It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
A barangay chairman in Tondo, Manila is in hot water after his daughter-in-law was accused of taking cuts from the government’s cash subsidy for displaced workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rose, real name withheld on request, told ABS-CBN News she was informed by Barangay 153 that she qualified for the Department of Labor and Employment’s program called TUPAD (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers.)
She stopped working in a boutique when the lockdown was imposed mid-March to curtail the spread of COVID-19.
Joe Anne Felisa Dionisio, who was overseeing distribution of the cash aid, told Rose she would only get P1,000 from the subsidy.
Joe Anne, the daughter-in-law of Barangay 153 Chairman Herman Dionisio, told Rose the rest of the funds would be used by the barangay.
Rose claimed the money at a remittance center, only to learned she was entitled to an aid worth P5,370.
“Ginamit nila ‘yung pangalan ko na wala akong kaalam-alam,” she said.
Rose then confronted Joe Anne and asked the latter to sign a document certifying that she only got P1,000 and the remaining amount went to the barangay.
The daughter-in-law of a barangay captain was allegedly skimming from the SAP funds. She told one lady she would only get P1,000 with the rest to the used by the barangay.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, in its report, called attention to supposed efforts to vilify dissent in the Philippines. It said that while there are thousands of rights advocates in the Philippines, they have been subjected to attacks, with some groups being associated with communists or terrorists.
"Freedom of expression is not absolute; it is subject to derogation," Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, a human rights lawyer, said in a Palace press briefing.
He cited the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which has a provision that penalizes persons spreading false information "geared to promote chaos, panic, anarchy, fear, or confusion" while the country is in a public health crisis.
This is not the first time the Palace has said free speech is not absolute. But they are missing the point. Of course criminal speech like threats, libel, and speech geared to promote chaos (like yelling fire in a crowded building) will always be prohibited. What the UN is concerned about is activists being attacked or maligned for the things they say. "Freedom of expression is not absolute" is simply poorly worded and makes the administration look tyrannical.
A Manila cop was slapped with rape and induced abortion complaints for allegedly abusing a female criminology student, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has said.
Police identified the accused cop as Police Captain Heherson Zambale, who is assigned at the Sta. Cruz Police Station.
Citing report from Manila Police District chief Police Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, the alleged rape incident happened last March 7. Police said the victim had initially applied for an internship.
Aside from Zambale, complaints were also filed against the cop's wife Aliah Zambale and two other individuals before the Manila City Prosecutor's Office on June 1.
The fact that his wife has also had a complaint field against her makes this case even more egregious. She was in on it and wanted to protect him at any cost.
A total of 155 barangay captains and officials have been investigated and referred to the Office of the Ombudsman due to alleged anomalies in distributing cash aid from the Social Amelioration Program, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said.
It's not clear if these numbers are new or are part of the hundreds who have already been investigated.
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Deputy Administrator Mocha Uson is in the hot seat again for allegedly calling yesterday's anti-terrorism bill protesters as terrorists.
In a now deleted tweet yesterday afternoon, Mocha said: "Hahahahaha galit na galit na mga terorista nagtipon tipon na sila."
Her tweet was screenshot by netizens and it went viral, making her a top trending Twitter topic today.
Some Twitter users believe the OWWA deputy administrator taunted hundreds who protested in University of the Philippines yesterday for opposing the anti-terrorism bill certified as "urgent" by President Rodrigo Duterte.
"Mocha Uson called the protesters 'mga terorista.' This further proves that anyone can be labeled a terrorist. Literally anyone!" A Twitter user said.
Mocha is always putting her foot in her mouth and making the government look bad. In this case it appears she justified the concerns of many who say hat the anti-terrorism bill would criminalize protestors as terrorists by calling protestors terrorists.
The National Bureau of Investigation's Death Investigation Division has filed murder and perjury complaints at the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office against Police M/Sgt. Daniel Florendo and four others over the killing of former soldier Winston Ragos.
