It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
A 60-year-old village head in Cagayan province was shot and killed by two motorcycle-riding gunmen on Friday morning.
Police Capt. Sharon Mallillin, Cagayan provincial police spokesperson, said Remegio Dela Cruz, village chair of Bugnay in Tuao town was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.
Investigators said Dela Cruz was driving his car when he was attacked and killed by two unidentified assailants who wore jackets and helmets at 8:45 a.m.
The Inquirer stole my comment for their headline! But what else can one say? These assassinations happen with such alarming regularity it's sad and ridiculous. Another LGU shot dead!
“Let me stress that I am not against emergency powers. In fact, granting it does not solely rely on me. I am just one vote in the Senate. Like my colleagues, I have to be convinced why it is needed,” Poe, who chairs the public services committee, said in a statement.
“For you to give something as immense as the emergency powers, you have to be sniper accurate, it cannot be a shotgun approach. It’s like giving a loaded gun to a child if they don’t have a plan,” she added.
During Tuesday’s hearing of the committee into traffic problems gripping the Metro, Poe and Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade clashed over the need to grant the President emergency powers.
It is incredibly ridiculous how this woman has suddenly becoming a punching bag to bear the blame for all of the traffic woes in Manila. There are laws in place to alleviate traffic but it seems no one has a plan and no one wants to use them. Not even Duterte.
Sen. Richard Gordon on Thursday tried to push the “theory” that Sen. Leila de Lima had used the good conduct time allowance law to make money from the New Bilibid Prison.
Asked if it was established that De Lima got money through the GCTA, he only said that the opportunity was there.
“It can be said, following a pattern of behavior that she accepts money that was said to be used for the campaign, I saw that there was really an opportunity, if you would raise funds, that you would bargain using the GCTA to get a bigger amount,” he said.
Pressed if it was clear that De Lima benefited from the GCTA for sale scheme, he said it was not. But he insisted that his theory was plausible.
“If you look at the theory, it sounds convincing enough to me,” he said.
No proof. No evidence. No nothing! But it sounds convincing to him. Talk about a way to deflect the heat off former BuCor Chief Faeldon!
Senator Panfilo Lacson bared on Sunday that “high-profile” inmates are in control of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
According to Lacson, anomalies in the prison have evolved over time where it has become almost “mafia-like” inside.
Pretty sure this is the way it has been for a long time. Don't worry though. As soon as these Senate hearings are over we can all go back to forgetting about it.
A village chief in Siruma, Camarines Sur survived a gun attack by a still unidentified armed man while he was inside his house on Saturday night, police said Sunday.
Major Maria Luisa Calabuquib, spokesperson of Bicol police, said Romeo Decin, Barangay (village) Nalayahan chief, was inside his house when he was attacked at around 7:45 p.m.
Witnesses told the police that the gunman, armed with a .45 caliber pistol, stood on the road and pelted with gunfire the house of the village chief. The victim was able to drop to the floor and avoid the shots, saying himself.
The attacker immediately fled.
Good thing he survived but they will probably try to kill him again.
Former Department of Education (DepEd) Region 9 Director Walter Albos has been found guilty of graft for his alleged involvement in the irregular procurement of information technology (IT) equipment in 2008.
In a 21-page decision, the Sandiganbayan Third Division sentenced him to a prison term of six years and one month as minimum, and eight years as maximum.
6 - 8 years for not following the proper bidding procedure when procuring equipment.
Now for some news from the drug war.
Recycling of illegal drugs seized from buy-bust operations is still rampant, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Aaron Aquino told senators on Monday.
During the budget hearing for PDEA’s proposed 2020 budget, Senator Franklin Drilon asked Aquino if drug recycling is “still an issue today.”
“There are still reports, especially some law enforcement agencies, whenever we seize drugs,” the PDEA chief said.
