It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) was flagged by state auditors for its payment of P70.25 million worth of pension to 5,721 soldiers who turned out to be dead.
"Comparison of the payroll of pensioners and list of reported deaths for CY 2018 disclosed that 5,721 or 84.5% out of 6,768 total reported deaths continuously received their regular monthly pensions which ranged from 1 to 64 months, thus [resulting] in the overpayment amounting to P70,250,300.00," said the Commission on Audit (COA).
COA recommended that the PVAO identify the officials involved in the lapse and "hold them liable."
This is apparently a lingering problem in the PVAO because from 2015 to 2016, the agency also paid pension to dead veterans. The agency, in fact, improved in 2018.
How hard is to verify payees are still alive? Is there not a system in place to notify the PVAO of the death of payees?
With this problem, the officials wondered how PhilHealth could be trusted to manage efficiently the universal health care program’s initial fund of around P257 billion.
They lamented that over the years, the PhilHealth management seemed to have turned a blind eye to the situation even as a number of hospitals have taken advantage of it.
The hospital schemes range from upgrading ailments of patients and admitting beyond their bed capacity to treating dead patients.
It's a redundant question. PhilHealth will not be able to efficiently run the UHC program. More money will be lost and it will be a disaster. European style social programs are not for the Philippines.
"I'm asking COA to reconsider – ano ba naman 'yang (what is) P5 million. Actually, that P5 million is worth billions in terms of your kind generosity to finance the poor people na Muslim para makapag-Hajj (poor Muslims so they can participate in Hajj)," he told a roomful of Muslims and government officials.
But COA said the money should be refunded since it is "not among the authorized expenses in the Memorandum of Agreement executed by the Office of the President and the HUDCC."
The P5 million was part of the P500-million fund from the Office of the President for operational expenses of Task Force Bangon Marawi, headed by the HUDCC.
Duterte told state auditors to deepen their understanding of Muslim culture, saying this would cause "less friction in society."
He then said that if COA's findings lead to jail time for Del Rosario, he and his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte should also go to jail because they both dedicated some Davao City funds for Mecca pilgrimage of some Davaoeños.
"Don't put Del Rosario in jail because I'll have to go to jail too, and Inday. We will revolt in Mindanao. I will start again to gripe against the historical injustices of the Moro," said Duterte.
The HUDCC illegally diverted Marawi rehabilitation funds to send 27 Maranaos on the Hajj. Now the President is asking the COA to turn a blind eye because if they don't then there will me more rebellion in Marawi and Mindanao. He also admits that Davao City funds were diverted to send people to Mecca. Duterte is literally giving his blessing to corruption because it benefited a few Muslims.
He helps arrest drug pushers when he is on duty as a police officer, especially since he is a member of the Labangon Police Precinct’s Drug Enforcement Unit.
But when he goes off duty from his law enforcement job, Police Corporal Rogelio Atillo, surprisingly dons another secret hat as he allegedly turns into the person he chases as a police officer — a drug pusher.
It's amazing how many drug dealing cops are part of drug enforcement units.
A PhilHealth official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said that every time someone new came in to head the state insurance company, a group of board members saw to it to bring to that person’s attention the need to review PhilHealth’s case rates and the payments made, which the Commission on Audit has repeatedly flagged over the years.
Despite calls for a review of the existing rates given to hospitals or to at least put in place safety measures, another PhilHealth official said “nothing has been done.”
“We all know that we’re losing a lot of money. Why isn’t there anybody who’s in a position to do something about it not doing something?” said the official, who also requested not to be identified.
One reason the “racket” persists, despite public pronouncements of accountability, is the existence of a “mafia” in PhilHealth, which “ensures that there’s no review of the rates and overpayments,” the official said.
And how does this supposed mafia, which he alleged “is sadly composed of the majority of the executive committee,” get what it wants?
“They gravitate and ingratiate themselves to the [PhilHealth] president and make sure that nobody else gets close. They befriend him and cater to his whims,” he said.
What happens next is that the mafia will turn the tables on officials who seek reforms in PhilHealth by accusing them that they are, in fact, the real mafia, he added.
