It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1198809/cops-told-enforce-law-even-if-violator-is-friend-of-some-govt-big-shot |
“We will no longer tolerate this. Anyone who will not enforce the law just because somebody tells them that he is a friend of some government big shot will be charged administratively for negligence,” the acting police chief said.
“Bawal na ang mga nagpapasindak sa mga nagpapakita ng mga calling card (Intimidation by those showing off calling cards is no longer allowed),” he added.
It's a pretty bad situation when you have to tell the cops to enforce the law. It's their job!
“People always seek and look for the police when they are in trouble. Let them feel that you are the true superheroes,” Gustilo said, reminding them to avoid getting involved in illegal activities particularly illegal drugs and leave behind a legacy of good service reputation to their name, family and the police organization.
More of the same. PNP leadership has to tell their officers to do their jobs and refrain from criminal activities.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1088180 |
The Agusan del Sur Provincial Police Office (ADSPPO) has launched a manhunt against a patrolman who shot his superior officer.
In a statement on Saturday, Col. Ringo Zarsozo, ADSPPO chief, said they have set up checkpoints in the towns of Bunawan, Rosario, Trento and other areas in Agusan del Sur to capture the suspect, Patrolman Jhon Paul Gerida.
Gerida was assigned at the 2nd Agusan del Sur Provincial Mobile Force Company based in Barangay Bunawan Brook, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur.
A report of the Bunawan police showed that Gerida was called to the office of his superior officer, Lt. Col. Rex Lomente on Friday night.
After several minutes, gunfire was heard from the Lomente’s office, the police report said.
Members of the mobile force immediately rushed inside the office and found the officer with a gunshot wound in the head, police said.
A PNP officer shot his superior dead.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1199667/ex-pdea-agent-felled-by-assassins-bullets-in-baguio |
An unidentified gunman killed a 58-year-old retired agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) here on Monday, Dec. 9, police said
Investigators said the ex-PDEA agent, Samuel Lopez Mora, was driving his Toyota Hilux pickup along the Marcos Highway at KM 4 when the motorcycle-riding assailant shot him several times around 7:30 a.m.
Ex-PDEA agent killed by a motorcycle assassin. Another government employee assassinated. Nothing new here.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1199568/retired-cop-killed-in-rizal-drug-bust |
A newly – retired police officer who is also a drug suspect was killed in a buy-bust operation in Quezon City before dawn on Monday.
Retired Cpl. Tirso Agustin Lactaotao, 48, died in a buy-bust launched by the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) in Barangay Novaliches Proper at 12:25 a.m.
The operation was conducted by the Regional Special Operations Group of the National Capital Region Police Office and Calabarzon police.
According to a report from PNP-IMEG, the operation led to a shootout when the Lactaotao suddenly opened fire when he apparently sensed that he was transacting with an undercover police officer.
Lactaotao availed of optional retirement from the PNP in November.
According to IMEG, the operation was part of the crackdown against police officers involved in recycling or peddling illegal drugs. IMEG is the police unit tasked to run after erring police personnel.
Police said that based on intelligence reports, Lactaotao has been involved in the illegal drug trade.
There are many mysterious things about this incident. The man was newly retired at the very young age of 48. He was known to be involved in the drug trade. Did the PNP bungle this operation? Would they think that the man would not be able to tell who is an undercover? But there's more!
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1199588/slain-retired-policeman-linked-to-over-10-ninja-cops-pnp |
(Other units save [drugs], and he is the one who distributes. Others don’t distribute because they have a distributor.)
Reyes said some of these police officers are assigned in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Central Luzon.
IMEG, the unit tasked to run after scalawag personnel of the PNP, is currently conducting surveillance on officers identified to be linked to the slain suspect, who had availed of optional retirement only in November.
Their operations, said Reyes, are not organized. He explained these erring officers are just aware of each other’s illegal acts and even occasionally asks who among them will “dispose” recycled drugs.
“Magkakakilala na mayroong pangdispose so ‘yun, nagtatanungan sila (They know each other and have drugs to dispose so they ask each other),” he said.
Contrary to Reyes this operation sounds rather organised. Some cops save drugs and have them distributed by other cops. Very standard ninja cop practice. Sounds like it has been happening for quite a while. Sounds like these ninja cops are known by name. So why have the been allowed to operate for so long?