Aside from Florendo, others facing complaints are police trainees Joy Flaviano, Arnel Fontillas, Dante Fronda and Dalejes Gaciles, according to a copy of the NBI report posted by News5.
The NBI's DID also filed complaints of planting of evidence against Florendo and Police S/Sgt. Hector Besas.
NBI spokesman Ferdinand Lavin earlier said the .38-caliber handgun that police said Ragos was reaching for may have been planted after he was shot dead.
Cops charged with planting evidence and with murder!
Based on the report reaching the regional headquarters of Eastern Visayas police based in Palo town, Leyte, Managbanag had a drinking session with four others on the street at about 10:45 p.m., June 5.
Corporal Ronel Tapales, 32, who passed by the areas advised Managbanag and his companions to stop their session, citing a city ordinance that prohibits drinking liquor in public.
But instead of heeding the warning of the police officer, Managbanag challenged Tapales to a fistfight.
Tapales said he refused but Managbanag assaulted and attacked him.
The policeman ran away but he was allegedly cornered near a bamboo fence. Managbanag, he said, tried to grab his service firearm, prompting him to shot the man.
Cop sees a group of men drinking, tells them to stop, is assaulted, and runs away! Then when he is cornered the man tried to grab his firearm causing him to get shot dead. Is this what they teach at PNP training school? To run away??
Five policemen from San Juan City were relieved from their posts for allegedly disregarding the standard health and safety protocols in Baguio City amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement on Monday, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Police Major General Debold Sinas said he ordered the transfer of the five to the NCRPO's Regional Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit pending investigation on the incident.
The five policemen were part of the convoy of San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora.
The mayor and his entourage avoided a checkpoint in Baguio and 5 police men who were part of that group have been relived from their posts.
The entourage of San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora violated health security protocols when they sped off from a checkpoint into Baguio City, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Sunday.
In a statement released online, Magalong said Zamora's six-vehicle convoy, including uniformed personnel, arrived in Baguio City around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 5, 2020.
"When his group was flagged down for inspection, the driver of the lead vehicle just slowed down a bit, and merely told the checkpoint personnel that he was part of a convoy, pointing out the vehicles tailing his police car, then forthwith sped off with the Mayor's entourage in tow," the Baguio Mayor said.
The convoy was then requested to undergo triage examination for the coronavirus at the BCC where a facility was set up by the City Health Service Office to accommodate them.
"From this narration of facts, it can be reasonably sensed that Baguio's health and safety protocols have been violated and the regulatory mechanism of quarantine check and triage examination at the Naguilian facility was not followed," said Magalong.
The Mayor of Zamora has apologized and the Mayor of Baguio has accepted his apology but the investigation into the violation of the city's health protocols is continuing.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he is taking responsibility for the delayed release of compensation to COVID-19 infected healthcare workers, hours after his remarks pinning the blame to his staff was aired on national TV.
“While I expressed disappointment towards some members of my team, I acknowledge that this is still responsibility as SOH,” Duque wrote in a tweet Friday noon.
That's very nice of him to take the blame after shifting it to his staff.
A Quezon City police officer will face administrative charges for testing positive for illegal drugs, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Wednesday.
Major Gen. Debold Sinas, NCRPO chief, said the urine samples of Staff Sgt. Arthur Santos II tested positive for methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) during a random drug testing of 70 police officers last May 28.
After a confirmatory test, Santos again yielded a positive result.
Sinas said he ordered Santos disarmed while police were preparing administrative complaints against him.
Another cop caught doing drugs.
Several employees of the Bureau of Customs-Port of Ninoy Aquino International Airport did not follow safety protocols amid the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
According to Jun Veneracion's report on "24 Oras" on Wednesday, the employees were caught on camera neglecting social distancing measures and not wearing face masks properly.
"Sometimes nakikita namin may nagbababa ng mask nila up to the nose level, which is very dangerous for our people as well," BOC spokesman Jet Maronilla said.
So far, a total of 45 Customs employees tested positive for COVID-19, most of them were from BOC-Port of NAIA.
Well that's no good!
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