“There is a culture of fear. You can’t blame them. Once in a while, there would be motherhood statements denouncing the fraud, but nothing happens. Those who really try to fix it, they get removed, end up being called troublemakers. I really feel sorry for them,” she said.
Even doctors and hospitals, she said, would not dare come forward to talk about the shenanigans going on in PhilHealth out of fear that their accreditation will be removed, thus depriving them of patients.
There is too much money to be made from skimming off the top. With no incentive stop graft and corruption the loses will continue to pile up.
The regional director of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in Central Visayas on Tuesday warned members of the Philippine National Police in the region, who are caught investing in a pyramiding scheme of a Mindanao-based organization that is now active in the region, that they will be relieved and disarmed.
Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas, PRO-7 regional director, issued the warning after he received reports that more than 10,000 people have been recruited “to invest” in the KAPA Community Ministry International Inc. since it started operating in Cebu three weeks ago.
The organization has been actively recruiting teachers, police officers, personnel from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Sinas was quoted in a radio report as saying.
President Duterte has ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to shut down investment scams like Kapa-Community Ministry International, operating mainly in Southern Mindanao.
In an interview by his friend Pastor Apollo Quiboloy livestreamed on YouTube very early on Saturday morning, June 8, Duterte said the activities of these companies were clearly a form of "syndicated estafa."
Several investment scams have sprouted in Southern Mindanao and have reportedly branched out to as far as Luzon in recent days. These include Kapa, headed by Joel Apolinario, which promises a 30% “love gift” each month.
Some schemes, such as the Tagum City-based Rigen Marketing, Jogle, and Ever Arm, even promise a return of up to 500%.
In the interview, Duterte said the NBI should immediately put a stop to these schemes
The Securities Exchange Commission had repeatedly issued cease and desist orders (CDO) against Kapa and other investment schemes but they continued to defy the orders.
Apolinario's group challenged the SEC order before a General Santos City court but it was rejected. In March, the SEC made its CDO against Kapa permanent.
Ahead of the midterm elections, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año ordered the police and local government officials to shut down Kapa and other investment schemes but even mayors and governors were reluctant.
A politician hinted that going against these investment schemes could mean defeat. For example, in Davao del Norte, Kapa alone has over 10,000 members, according to sources.
There were also some reports that several politicians wooed votes by telling people they would not shut down Kapa and others when they win.
If the government really wanted to shut down this "ministry" they would do it. They arrested Maria Ressa several times over taxes evasion and libel. They even dragged her before the SEC and revoked Rappler's registration. If they wanted to get the owners of Kapa they could do it end of story and it appears some local officials do not want to go after them.
Lt. Col. Socrates Faltado, the Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan police information officer, said Reydante de Lara, 53, was traversing the national road onboard his motorcycle when, at Sitio (sub-village) Esperanza in Barangay (village) Mulawin, two unidentified gunmen riding in tandem on a motorcycle shot him at around 6:30 p.m. Lara died on the spot.
Another LGU official assassinated by motorcycle killers.
A 10-foot hole inside a controversial facility for abandoned children and elderly yielded piles of food stuff which Mayor-elect Isko Moreno Domagoso said were signs of a sabotage against his incoming administration even at the expense of the needy.
Domagoso on Monday (June 10) said heaps of rice, sugar, coffee, noodles, oatmeal and chocolates were buried in the hole but these were not spoiled or past their expiry dates.
“The food stuff was not spoiled,” said Domagoso, who defeated outgoing Mayor Joseph Estrada by a landslide and became one of the young politicians able to topple a political dynasty.
“These are still fit to eat and could still benefit children and the elderly living in Boystown and who have nothing to eat,” Domagoso said.
“This is clearly an attempt to sabotage the city government of Manila,” he said in a statement, referring to his incoming administration.
“These are government property,” Domagoso said. “If they would be thrown away, the head of the center should be informed,” he said.
Domagoso conducted an inspection in response to social media reports that food products had been dumped at the Boystown in an attempt to hide these from the incoming administration.
Throwing away food owned by the city and intended to feed orphans and the elderly is indeed callous and sickening.
Senator-elect Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa is challenging critics, or persons who are doubting his intelligence to serve as senator, to a face-to-face debate.
