It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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Police have filed a homicide complaint against MSgt. Daniel Florendo who fatally shot former soldier Winston Ragos for supposedly violating quarantine guidelines.
News5 reported that Florendo will undergo electronic-inquest on the complaint filed by the Quezon City Police District.
A copy of the complaint has yet to be made public as of this story’s posting.
QCPD previously said in a statement that the Ragos, former Army Private First Class, accosted the cops manning a quarantine checkpoint and they “later learned” he was carrying a loaded revolver in his bag.
Florendo then drew his firearm and “cautiously approached Ragos.”
But the cops said Ragos “attempted to pull out his handgun” instead of following police orders to yield, which prompted Florendo to “disable” Ragos. The cop shot him twice.
The Philippine National Police and Philippine Army conducted a probe into the incident.
This is a developing story. A PNP officer shot a former AFP soldier. What happened is not clear but hopefully an inquest clears it up. For now the PNP officer is being charged with homicide it seems.
Former health secretary and now Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin rallied behind Malacañang’s call on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ascertain as to whether or not the Fabunan antiviral injection is safe and effective for use in the treatment of COVID-19.
She welcomed the Palace’s decision to prod the FDA to study the efficacy of this antiviral drug, which was reportedly developed by Washington-based Filipino doctor Ruben Fabunan. “I fully support Malacanang’s call to have the Fabunan viral injection studied by FDA. Is it indeed an effective cure? Is it under clinical trial? If it’s for clinic use, there should still be medical transparency,” Garin said in a statement.
“If this viral injection is what it claims to be, then let’s have the FDA study its effectiveness and make a pronouncement whether it’s safe or not,” she added. Garin warned the public against trending posts about COVID-19 cures, saying that not all of them are backed up by science. “At this point, the world is desperate for a cure but we should also be careful and avoid unnecessary medical expenses. We should be wary of the things we read, see or watch in social media,” she said.
Are these people crazy? This injection claims to be a cure for HIV/AIDS as well as COVID-19.
It is a total fraud. You don't need an investigation to know that.
A police officer was apprehended for transporting unauthorized personnel in Barangay Ibabang Ilasan, Tayabas City on Thursday amid the enhanced community quarantine.
According to a Philippine National Police statement, the cop was allegedly paid P2,500 each by several passengers to transport them from Taytay, Rizal to Tayabas.
Meanwhile, the district force commander and the immediate supervisor of the cop were directed to submit their explanation for command responsibility.
Command responsibility? Imagine being a commander in the PNP and being held responsible for every crime your officers commit.
A job order employee of the city hall here fell into the hands of the authorities during a joint buy-bust operation on Saturday afternoon.
Lt. Col. Vici Anthony Tababa, Digos City acting police chief, identified the suspect as Jimver Tecson Iglesias, 42, a resident of Estrada 6th Street, Barangay Zone-2, here.
Tababa said a team of law enforcers from the province and local police launched the drug sting against Iglesias who was arrested in Purok Marang, Vinzon Street in Barangay Zone 3 in this city.
The operatives seized four sachets of suspected shabu from the suspect, one during the buy-bust, and the other three from his possession.
A job order employee? So a temporary worker. What is the screening process for temps?
The government should realign P84 billion worth of “pork insertions” of several lawmakers in the P4.1-trillion national budget for this year to cushion the economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Sunday.
Lacson, known for his antipork barrel crusade, said the questionable appropriations were lodged in certain state agencies, such as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), by members of the House of Representatives and some of his colleagues in the Senate.
“The lawmakers inserted [the projects] that’s why [the DPWH and DOTr officials] do not know how to implement them,” the senator said.
Last week, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) issued a circular withholding the release of 35 percent of programmed appropriations for 2020 and imposing a mandatory saving of 10 percent on nonessential expenditures.
Lacson urged the Department of Finance and the DBM to come clean on the total unused funds from last year’s budget after Duterte warned that the government may run out of money in fighting the pandemic.
“They should at least clarify particularly what’s left unused [from last year’s budget],” he told the Inquirer in a Viber message.
Lacson wondered why Malacañang was considering asking for a supplemental budget from Congress since Avisado had told him that at least P600 billion had been left unused from the 2019 spending program.
