It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
A TOTAL of 13 police personnel from the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) face suspension for sleeping and abandoning their designated posts during their duty hours.
CPPO Director Police Col. Manuel Javier Abrugena told SunStar Cebu that this move is in line with their internal cleansing campaign.
Sleeping on the job. A common offence.
Senator Manny Pacquiao on Thursday night in General Santos City sought President Rodrigo Duterte's advice on who among Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco that the ruling PDP-Laban will endorse for the House speakership.
Duterte has already he said he will not meddle with choosing a new House Speaker so why would Pacquiao consult with him? Manny is also a member of the Senate and not the House so any endorsement from him or any other Senator would constitute a breach in the separation of powers which is supposed to exist between the House and Senate.
“The President is a very cautious man. If you notice, he makes calibrated responses,” he added.
Pressed if the President was less reckless in issuing statements as the incident involves China which he is considering as a strong ally, Panelo said: “Depending on the incident.”
“When the President speaks they are intentional to get some desired effects,” he added.
While it is always good to not rush to judgement and be cautious especially in a situation like this it is absolutely not true that Duterte is "a very cautious man" who "makes calibrated response." From his dropping F-bombs to his insults to work leaders who have dared criticised him Duterte has shown himself time and again to be rash and incautious.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he had ordered the Philippine Embassy in London to appeal to London-based International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the hit-and-run incident at Recto (Reed) Bank in the West Philippine Sea.
“China is free to do the same. We press on with our version. I authorized London PE to appeal to IMO in London,” Locsin said in a tweet on Saturday.
This man literally just said F the international community and now he is appealing to the international community! A flip flopper like Duterte.
The Philippine Air Force has advanced over P800 million for fuels, oil and lubricants as War Reserve Stocks even before it could utilize P466.78 million in FOL stocks previously paid to a petroleum company by the military unit.
However, auditors disclosed that they could not ascertain “whether the issuances and utilization of WRS is in connection to contingencies and emergencies” during the year the inventory was issued.
“This is due to the absence of supporting documents, eg. Issuance directives,” they said.
In the same audit report, COA chided PAF for failing to literally pull the plug of electricity and water connection of housing facilities occupied by former officials and personnel for refusing to pay utility bills and rentals that have accumulated to over P21.8 million.
In the recently-released 2018 PAF annual audit report, COA blamed the PAF’s leniency for the accumulation of the unpaid bills for electricity and water connection and garbage fees.
“Management has not imposed sanctions such as disconnection of electricity and water connection, cancellation of contract/permit and even eviction of delinquent occupants of housing facilities, thus, receivables continued to accumulate which at year end totaled to P21,826 million,” reported COA.
Auditors said that among the delinquent occupants of rented PAF housing and business facilities are military personnel and civilian concessionaires.
The Air Force is paying too much for fuel stocks when it has plenty in reserve and it is allowing PAF officials and personnel to not pay their water and electricity bills.
A member of a left-wing organization of farmers was gunned down outside his house at Barangay Halapitan, San Fernando town in Bukidnon province on Saturday (June 16) in what appeared to be another attack on the Left.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Philippine Peasant Movement or KMP) said one of its members, Nonoy Palma, was killed by three gunmen.
KMP cited witnesses saying the gunmen rode a single motorcycle and one was recognized as a local militiaman.
Who keeps killing farmers and why?
The Commission on Audit (COA) rejected a request for reimbursement of P5.894 million worth of "meals and snacks" filed by the city government of Puerto Princesa, saying the expense was not allowed under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act.
COA asserted that the expenditures violated Republic Act No. 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, as they were not related to disaster mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, rehabilitation, and recovery.
State auditors also questioned the lack of public bidding for the meals and snacks.
The meals and snacks amounting to P5,894,245.80 were supposedly given out during events including the birthday of former Puerto Princesa mayor Edward Hagedorn, meetings of barangay officials, medical mission, recollections, and the city's tourism office.
Puerto Princessa officials used disaster management funds to procure P5 million worth of snacks for the mayors birthday as well as at various LGU official meetings and then they had the audacity to ask to be reimbursed!
The newly formed Philippine National Police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) is going after more than 2,000 rogue cops, the highest ranking of whom are colonels.
Under lifestyle check by the integrity monitors are 2,120 policemen, according to Lt. Col. Rey Lambojo, the chief of the new group.
In a radio interview on Sunday, Lambojo said 504 of the rogue cops were commissioned officers.
2,120 bad eggs! Definitely not a true representation of what the PNP stands for. Not indicative at all.
The Philippines had planned to be self-sufficient in rice by 2017 and be at par with rice exporting countries like Vietnam and Thailand.
But scientific breakthroughs and technology had not been transmitted to farmers by the country’s food research community as had been intended, Sen. Cynthia Villar said during a North Luzon business forum of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.
Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, said rice farmers needed to be immersed in the latest discoveries of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) now that rice importation had been liberalized.
