It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Policemen, soldiers and anti-narcotics agents arrested three local politicians and an associate in Lanao del Sur allegedly involved in the drug trade and seized some P6.8 million worth of crystal meth, or shabu, in a buy-bust operation in Marawi City on Thursday (Sept. 17).
Juvenal Azurin, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the Bangsamoro region, identified the arrested suspects as Simpanor Capal Salic, Esnaira Capal, Malik Pangcoga Hadjisalik and Rodrigo Sequino.
Col. Madzgani Mukaram, Lanao del Sur police chief, said all four suspects are from Tagoloan town where Salic is an incumbent municipal councilor, and Capal and Hadjisalik were former municipal councilors.
Azurin said the suspects fell in an entrapment operation set up with an undercover agent supposedly buying one kilogram of meth, worth at least P6.8 million in the streets.
Three local politicians caught with 1kilo of shabu.
He said drug lords, mostly Chinese and some of them inside the maximum security building at the New Bilibid Prison, continue to ply their trade because they know they will not be executed even if they are already convicted.
“As long as we do not have the death penalty for these drug traffickers, nothing will happen to our war on drugs. They will just laugh at us and these Chinese drug lords will just say: ‘even if we’re inside Bilibid, we’re enjoying ourselves, we can easily control the drug business outside because we’re alive’,” he said.
“But if we execute these Chinese, who can bring in the drugs? Who will have them distribute it… the drug cartel is there inside Bilibid. They control the drug business outside,” he added.
Bato says the PNP, BuCor, and DOJ are helpless to stop the drug trade from within New Bilibid Prison because there is no death penalty. Absolutely ridiculous!
Criminal and administrative charges await a police officer assigned at the Police Regional Office in Ilocos (PRO 1) who violated quarantine protocols when he entered Ilocos Norte with an expired test result for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Col. Christopher Abrahano, Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office director, reported on Friday that the police officer identified as IN-C67 would be facing charges once he is released from the Mariano Marcos Hospital and Medical Center in Batac City where he is undergoing treatment.
Based on the initial investigation, Abrahano reported that the assigned police officer in La Union returned home to Ilocos Norte to attend church and school events, including a family gathering, despite being advised by his superiors to wait for the release of his swab test result.
The latest swab test result showed that he was positive for Covid-19 and had the most number of close contacts who also contracted the virus.
Based on the latest data from the contact tracing team, it showed that IN-C67 from Barangay Paltit, Badoc, Ilocos Norte has more than 100 close contacts, a record-breaking number of primary contacts among the 98 other cases in the province.
PNP officer returns home for various events using an expired swab test result. Turns out he is actually infected and has the most number of close contacts who also contracted the virus as a result of his actions.
Former mayor Albert Ambagan Jr. of Amadeo, Cavite and two other municipal government officials have been acquitted of malversation in connection with missing public funds.
In a 33-page decision promulgated on Aug. 28 and released on Friday, the Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division said the Office of the Ombudsman failed to prove that Ambagan, municipal treasurer Jaime Rojales and assistant treasurer Alma Ambat were guilty beyond reasonable doubt of misappropriating public funds for their personal use or benefit.
However, the court said the accused should reimburse P2.029 million to the municipal government.
The amount is equivalent to the local government’s collections from January to October 2008, which was found missing in the vault of the municipal treasurer’s office during an inspection by the Commission on Audit (COA).
Rojales and Ambat admitted that P1.4 million of the missing amount was issued to the office of the mayor through Ambagan’s secretary Belen Bebe and given to several officials and employees in the form of cash advances through the issuance of Reimbursement Expense Receipts (RERs).
The court noted that all the RERs presented by the prosecution panel were photocopies and were not signed by Ambagan.
The accused have civil liability for the unlawful release of the funds, the sixth division said.
Ambagan admitted in his judicial affidavit that he knew Bebe took the money but he denied giving her any instructions to take it. Despite this knowledge, he said he did not take any action against Bebe nor did he report this to the COA,” the court ruling read.
The former mayor of Cavite and two other officials were found not guilty of misappropriating public funds but they are still liable for unlawfully releasing the funds and must pay them back.
President Duterte has given Philippine Health Insurance Corp. officer-in-charge Dante Gierran until the end of the year to clean up the state-run health insurer, before deciding whether to abolish or privatize PhilHealth, presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said yesterday.
“It is an ultimatum. You need to clean up PhilHealth by the end of the year,” Roque said.
