It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
“Bacolod is badly hit now and I placed Espenido there because he is the only police official feared the most. And I told him to go there and you are free to kill everybody.
‘Go, start killing them’,” Duterte said.
Asked for comment on Duterte’s instruction, Espenido said it was just the President’s manner of talking.
Obviously by everybody he means drug dealers and users but that only means Duterte is giving the ok to kill drug dealers and users. EJK's? Will the body count being to soar?
Just days after President Rodrigo Duterte to be “free to kill everybody” in Bacolod City, Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido obliged by declaring it’s God’s plan.
“It’s God’s will. [We] will follow the rule of law,” Espenido told reporters when asked if Bacolod City would turn bloody under his watch.
It seems that it will!
The police chief of Rodriguez, Rizal, and 39 others are facing charges of murder and obstruction of justice over the June 29 killing of 3-year-old Myca Ulpina in the government’s antidrug war.
“I hope Myca is the last victim of this drug war. She was only 3 years old, she was very young,” Ulpiana’s mother, who used the alias “Tess” for her own security, told reporters.
Tess filed charges of murder against Lt. Col. Resty Damaso, chief of the Rodriguez town police, and 13 of his men; and Lt. Col. Noel Campos, chief of the Rizal provincial police’s Intelligence Branch, and six of his men, in the Office of the Ombudsman.
She also filed separate charges of obstruction of justice against 19 other police officers from the Rodriguez municipal station, Police Regional Office 4-A Scene of the Crime Operations, Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division, and Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service.
Myca was killed with a bullet to her neck while policemen were chasing her father, Renato, following a failed drug bust in Rodriguez on June 29.
While fleeing, Renato picked up Myca, who was then hit by a bullet. She died in the hospital the next day. Renato, his alleged cohort Enrique Cawilig and a police officer were also killed in the operation.
Former PNP chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa then remarked that while Myca’s death was unfortunate, “shit happens.”
I am sure filing these charges made her feel better about her daughter's tragic death but who knows if the charges will stick?
Police Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who stepped down as Philippine National Police chief early this week, and 13 of his subordinates should face life imprisonment for the alleged recycling of some 162 kilograms of “shabu” (crystal meth) seized in a purported drug sting in Pampanga six years ago, according to recommendations by a Senate inquiry that Sen. Richard Gordon cited to reporters on Friday.
“When you misappropriate the drugs [you confiscated] and you sell it, that’s life imprisonment. When you failed to account confiscated drugs, that’s punished under this law,” the senator said.
He cited Section 27 of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which imposes life term on a government official who “misappropriates, misapplies or fails to account for confiscated, seized or surrendered dangerous drugs.”
It appears things went south rather quickly for Albayalde. The PNP is blabbing about due process and being innocent until proved guilty which is quite ironic seeing how they conduct their drug war. DeLima has sat in jail for almost 3 years now with no trial. How long will it take for Albayalde and his men to face a trial?
Former Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde now has to face criminal investigation along with 13 of his former officers in Pampanga province who have been accused of letting a drug lord escape in exchange for P55 million and selling a large amount of seized “shabu” (crystal meth) six years ago.
The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) charged Albayalde and the 13 officers in an amended complaint filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday.
Police Lt. Col. Joseph Orsos, lawyer for the CIDG, told reporters that Albayalde was included as respondent based on “old evidence and the Senate transcript,” referring to the 2013 complaint and the testimonies during the legislative inquiry.
“The totality of the evidence shows that he (Albayalde) is probably liable, just the probability,” Orsos said, adding that Albayalde’s call to the CIDG was “somehow [an] indication of liability” because “somehow he’s trying to persuade in behalf of the other respondents.”
The probability of liability or a crime is indicative of their liability for that crime? Due process in the Philippines is quite strange!
During its fifth Congress, NUPL also agreed to sue “state security forces” for the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and other human rights violations.
“The justice system in the Philippines is unable to provide legal remedies to victims of EJK and other human rights violations because as President Duterte claims, he is immune from suit,” Colmenares said.“That is why we will pursue more cases against him in the UN and other international mechanisms for now.”
He added that more charges would be filed before international bodies such as the United Nations.
Such charges are “preparations” for more cases to be filed domestically once the President’sterm ends in 2022, Colmenares added.
“President Duterte cannot even promise members of the police and military that they will not go to prison because even President Duterte himself cannot escape criminal accountability once he steps down from office,” Colmenares said.