“I received some information from assets, from other law enforcement agencies themselves, nakakarinig ako… mga information na ‘Ganito ginagawa ni ganyan, ‘pag nago-operate, ganyan ang ginagawa nila.’ So, hearing these reports, it will just show that there’s still recycling of drugs,” he added.
“I guess it’s still rampant…the recycling of drugs,” he further said.
When operatives seize drugs, half would be surrendered while the rest would either be saved for future operations or be sold, according to the PDEA chief.
A Manila-based “drug queen” has been purchasing confiscated illegal drugs from law enforcers, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) chief Aaron Aquino revealed Monday.
Aquino disclosed the existence of the crook and the illicit modus during the Senate finance sub-committee hearing on PDEA’s proposed budget for 2020.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has affirmed that drug recycling has been happening and was being committed by some erring cops but quickly clarified it is “not a widespread thing” in the law enforcement institution.
PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac also stressed that “majority” of anti-drug police officers are “professional and disciplined,” and that drug recycling was “not really” a practice among cops involved in anti-drug operations.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino admitted before senators at a hearing earlier Monday that “there’s still recycling of drugs” and it remains “rampant.”
The PDEA Chief Aquino reveals that drug recycling is rampant and that Manila's drug queen is being provided drugs by PDEA and PNP officers. But PNP spokesman Banac comes along and contradicts Aquino and dismissed his testimony by saying the practice is not widespread. Always in a hurry to make every rogue cop a singular bad egg and an isolated incident.
A town councilor and his wife were killed inside their house in a remote village in Paranas town in Samar province on Sunday morning.
Claudio Gabiana, 55, a councilor of the nearby Jiabong town in Samar, and his wife, Asuncion, 56, were shot to death inside their house in Barangay Jose Roño, 36 kilometers away from the town proper of Paranas town.
Based on their investigation, the gunman managed to sneak into the couple’s house using the kitchen door.
Another LGU shot dead.
Instead of housing convicted drug lords in New Bilibid Prison (NBP) where they could still enjoy special privileges just by bribing prison guards, they should instead be exiled to the West Philippines Sea to “survive on their own.”
Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Niña Taduran proposed this on Monday, noting that while these convicts are in the national penitentiary, they are still able to continue their trade with a simple cellphone and by bribing the prison guards and officials.
Taduran said they should instead be placed on an island in the West Philippine Sea where there is “no cellphone signal, no guards to bribe and no means of escape.”
“There are numerous islets in the West Philippine Sea near Pagasa island being claimed by the Philippines, where someone with the ingenuity and resourcefulness of these convicted drug lords could survive on their own,” Taduran said in a statement.
Since the country’s military is already patrolling the area, they would only need to make sure that no one leaves or enters these islands, she said.
Aside from solving the problems hounding the NBP, Taduran said the proposal could also beneficial on another aspect: strengthening the Philippines’ claim over the West Philippine Sea.
“The move would solve not only all the problems hounding the NBP at the moment, but also help the Philippine government assert its claim over these islands in the West Philippine Sea, by populating them with Filipino prisoners,” the party-list lawmaker said.
She added that all other prisoners in NBP might as well be transferred to other penal colonies and the New Bilibid complex be sold to the private sector, the proceeds of which could be used to fund the Duterte government’s “Build, Build, Build” program.
What a senseless and stupid proposal. Absolutely ridiculous. How about getting the guards to follow the rules at New Bilibid?
Police are hot on the trail of a motorcycle riding-in-tandem who shot dead a village official here, who was heading to his farm on Sunday.
Mayor Herlo Guzman Jr. has condemned the murder of Ben Candanganan, the village chief of Barangay Lower Paatan, whom he described as a mild-mannered leader and friend.
Citing a report from the Kabacan police office, Col. Maximo Layugan, North Cotabato police director, said Candanganan, 43, was riding his motorbike by himself and heading to his farm when the gunmen, onboard a separate motorbike, shot him.
“Candanganan sustained two gunshot wounds in the head and body,” Layugan said.
