara and her party are most certainly liars.
The seven, who have been under restrictive custody at the headquarters of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City since November 29, 2018, were served their warrants and were placed under arrest at the police camp on Wednesday afternoon.
To recall, the police officers, assigned at the Station Drug Enforcement Unit of the Las Piñas City Police, allegedly extorted money from a certain Shelane Lugutan, sister of Cyrus Wency Lugutan who was arrested in an anti-drug operation.
According to NCRPO, the police officers demanded cash from Shelane in exchange of the release of her brother. She then reported the incident to the Regional Special Operations Unit of the NCRPO, which later launched an entrapment operation on November 21 last year. The seven evaded arrest at that time but later surrendered to police and were put under restrictive custody.
These men have been site ing custody since November 29th but only now have been served with warrants, charged wit a crime, and arrested. How did it take so long?
Operatives of the Regional Special Operations Unit (RSOU) of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Tuesday served an arrest warrant against a police officer who allegedly duped a fellow police officer of some P2.6 million in an investment scam.
The NCRPO reported on Thursday that the arrest of Muchuelas stemmed from the complaint of Master Sergeant Jenaline Sad-Ang of the Taguig City Police Station. According to police, in 2015, Sad-Ang invested in the Rafael Muchuelas Group of Companies.
Police said Muchuelas told Sad-Ang that the he owns the Rafael Muchuelas Group of Companies and that his company has ties with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor).
According to police, Sad-Ang was not able to recover her investment, prompting her to file a complaint for estafa against Muchuelas.
PNP officers were supposedly poor until Duterte raised their salaries so how was this PNP officer duped into believing her fellow officer owned a group of companies with ties to Pagcor and where did she get P2.6 million to invest?
Arrested a barangay chairman and watchman in Barangay Mabantao town of Davao del Norte due to the secretion of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
Arrested by the Philippine National Police Composite Team by search warrant barangay chairman of Mabantao Edgar Allan Quilla Friday night.
Eventually the village watchmen that Rolando Pamat also after reaching home in Purok Sampaloc.
Different types of guns and ammunition got two, including the following:
- 1 piece MK IV caliber .45 Colt pistol
- 6 pieces .45 caliber magazine
- 47 pieces .45 caliber ammunition
- 45 pieces 9mm caliber ammunition
- 3 pieces .38 caliber ammunition
- 4 pieces .22 caliber ammunition
- 1 piece .380 caliber ammunition
A barangay chairman hiding illegal weapons and violating the election gun ban.
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