In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Colmenares said that aside for being charged with crimes against humanity, Duterte would also face raps for grave threats.
“That’s why I’m very surprised when he always says: ‘Is it a crime to threaten to kill people?’ Of course, it’s a crime. You cannot threaten to kill people and you don’t commit a crime,” he said.
According to Colmenares, the President will also face civil cases for damages for the EJK victims.
The Duterte administration has denied again and again that there are any EJKs while Duterte himself has said his only sin is EJKs. Will be fun to watch how this plays out and how the online trolls will toss mud at the NUPL calling them traitors and destabilisers and what not.
Apart from coping with a surge in measles and dengue cases, as well as the reemergence of polio after almost two decades, the Philippines ranks fourth among countries with the highest incidence of tuberculosis (TB), according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
With a population of 107 million, the country’s tuberculosis incidence rate stands at 554 per 100,000 persons, which is four times higher than the global average of 130 per 100,000.
The report also pointed out that allocating funds to address tuberculosis should improve, given that the pace of progress “is not yet fast enough.”
In the case of the Philippines, WHO said that of the $205-million (P10.5-billion) budget needed for an efficient tuberculosis program, 63 percent remains unfunded, while 25 percent is shouldered by international organizations. Only 12 percent of the budget is shouldered by the government.
Health workers’ groups warned on Friday that the government’s health programs are bound to falter if it fails to address the “health crisis” besetting the country.
In addition to outbreaks of infectious diseases, the groups said the health sector remains grossly underfunded with hospitals still understaffed and personnel still underpaid.
Nurses are no longer willing to work in the country’s hospitals because, aside from being unprotected by law, they are also overworked and underpaid, Abenojar said.
“Why did we come to this situation? Because there’s a lack of plantilla positions. Understaffing persists. There is no shortage of nurses. There is only a need to improve their working conditions,” Abenojar said.
“Health workers have been unhealthy and uncared for despite [sometimes] enduring 16 hours of duty. We have seen a historical increase in the number of contractual health workers receiving floor wages without security of tenure, few or absent benefits but with huge workloads,” Mendoza said.
The realities in the health sector, Abenojar said, should make the government rethink its priorities because the situation is nothing short of a crisis.
Although administration lawmakers promised to restore the budget cuts, the All UP Workers Union-Mania (AUPWU) argued a 2020 budget without cuts would still be way off the P10 billion it needs to “render quality health care for all its patients.”
Both of these news items go together. A lack of nurses, many refusing to work in the Philippines because of the low pay and long hours, plus a lack of funding for health programs and hospitals make for the "health care crisis" which is sweeping the nation.
Even as the Philippine National Police (PNP) takes the forefront of the government’s drug war, some 454 of its own personnel who were found guilty of involvement in the drug trade have been dismissed from service, Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa, officer-in-charge of the PNP, said Monday.
Gamboa said that the data covering July 2016 until September 20, 2019 shows that 352 personnel tested positive for drug use, while another 102 were involved in other drug-related activities including coddling drug lords.
According to Gamboa, the 454 personnel are among the 9,172 officers and staff who have been penalized with administrative charges due to involvement in criminal activities and violation of rules and regulations of the PNP.
He said this figure is roughly 4.7 percent of the total number of PNP personnel currently in service.
In total, there were 2,806 personnel dismissed from the service during the period; 535 were demoted in rank; 4,721 were suspended; 762 were reprimanded; 60 were restricted to quarters; 208 were forfeited of salary; and 80 were withheld of privileges.
Gamboa said that in 2019 alone, 2,286 personnel were slapped with penalties for administrative cases.
The PNP regularly releases this same info over and over again which is the number of cops dismissed or penalised since Duterte took the reigns in July 2016. Then they add a little update. The numbers never go down. And no one, it seems, is facing criminal charges. Only administrative charges!
The Philippine National Police said on Sunday that it would keep a close eye on the policemen assigned at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) after two of them were reportedly caught trying to sneak liquor and tobacco into the national penitentiary.
In a radio interview, Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac, the PNP spokesperson, said that two members of the National Capital Region Police Office’s Special Weapons and Tactics (NCRPO-SWAT) unit were under investigation.
While conceding that there were still some rogue members in the PNP, Banac assured the public that efforts to cleanse their ranks would continue until the scalawags were weeded out of the service. “They have no place in the PNP,” he said.
So what happened to these SWAT officers? Have they been charged with a crime and placed in jail? There are more than "some rogue members in the PNP." Way more!