He also voiced support for calls by lawmakers to abolish or privatize the agency – a position opposed by Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who pointed out that the President has the power to call for a top-to-bottom reorganization of PhilHealth.
“He (the President) said he wanted PhilHealth abolished or privatized but I said it might be better to wait a few months and see how the new admin performs and that I have a bill making the Secretary of Finance as chair of the Board instead of the DOH secretary. He agreed with my proposal,” Sotto told reporters.
Thinking that 25 years of endemic corruption can be cleaned up within 3 months is ludicrous. So is the idea of abolishing or privatizing PhilHealth as they are the entity tasked with implementing universal healthcare. If there is no PhilHealth who will run UHC?
The alleged move to declare leadership posts in the House of Representatives vacant—including that of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano—did not come to fruition, with Monday’s session barely lasting for 20 minutes.
All eyes were on the lower chamber after news broke out that presidential son and House Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte was intending to declare leadership posts in the lower chamber vacant as some congressmen argued over the proposed 2021 national budget.
In a text message that spread over the weekend, Duterte supposedly said in a Viber group of congressmen that he would “ask the Mindanao bloc to declare the seat of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers vacant” this Monday so that the region would not “die” for lack of budget amid the lawmakers’ disagreements.
“I am also encouraging the minority,” Duterte added.
In a statement released Sunday, Duterte said the text message was just an expression of his “personal dismay” upon learning of the trading of barbs in the lower chamber.
“Over the past days, quite a number of lawmakers have called me as they expressed their disappointment and consternation over the fate of their respective allocations and budgets from the hands of the current House leadership,” Duterte said.
“Although I am an ex officio member being a Deputy Speaker, I have respectfully and clearly told them that their concern is something that I would rather stay away from — out of delicadeza because my father is the President,” he added.
Duterte, however, reiterated that he does not want to get involved in the issue.
“Now as Congress continues to be hounded by the issue of budget — something that finds its way up to the current House leadership, how it treats its members, how it approves allocations and budgets with fairness or lack of it — let me reiterate my position. I do not want to get involved, however, I wish to help my fellow lawmakers find answers to their questions or remedies to the budget that they proposed for their people,” Duterte said.
“I could only hope that Congress and its members will be able to resolve this issue before everything goes out of hand before it could bludgeon the credibility of the institutions and inflict damage beyond repair,” he added.
Allegedly Paolo Duterte was going to stand up and tell the Mindanao bloc that if they had issues with the budget they should declare all leaderships post in the House vacant. If he really wanted to do that he should not have sent any messages. There is also the issue of Cayetano attempting to break his deal with Rep. Lord Velasco to share the Speakership. Cayetano does not want to relinquish his power and it remains to be seen if he will keep his word and abdicate to Velasco. Petty, power hungry politicians.
A barangay captain and his treasurer in Albay town were gunned down by unidentified suspects on Monday afternoon, a police official said Tuesday.
Maj. Domingo Tapel Jr., Guinobatan chief of police, identified the fatalities as Luzviminda Dayandante, 50, barangay chairman, and Albert P. Orlina, 45, village treasurer, both of Batbat in Guinobatan, Albay.
Tapel said at around 3:45 p.m., the victims, while on board a motorcycle, were fired upon by unidentified suspects while traversing Sitio Gumian, Barangay Sinungtan.
"Based on the reports, barangay captain Dayandante sustained four gunshot wounds while Orlina with a gun shot at his back from M-16 rifle," Tapel said.
Two more LGU officials
assassinated
. This time with an M-16!
A teacher and five others were arrested in separate anti-drug operations in this southern port city, a police official said Monday.
Capt. Edwin Duco, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) information officer, identified the teacher as Alelyn Gangoso Guynong, 35, who was arrested along with two others in a buy-bust operation around 11:15 p.m. Sunday in Cabato road, Barangay Tetuan here.
Duco identified her two companions as Ayashin Peña Gunong, 35, and Alkhamar Peña Gunong, 33.
Duco said recovered from the three were some PHP5,000 worth of suspected shabu packed in eight heat-sealed plastic sachets, a coin purse, and PHP100 marked money.
A teacher and her two friends were busted with P5,000 worth of shabu.
Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. has filed a bill seeking to double the number of vacation and sick leaves granted to government officials and employees and institutionalize rehabilitation leave.