Mr. Duterte has said he will ask Congress for additional funding for the COVID-19 response.
The government’s expenses are expected to increase as the President extended the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila and several high-risk areas across the country until May 15.
“I don’t understand why is there a need for a supplemental budget when we have given the President authority to realign [the national budget],” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said in a radio interview.
He noted that Congress had earlier passed a law extending the validity of the 2019 budget until the end of this year.
It seems the national budget has a lot of leftover unused money that Duterte could utilize for the COVID-19 response. Yet he is asking for more. Where is all the money going?
The Department of Tourism (DOT) has released the “Wake Up In PH” promotional video targeted at retaining interest in the Philippines in the foreign market.
“Beyond the Philippines’ breathtaking beaches, you can discover a wide range of exhilarating adventures, relaxing getaways, and diverse cultures that can sate the wanderlust you must be feeling right now,” the DOT said.
“But until we can travel again, stay at home, dream, and #WakeUpInPH by planning your next dream vacation to our tropical nation: philippines.travel/wakeupinph,” it added.
The DOT emphasized that the promotional video was shot and produced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an earlier letter to the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association Philippines (HSMA), Tourism Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. said the DOT also intends to roll out new campaign materials to be placed on international networks to reignite interest of the market immediately upon the lifting of the community quarantine, with the DOT’s Branding and Marketing Communications Office allocating P400 million for this plan.
Even if the video was shot before the pandemic is this the right time to continue with the promotion? No planes are flying, no foreigners are coming, the world is shutdown. Is it really appropriate to spend so much on a tourism promotion at this time?
According to Labor Attaché Fidel Macauyag, caregiver Elanel Ordidor will be flown back to the country because her Facebook posts against Duterte were intended “to cause hatred amid the global health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
When labor officials went to Ordidor’s workplace in Yunlin County on Monday to tell her of the charges she might face for her posts, she “committed to delete all her uploaded videos against the President and promised not to do it again,” Macauyag said.
She also promised to issue a public apology, he added.
“However, hours after the visit, several posts were seen on the Philippine Overseas Labor Office Taichung Facebook page from several fake accounts (supporting her) cause,” Macauyag said, adding that labor officials learned that the caregiver was using four other accounts and a group “to discredit and malign the President and destabilize the government.”
Is the government really going to waste time and resources to apprehend a caregiver and fly her back to the Philippines to sand trial over her Facebook posts? No. The Taiwan government denied their request.
“Taiwan is a sovereign, independent country where foreign workers enjoy ‘citizen treatment,’ and their rights and interests are protected by relevant laws and regulations, including freedom of speech, which should be respected by governments of all countries,” MOFA was quoted as saying in a statement.
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/187296/taiwan-nixes-ph-bid-to-deport-ofw-over-nasty-anti-duterte-remarks
A very different sentiment about free speech than that coming from Manila.
The presidential adviser for entrepreneurship said the poor should be allowed to go back to work because they are “somehow resilient to the virus” and those who are sick should be separated from the healthy through isolation.
Presidential Adviser Joey Concepcion said in an online seminar that he talked to those involved in relief operations in poor communities about infection rates where they bring aid. They were “unanimous in saying that it’s very minimal,” he said.
“Many of the poor are somehow resilient to the virus,” Concepcion said.
“Maybe because they are so used to so much exposure that they have a better immunity than us who are sheltered in well-protected environments,” he said.
“That’s the same case I make why [we should] shelter and lockdown the healthy when we should, you know, isolate the infected. Moving forward, that should be the case. That should be the strategy,” he added.
Who knew COVID-19 was a rich person's disease? This man is literally saying that living amongst filth like so many poor Filipinos do makes one's immune system stronger.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday sacked one of its personnel for domestic abuse and offered a job to his partner, the victim of the abuse.
In a resolution approved by MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim on Tuesday, Roel Gatos, a contractual employee of the MMDA’s Health, Public Safety and Environmental Protection Office, was terminated for committing “disgraceful and immoral acts, which are conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the MMDA”.
“It is most respectfully recommended that respondent Roel G. Gatos’ Contract of Service be terminated immediately upon his receipt of this resolution,” the resolution read.