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Tuesday that it is currently investigating the case of 16 policemen guarding the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), after they were caught reportedly smuggling contraband inside the national penitentiary.
The NCRPO said confiscated from the uniformed personnel were liquor, gadgets and tobacco leaves.
Are the two mentioned above part of this group of 16 or are they separate? What do they mean by tobacco leaves? Loose tobacco or actual uncut leaves?
Six police officers or “ninja cops” allegedly involved in the questionable anti-drug operation in Antipolo City in May this year were dismissed from service, Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge revealed on Monday.
Gamboa said the dismissed officers are MSgt. Donald Roque, MSgt. Rommel Vital, Cpl. Romeo Encarnacion Guerrero Jr., SSgt. Stephen Domingo, Pat. Lester Velasco, and Pat. Eduardo Soriano II.
Roque, Vital, and Guerrero were also involved in the controversial drug raid in Pampanga in 2013.
Only dismissed? What about charged with a crime? What about arrested and sitting jail until trial? It's no good to simply dismiss these men.
Authorities on Tuesday arrested a former mayor of this town for alleged illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Police Captain Marvin Domacena, chief of this town’s police, said the farm of Romeo Lonzanida, 85, at Sitio Nangalisan in Barangay Burgos here yielded two unregistered firearms with ammunition during the operation about 3 a.m.
Lonzanida has standing warrants of arrest for other cases, including graft charges, police said.
Another former politician arrested on weapons charges. And he was wanted for other crimes as well.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered a three-month suspension of Commission on Higher Education (CHED) executive director Julito Vitriolo after finding him guilty of simple misconduct.
The suspension order stemmed from a complaint filed by former CHED chairperson Patricia Licuanan.
Licuanan alleged in her complaint that Vitriolo issued a memorandum recommending to CHED Regional Office the issuance of a provisional permit in favor of one private school in contravention of Commission en Banc Resolution, which disapproved said school’s application.
According to the order signed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires on October 4 but was released to the media on Tuesday, Vitriolo “issued the Memorandum without due regard to the policies and guidelines of CHED.”
Vitriolo was previously dismissed by the Ombudsman after he was found guilty of grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty in a complaint filed by a former faculty member of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM).
But last September, a Supreme Court ruling affirmed the Court of Appeals’ decision to reinstate Vitriolo to his post as CHED executive director.
This was dismissed after being found guilty of grave misconduct but was reinstated to his post as CHED executive director last month and now he is being suspended for 3 months for simple misconduct because he issued a memorandum improperly. Sounds like he is not the man for the job.
One hundred eighty six government agencies are already enrolled in the electronic Freedom of Information (eFOI) portal since it was launched in November 25, 2016. But the Office of the President (OP) is not one of them.
On July 23, 2016, Duterte issued Executive Order No. 2, which laid down a policy of full public disclosure and transparency in public service to promote accountability, and set the guidelines for requesting and releasing information from offices under the executive branch.
The passage of an FOI bill was a campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte, but halfway through his six-year term as President, the Chief Executive has not seen Congress pass any FOI bill.
Duterte issues an EO in 2016 laying down a policy of transparency in government and an FOI bill was part of his camping promise but his office is not participating in the FOI website. Why not?
Unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants killed a village chief in this town on Tuesday morning.
Police Col. Chito Bersaluna, Bulacan police director, said Felimon Lazaro, 52, barangay captain of Malipampang, succumbed to bullet wounds while his companion, Richard Del Rosario, from Barangay Pala-pala, was hit by a stray bullet.
Investigators said the victims were standing outside Lazaro’s house about 7 a.m. when the gunmen approached them and fired shots.
Another local official assassinated by motorcycle gunmen right in front of his own house!
The former vice mayor of Cagayan de Oro City and four other individuals were arrested inside a cafe in Mandaue City, Cebu for running off with P400 million in investments to their double-your-money scheme company.
(Their modus is to offer a scheme, details on how to grow an investor’s money so they invest P5,000 or P20,000 up to a maximum of P500,000. They said the money will grow double, or at a rate of 15 to 20 percent a month. They were able to fool many investors in Mindanao.)
How do people keep falling for these scams? A former Vice Mayor is involved in this one. Vice indeed!
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) does not have an allocation to pay for the destruction of illegal drugs that are now kept at their repository.
PDEA-7 Director Wardley Getalla said that incineration would cost at least P16, 000 per session irregardless of the volume of drugs for destruction.
