It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
The Sandiganbayan has placed under 90-day preventive suspension two village officials pending the promulgation of the criminal case filed against them by a resident of Barangay Tetuan here.
Suspended are Efigenio Julian Jr., chairperson of Barangay Pasonanca; and Tito Espiritusantos, Zone III barangay councilor.
The two officials, along with 12 other former Board of Directors of the Zamboanga City Electric Cooperative (Zamcelco), are charged with the violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act filed by Expedito Marquez Jr. in 2007.
The case stemmed from the sale of two lots in Camanchile Drive, Barangay Zone III worth PHP28.7 million to Zamcelco, which Marquez claimed was overpriced.
Marquez alleged that the lot was only bought for more than PHP4 million.
90-day preventive suspension for allegedly selling a plot of land for more than it was worth.
President Duterte yesterday warned policemen not to be involved in illegal drugs, saying all “ninja cops” or those involved in the resale of seized narcotics would die.
Duterte admitted that many policemen have entered the illegal drug trade, which he said is posing a threat to the next generation.
“Huwag kayo magkakamali pumasok sa droga. Mamamatay talaga kayo (Do not commit the mistake of getting into illegal drugs. You will really die),” the President said during the graduation of public safety officers in Davao City.
“The ninja cops will really die. Even if I am no longer President, I will run after these devils.”
He reiterated he would not hesitate to kill police personnel and drug dealers because they are destroying the country and making families dysfunctional.
He has said this many times. And he will say it many times more.
“Stay clear” of politicians engaged in grandstanding like former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.
(You know you should avoid people like that…people engaged in grandstanding. He didn’t do anything, he’s not bemedaled. That stupid didn’t even go to war, he just stayed in office and dream. Stay away from people like that. I’m just advising you to stay clear [of people like that]. They will destroy us.)
There are hardly any politicians in the Philippines who do not engage in grandstanding including Duterte.
Seven cops assigned in Metro Manila have tested positive for illegal drug use, while one of them has been included in the government’s controversial drug watchlist.
(Police Staff Sergeant Ronald Carpio tested positive for shabu use. He is included in the 357 cops who are named in the so-called watchlist.)
More cops involved in drugs, taking drugs.
Three persons, including a deputy provincial prosecutor, were injured in an ambush here Friday afternoon, police said.
Col. Portia Manalad, city police director, said the victims were in a white Toyota Grandia heading toward Featherville Subdivision when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at them at 2 p.m.
Manalad said Maguindanao Deputy Provincial Prosecutor Tocod Ronda and two companions, whose identities have yet to be determined, were injured and were getting medication.
Another government lawyer targeted by motorcycle assassins.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has found probable cause to again indict former Department of Health (DOH) Secretary and now Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin and other respondent health officials in connection with the second batch of complaints concerning the deaths of schoolchildren who got vaccinated with Dengvaxia.
In a statement on Friday, Justice Assistant Secretary Neal Bainto said the DOJ panel of prosecution found probable cause to charge Garin and nine other officials of the DOH, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), and Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. (Sanofi) for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.
It also found sufficient evidence to indict the President of Sanofi for violating the Consumer Act of the Philippines for manufacturing the Dengvaxia vaccine, which poses certain risks to seronegative, or to those who have not previously contracted the dengue disease.
The DOJ has already found probable cause to indict those named as respondents in the first batch of complaints filed by the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO).
PAO has filed 55 complaints before the DOJ. The number represents the persons, mostly children, out of the 147 who died after receiving the anti-dengue Dengvaxia vaccine. The 147 dead victims were examined by the PAO forensics team.
More indictments in the Dengvaxia case. As with all these court cases we shall see how it plays out in court.
“I have forwarded to you a list of operators in your different regions. I’m giving you a week, if you will not stop [the operations], then I will relieve you,” Gamboa told reporters in a press conference in Baguio City Police Office.
“Because the chief PNP does not get a single centavo out of jueteng at hindi ko rin pinapaipon,” he added.
Here is a good example of how the Filipino mind works. Let everything go to pot slowly over the decades and then demand it gets fixed all of a sudden. Absolutely ridiculous. What's need to combat illegal gambling is continue enforcement of the law. Not a one week drive.
At least 23 towns in Eastern Visayas still lack firefighting facilities and manpower, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reported on Friday.
Senior Supt. Renato Marcial, BFP 8 (Eastern Visayas) director, said in a press briefing that the programming of the construction of fire station buildings and the procurement of equipment per local government unit (LGU) depend on the national headquarters.