“Kinsa nang mga tawhana, iatubang kanako, debatihon nako bisag usa pa ka tuig. Kun moingon sila nga walay sulod akong utok, debate ta,” said Dela Rosa, who was in Cebu to celebrate his win with his Cebuano supporters.
(Who are these people who said that I am not smart enough to be a senator? Show them to me because I can have a debate with them that would go on for a year. If you say my mind is empty, then let us engage in a debate.)
Dr. Bato has already admitted that he does not know what the Senate does and that he will practically be Duterte rubber stamp. What is there to debate? Nothing!
The Sandiganbayan has found the former mayor of Carmen, Bohol guilty of illegal exaction for his supposed unlawful collection of fees from business permit applicants in 2009 amounting to P110,700.
The case stemmed from Molina and Pana's collection of P300 from more than 400 applicants of municipal business permits (business plates) between January to February 2009 despite the lack of an ordinance authorizing additional fees aside from those allowed by law.
Ten years later and a decision has been rendered.
(A lot of the people they have no real ailments but documents will be submited to PhilHealth to make it appear they are sick and payments will be collected.)
(The real thing is that the people are being given food, transportation fare and P500 so they will be contented and happy. But the hospital, in cahoots with doctors and PhilHealth officials, they will collect around P16,000 and sometimes P32,000.)
Garin then recounted that PhilHealth was also funding treatments of alleged fake cataract surgeries in 2006.
If no one was held accountable in 2006 then no one will be held accountable in 2019 either.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Office of the Vice President (OVP) over several deficiencies in the implementation of its locally funded projects (LFPs) totalling P44.664 million under its Angat Buhay program.
Based on COA’s annual audit report uploaded on its website on Tuesday, the OVP transferred in 2018 a total of P44,664,978.64 to 29 cities and municipalities to finance various projects and activities as part of its Angat Buhay poverty alleviation program.
Among the deficiencies cited by the audit body was OVP’s failure to demand official receipts (ORs) as well as liquidation and accomplishment reports from the recipient local government units (LGUs), “casting doubt on the regularity, completeness and accuracy of the projects.”
Interesting because this is Robredo's signature program. Why wouldn't her office be more diligent in making sure the projects are properly implemented and accounted for?
President Rodrigo Duterte claimed on Saturday that veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas of VERA Files has cancer.
In his interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on Sonshine Media Network, Duterte alleged that Tordesillas has been soliciting financial help because of her condition.
It turns out Duterte lied. Tordesillas does not have cancer and did not ask fir money when she did have it. Once again the President proves he is a liar.
In its 2018 audit report, the COA said PDEA spent P110.821 million in its local travels by Dec. 31, 2018. But airfare payments and liquidation reports amounting to P22.451 million, or 40.99 percent of the total travel expenses incurred for the period, had insufficient supporting documents.
COA added that PDEA submitted some 101 disbursement vouchers for various transactions amounting to P51.831 million which also lacked official receipts.
“This situation is not in accordance with existing laws, rules and regulations and casted doubts on the validity, existence, occurrence, and regularity of the claims,” COA noted.
“The incomplete documentation of the transactions, aside from non-adherence to existing rules and regulations, rendered difficulty in ascertaining the propriety, necessity and validity of the transactions,” it added.
Thank goodness for the COA which has oversight of the finances of all these departments. Not a single one is without irregularities.
The senior citizens of Barangay Mambaling were the latest to be affected by the continuing dispute between suspended Barangay Captain Gines Abellana and Mambaling first councilor and Acting Chief Anne Marie Palomo.
This after the distribution of the financial assistance for the senior citizens was delayed because of the standing feud between both barangay officials.
Barangay Councilor Owen Atillo, an ally of elected and suspended Barangay Captain Gines Abellana, told CDN Digital that the distribution of the cash assistance was supposed to be done at the Mambaling Barangay Hall on Thursday morning, June 13, 2019, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
A few weeks ago these two people were preventing emergency fund from being released to fire victims. This week it's senior citizens who are suffering because of their feud.
The head of the government-run Philippine Information Agency (PIA) has been stripped of authority over personnel amid an escalating internecine strife among President Rodrigo Duterte’s press officers.
PIA Director General Harold Clavite received on Tuesday an order from Communications Secretary Martin Andanar subjecting his decision to hire, fire or discipline employees to Andanar’s final approval.