Getalla said this was the reason why they had to wait for evidence to accumulate at their repository before they start to make arrangements for its destruction.
“We cannot afford to destroy just small amounts of drugs so we need to consolidate the drugs to reach the desired amount (for destruction),” said Getalla.
He said that they now have at least 35 kilos of shabu at their repository while 19 kilos remain in court for use as evidences in cases filed against different drug users and peddlers.
The PDEA director said that it was still in 2017 when they last incinerated shabu. They made arrangements with the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes to avail of free incineration. But Getalla said that they cannot avail of the same service on a regular basis because it was costly.
Getalla said that allocation for drugs incineration is not also included in their annual budget because the offender is supposed to shoulder the expense.
But since no offender has so far offered to destroy evidences that were used in court against him/her, PDEA-7 is left with no other choice but to find means to ensure the proper disposal of the illegal substance.
Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. You would think they would put it in the budget. As if anyone is going to volunteer to pay the expenses to destroy the drugs especially at P16,000 per session.
There's another change of guards in the New Bilibid Prison as the National Capital Region Police Office recalled 551 of its men.
These 551 police personnel will be replaced by members of the Regional Public Safety Battalion.
According to the Bureau of Corrections, the replacement was made to address an issue where 15 police personnel were caught sneaking into the prison contraband items including cellphones, cigarettes and alcohol.
It was also made to prevent policemen from getting too familiar with the inmates and the prison.
551 men dismissed from New Bilibid. Will their replacements also be dismissed?
“The Department of Interior and Local Government has already issued the show cause orders to these 101 LGUs and we are awaiting their replies on why they were not able to comply with the President’s directive and why they should not be suspended,” DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said during Tuesday’s press briefing.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) confirmed on Tuesday that 99 barangays in Manila will be issued show-cause orders for supposedly failing to dutifully enforce their road clearing operations.
101 LGUs nationwide and 99 barangays in Manila failed to clean up their streets. Maybe they are getting too many kickbacks?
The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority on Monday, Oct. 21, turned over at least 50 government-sequestered vehicles to the Santa Ana local government, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Cagayan Economic Zone Authority administrator Raul Lambino said the ecozone would also donate 350 other cars to other national agencies and local government units in Cagayan Valley region and other nearby regions.
Are these confiscated vehicles? I thought the government ran over them with bulldozers?
Three policemen, including a senior officer, have been dismissed from the Philippine National Police over the killing of the son of Mayor Marcelo Gayeta of Sariaya, Quezon, and his companion in an alleged shootout in Tayabas City in March.
In an Oct. 17 ruling, Brig. Gen. Edward Carranza, outgoing regional police director of Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), removed from the police service former Tayabas police chief, Lt. Col. Mark Joseph Laygo, Cpl. Lonald Sumalpong and Pat. Robert Legaspi after results of administrative charges filed against them were released.
“Under the qualifying circumstances of evident premeditation, treachery and abuse of superior strength attended by aggravating circumstances of grave irregularity in the performance of duty, grave dishonesty and conduct unbecoming of a police officer with no mitigating circumstance to consider … they are hereby meted the commensurate penalty in its maximum period of dismissal from the police service,” Carranza said.
Carranza said they were found guilty of two counts of grave misconduct.
But a report by the National Bureau of Investigation, in a probe which was sought by the Gayeta family, showed that the younger Gayeta and Manalo were murdered by policemen.
The NBI had obtained the testimonies of four other policemen who were allegedly involved in the supposed shootout, which prompted the filing of double murder charges against Laygo, Sumalpong and Legaspi. The three policemen are detained at the Quezon provincial jail.
It seems rather silly to dismiss them only now after they have been charged with double murder and are being held in jail awaiting trial. This incident happened months ago in March.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio represented her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, during Japan Emperor Naruhito’s banquet in Tokyo on Tuesday night.
The President had to cut short his trip to Japan “due to unbearable pain in his spinal column.”
Sara was among the “lean” delegation of Duterte to witness the enthronement of Emperor Naruhito.
“According to Mayor Duterte, she was able to leave the event at 11:00 p.m. as she spent time to chat with other world leaders, assessing the event as an opportune time to network and mingle with them,” Panelo added.
There are a lot of problems here. First of all she is only the Mayor of Davao and not a part of the national government. As such she doe snot represent the nation. In fact they are bold to say she was representing her father and not that she represented the nation. Why was she tagging along anyway? The ambassador could have filled in or the VP. Why does she tag along on the taxpayers dime on so many of her father's trips?
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