“Of course, we want it as soon as possible. But now, it is already (in) the pipeline through the modernization program of the national government, wherein these towns are the priority,” he said, adding that a PHP10-billion budget is set aside to equip all LGUs with the necessary firefighting facilities.
All the wasted money in this country. All the money given to terrorists to surrender. All the money used to fund Universal Healthcare which will be run by the corrupt PhilHealth. All the money wasted to fund the Philippine Space Agency. All the money wasted to provide firefighters guns. All that money and the government cannot even provide firetrucks and equipment where it is needed.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed murder and frustrated murder charges against Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board member Sandra Cam on Friday over the fatal shooting of a vice mayor, whose family clashed with hers in the last local elections.
The NBI's Death Investigation Division filed the charges at the Department of Justice over the alleged involvement of Cam in the killing of Batuan, Masbate Vice Mayor Charlie Yuson III last year.
Aside from Cam, six others were also charged for allegedly collaborating and conspiring with her for Yuson's murder.
Yuson was having breakfast in Sampaloc, Manila when he was gunned down by suspects who were on board a van.
His wife had claimed that his killing was politically motivated and that the gunmen were previously seen in Cam's resort in Masbate.
Their son Charmax Jan won as mayor against Cam's son Martin last elections.
Cam had denied involvement in the death of the vice mayor.
"Hindi kami mamamatay tao," Cam told radio DZMM last Oct. 11, 2019.
(We are not killers.)
Sandra Cam has accused a lot of people of corruption over the years and now she is accused of murder.
There is no new lead that can crack the murder case of a Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) official as police investigators failed to secure a CCTV footage of the killing.
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas explained on Friday that the CCTV cameras in the area, where BuCor legal service chief Atty. Fredrick Anthony Santos was slain, were not functional.
The dashboard camera on Santos’ car, which was placed at the front, was also not able to record the incident since the suspects approached the vehicle at the driver’s side.
“‘Yung mga CCTV sa area na kinanvass ng police namin are not functional at hindi gumagana. Pina-identify po namin ‘yun at tinanong bakit nilagay pa yung CCTV na hindi naman gumagana,” Sinas said in a press conference on Friday.
(The CCTVs in the area are not functional. We have asked why the CCTVs were installed when they are not working.)
How convenient!
"Sometimes, we are being criticized by some sectors in the society because we are not coordinated,” he said. “So we should work together to come up with a harmonized data so that the public would fully understand what we have been achieving and the impacts of these achievements in terms of peace and order situation in the country.”
The sad thing here is that the war on drugs goes back decades and only now is the PNP thinking about sharing data with other organizations like the PDEA.
“If they fail to report the deaths, automatic, the pension must be canceled. I am going to that direction, I am going to recommend that,” Gamboa told reporters in a press briefing over the weekend in Baguio City.
Last week, Gamboa ordered a nationwide accounting of the list of PNP pensioners in response to the report of the Commission on Audit (COA) that the PNP Retirement and Benefits Administration Services (PRBS) is possibly being duped by some claimants.
According to Gamboa, there are more than 77,000 pensioners from the PNP across the country.
Among the initial findings is that beneficiaries do not report the death of the retired police personnel or the death of the wife or husband of the deceased pensioners.
Since the pension are mostly paid through online banking, the PRBS is having difficulty validating the status of the pensioners and their beneficiaries unlike before that documents must be signed every time the pension is released or that the pensioners are being asked to have a photo holding the recent issue of a newspaper.
PRBS offices in the regions are all undermanned, with each office only having two to three personnel. This makes it difficult for them to verify those in the pension list.
The pension is only terminated if the wife or husband of the deceased policeman would remarry or would die, and their children reached the age of 18.
Fraud in the PNP pension program. Not surprising.
Lonie Lahao-lahao, 54, and pastor of the Church of the Living God, was on his way home on board a tricycle with his wife when they were waylaid by the perpetrators.
The pastor died of multiple gunshot wounds in the body, said Lt. Col. Necerato Sabando, officer-in charge of the Sipalay City police.
A .45 caliber bullet casing was found in the crime scene. Lahao-lahao was former village councilor in Barangay Camindangan in Sipalay.
His assassination is undoubtedly connected to his time as a village councillor.
Corporal Rolando Lozada Jr. of the Iloilo City Police Mobile Force is under investigation.
He unnecessarily fired his gun in Barangay Bolong Este, Santa Barbara, Iloilo while on his way to Iloilo City after a fight with his girlfriend, according to Police Colonel Paul Kenneth Lucas, director of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office.