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1199610/22-ninja-cops-ceased-drug-recycling-says-pnp |
The 22 so-called ninja cops, or police officers recycling drugs confiscated in buy-busts and raids, have ceased their illegal operations, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday.
“Sa nakikita natin ay mukhang tumigil naman na sila sa kanilang mga ilegal na gawain (Based on what we see, it seems they have stopped their illegal activities),” PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a press briefing.
He said it is possible that the 22 police officers decided to lay low their crooked acts, especially after the controversy on drug recycling among the police force hogged the headlines in the previous months, eventually leading retired Gen. Oscar Albayalde to vacate his post as PNP chief in October.
Banac said the PNP continues to monitor the activities of these 22 police officers.
“Hindi tayo titigil hanggang hindi natin malinis ang buong hanay ng PNP ng tiwali na mga pulis (We will not stop until we rid our ranks of all erring personnel),” he added.
So they know who these ninja cops are and they choose to keep them on active duty? Why? Why don't they arrest them?
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1088522 |
Unidentified gunmen shot and killed on Wednesday afternoon a former village chair of the Maguindanao town of Shariff Saydona Mustapha while he was inside an “Ukay-Ukay” (second-hand clothing) store in the city.
Maj. Rustom Pastolero, city police station 2 commander, identified the victim as Basit Macmod Taguigaya, 40, former chair of Barangay Poblacion.
Taguigaya, who had been residing in Shariff Aguak town, Maguindanao, was standing inside the “Ukay-Ukay” store near the Cotabato City plaza when two men arrived and opened fire on him at about 1 p.m., police said.
Another ex-LGU assassinated in public by unknown assailants. Nothing new here.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Regional 7 along with the Philippine National Police (PNP), regional trial courts, and Cebu Provincial Government led the destruction of seized dangerous drugs with an estimated market value of P194,221,005.82 at the Apo Cement Corporation in Tinaan, City of Naga on Dec. 10, 2019
These are 26,853.48 grams of shabu (P182,603,633.40), 559.09 milliliters of nalbuphine (P139,772.50), 52,504.67 grams of marijuana (P6,300,559.92), and 976.80 grams of cocaine (P5,177,040.00).
The illegal drugs were seized as far back as 1994 up to 2019.
At first glance this is a pure;y good thing. But below the surface thee is trouble. The PDEA has held onto these drugs since 1994 for one stupid reason: they have zero budget to destroy drugs because the offender is supposed to shoulder those expenses.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/274850/pdea-7-to-get-two-incinerators-from-cebu-city |
The Cebu City Government is giving two incinerators, worth P2 million, to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7).
This move followed after the Cebu City Council and Mayor Edgardo Labella approved the amount alloted for the incinerators during the regular session on Tuesday, December 10.
The budget will be taken from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) funds of the city for 2019.
Cebu City Councilor Antonio Cuenco has proposed to help the PDEA-7 after they reported to the council during the Citizen’s Hour on October 22, 2019 that the agency does not have the equipment to destroy the drugs that they confiscated in drug busts.
PDEA-7 Director Wardley Getalla said the incineration would cost at least P16, 000 per session regardless of the volume of drugs to be incinerated.
There is no allocation for drug incineration in PDEA’s annual budget because the offender is supposed to shoulder the expenses.
In the history of PDEA-7, no offender spent money for the destruction of the drugs.
This is why PDEA-7 had to find other ways to ensure the proper disposal of the illegal drugs.
This is the reason why the agency can only afford to destroy illegal drugs by bulk. The recent drug incineration happened last Tuesday, December 10, in Naga City.
How about the PDEA aching their protocol and allocate a budget to destroy the drugs? That would ensure drugs don't stick around for years taking up space and tempting would-be ninja cops.
“Based on our report, I think we have about 186 local drug groups in the Philippines,” PDEA chief Aaron Aquino bared in a Palace briefing Thursday.
However, Aquino cannot quantify how many international drug rings are in the country but he cited the recent capture of alleged drug lord Hong Liangyi, the supposed head of the Dragon Wu drug syndicate.