In a message on Wednesday, MMDA Spokesperson Celine Pialago said Gatos is currently in jail at the San Jose del Monte Police Station in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
His victims—his live-in partner and her minor son—meanwhile, were given financial assistance, rice, and groceries from the MMDA on Wednesday.
“Magkakaroon na din ng trabaho si nanay dahil siya po ay magiging parte na ng programa ng MMDA (The mother will also have a job as she will become a member of the MMDA),” Pialago said.
Videos and photos of Gatos’ abuse against his victims went viral on Facebook, earning the ire of netizens and a complaint filed to the MMDA which resulted in his termination.
According to the resolution, the incident which led to Gatos’ incarceration and sacking occurred around midnight on Sunday (April 26) and was first brought to the attention of local village officers by a concerned citizen.
A contractural MMDA employee was let go because of a Facebook video which showed hm abusing his live-in partner and her son. No due process for this man. And now she will be getting his former job. Is she even qualified?
House Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte is set to file a bill repealing a law introduced by former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV requiring Filipino professionals to take additional formal and non-formal learning before they can renew their licenses and identification cards.
In a statement issued late Tuesday night, Duterte announced that he will file a measure repealing Republic Act 10912, or the "Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Act of 2016."
Under the law, CPD is defined as the "inculcation of advanced knowledge, skills, and ethical values in a post-licensure specialization or in an inter- or multi-disciplinary field of study, for assimilation into professional practice, self-directed research, and/or lifelong learning."
This law makes CPD a mandatory requirement in the renewal of professional identification cards of all registered and licensed professionals under the regulation of the Professional Regulation Commission.
According to Duterte, while he supports the lifelong learning of Filipino professionals to improve their craft, the requirements set by the CPD law "just adds to the burden they have to deal with."
"After a long day of work, they are forced to spend a bulk of their salary, take absences from work, and go through unreasonable hardships just so they can renew their licenses and continue the practice of their professions,” the presidential son said.
“This CPD law is uncalled for. To address this, we will file a bill repealing this anti-professional measure introduced by Trillanes. We can actually help our professionals meet global standards through other means, without passing the burden to them,” he added.
Duterte also said that the measure he is proposing serves as gratitude to professional frontliners who had to continuously render their services to the nation in the time of the coronavirus disease 2019.
"We have witnessed the selfless acts of our professional frontliners. They do not deserve the CPD law,” he said.
“This is long overdue. We will not just file it for the sake of filing. We will file this bill, seek support from our colleagues in Congress, and make sure that this is enacted as soon as possible,” he added.
In the 18th Congress, a total of four measures have so far been filed to repeal the CPD Law.
The CPD law ensues that Filipino professionals are up-to-date with the highest standards in their professions. If it is an undue burden then why would the bill have become law in the first place? It would seem that having professionals who have the mote current training would be a good thing.
A policeman was arrested by operatives of the Philippine National Police-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) in Marikina City for allegedly keeping a motorcycle seized during a buy-bust operation for his own use.
The PNP-IMEG identified the accused cop as Patrolman Orlando Perez, 43, who was assigned at the National Capital Region Police Office-Drug Enforcement Unit (NCRPO-DEU).
Police Brigadier General Ronald Lee, director of PNP-IMEG, said Perez was caught using the Mio motorcycle that was confiscated from a drug suspect during an anti-illegal drugs operation in Marikina City last April 5.
Lee said Perez supposedly did not declare the motorcycle as part of the evidence and instead he had used it as his personal service.
How did they miss that for almost a month? Fun time is over for Officer Perez.
A party-list lawmaker is eyeing to file a resolution calling for a congressional inquiry on the alleged corrupt activities of a high-ranking official of a government bureau as the country battles the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In a statement on Thursday, ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Niña Taduran revealed that a “deputy commissioner” is allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for favorable action in the bureau.
Taduran, however, did not divulge the name of the government official involved in alleged corrupt practices.
“Hindi ko maintindihan kung bakit sa gitna ng kinakaharap na krisis ng bansa ay may nakakagawa pa ng ganitong krimen? Wala ba siyang konsensya? (I do not understand why someone could still commit such a crime in the middle of a crisis faced by the country? Does he have any conscience?),” Taduran said.
