It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
After a 3-year-old girl was fatally shot in a police antidrug operation, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Thursday said policemen did not want to harm innocent civilians, but “shit happens” in an “imperfect world.”
Dela Rosa made the remarks in the wake of reports that the father of the child, Myka Ulpina, allegedly used her as a human shield during a shootout following a police buy-bust operation on Saturday in Rodriguez town, Rizal province. The girl was hit by a bullet in the neck and died a day later in the hospital.
A police officer, Senior Master Sergeant Conrad Cabigao, who posed as the “shabu” (crystal meth) buyer, and another drug suspect were also killed.
Under the police rules of engagement, officers must make sure there would be no “collateral damage,” said Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police chief.
“But of course, we are in an imperfect world. If you’re a policeman, do you want a child to be hit? Never, because you have a child as well. You don’t want something like that to happen. But shit happens during operations, shit happens,” he said at a news forum in the Senate.
Could this man be any more callous and heartless?
Based on an annual audit report on Philippine Army, a total of P47.6 million out of the P235 million assistance for the wounded army personnel from general headquarters of the Armed Forces and the Philippines and various private donors remained unused as of December 2018.
“Verification of the cash donations so far showed that the Army had not crafted specific guidelines for the receipt and utilization and liquidation of donations, especially for those intended for the wounded Army personnel," COA said in its report.
"This is a contributing factor in the slow utilization of the donations and works against its intended purpose,” it added.
COA said the Army donations for financial assistance to legal beneficiaries of killed-in-action Army personnel amounted to P147 million.
Of the P147 million, P128.5 million have been utilized.
A P40.122 million was also spent for the travel of female Army personnel to Hong Kong on Observation Tour on Safety and Security.
Audit of the disbursement vouchers and documents supporting this utilization, however, showed that the Army exceeded the financial assistance granted to 118 certified killed in action beneficiaries by P9.98 million.
The AFP has millions for wounded soldiers but has not utilised P47.6 million because they have no guidelines on how to utilise the funds. But on the other hand 118 families have been overpaid. The AFP has also denied that any money was used for trips to Hong Kong.
Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto, commanding general of the Philippine Army, clarified this as he explained that the travel funds for the female soldiers’ trip in early 2018 to Hong Kong for Observation on Safety and Security were not sourced from the donations for the killed and wounded soldiers during the five-month Marawi City siege.
“Those funds were really intended for the travel of these female soldiers. It was provided by the President through his friends who donated the money,” said Alberto.
“It was not only male soldiers who took part in the firefight. There were also female combatants. Some female soldiers were also nurses and some were assigned in evacuation and rehabilitation centers,” said Alberto
“The President was impressed of what he saw so he made a promise that he would treat our female soldiers for a travel abroad,” he added.
“It’s not fair. Our soldiers worked so hard in Marawi, they made sacrifices and these negative reports are what they get in return. That’s really unfair,” said Alberto.
Interesting tactic how Alberto calls the COA report a negative report about soldiers who fought in Marawi when in fact that report is about how the top brass is misusing funds meant for the soldiers who fought in Marawi.
Newly elected Leyte 2nd District Rep. Lolita Karen Javier was slapped with a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman due to the reported falsification of her certificate of candidacy (CoC).
The complaint was filed Friday by her political opponent, former Leyte Rep. Henry C. Ong. Ong, who said that Javier made “several untruthful statements” in her CoC, such as her status as a voter and residency.
Ong bared in his complaint that Javier filed her CoC on October 17, 2018 as a private individual. Javier also stated that she was already a registered voter, but Ong said the Commission on Election (Comelec) registration board had not yet approved her voter registration application because it only came on October 25.
Ong also questioned Javier’s residency. She wrote in her CoC that she has lived in Jaro, Leyte for 44 years and two months. But in her voter registration filed just a month earlier, Javier said she had been a Jaro resident for 43 years.
Moreover, Ong found it curious that Javier’s voter registration was as a first-time voter in a town where she had been a resident for over 40 years, especially since her husband, Leonardo Javier, served as mayor of Javier.
“It is quite perplexing as to how a publicly recognized married couple such as Lolita and Leonardo were allowed to assume their previous and current official positions despite the stark difference in their places of residence,” the complaint read.
All of that is quite interesting. Will the Comelec even take cognisance of it?
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday dared the United States, a longtime ally of the Philippines, to send “all their armaments” to the South China Sea and stop Beijing’s militarization in the disputed sea.
“Let America declare the war. Let them assemble all their armaments there in the South China Sea,” Duterte said in his speech in Alangalang, Leyte.
“Fire the first shot, and I’d be glad to do the next. May RP-US pact man kaha tayo (We have a US-RP pact), then let us honor it. Do you want trouble? Okay, let’s do it,” he added.