“PhilRice and PhilMech (which are overseen by the Department of Agriculture) were created but there appeared to be some misconception that these institutions’ primary task was research when they needed to bring their findings to the farm level,” she said.
Villar blamed the failure to transfer knowledge and technology on budget constraints.
Budget constraints? What a crock! Article 13 Sec 5 of the constitution mandates that the government "shall provide support to agriculture through appropriate technology and research, and adequate financial, production, marketing, and other support services." Why has the government failed to do this and yet
foreign NGO's have enabled Filipino farmers to increase their rice yield?
The ballot box reportedly found submerged in water in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao had been stolen from the municipal office, the Commission on Elections said Monday as it disputed allegations of fraud in the 2019 midterm elections.
A certain Sam Zailon Esmael on Friday posted photos on Facebook of the ballot box that was allegedly found in floodwater behind the municipal office by a village peacekeeper. Esmael —whom the Comelec said ran for mayor of Datu Salibo but lost—accused the poll body of committing fraud.
How was this box stolen? Who stole it? Will anyone be held accountable? Are other boxes missing?
Police arrested the provincial Information Officer of Davao del Sur and his wife in Padada town for syndicated illegal recruitment, police said Tuesday.
Libera said the Cesars are among the suspects in a large-scale illegal recruitment that lured applicants to work in Japan in exchange for hefty fees.
Libera said the Cesars and the other suspects failed to send any of their recruits to Japan, prompting them to go to the police.
A government official scamming would-be OFWs.
Police arrested a retired military sergeant for possession of an unlicensed gun in Matalam, North Cotabato.
Lt. Col. Aldrin Gonzales, speaking for police in Region 12 (Soccsksargen), identified the suspect as Alvin Barroga, 43, of Purok Yellow Bell, Barangay Poblacion, Matalam, North Cotabato.
In a report, the Matalam police said a civilian alerted cops about the presence of a man in their community brandishing a handgun at about 8 p.m. Monday.
A police team was sent to verify the report and found Barroga in possession of a US-made 9mm pistol with ammunition but could not produce documents to show he was authorized to carry a gun.
Why was this retired Army sergeant charged only with illegal possession not with endangering others if he was brandishing a weapon? He should know better than to be waving his gun around.
In a resolution dated May 22, the Third Division said that Festin's suspension covered his duties as mayor and other public positions he currently holds.
The Sandiganbayan, nonetheless, qualified that the suspension was not a result of judicial proceedings. Festin's withheld salaries and benefits during the suspension would be reinstated if he was acquitted in the case.
Festin faced three counts of graft for allegedly awarding the computerization contract of his town’s Real Property Tax Assessment system to JABL Information Solutions in July 2008, without the required public bidding.
The contract was valued at P4.5 million.
In September 2008, Festin also failed to hold a public bidding for the purchase of four multi-cabs worth P850,000 from Micro Enterprise.
He then supposedly released the salaries of three private consultants, worth a total of P90,000, without proof of their rendered services in October and December 2009.
However, the Sandiganbayan said Section 7 of the anti-graft law mandated the preventive suspension of an incumbent government official as soon as the charges were deemed valid.
"Once the information is found to be sufficient in form and substance, then the court must issue the order of suspension as a matter of course. There are no ifs or buts about it. This is because a preventive suspension is not a penalty," the Sandiganbayan said.
"Taking into consideration the public policy involved in preventively suspending a public officer charged under a valid information, the protection of public interest will definitely have to prevail over the private interest of the accused," it added.
The man faces graft charges but has not been found guilty in a court of law but nevertheless he has been suspended just in case. He will also forfeit his salary but no worries because this is only preventative and not punitive. What a justice system!
SIX persons who vied for various positions in the local elections in Baguio City last May have failed to submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (Soce).
"There are 66 out of 72 candidates who have filed for their certificates of candidacies who ran in Baguio City during the last election who have filed and complied with their Statement of Contribution and Expenditures or Soce. For the position of congressman, all filed their Soces. For mayor, one did not file, same with the vice-mayor, while for the 52 councilors, four did not file their Soces," said Martin.
These same six probably violated Comelec poster rules too.
President Rodrigo Duterte admitted Monday that he cannot end corruption under the present constitution as he claimed that it would take someone like Ferdinand Marcos , from whose family and cronies the government is still trying to recover ill-gotten wealth, to address the problem.
Duterte admitted losing his drive to perform his task because of the corruption in the bureaucracy, which he said is dragging the Philippines down.
"I have regrets because I thought within the constitutional powers given to me, I can do it. But truth to tell, if this happens everyday and every table in the Philippines is like that, I can't run after them," the president said during the 121st anniversary of the Philippine Navy in Cavite.
"Kaya ko. Pero sa batas na ito, constitution (I could have done it but with this constitution), even if you give me 20 years, I cannot do it. Maghanap uli kayo ng Marcos (Look for another Marcos). Or someday, somehow, somewhere that fellow will be elected in the generations to come," he added.
