It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption and murder in Philippine politics.
An irate President Rodrigo Duterte slammed Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday over her brief stint in his drug war, saying she only made an "a***ole" of herself.
The President criticized Robredo's actions during her 18 days as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) from which he fired her last Sunday. It was Duterte who gave Robredo the assignment.
"She made an a***ole of herself," Duterte said.
Robredo took Duterte's offer, was formulating a plan on how to go about doing the job, was fired because Duterte said he did not trust her and she is the asshole? Now that is what I call gas lighting!
President Rodrigo Duterte has yet to choose the next chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), adding that the PNP had a lot to improve on.
And if he could not find the right person to lead the national police, Duterte said he might just do it on his own.
“Unless I think that I see the very best guy there, you show me. Kayong mga pulis, tell me who is the best... Just give me an honest man, period,” Duterte told reporters in Malacañang.
"Even a single case of corruption, wala ka na. I would rather not appoint anybody for that matter. Ako na ang hahawak. I will be the one directing," he added.
"Guidance and direction lang naman ako. But that is in the event I couldn’t find somebody I can trust," Duterte said.
Duterte might have to lower his standards in order to appoint a new PNP Chief.
Unidentified motorcycle-riding assailants on Thursday shot dead a former village chief in Santa Ana town, Cagayan province.
Police Major Stanley Banan, Santa Ana police chief, said Dionilo Romero Poblete, 57, of Barangay Patunungan, was also riding a motorcycle and was heading home when he was attacked by the gunmen.
Poblete suffered bullet wounds from a .45-caliber pistol and died on the spot, Banan said.
Investigators recovered from the crime scene two spent shells and P272,500 cash inside Poblete’s bag.
Another LGU official, ex-LGU official, shot dead. Certainly it was political or else the killers would not have left behind P272,500 in cash.
The case of the 40-year-old woman who was shot dead inside her home at Block 3 Missionaries, Barangay Suba, Cebu City at around 12:30 a.m. Friday, November 29, 2019, is not one that maybe solved immediately.
This is because Vicenta Abaño, the victim, is not the first in her family to have been killed in such a manner.
Personal grudge against her family stands out a possible motive, as she is the fourth member of her family who met a violent death in a span of five months, according to Police Corporal Carlo Irizari.
Her father, Alejandro Abaño, former captain of Barangay Jagoliao, an island-village of Getafe, Bohol, and a relative, were the first and the second victims. Her younger brother, Ninolito Abaño, was the third.
Her father and relative were shot by two men who barged into their home in Barangay Jagoliao at around 4 a.m. last June 28.
The same execution-style killing also befell on her younger brother who was shot by two assailants inside his auto repair shop in Barangay Pahina San Nicolas, Cebu City last July 19.
Police were also looking into the killing as drug-related because of the claim of some neighbors of Vicenta that she was allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade, revealed Irizari.
The police might think this is a drug related killing but it seems this family is being picked off one by one just like the Kennedy's!
In an ambush interview on Thursday, November 28, Go said that he has suggested to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, also the chair of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Phisgoc), to make tickets for SEA Games activities accessible to the public for free, subject to their availability and set mechanics.
Go emphasized that the goal is to make the games more accessible for the Filipino people, including the much-anticipated closing ceremony on December 11 to be held at the New Clark City Athletics Stadium.
The senator clarified, however, that the government cannot provide free tickets for some sporting events, such as basketball, football and volleyball, as these sports will either be held in private venues or paid tickets are almost sold out.
Upon consultation with PHISGOC after the interview, Senator Go said that the organizing committee is amenable with the suggestion and will make available to the public, free of charge and subject to availability, the tickets for all the sporting events in the various competition venues, except those for basketball, volleyball and football.
He added that the President is pushing to make the tickets free, saying “If allowed… alam nyo kilala ko si Pangulo gusto n’ya libre.” Go recalled that during such events in Davao City, like sportsfests and other athletic competitions, then Mayor Duterte would always push that such activities be made accessible to the public for free.
If tickets are given away then how will the government make any money? How will they be able to repay the P11 billion loan from Malaysia? It's a very bad idea.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said the military would be better off handling logistics of the Southeast Asian Games next time following complaints from delegates ahead of the event's formal opening.
Duterte said the military are better organizers as he expressed his dismay over transportation and accommodation woes encountered by foreign participants.
"Itong mga ganito (These things) should be handled by the military. They are better organizers," he told reporters in Malacañang.
"Kaya next time itong mga ganun (Next time we host), the military will handle it kasi ang (because the) military is structural," the President added.
