It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Mayor Pablo Matinong Jr. of Sto. Niño, South Cotabato was shot dead by motorcycle-riding assassins at around 7:30 a.m. Friday.
Matinong sustained two gunshot wounds to the head.
Police said the mayor was gunned down in Purok Libertad, Barangay Poblacion.
A witness said the mayor inspected a road project in the area and was walking home and talking with several joggers and constituents when he was shot.
A resident who was talking with Matinong prior to the incident was wounded on the shoulder.
The slain mayor was one of the local government executives included in President Duterte’s 2016 narcolist.
Matinong repeatedly denied involvement in the drug trade.
Another mayor on the narcolist assassinated.
A police officer was shot dead by men on board a motorcycle in Siaton town, Negros Oriental around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9.
Police Staff Sergeant Bobster Guillarawan, a member of the First Provincial Mobile Force Company based in Barangay Napacao in Siaton, suffered gunshot wounds on the body.
He was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.
A police investigation showed that Guillarawan was driving his motorcycle when waylaid and shot by the assailants.
Four persons of interest have been identified in Guillarawan’s murder, the local police said.
Another cop assassinated.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has issued show cause orders to eight barangay captains in Cebu City for alleged breach of quarantine protocols such as tolerating basketball games and illegal cockfighting in their jurisdictions.
(We have issued show cause orders to eight barangay captains in Cebu due to various violations.)
(There was a barangay chairman who tolerated basketball games, violation of curfew and there was an illegal cockfighting that happened, which he did not stop, or do his duty to stop this kind of activity since our policy is stay-at-home due to the ECQ imposed over the city.)
Basketball and illegal cockfighting while the city is under a hard ECQ.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) ordered the relief of the entire police forces of the municipalities of Cabugao and San Juan in Ilocos Sur following the death of a 15-year-old who was gunned down shortly after filing a sexual assault complaint against two policemen.
Brig. Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, director of the Police Regional Office 1, who ordered the relief directive, said a case of obstruction of justice was also filed against Capt. Ramil Llarenas, Cabugao police chief, a police sergeant, and a barangay captain for ignoring then girl’s request police escort.
Earlier, two counts of rape and murder charges were already filed against the two policemen from the San Juan Police Station.
“The leadership of Police Regional Office 1 and the whole PNP organization joins the entire Filipino community in the strongest condemnation of the killing of the 15-year old girl allegedly by two of our policemen, in Ilocos Sur,” said Azurin in a statement.
“While we express our sincerest condolences and sympathy to the bereaved family, we assure that this leadership is doing its best to resolve this case as early as possible to give justice to the victims,” he added.
Part of the effort, according to Azurin, is the filing of obstruction of justice against Llarenas, Police Staff Sgt. Merly Joy Pascua, and Barangay Captain Ricardo Quilala for failure to ensure the normal procedure in handling sex assault-related offenses, especially victimizing minors.
“Personnel of Cabugao and San Juan Municipal Police Stations together with their Chiefs of Police were already relieved from their respective posts and will have to undergo retraining,” said Azurin.
“As such, we cannot assure their return at said police stations for we will be stringent in vetting and screening all personnel to be assigned at Ilocos Sur Police Provincial Office,” he added.
The entire police force is relieved from their posts and have to undergo retraining? Sounds like a lot of window dressing. What kind of culture is there in the PNP that two officers would flagrantly rape a young girl and then murder her?
Two police officers were nabbed for robbery-extortion in Masbate City, an official of the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Sunday.
Brig. Gen. Ronald Lee, PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (PNP-IMEG) chief, identified the suspects as Maj. John Murray Cutaran, chief of the 502nd Maritime Police Station based in Masbate City, and SSgt. Rommel Naval.
The two were apprehended in an entrapment operation inside their office located at Pier Site in Barangay Bapor, Masbate City at about 8:25 a.m. Sunday.
The suspects were arrested shortly after they received the PHP200,000 they demanded from the operator of a fishing vessel impounded for alleged involvement in illegal fishing activities in the area.
Investigation showed that the maritime policemen intercepted F/B RAV and arrested its skipper Juquin Nemeno and his 28 crew members.
They later contacted the fishing boat owner based in Bantayan Island in Cebu province and initially demanded PHP400,000 in exchange for the release of his fishing vessel and employees.
Two other suspects, identified as Lt. Melencio Huela and SSgt. Ronald Puerto, remain at large.
Four cops extorting fishermen. Two have been caught and two are on the run.
State auditors have called the attention of the Cebu City government over delays in the implementation and completion of at least seven infrastructure projects worth P634.6 million.