“I am not inclined to reveal his identity at the moment but let this serve as a stern warning to him that his actions will not be tolerated and I will see to it that his corrupt practices will be dealt with seriously,” she added.
That is very vague. Perhaps we will hear more about this person later.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Antique provincial office has endorsed the complaint letter of Governor Rhodora Cadiao against five personnel of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) who traveled to Antique, including one who turned out positive of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Upon the recommendation of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), Cadiao filed the complaint on April 28 against Insp. Henry Harder, Senior Jail Officer (SJO)4 Rolyn Malolos, JO2 Gaudencio Jabonido, JO1 Reymar Paclibar, and JO1 Joseph Maguad for violating Republic Act 11332 and the BJMP Covid-19 advisory number 5.
During Wednesday’s press conference of the Antique Inter-Agency Task Force on Coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19), Cadiao said she is hoping that a fact-finding investigation will be conducted regarding the travel of the said BJMP personnel to the province on April 25.
“The coming of the BJMP personnel to Antique caused so much panic to the people of Barbaza and Culasi, especially when one of them, based on the Department of Health Regional Office 6 report, turned out to be confirmed Covid-19 patient on April 26,” Cadiao said.
She said while she commends the BJMP personnel for delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicines to their district jail in Culasi town, yet they violated Republic Act 11332 when they knew that they were still awaiting the confirmatory result of their swab tests conducted last April 20.
“The personnel also committed blatant disregard of BJMP Covid-19 Advisory Number 5 for a jail lockdown starting March 20,” she said.
She said that the personnel should not have traveled to Antique because of the lockdown.
The governor said that BJMP regional director Noel Montalvo also did not disclose that their personnel passed by a gasoline station here.
It was only known upon review of the closed-circuit television of the gas station.
Montalvo only said that they had lunch in Barbaza; delivered PPE units and medicines to their district jail, and brought a wreath to the wake of their retired official who passed away in Culasi.
It seems some BJMP personnel traveled to antique before receiving the results of their COVID-19 tests. Only one turned out to be positive but the issue is the disregard of RA 11332 and COVID-19 Advisory Number 5.
The poor in some parts of the country have yet to receive cash assistance from the government because the high rate of coronavirus infections in those places is keeping local government and social workers out, Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista said on Monday.
Three days before the end of the original Luzon lockdown, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed only P39.5 billion to 7.7 million impoverished families badly hit by the quarantine imposed by President Duterte to halt the spread of the new coronavirus in the Philippines.
This means that the DSWD, through local governments, has given out less than half of the P100-billion first tranche of the government’s social amelioration program as the first month of the lockdown rolls to an end.
More than 10 million families eligible for emergency assistance are also still empty-handed.
In a press briefing on Monday, Bautista admitted that the payout was delayed due to various problems at the local level.
“In some areas affected by COVID, payout cannot be immediately implemented. The local government itself cautioned us to stay away since our personnel might be infected,” he said, referring to the severe respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.
These delays could spill into the second tranche of the cash aid for May, as local governments would first need to liquidate the distribution of the first tranche of subsidies.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año gave local governments up to April 30 to complete the distribution of the cash aid.
The DSWD has already given the funds to the local governments “so there is no reason” for the financial aid not to reach the beneficiaries, Año said in a statement on Monday.
Robredo said local officials, particularly village chairs and mayors, bore the brunt of the public’s anger and dismay, even if they had no power to make decisions concerning the emergency subsidy program.
“I think there is a need to be more transparent and [to have] better coordination [between] the national government and the local governments on the recipients of the aid,” she said.
What a mess! Did anyone think handing out billions in cash to millions of people in a month's time would get off without a hitch?
"Breath taking beaches of the Philippines". Where are they? Every beach I have seen was covered in used diapers, broken glass, plastic water bottles/snack wrapper, discarded slippers, raw sewage, paper and other trash.
ReplyDeleteAs for the OFW in Taiwan. Sounds like she should ask for political asylum as you know what happens to anyone who disagrees with Duterte.