It's comical how Duterte only thinks in terms of war and submission. No room for firm diplomacy for him!
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he fired Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President Jesus Clint Aranas even as Malacañang claimed he quit for “personal reasons.”
“I will deal with corruption. I’m dealing with it until now. I just fired the president of GSIS,” Duterte said in a speech at the inauguration of Chen Yi Agventures Rice Processing Complex in Alangalang, Leyte.
The Inquirer earlier reported that Duterte confronted Aranas after the Cabinet meeting on Monday as the President accused the official of being untruthful in claiming that the Enrique Razon-led International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has not been paying rent.
Panelo says one thing and Duterte says another. They can't get their stories straight. Another official fired for corruption. Alleged corruption. So fired for nothing.
Police officers will face administrative charges and be terminated from service if they will fail the random drug tests for law enforcers and be proven to have used illegal drugs.
Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas again gave this warning to police officers about the consequences they would face if they would be caught using illegal drugs.
He has to give this warning because there are so man cops involved with drugs.
Two of the President’s children — Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio — met with House members vying for the speakership in the 18th Congress in Davao City on Saturday.
Those who attended the meeting are Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco and Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano.
In a statement sent to reporters, Paolo described the meeting as “cordial” during which they discussed the progress of the Philippines.
Now why would they do that? I'm sure it does not mean that the Duterte's will be making choice of next Speaker and that he will have to cater to his whims. Surely "Progress of the Philippines" means objectively "progress of the Philippines" and not Duterte's plans for the Philippines.
Wenefredo Diofernes, 52, who won a second term as Dinagat board member in the May 13 midterm elections, was driving a motorcycle on Kilometer 2 at the village of Luna around 9:18 a.m. when he was shot by two motorcycle-riding men.
Bag-ao said Diofernes ran as an independent candidate but still emerged on top of the race for board member in the first district of Dinagat, a province long under the reign of the Ecleo clan which founded the powerful group Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association or PBMA.
Another motorcycle assassination but this time with a twist. Dinagat Island has been ruled by the Ecleo clan for quite a while. The PBMA is a basically a Christian cult with the Ecleos running the operation. This could be a case of a religious leader ordering an assassination of a political rival.
Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, NCRPO director, ordered the relief of Senior M/Sgt. Arnulfo Ardales from Police Community Precinct (PCP) 3 of San Juan City based on the complaint of Aaron Estrada, a city resident.
“The viral video in San Juan City on abusive police, pina-relieve ko na sa (I ordered him relieved from) PCP 3 of San Juan, lipat na muna siya sa (he was transferred for the meantime at) District Headquarters Support Unit (DHSU) of EPD (Eastern Police District) while being investigated,” Eleazar told the Philippine News Agency.
According to police report, the incident took place around 11 p.m. on Saturday (July 6) inside a restaurant in Barangay Ermitaño, San Juan City when Ardales accosted Estrada, a 21-year-old call center agent, for alleged disrespect to police officer.
Based on video which has now over 3,500 shares, Ardales claimed he was already buying food when Estrada arrived and put his hand in front of the cop, also to buy food. “Thereat, said police officer uttered invectives against the complainant. Unknowingly, somebody is taking a video on the incident,” a police report read.
It appears that the Estrada was the one who took the video, prompting some netizens to comment that it was a trap to provoke the policeman.
I haven't seen this video so I have no idea what it means that the man "put his hand in front of the cop." What I do know is that this is just another "bad egg" being disciplined. Just like these two PNP bad eggs:
A CIDG report said Corporal Alberto Umali and Senior Master Sergeant Michael Eralino, both assigned to the Rodriguez police station, were arrested in separate operations on Saturday (July 6) as suspects in the ambush of Edilberto Golla Jr. in the same town last May.
It's nothing new for PNP officers to be accused of being or to actually be assassins.
Officials and residents of a village here on Sunday (July 4) accosted and briefly detained two armed men believed to be targeting a leader of a militant urban poor organization.
The men, who identified themselves as Art Diaz and Rey Gomez purportedly from the National Bureau of Investigation and Army, were later allowed to leave Barangay Bito-on in Jaro District after they were questioned by village officials.
Their identities and affiliation could not be confirmed as no copies of their identification cards were shown to and recorded by the barangay officials.
But the Katilingban sang Imol sa Syudad (Kaisog) said it believed the men were planning to abduct, attack or intimidate Wilfredo Panuela and wife Josephine, local leaders of the organisation.
Panuela said they were already suspicious and concerned over their safety after two men approached and talked with them in a beach resort in Leganes town on June 30.
The man who talked to Panuela later told him that he was already known “upstairs” because he was a leader of Kaisog. He later gave him P500 in cash.