In its 2019 annual audit report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said that the delays resulted from the failure of the city’s Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) to immediately complete the detailed engineering and investigation of the projects that included phase 1 for the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) located along Natalio Bacalso Avenue.
“Detailed engineering and investigations, surveys and designs were not sufficiently performed prior to [the] implementation of projects thus resulting in delays in the implementation or completion of infrastructure projects with a total contract cost of ₱634,583,853.82 as required under Section 17.6, Rule VI of the Revised IRR of RA (Republic Act) 9184,” the COA report said.
Hundreds of millions in projects not full implemented or completed. An old story in the Philippines.
A village watcher from Cebu City and a laborer from Talisay City were arrested by personnel of the drug enforcement unit in Talisay City in separate buy-bust operations in Sitio Laray in Barangay San Roque Monday night, July 13, 2020.
At least 20.8 grams of suspected shabu worth P141, 440 were confiscated from suspects Aquilles Abadia Cimafranca, 36, and Paul Tabique Lavarete, 27.
Cimafranca is a barangay volunteer who rendered service as a village watcher in Barangay Duljo Fatima when Cebu City was placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) in June. Lavarete, on the other hand, works as a laborer at the port area in Barangay San Roque in Talisay City.
Another village watcher busted for drugs. The barangays are full of them.
The Commission on Human Rights apologized for its failure to rescue alleged drug suspects unlawfully detained in a Manila police station secret detention cell in April 2017.
The commission issued the statement Monday after it drew criticisms over a scene in the award-winning documentary “Aswang,” which depicted the dire situation of 12 detainees in a secret cell located behind a bookshelf at the Manila Police District-Raxabago Police Station 1.
The twelve people were detained at a tiny cell for days without windows and proper ventilation for a week. Some were beaten and tortured.
In a Facebook post, photographer Ezra Acayan said the “worst” part was the failure of personnel from CHR to rescue them.
“The entire thing was reduced to a photo op. I could remember that night, me and my colleagues were disappointed to hear the other CHR people murmur to themselves, that they couldn’t spend any time longer there as they had a dinner event to catch. For most of them, the supposed rescue mission was [unpaid] overtime,” Acayan said.
In a statement, CHR spokesperson Jacqueline De Guia said the commission acknowledges criticisms and is open for feedback from public to improve its services.
(We apologize for our shortcoming and failure to rescue the victims on the day we discovered the secret jail.)
(Since then, we have been conducting reforms in CHR to improve the fulfilment of our mandate, which include ensuring that we will prevent inhumane acts and management of prisons in our country.)
Who knew the CHR could be so callous? The long Facebook post goes on to say:
As journalists we were powerless. All we could do was watch as they were loaded into a jeepney to be transferred to a regular jail. The next day Bato Dela Rosa invited the media and interviewed them in their new cell. “Mas okay dito sir, salamat po” they said, in what was an odd sudden change of heart. Just the night before they were begging to be saved.
Three years on, that night continues to haunt us. In that time, two of those detaineed have died in prison. Meanwhile, all the policemen involved had been promoted.
https://www.facebook.com/acayanezra/posts/2780602158706216
Even in the CHR there is corruption and incompetence and they are tasked with protecting the people from government abuses.
President Rodrigo Duterte said he has dismantled oligarchy in the Philippines without declaring martial law and vowed that the remaining years of his presidency will be harsh for oligarchs.
In a taped speech in Jolo, Sulu aired Tuesday morning, Duterte said that he can now die happy knowing that he has “dismantled” oligarchy in the country which he said has milked Filipinos and even manipulated the economy and elections for years now.
(That’s how they played my country. So if I die, if the plane crashes, I will be very happy. You know why? Because without declaring martial law, I dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy and the Filipino people.)
He then warned that the remaining years of his administration will be harsh for oligarchs.
This is such an unbelievable load that it's a wonder he even said it. It is also basically an admission that he was behind the denial of ABS-CBN's franchise which is run by the Lopez family. In the meantime the Tans, Villars, and others continue to dominate huge swaths of the economy. Later on Roque clarified Duterte's ludicrous statement with even more lunacy.
Duterte's spokesperson Harry Roque said the President referred to tycoon Lucio Tan, the Ayalas and Manuel V. Pangilinan who earned Duterte's ire in the past due to some issues.
Those oligarchs still operate and have not been broken up at all.
A cop was temporarily relieved from his post as he is being investigated for alleged abuse for forcing a 15-year-old boy in Barangay Tisa to do push-ups for not wearing a face mask last Sunday, July 12, 2020.
Police Captain Jonathan Dela Cerna, chief of the Labangon Police Station where the cop was assigned to as part of the augmentation force, said that they are still investigating the case and are contacting the family of the victim to help with the investigation.