Malacañang earlier said President Duterte is "not pleased" with reported snafus in relation to the hosting of the Games and would launch an investigation into irregularities related to it.
The President explained that he wants to find out how the budget for the hosting of the Games was spent given that there were reported flaws.
"To me, personally, there was a lot of money poured into this activity now and I suppose that with that kind of money you can run things smoothly. Apparently, mayroong mga palpak (there were lapses)," he said.
"If that is the money there, what happened to the money?" he added.
Duterte, however, said House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, who heads the organizing committee, could not have been involved in corruption pending the probe.
A few things here. First the Philippines won't be hosting the SEA Games for a long while and it is simply not the military's job to put it all together. Second Duterte admits there have been snafus and wants to know just what happened which is contrary to all the DDS types on social media calling any reportage of snafus "fake news." Thirdly even before an investigation and when he has said there are no sacred cows Duterte has already cleared Cayetano of any blame. In fact Duterte's proposed investigation is already tainted by the way he is planning to run it.
Mr. Duterte said he would not be investigating Cayetano, but others who were delegated tasks by the Speaker.
The President said he would tap people who retired from the Commission on Audit, lawyers, prosecutors and his fraternity brothers to conduct the investigation.
Mr. Duterte exonerated Cayetano on the same day that presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said no one would be spared from the government probe even the President’s known allies, such as Cayetano.
“There is no sacred cow in this government,” Panelo said. “We’ve been repeatedly saying that those who transgress the law will be accountable.”
What need is there to have his fraternity brothers on the investigation team? Sounds biased from the start. But Duterte has surrounded himself with his frat bros from the beginning including men such as former DOJ Secretary Aguirre.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque on Monday gave tips on how commuters and motorists can keep themselves busy while traveling on congested roads.
“Say the rosary. It would take about 15 to 30 minutes. Don’t rush the prayer, then you contemplate, then you meditate after that. That way you will feel more relaxed,” Duque said in an interview on GMA News’ "Balitanghali."
Aside from praying the rosary, Duque also suggested that motorists and commuters should multitask.
(Make your vehicle your mobile office, transact business using your iPhone, iPad, laptop)
(Just watch Netflix on your laptop or watch anything on YouTube so that you’d be entertained)
Duque reminded the public that anger may lead to high blood pressure and risks heart problems.
The Metro Manila Development Authority earlier warned residents and workers of heavier traffic during the holiday season. Meanwhile, Google-owned navigation app, Waze, earlier said Manila remains as the world’s worst city for drivers.
Saying the rosary out loud or silently is one thing but watching Netflix on your laptop and turing your car into a mobile office is absolutely stupid and dangerous because it diverts your attention from the road and makes traffic even worse. If you are in a jeepney only a fool would mess with their laptop. It's an invitation to steal.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday gave his unsolicited advice to Vice President Leni Robredo: Do not run for president, you know nothing.
He even warned that the country won’t be in good hands if Robredo becomes the nation’s top leader.
(Don’t run for president, you know really nothing.)
(You’re in for a disaster if Leni Robredo is elected…just try.)
“I fired her in my mind. Noon pa. First day pa lang nung sabi niya punta siya sa U.S. Embassy.”
President Rodrigo Duterte said this Friday night, days after he fired Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chairperson of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD).
Duterte has been hurling a torrent of insults at Robredo ever since he fired her from the ICAD. At least now he has confirmed that Robredo never had a chance because he did not want her there from day one.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday threatened to kill anyone who would engage in illegal recruitment.
[I am telling you, you illegal recruiters, don’t get into that. If my patience runs out, I will simply kill you.]
Duterte added that he would go after illegal recruiters with the same intensity as illegal drug dealers.
“There are so many vultures [in this] illegal recruitment and one of these days I will raise you to the level of a drug problem and I will take care of you,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte clarified his earlier remark that he dumped bodies of drug lords in Manila Bay and Laguna Lake.
“Tinatakot lang kita para huwag na lang sana (I just scare you to prevent the actual act)...I will scare you, or would you rather that I will not scare you? I just kill you already,” Duterte told CNN Philippines in a Friday evening interview.
The president also said it’s just his manner of speaking and that he would not change it.
(My mouth is foul. Definitely…But when I’m mad, I will not you know, I will not change my whole being.)
“It's not just my penchant to use cuss words. Ugali... Ano ko na ito, part of my being.”
(Attitude... That’s just me, it’s part of my being.)
More empty and violent rhetoric coming from Duterte because that just how he is. Nothing new here.