Clavite responded on Wednesday through a post on his Facebook account, saying the order was one of Andanar’s “ill-advised and haphazard” decisions.
The order came a day after the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) announced that it was investigating Clavite for alleged corruption.
It said Clavite was being investigated for alleged splitting of contract for the purchase of Asean Komiks, misuse of funds for hotel accommodations, and irregularities in the production of information materials for the Employees’ Compensation Program and in the airing of the government television program “Like Pinas.”
Splitting of contract is a strategy to skirt auditing and bidding rules.
Clavite, in a Facebook post on Monday, said the allegations were baseless and unsubstantiated, and was part of a “demolition job” that had been going on since he undertook a series of financial and organizational reforms in the PIA, including a fact-finding inquiry into irregularities in the agency’s transactions.
The head of the PIA is being investigated for corruption at the urging of the PCOO. The head of the PIA calls the charges baseless and are part of a demo job for exposing corruption in the PIA. Who knows where this will go?
Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday, June 13, urged the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to rule on the revision of pilot provinces, claiming “clear victory” in the electoral protest.
“Without preempting the resolution of the Honorable Tribunal, the result of the revision, recount, and re-appreciation of the ballots clearly confirm the victory of protestee Robredo. Wherefore, it is respectfully prayed to the Honorable Tribunal to immediately resolve all pending incidents after the revision and recount of the ballots from 3 pilot provinces,” said Robredo’s motion.
The protestant, defeated vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos, was quick to call the claim “self-serving assumptions.”
The official count from the 2016 results showed Robredo with 263,473 lead over Marcos.
Based on recount from pilot provinces Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental, and Iloilo, the Robredo camp is claiming that the lead has become 279, 215 or an increase of around 15,000 votes.
Whatever the truth is hopefully the recount can be resolved sooner rather than later.
The Commission on Audit has recommended the filing of administrative charges against Bureau of Immigration officials and employees for allowing the departure of aircraft owned by airlines that owe the agency over P273 million in administrative fines for bringing into the country undocumented aliens.
COA also chided BI officials for splitting job orders and purchase orders in implementation of projects and the procurement of tabulating stock forms amounting to P4.10 million and P5.23 million, respectively.
Sounds like the BI is pretty corrupt.
NCRPO Director Major General Guillermo Eleazar sacked Thursday a station commander in Pasig City after he discovered empty bottles of liquor, water, and plastics scattered inside the precinct.
The desk officer and administrator of the precinct, whose names were withheld, were likewise removed from their post.
The PNP is doing its best to portray a clean environment and credible, effective policemen as part of the PNP transformation program 2030.
Nothing new about this. Bato sacked a few people for messy precincts. Why are there liquor bottles on any PNP precinct grounds? That should be grounds for termination!
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Philippine Navy over some P2.26 billion in delayed and unimplemented deals that it coursed through the state-run Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC).
In its annual audit report, the COA said procurement outsourcing through the PITC was “ineffective” and deprived the Navy of the immediate use of the planned projects.
“The inability of the PITC to deliver the goods and services is contrary to the very purpose of procurement outsourcing which is to hasten project implementation and had resulted in accumulated huge idle funds,” the COA report, released on June 3, said.
According to the report, the Armed Forces of the Philippines tapped the PITC in 2014 to procure major goods, services and infrastructure projects for the military.
However, the COA found that the memorandum of agreement between PITC and the AFP did not specify timeliness for completion of projects outsourced to them.
Due to the inefficient system, the Philippine Navy had transferred some P2.26 billion to the PITC, but as of the end of 2018, only a measly 3.5 percent or P81.84 million worth of equipment and supplies had actually been procured.
“The lack of timeline of delivery or completion of procurement procedures … is disadvantageous to the AFP,” the COA said.
Even the Navy cannot escape the eye of the COA!
"F*ck the international community. It can be bought. This is our fight and in the end ours alone," Locsin said on Twitter.
He was replying to Twitter user @skokiemanila whose tweet to him on Wednesday read: "Formal protest.. talk talk talk.. present it to international community.. ask other friendly nation for support. (Wait) for the political result."
Why is this idiot the Secretary of the Department of FOREIGN Affairs?
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