Based on the report from the police officer, whose identity is withheld pending the investigation, Dela Cerna said that the minor was seen outside without any facemask and violated social distancing and was immediately reprimanded. The minor at first got angry then later apologized and did push-ups on his own will.
This report, however, was different with what the viral post alleged. An anonymous netizen sent a local online news page a post alleging that a minor was inside the house of his grandmother when a policeman asked for him to come out do push ups as a punishment for violating quarantine protocols.
It seems the only constant in these two stories is that the boy did push-ups as a punishment for violating quarantine protocols. In the cop's story the boy was seen outside, was reprimanded, got angry, and then did the push-ups. In the second the boy was inside his grandma's house, was asked to come outside, and was forest to do the push-ups.
Another police officer has been temporarily relieved from his post pending investigation of the accusations thrown against him by family members of a man who was killed in Minglanilla town, southern Cebu on June 21, 2020.
Police Colonel Roderick Mariano, chief of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO), told members of the media in a call conference on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, that they are already looking into the allegations against the cop, whose identity is withheld pending investigation.
The issue was brought up following a post that went viral, claiming that a policeman was responsible for the killing of a 40-year-old man from Tulay Ihawan Daan in Minglanilla, which is approximately 15 kilometers from Cebu City.
Claims from the victim’s family surfaced online on Tuesday, July 14, asking for justice for their relative’s death.
The post of the victim’s mother stated that her son was allegedly mauled by a police officer after getting into a heated argument while the victim was just drinking with his friends.
The victim was said to have been rushed to the hospital after obtaining bruises in several parts of his body. But he did not survive.
Mariano said the relatives of the victim should not worry as the police is doing the basic protocols in looking into the incident.
He also said that the cop involved was on a legitimate drug operation and that there were witnesses who said that the victim was threatening the officer. The victim, according to Mariano, had a pending case related to illegal drugs.
“He is part of the intelligence unit in the area because the area is notorious for drug-related activities. He was just sitting in his motorbike. Based on the witnesses’ accounts, the victim was threatening to kill the suspect by shooting him,” he said.
But even with these reports from the witnesses and the claims from the suspect, he said investigation will be done throughly on the case. While the investigation is ongoing, he had the cop relived of his duties from the Minglanilla Police Station until further notice.
Family claims the cop killed the man for no reason. Cops say the man threatened the cop and was also involved with illegal drugs. PNP tells the family not to worry because the incident is being investigated.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, on Tuesday said 6,000 police officers who were found guilty of various administrative and criminal charges have been dismissed since he assumed post last January.
In a press conference at Camp BGen. Simeon A. Ola here, he said dismissal of these officers is part of the PNP cleansing program aimed at weeding out erring cops from the institution.
He said the program enabled them to get rid of at least four to six police officers a day involved in various illegal activities such as illegal drugs, criminality, and incurring absence without leave.
The PNP gets rid of four to six officers every day. Probably more because 6,000 since January averages out to 1,000 a month.
The mayor of the island town of Tagapul-an in Samar province has survived an attack by an unidentified gunman on Thursday morning.
Initial reports reaching the Police Regional Office 8 (Eastern Visayas) here disclosed that Mayor Vicente Limpiado Jr. was about to leave his farm in Sugod village at about 8:50 a.m. when his assailant shot him using an unknown firearm.
The 47-year-old Limpiado sustained wounds on his back and was rushed to the rural health unit but was later taken to a hospital in Tacloban City.
Another attempted assassination of a mayor.
At least 104 police personnel in Region 12 are undergoing summary hearings for various administrative violations, an official said on Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Bernard Tambaoan, deputy regional director for administration of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-12, said hearings are part of the due process by the Philippine National Police under its internal discipline mechanism.
As of Wednesday, he said they already catered to a total of 173 administrative cases but 69 of these were dismissed for lack of merit.
Tambaoan said some of the accused personnel were able to submit substantial evidence that they did not commit the supposed violations and just carried out their assigned tasks.
He did not cite the details of the pending cases but previous records released by the PRO-12 showed that some of the violations involved absences without official leave and related administrative breaches.
The official confirmed that the pending cases include the administrative charges filed against Staff Sgt. Joel Cuyos, who was previously assigned at the Pendatun police station here, who was accused of engaging in extra-marital affairs.
“This is part of the continuing internal cleansing program of the PNP,” he told reporters.
Since last year, records showed that a total of 11 policemen under PRO-12 were already dismissed from service and 10 received suspensions after being found guilty of administrative offenses.
103 cops facing administrative raps in Mindanao.
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