What constitutional powers is he talking about exactly? He is right that he will never be able to root out corruption. It's a herculean task requiring a multifaceted approach and a massive change in Filipino society. Another corrupt dictator won't solve the problem.
A drug suspect, who claimed to be a former Army soldier, and his accomplice were detained after they yielded P3,000 worth of shabu (crystal meth) during a buy-bust operation in Cubao, Quezon City on Tuesday night.
The arrested suspects were identified as Eril Laustristica, 33, who identified himself as a soldier of the Philippine Army but went absent without leave (Awol) and Daisy Prutente, 39, alias “Che.”
How many PNP and AFP personnel end up AWOL and dealing drugs? Maybe not a lot but its certainly quite a few.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has urged the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC) management to review whether the agency should still operate in view of losses worth P177.9 million in the past six years.
PADC, a government owned and/or controlled corporation, was created in 1973 to develop and maximize the country’s aviation industry, targeted at bolstering the security capabilities of the military.
“The goal was to establish a modernized and reliable technical repair and maintenance support system and a developed aircraft assembly and manufacturing industry, that will meet the needs of the aviation industry, both private and government, particularly the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” COA said.
Like every other agency this one continues to bleed money. How can the Philippines be a space-faring nation if they can't even properly fund this agency?
An incumbent councilor in the town of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte was shot dead Wednesday morning as he was driving a jeepney filled with students.
Sangguniang Bayan Member Cicero "Don" Gurrea was on his way to the Sindangan National High School when he was shot dead in Barangay Piao around 5:50 a.m., police said.
Sickening. The man was driving students to school in his jeepney as he usually did and two motorcycle men rode up and blasted him away which caused the jeepney to crash into a ditch.
A former town mayor was shot dead by unidentified men inside a private hospital in Medellin, Cebu early Wednesday, police said.
Police Master Sgt. Winston Esdane of Medellin Police Station identified the victim as former Medellin mayor Ricardo "Ricky" Ramirez.
Ramirez was found with gunshot wounds inside the comfort room of his quarters.
Police said heavily armed men stormed the private hospital and shot Ramirez. They also took the mobile phones of the hospital staff.
Ramirez was arrested in July 2017 for unlawful possession of firearms. He was under hospital arrest after suffering from chest pains
It does not matter that this man was arrested for unlawful possession of firearms or that he may have had links to drugs. What is important to note is that not even hospitals are safe spaces in the Philippines.
The director of the Eastern Police District was temporarily relieved from his post for physical and verbal abuse of a policewoman on May 12, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director said on Wednesday.
In a statement, NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said EPD director Brig. Gen. Christopher Tambungan confronted policewoman Cpl. April Santiago upon arriving at a police community precinct in San Juan at around 7 p.m. in a car.
During the confrontation, Tambungan allegedly struck Santiago on the head. He also allegedly opened the car’s door and hit the victim while verbally abusing her.
Tambungan allegedly got mad at Santiago for her failure to help him in a task.
Eleazar said he received this report only on Tuesday because Santiago could not file a complaint due to fear that “she might get reprimanded.”
In a text message, Eleazar said Tambungan was transferred to NCRPO while Col. Florendo Quebeyen, EPD deputy director for administration, would temporarily become the EPD director.
Another singular bad egg who is not reflective of the PNP as a whole!
The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) terminated two of their traffic enforcers after being caught along with two others in a buy-bust operation in Barangay Tejero at past midnight of Thursday, June 20.
CCTO head, Francisco Ouano, told CDN Digital that he has ordered the termination of Ervin Labaya Navarro, 38, and Francis Abe Mordeno, 40, who had worked for the CCTO for 7 and 15 years respectively.
Ouano said that he was ‘very’ dismayed that the two CCTO personnel, who prided themselves as traffic enforcers, also peddled and used illegal drugs, which Ouano said were shameful acts for people serving in government.
“We have provided them a decent job, and yet they still chose this kind of lifestyle,” said Ouano.
He said there were already suspicions that Navarro and Mordeno were drug users because one of them proved positive to the recent drug test in March while the other managed to avoid the drug test altogether.
More government employees caught dealing drugs.
Over P144 million in funds of the state-owned Duty Free Philippines Corporation went down the drain as a result of poor planning and management indecisiveness in the opening of duty free store outlets at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
I don't even know who shops at these stores. The prices are high and the items are ridiculous. But it's government owned and they have lost P144 million in the past few years.
An active policeman was shot near the Cordova Central School in Barangay Poblacion, Cordova town, eastern Cebu around 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 20, 2019.
The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) identified the officer as Police Chief Master Sergeant Deogenes Carillo, the acting deputy chief of the Cordova Police.
Police Lieutenant Eleveo Marquez, spokesperson of the CPPO, said that Carillo was driving his white pickup truck on his way home to Punta Engaño when two unidentified men on board a motorcycle shot him multiple times.
More motorcycle assassins shooting cops!
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