Another LGU shot dead but never fear! The PNP are hot on the trail of these motorcycle assassins.
President Rodrigo Duterte welcomed Monday members of the Communist Party of China in Malacañang.
In a press statement sent late Monday night, Malacañang said Duterte met with Chongqing party chief Chen Min’er and other members of Communist Party of China (CPC) in a courtesy call at the Palace’s Music Room.
Government officials present during the meeting were PDP-Laban President Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, Department of Energy Secretary and PDP-Laban Vice Chairman Alfonso Cusi, Cagayan Economic Zone Authority Secretary and PDP-Laban Vice President for International Affairs Raul Lambino, Department of Foreign Affairs Acting Secretary Jose Eduardo Malaya III, and Senators Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go and Francis Tolentino.
At war with Pinoy commies but friends with real honest to God Maoists who's party policies literally killed millions (The Great Leap Forward) and who continue to stifle freedom and liberty with schemes like social credit. You cannot make this stuff up. This delegation also invited Duterte for a sixth visit to China.
After conducting just one hearing on Tuesday, Senator Risa Hontiveros said her committee is now ready to come up with a report for the “dissolution of marriage” bill.
“Yes, ready na po ako mag-draft ng committee report pending na lang ilan pang submissions tulad [ng] mula sa Department of Justice,” Hontiveros said after the hearing of the Senate committee on women, which she chairs.
If the term “divorce” is contentious, then “dissolution of marriage” would be issued in the committee report.
“Dissolution of marriage would be acceptable already to the advocates,” she said.
“Sabi ng mga advocates, kung contentions ang salitang divorce, kung baga Shakespeare yan di ba? A rose by any other name.”
“As long as saklaw ng dissolution of mariage bill yung mga grounds nila sa paghingi ng second chance then papasok sila sa ganitong proseso para lang makamit yang second chances na yan.”
Even her colleagues in the Senate, she said, are more inclined to support the “dissolution of marriage.”
Political semantics. Divorce? No. Dissolution of marriage? Sure why not! Even though it's the same thing. Using language to disguise the truth is the height of falsehood.
“Bantag may be competent and honest,” Go, speaking partly in Filipino, told reporters at the Senate when asked if he had recommended for the post. “When I whispered ‘a killer,’ Panelo probably didn’t hear it.”
“Bantag is not a killer,” he added.
On Tuesday, Panelo announced that the President had appointed Bantag as BuCor chief amid controversies surrounding the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law that allowed for the release of over 1,900 heinous crime convicts.
In 2017, Bantag was ordered arrested by the Parañaque City Regional Trial Court Branch 274 in connection with the 2016 explosion in the city jail that left 10 inmates dead.
Asked if Bantag’s integrity was already questionable due to his legal cases, Go said in Filipino: “He’s the President’s choice… It’s the President‘s prerogative to pick who he wants to head a bureau or an agency of the government.,” Go said.
Bantag may not be a killer but it seems he is compromised (literally charged with 10 counts of murder) which means Duterte can make good use of him.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday revealed he ordered an ambush on former Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot last year.
Loot, a former police general who Duterte named as a protector of drug rings, survived the May 2018 attack that left 4 others injured.
"General Loot, p*t*ng*n* mo, nanalo pa na mayor. Inambush kita, animal ka, buhay pa rin," Duterte said in a speech during the oath-taking of newly appointed government officials at the Malacañang Palace.
(General Loot, you even won as mayor. I ambushed you. You're an animal, you're still alive.)
The Palace, meanwhile, was quick to clarify that Duterte was not serious when he made the claim, saying that it was made as an “expression of displeasure said in jest” about Loot’s alleged involvement in the drug trade.
Admitting you called a hit on someone who was almost killed is not a very funny joke. It's not even a joke at all. It's an admission of a crime or a false admission which only muddies the investigation.