He said the Chinese national ran drug laboratories discovered in Ibaan, Batangas; Tagaytay; and Malabon
Aquino said PDEA is coordinating with their Chinese counterparts to go after other members of the Dragon Wu group. He added that the group traces its roots to the so-called “Golden Triangle” area which is notorious for being a drug-producing region.
The PDEA chief also revealed that they are currently monitoring several “Chinese-looking” individuals who pose as divers to search for cocaine in Bicol and Caraga areas.
“We are now conducting investigations because marami tayong nakikitang mga Chinese-looking persons na nagco-conduct ng diving diyan sa mga areas na ‘yan kung saan ang discoveries ng cocaine pero hindi naman diving sites (there are many Chinese-looking persons who go diving in those areas where cocaine has been discovered, even though those are not diving sites),” he said.
From this report it sounds like Aquino is admitting that the Chinese play a large role in the drug trade in the Philippines. Why then did he contradict not only Robredo but the PDEA's own past reports that China is a main source of drugs into the Philippines? Is it just a technicality? Like the drug lords and gang are Chinese but the drugs themselves come from other countries?
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/12/12/1976509/p7528-monthly-no-frills-food-budget-unrealistic-government-told |
Government's claim that a family of five can subsist on P7,528 a month on a "no frills" diet denies the realities that the poor in the Philippines face, fisherfolks' and farmers' groups said.
Fisherfolk federation Pamalakaya (Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas) said the Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia should "get real," while peasant women's federation Amihan said the claims were indicative of "government neglect and non-intention for authentic poverty alleviation."
"Instead of sincerely working for poverty alleviation, they deny even the impoverished state of the people," Pamalakaya chairperson Fernando Hicap, a former party-list congressman, said in a press statement.
This came after Philippine Statistics Authority Assistant Secretary Rosalinda Bautista said on Wednesday that P10,727 is the minimum amount for a family to afford basic items.
“That is known as basic needs so 'no frills'. No fancy items there [and] I’m sure many families are subsisting with that kind of budget,” Pernia explained at a press briefing in Malacañang on Wednesday.
The World Bank has been using $1.90/day as its International Poverty Line since 2015. In 2019, that is around P96.45 per day or around P2893.50 a month and around P14,467.50 a month for a family of five.
NEDA officials at the briefing even presented a sample menu of food items they said could sufficiently feed a family of five for just P7,528 a month.
The "sample menu" included a lunch of boiled monggo with malunggay to go with dried dilis, steamed rice, and a banana. Bautista said the items listed in the menu would meet 100% of the energy requirements along with four-fifths the requirement for protein, calcium, and iron.
"Actually, that is not enough because of high prices of rice, vegetables, meat, fish and other items at the market," Zenaida Soriano, Amihan national chairperson, said in Filipino in a separate press release. She said the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law, which lowered income taxes but also raised excise taxes on fuel, caused the increase in prices.
According to Pamalakaya, the sample food budget would mean that an average meal of P81 would be adequate for a family of five.
Imagine thinking a family of five can be fed at the rate of P81 for each meal! The government really does not understand the plight of the poor.
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| https://www.philstar.com/sports/2019/12/12/1976488/cayetano-blasted-online-sea-games-closing-rant |
Barely the euphoria of the 30th SEA Games’ closing ceremony had subsided, social media was abuzz with scathing comments on House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s long speech that delved much on politics, clichés and his wife.
Cayetano’s rant against critics of the Philippines’ hosting of the Games left an indelible mark to an otherwise grand, athlete-centered affair, ending it with a sarcastically “Peace be with you” line and sign.
After a couple of speakers, Cayetano took the podium and delivered his piece, capping it with:
“For those of you who did not believe, for those of you who said this could not be done, for those of you who said this stadium will not be built on time, for those of you who said ‘sayang ang pera (waste of money), dapat hindi tayo nag-host (we should not have hosted),’ sa lahat ng nagkalat ng fake news (for all those who spread fake news), ang masasabi ko sa inyo, at ito itaga niyo sa bato: (what I can say to you, and you can cast this in stone): Peace be with you,” said Cayetano while flashing the peace sign.
After all the criticism he faced for the mess ups during the beginning of the games Cayetano gave a rambling speech where he talked mostly about himself and politics rather then focusing on the athletes and the games.
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