It appears the the government is attempting to harass these two leaders of Kaisog. Will we see them next in the papers as victims of a motorcycle assassin?
In its annual audit report of the DENR, the COA found that the Forestland Management Project (FMP) and the Integrated Natural Resources and Environmental Management Project (Inremp), both foreign-assisted projects, reported low physical progress, which caused the government to pay a commitment fee of P10.707 million for 2018.
Due to the delay in the implementation of the projects, the government was forced to pay a total of P10.707 million in commitment fees, of which P6.927 million went to the Inremp and P3.78 million for the FMP.
In addition to costing the government money, the COA said that the delay also “defeats the project goals of inclusive growth and poverty reduction for the Inremp and integrating conservation and development-oriented activities with full participation and capacitation of local communities for the FMP.”
The COA recommended that the DENR instruct its FASPS office to “conduct periodic reviews to ensure that bottlenecks and issues affecting the project implementation are immediately addressed.”
Another project not meeting its goals and costing the government millions of pesos.
Petitioners specifically want the poll body to implement Sections 4 and 7, Article VI, 1987 Constitution by requiring Comelec to deny giving due course to the certificates of candidacy of “termed out” elective officials starting in the next elections in 2022.
Section 4 provides that “no senator shall serve for more than two consecutive terms” while Section 7 states that “no member of the House of Representatives shall serve for more than three consecutive terms.”
Based on the said provision, petitioners said a senator cannot serve for more than two terms of six years each or a total of 12 years, while a member of the House of Representative has a term limit of nine years for three consecutive terms of three years each. After that, they can no longer run for the same office again even after taking a hiatus, said the petitioners.
Currently, according to petitioners, the following are the “termed out” senators or those that has served for two terms already – Senate President Vicente Sotto III, and Senators Franklin Drilon, Panfilo Lacson, Francis Pangilinan, Lito Lapid, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Pia Cayetano and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
It's an interesting argument and if the SC decides to hear the case it wold at least define what those sections of the Constitution means and whether or not a politician can run for the same office as long as he takes a hiatus.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar filed administrative charges against three city government engineers for gross neglect of duty.
Named respondents in Salazar's July 5 complaint are Engineers Romeo Hiso, Santiago Solis Jr., and Sherwin Alan Rabago-- all of the City Engineer’s Office.
Salazar said the charges were filed before the City Grievance Committee, a body organized to specifically handle administrative charges against city officials and employees.
The charges against the three stemmed from the June 24 incident, where at least nine students were injured when the covered court of the Sinubong National High School collapsed.
Salazar also placed the respondents under 60-day preventive suspension.
The mayor said on Monday she decided to press charges following the results of a preliminary investigation that found probable cause for gross neglect of duty against the three engineers.
It's too bad we are not told just what is meant by "gross neglect of duty." There could be any number of factors why the building collapsed. Did they design it wrong? Were substandard materials used in the construction?
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday bared his choices for the House Speakership: Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano will go first, then Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco wil serve the remaining term.
"It was what was agreed upon," Duterte said in an ambush interview in Malacanang. "Just to do away with the conflict."
"The President, to save the unity of the alliance and avert its fragmentation, obliged to the request of the three [Speaker] candidates, who to their credit agree to respect the choice of [Duterte]," Panelo said in a statement.
Duterte said he recognizes the independence of Congress.
"I am not interfering in the work sa legislation. Leaders lang itong pinagusapan natin [We're just talking about leadership]. It has nothing to do with the independence of the legislative body. Up to that point, it's all politics," he said.
Cayetano expressed gratitude over President Duterte's decision, and called on the "die-hard Duterte supermajority" in the House of Representatives to support him, as he plans to institutionalize reforms in accordance with the President's campaign promises.
"All members of the House are welcome to join, whatever political or ideological persuasions, for as long as we agree on an agenda for a safe and comfortable life as envisioned by our President," he said.
Duterte at first said he would not meddle in the choosing of a new Speaker now he says the exact opposite and even though he protests that he is not interfering with the work of legislation Cayetano says the House must come together and agree on an agenda "as envisioned by our President." Simply put now Duterte has his rubber stamp.
Another cop from the Eastern Police District (EPD) has been relieved from his post for beating up an 8-year-old boy in Pasig City, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said on Monday.
Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, NCRPO director, ordered the relief of Staff Sergeant Nicolas Lapie Jr. of the Marikina City police and reassigned him to the District Headquarters Support Unit (DHSU) of the EPD.
Initial investigation showed that the 8-year-old victim was watching a basketball game at the covered court of Barangay Bambang in Pasig City around 7:56 p.m. Sunday when Lapie placed his left arm around his neck and started beating him up.
The victim tried to ran away but the suspect grabbed his arms and pulled him towards him.