Malacañang denied Wednesday that President Rodrigo Duterte admitted his involvement in the ambush of former Daanbantayan, Cebu mayor Vicente Loot, noting that the Chief Executive only “misspeaks” the Filipino language which is not his native tongue.
The Palace official said it is “absurd and silly” to conclude that Duterte is behind the ambush of Loot just because he “misspeaks the (F)ilipino language which is not his native tongue or first language.”
“The Filipino nation by this time is already familiar and used to the language of the President who invariably uses a mixture of English, Bisaya (Cebuano dialect) and Filipino in communicating with the nation,” he noted.
First they said he was joking now they say he can't speak properly. Which is it? They can never get their stories straight.
Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Tuesday said she would file charges against Ronald Cardema “all over the Philippines” for his “libelous statements under oath.”
Guanzon is referring to Cardema’s Notice of Withdrawal dated September 13 where he cited Guazon’s alleged “public harassment” as the reason behind his withdrawal of nomination as representative of pro-administration party-list Duterte Youth.
Guanzon said she was “seriously aggrieved” by Cardema’s accusations and that he must be “taught a lesson that he cannot do this” to the Comelec or a commissioner of elections.
“He will be facing several lawsuits, aside from libel cases we will sue him for damage in Cadiz City for destroying my good name. He’ll have to face trial in our own town. Kung sa mga Ilonggo ba ‘mereze,’ he deserves it,” the Comelec official said.
Taught a lesson? Did he really commit libel or do the just want to drag him through the mud and waste money and time with all these lawsuits?
Senator Imee Marcos said Wednesday it is good for the University of the Philippines (UP) to teach martial law to its students, but appealed that her family also be given a chance to share their side on their experiences during the era.
(I think it’s good for it to be studied. But at least we should be given a chance to narrate what happened during martial law according to our knowledge. It’s important that the viewpoints of everyone are heard.)
UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Evageline Amor earlier said a subject on martial law will be offered as a general subject at UP Diliman starting January 2020. The subject will be called “Philippine Studies 21: Wika, Panitikan, at Kultura sa Ilalim ng Batas Militar.”
She then blamed the silence of her family in telling their side of the story on alleged human rights violations when martial law was declared by her father, former President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972.
(I am trying to endure it. I hope others will also listen. Actually, I think it’s also the fault of our family because we were quiet and became tired to speak. We no longer share what we know. We no longer tell our story because it already became tiresome.)
“What we have is personal knowledge, the experience and the truth that we own,” Marcos further explained, adding that she believes the UP will be fair in teaching martial law to its students.
The basics facts of what happened during martial law are known to all who care to look at them. Marcos was an autocrat, a tyrant, and a thief who stole millions. Lots of money has already been recovered and Imelda has even been convicted. There are not versions of truth. Truth is one. It is not surprising that Imee cannot handle the truth of marital law.
“Yes, total revamp at the Bureau of Corrections,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo told reporters in Malacañang, referring to the President’s directive.
“What he told me was that the guards there (BuCor) would be transferred to the provinces and the guards in the provinces would be assigned at the BuCor,” he added.
The Senate justice committee has investigated the alleged irregularities in the BuCor, including corruption related to the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law.
“It’s total revamp. He’ll remove all of them there. Remove all the officials, the employees. That’s why it’s a total revamp,” Panelo said.
How is this a total revamp? Duterte is just shuffling people around. The corrupt guards will go to the provinces and bring their corruption with them and the provincial guards probably won't be psychologically equipped to handle the kind of criminals housed in New Bilibid and will likely succumb to the temptation of corruption.
“The Philippine National Police supports the desire of President Rodrigo Duterte to impose stiffer sanctions against PNP members found to be engaged in recycling of drug evidence,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a statement, reacting to Duterte’s latest order to kill rogue police officers involved in the illegal practice.
Asked to specify what “stiffer penalties” could mean, Banac said it means PNP will “file criminal charges against police found engaging in drug recycling.”
For Banac, recycling of drug evidence seized from police operations is “certainly worse” than the crime committed by arrested suspects.