The city government here is set to clear one-third of the city’s controlled dumpsite, specifically tons of garbage some 15 meters away from the beach, as part of its intensified waste management in 2020.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mayor Marc Brian Lim said they have increased the fund of the city’s Waste Management Division (WMD) for next year.
“The dumpsite is now controlled. We wanted to remove one-third of it because its distance to the beach is already alarming. We increased WMD’s funding next year. They will have a little bit of budget to spare to clean the dumpsite,” he said.
He added the WMD has been earmarked a PHP57-million budget to procure heavy equipment and to dispose of the dump to be removed from the area to a sanitary landfill.
“Part of the budget (is) for sanitary landfill and it will undergo a bidding process,” Lim said.
There is a dumpsite a mere 15 meters away from the ocean and they only want to remove 1/3 of it? That is crazy. They should move the whole thing!
The municipal government here will soon start cracking the whip on business establishments and individuals who would defy the ban on the use of plastics based on the local ordinance passed 10 years ago.
The local government has stepped up its campaign on non-biodegradables as it struggles with the rising volume of plastic wastes.
Mayor Augusto Manuel Ragragio in a meeting at the municipal hall said the sale and use of “sando bags” will be strictly prohibited as embodied in Municipal Ordinance No. 05-2009 which prohibits the use of plastic wrappers, plastic bags and Styrofoam.
Ragragio on Friday told the attendees composed mainly of business owners and barangay officials that they would start strict implementation of the ordinance by January especially on the sale of plastic bags which are widely used in the market, groceries and stores.
A whole decade has passed and this LGU has not enforced its own ordinance. Do they really expect it to go into force next month? Will businesses suddenly comply with a law they have neglected for a whole decade?
A police officer was shot and killed Sunday night near the regional police headquarters in Calamba City in Laguna province.
The victim Lt. Ramil Gonzalez had just left the police Officers’ Basic Course training at the Camp Vicente Lim when he was killed.
According to a police report from Calamba City, Gonzalez left the camp around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when he was shot by a still unidentified gunman in front of a food stall in Barangay (village) Mayapa.
Another policeman shot dead. Nothing new here.
The husband of Mayor Susan Casareno was gunned down after attending a wake here at dawn on Tuesday, police said.
Reynaldo Casareno, 56 , the barangay chairman of Tomana East, died from gunshot wounds in his head and body.
Witnesses said the victim was about to enter his house when the unidentified assailants shot him about 1 a.m.
Another barangay chairman shot dead. Nothing new here.
Former Milagros Mayor Bernardito Asibuque Abapo of Masbate has been convicted by the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division of his malversation charge and was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years imprisonment and pay a fine for his failure to liquidate cash advances amounting to P26.5 million.
From January 2002 to December 2004, Abapo had in his possession and custody public funds worth P26,509,594.04, representing his cash advances which he was accountable to liquidate. But despite demands from the Commission on Audit (COA) of Masbate City for him to liquidate it, he failed to do so.
Another ex-Mayor convicted of malversation of funds. To the tune of P26.5 million! Nothing new here.
“Your franchise will end next year. If you are expecting that it will be renewed, I’m sorry. You’re out. I will see to it that you’re out,” he said, addressing ABS-CBN.
Since he took office, Duterte has repeatedly threatened ABS-CBN’s franchise because the network allegedly ran a negative ad against him when he campaigned for President in 2016 and for refusing to air his own propaganda.
“There were several of us candidates from whom you took money but never aired our propaganda. Me, Chiz Escudero, all of us,” he said in Malacañang at the oathtaking of the executive committee of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.
On the other hand, he said the network aired the ad of one of his sharpest critics, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, that portrayed children allegedly in violation of the election law.
“Walang hearing sa December 10, walang hearing (There will be no hearing on December 10, there will be no hearing) for the year,” Alvarez said.
The chamber would go on a Christmas break from Dec. 21 until Jan. 19.
“I reiterate that Congress would be fair, will always have a fair hearing. Alam naman ito din ng management ng ABS-CBN na uunahin namin ang budget atsaka mga revenue bills,” Cayetano said in an interview.
(I reiterate that Congress would be fair, will always have a fair hearing. ABS-CBN management knows this also that we will prioritize the budget and revenue bills.)
“Pero we have more than enough time to tackle it in January, February dahil March pa naman ‘yung expiration ng franchise,” he added.
(But we have more than enough time to tackle it in January, February because the expiration of the franchise will still be in March.)
Duterte and Cayetano are determined to play a game of chicken with ABS-CBN and out thousands of jobs and lives at risk over a perceived slight during the 2016 election. Cayetano is also reneging on his promise to hold hearings by the years end.
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