At this juncture, people attracted by the commotion came to the rescue of the boy and pacified Lapie.
There are a lot of unanswered questions this article leaves out. What was the relation of the boy to the cop? Was the cop on duty? This is the second cop from the EPD relieved this week for abusive behaviour.
President Rodrigo Duterte possible received information that the military might plot to oust him, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Tuesday, after the President earlier said the military was already "hot" on him.
Now we are back to coup allegations once more. How many more times will Duterte allege there is a coup plot against him brewing?
A barangay tanod team leader was shot dead by a lone gunman in Parola Compound, Manila on Tuesday afternoon, police said on Wednesday.
Manila Police District (MPD) Homicide Division chief Capt. Henry Navarro told INQUIRER.net that the victim, Dario Habal is an executive officer (Ex-O) of Barangay 275.
Initial investigation showed that Habal was sitting in front of his store when the suspect shot him point blank, Navarro said.
The gunman fled after the attack while Habal was rushed to Gat Andres Hospital by his relatives.
At least this time it was not a motorcycle assassin. That's different.
Should the resolution that would prompt the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to look into the human rights situation in the Philippines be adopted, everyone who worked for it would receive their bonus from the drug cartels.
“If the Iceland resolution wins that means bonuses for everyone who worked for it — from the drug cartels,” the country’s top diplomat wrote on Twitter.
The draft resolution, which Iceland submitted on July 4, was co-sponsored by 27 other member states of the United Nations (UN).
What Locisn is absurdly insinuating is that all 27 nations who sponsored this resolution have connection to drug cartels and have only field this resolution on behalf of those drug cartels. It's a charge as ridiculous as the bow-tie he is wearing.
“Most of all, I thank you that when you become President, you provided the atmosphere in which the Court had the freedom to acquit me of the trumped-up charges my successor and your predecessor filed against me, so that the Court voted 11-4 in my favor, including half of those who were appointed by my accuser,” Arroyo said during her speech at the appreciation dinner organized by her fellow legislators for her.
Array's statement is a little confusing especially because she was acquitted only a few weeks after Duterte became President. While he did vice his support for her during his campaign there are many other factors as to why she was acquitted such as the Aquino administration not building a tight enough case. But despite all that the fact that she made such an admission and believes that Duterte really did create an atmosphere where she could be acquitted is telling. It tells us that the Supreme Court is not independent.
“This is one way of changing the [police] attitude … This includes [building] the spiritual and familial values,” he said.
“We want to create God-fearing personnel, a family-based and service-oriented organization,” he added.
Another internal cleansing program. Maybe it will work this time?
The head of the Building Maintenance Section of the Cebu City Hall has asked the Office of the Ombudsman in the Visayas to investigate former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña for allegedly acting as mastermind in the “destruction” and “demolition” of the Office of the Mayor which he vacated on June 30.
Mejelito Cajes asked the Ombudsman to indict Osmeña for theft and malicious mischief and file an administrative complaint against him for grave misconduct, grave neglect of duty and the conduct unbecoming of a public official.
This whole incident is absolutely ridiculous and pales in comparison to just about anything that has happened in recent memory in Philippine politics. Imagine tearing up the Mayor's Office just because you lost the election!
The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) over its continued refusal to remit to the national treasury 50 percent of annual earnings as required by law, noting that the state gaming firm’s unremitted earnings or dividends stand at P8.426 billion as of 2016.
“PCSO has not declared and remitted dividends to the national government for dividend years 1994 to 2016 in the total amount of P8.426 billion, contrary to the provision under Section 3 of Republic Act 7656,” the COA’s 2018 annual audit report on the PCSO read.
In their 2018 audit report, State auditors said that P811.463 million of the total disallowance issued against PCSO was used for “unauthorized benefits, unnecessary and extravagant expenses amounting to P519.925 million, P291.482 million and P56,540, respectively.”
According to the report, PCSO spent P56,540 on “12 pieces of San Miguel Beer Light and 30 liters of Draft Beer” that were consumed during its Christmas party on December 19, 2017 while the P291.482 million represents the “overpriced” procurement of lotto paper supplies from TMA Pty Limited, through its subsidiary TMA Group Philippines.
The P519.925 million, on the other hand, was spent on various allowances, bonuses, and other personal benefits of the officials and employees of PCSO.
The rest of the P2 billion, COA said, was spent by PCSO in prior years for various bonuses like car loan and assistance plan, excess representation and transportation allowance and clothing allowance, staple food allowance, medicine allowance, hazard pay, and weekly draw allowance.
The PCSO can find time to spend money on millions for unauthorised expenditures yet for 22 years failed to give the government its slice of the pie. Is it any wonder that the PCSO is referred to as the most corrupt government agency?
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