“Pilferage and recycling of drug evidence by members of law enforcement is certainly worse than the crime committed by drug traffickers and therefore should be treated differently, possibly with stiffer punishment,” he said.
Stiffer penalties means criminal charges? Are they not doing that already? Why not!?
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in Region 11 (Davao Region) arrested on Wednesday Davao del Sur 2nd District Board Member Arvin Malaza along with seven others in an entrapment operation at a radio station in Digos City.
The seven persons who were not named by the NBI were all workers of the Kakampi Meuws Radio, which is owned by Malaza.
In an interview, NBI-11 director Jonathan Balite told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that Malaza and other suspects were arrested after they confirmed the illegal resumption of operation of the Kabos Padatoon or the Kapa Community Ministry International Incorporated.
Arrested for trying to restart the Kapa Community ponzi-scheme.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the Department of Justice to “fast track” the release of sick and old inmates.
Speaking to reporters in Malacañang, Duterte stressed that prisoners 70 years or above should be released.
“I will ask the Secretary of Justice to fast track yung mga may sakit an at talagang matatanda na (those who are sick and really old) – 70 years old or 75 – hindi na makatakbo yan. Kung serial rapist, paputol na lang muna (they can no longer run. If a serial rapist, have it cut off),” Duterte said.
“Wala na yan e. Lalo na ang mga 80s, what’s the use of keeping them there (They can’t do harm anymore, especially those in the 80s. What’s the use of keeping them there)?” he added.
The use of keeping them there is to serve out their punishment. How did we go from outrage over GCTA releases to not a peep over the release of prisoners just because they are old?
Former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Wednesday that Senator Leila De Lima and former Senator Mar Roxas should be barred from seeking public office for the alleged irregularities in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.
Enrile said there should be no confusion in the provisions of the Republic Act 10592 mandating the GCTA law as its Section 1 clearly states that heinous crime convicts are among those excluded from being released earlier than their prison sentence based on good conduct.
“They should be disqualified forever from holding public office,” Enrile, who was Senate President when the GCTA was signed into law in 2013, told reporters at the Senate when asked about the liability of De Lima and Roxas.
“Sila ang may kasalanan, sila ang gumawa eh (They are the ones at fault since they are the ones who made it). The people who are below there are [just] being guided. They are the Cabinet members. They should hold their mistakes,” he said.
Is Enrile in the running to be the king of hypocrites? This old man was Marcos' number one, is out on bail on the unbailable charge of plunder (due to age considerations), is still facing a trial over the PDAP mess, and he was the Senate President when this bill passed. If a bill passes and corrupt bureaucrats intentionally apply the law in a way it was not intended (releasing convicts of heinous crimes) then that is not the fault of the authors of the law.
Saying the Pasig River was “uncleanable,” President Duterte said on Tuesday that he was thinking of “removing” the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), the body tasked to revive and clean the major waterway.
“That Pasig, you can no longer clean it because we don’t have any zoning,” Mr. Duterte told new government appointees who had just taken their oath at Malacañang.
He added: “Over the years, the waste of factories and houses all go into the Pasig River. How can you clean that?”
Last year, the PRRC’s efforts to revive the once biologically dead river were recognized during the 21st International River Symposium held in Australia.
The Pasig River was named winner of the first 2018 Asia RiverPrize, beating China’s Yangtze River.
“[The] PRRC and its partners’ river restoration and management efforts have effectively brought the Pasig River back to life. These efforts have included delivering quality projects, programs, activities, and advocacies in easement recovery, riverbank development, waste and water quality management, and public awareness,” the International River Foundation said.
"How can you clean that?" Little by little over a long period of time as the PRRC has been doing since 1998. It's not clear if rehabilitation efforts will continue and the PRRC simply be transferred to the DENR but if Duterte says the river is uncleanable then his men will likely follow suit and stop any rehabilitation efforts.
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