Cop fires gun after arguing with his girlfriend.
Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia has been accused of assaulting and threatening an employee of the city government.
In an affidavit submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman by Norbel Romarez, Regencia was charged with kidnapping, physical injuries, grave threat, coercion, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Romarez, a job order worker of the city government, said he has been assigned at the Central Material Recovery and Composting Facility (CMRF) in Barangay Bonbonon since 2014.
He said Regencia hit him in the abdomen and ears on Feb. 14.
The complainant said Regencia’s anger toward him started after reports circulated on social media that the Dodiongan Falls has been contaminated with leachate or liquid discharge from the CMRF.
The mayor denies these charges of course.
Iligan City Mayor Celso Regencia has denied allegations that he physically assaulted a City Hall employee, claiming he only "pinched" the complainant for a work-related mistake.
Speaking for Regencia, Iligan City information officer Jose Pantoja said Tuesday the mayor sees the complaint of job-order employee Norbel Romarez as “politically motivated” and alleged that the complainant is backed by political opponents.
Pantoja did not elaborate.
Romarez, 59, accused Regencia of kidnapping, physical injuries, grave threat, grave coercion, and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in a complaint filed before the Ombudsman on Monday.
Romarez, who has has been working at the city's Central Material Recovery and Composting Facility (CMRF) since 2014, alleged Regencia punched his abdomen and smacked his ears on Feb. 14, 2020.
He also alleged that Regencia taped his mouth and ordered him to get inside a large carton box.
Another case that will have to work its way through the system. We may have a verdict in a few years.
Speaking at the oath-taking of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts officials and presentation of the 12th Ani ng Dangal awardees in Malacañang, Duterte also expressed alarm how the future generations would be able to face the drug menace if it continues to go unchecked.
“Wala na tayong pinagusapan na mga patriotism (We won;t be talking about patriotism). ‘Yung apo ko lang. Kawawa naman. Kung kaya ubusin nila, I hope that somebody will also, one day rise and just slash the heads of (these drug lords),” Duterte said.
“But you might call me brutal. Alam mo naman kung hindi ako naging abogado, hindi ako naging Presidente baka gun for hire rin ako, kalaban sa mga droga,” he added.
(But you might call me brutal. You know if I did not become a lawyer, did not become President may be I will be a gun for hire, too, fighting drugs.)
Pretty ridiculous to say out loud.
Police in Cebu City are now preparing to file cases against a fellow policeman who was arrested for stealing loose firearms stored for safekeeping.
Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said Police Corporal Marlito Portugueza will be facing both criminal and administrative charges.
Soriano told reporters in a press conference on Thursday, February 27, 2020, that Portugueza was accused of stealing at least 12 unlicensed firearms from a safekeeping vault inside the Waterfront Police Station here.
These firearms, he said, belong to owners whose licenses are expired, and are now undergoing renewal process.
Portugueza was previously a member of the station’s drug enforcement group but was recently transferred to the investigation team.
“His previous team leader said he was uncomfortable of Portugueza. That’s why he is now with the investigation team,” Soriano said.
The CCPO chief also said he directed a surprise inventory of all firearms stored for safekeeping in all 13 police stations of the city after receiving information that a resident from Barangay Tinago kept bragging about getting a firearm from a police.
“Word came to us that someone from Barangay Tinago kept boasting about buying a gun from someone who is stationed in Police Station 3. Then I immediately instructed all police station chiefs to conduct an inventory,” he added.
PNP officer caught stealing firearms and selling them.
David, Did you see this?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R0kEfGzv88
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjbt3QnPrh4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB2wr_EvdHM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGbvkiQdO7k
It's hard not to notice that the begging started right away and that she is not very upset about him dying. By the way, have you seen Mike's wallet? LOL
I have never watched any of his videos. I would imagine that he would have made provisions for his wife in case of his death but it seems not.
DeleteI have my suspicions. I noticed that his last name was Cason and she has the Western last name Bright. Makes me wonder what happened to the first guy she was with. He sells his business in the USA, moves to the PI and dies after meeting Merliza Bright. Granted it might have been a natural thing. But with the way things are here, she is not upset and he had no health problems ( from what I found out) until he ran into Merliza. Then like I said she wasted no time getting videos out begging for money. Just smells, from the hospital to the oven same day and no autopsy? There is only one place in Iloilo to get cremated. When the Brit with us passed it took 3 days to get him in the oven as very busy place.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be interesting to know what Jr. thinks about this.
https://everloved.com/life-of/michael-cason/obituary/