Aside from increasing the number of vacation and sick leaves, Revilla’s Senate Bill No. 1821 also seeks to institutionalize the grant of rehabilitation leave for a maximum period of six months.
If enacted into law, officials and employees of the national government, local government units, government-owned or controlled corporations and state universities and colleges, regardless of employment status, who render work during the prescribed office hours will be entitled to thirty days vacation and 3 days sick leave annually with full pay.
At present, government officials and employees are only entitled to 15 days of vacation leave and 15 days of sick leave.
“The 30 days vacation leave shall be inclusive of the three (3) days Special Leave Privilege (SLP) and the five (5) days Forced Leave (FL),” according to the bill.
Revilla’s bill also seeks to “provide legal basis for the grant of rehabilitation leave to government officials and employees who sustained wounds or Injuries while in the performance of their official duties and those whose illness was aggravated due to their working conditions.”
While a joint circular issued by the Civil Service Commission and the Department of Budget and Management already grants the said leave benefit, Revilla noted that it is not supported by any legislation.
“A review of the current leave laws reveals that there is no law that provides leave benefits and privileges for illnesses of officials and employees acquired or aggravated in the workplace requiring Intensive or longer period of treatment, e.g. cancer,” the bill’s explanatory note read.
If Bong had just been seeking to give legal basis to a practice already condoned by the Civil Service Commission then this might not be such a bad idea. But he also wants to double the amount of sick leave and vacation pay per year. With all the Philippine is facing this is an utter waste of time.
The National Bureau of Investigation arrested their colleague for alleged bribery and corruption in clearing Bureau of Immigration personnel from their probe into the “pastillas” scheme.
NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin, also bureau spokesperson, confirmed that agents arrested NBI’s Legal Assistance Section chief Joshua Paul Capiral in an entrapment operation on Monday night.
Lavin, however, said details on the case are not yet available. “Still waiting post-operation and investigation reports from agent on case,” he said.
NBI employee arrested over his involvement in the BI pastillas scheme which was laid bare earlier this year.
“There is always a rumor of corruption in the Bureau of Customs. But we cannot gather enough evidence because nobody would like to testify. Nobody would like to come up and testify against these corrupt practices,” Martires said during the House deliberations on the Ombudsman budget.
“So where are we going to look for evidence? ‘The complainant himself is afraid that nothing will happen to us like that. Maybe I said yes, just abolish the office of the ombudsman. Because nothing will happen to us, ”he added.
He added that those making accusations but refuse to file an affidavit or testify should just keep quiet.
"So I'm just telling the complainants, if you don't want to stand up and testify, be quiet and not just gossip," Martires said.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Tuesday defended the restriction of public access to officials’ Statements of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN), saying that this has been weaponized against government officials.
He made the remark during the deliberations on the budget of the Office of the Ombudsman in the House of Representatives.
(According to the experience of the Ombudsman, SALN has been weaponized. It is being used as means to damage the reputation of a person, or besmirch a rival in politics.)
"We have to restudy the form of this SALN because it is always used as a weapon by political opponents or angry with government employees, so that you can be charged," he said.
“But the perpetrator of this sin, the source of this sin, is the vague law. The vague system, form of SALN, ”Martires added.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires on Tuesday said he has stopped the conduct of lifestyle checks on public officials, saying failure in such does not prove than an official is corrupt.
Speaking before lawmakers during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives, Martires also said the law that covers lifestyle check on public officials should be amended for being "illogical."
“When I sat down, I stopped the lifestyle check first because I had long had doubts about the law provision regarding the lifestyle check. I want to propose to the Congress amendments to 6713 because the provisions there are vague, there is no down payment in logic, ”Martires said.
“Why did I stop? What is living beyond your means? You earn P50,000 a month, lives in a small house, accumulates, buys a BMW promo, zero interest, he can afford to pay, is he living beyond his means? I don't think so. What he has are distorted values and distorted priorities, ”he added.
Ombudsman Martires is on a roll. First he says his office might as well be abolished because no one wants to testify against corrupt government employees. Next he says he has restricted access to SALN's because they have been weaponized by political opponents. Finally he says lifestyle checks do not necessarily prove a thing expect you have visored values and priorities. This guy should know what he is talking about. He is in a place to view just how and under what guises corruption functions in the Philippines.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday announced that Land Transportation Office in Region 7 (LTO-7) director Victor Caindec is being investigated for corruption.
In a virtual Palace briefing, Roque confirmed that Caindec was the LTO official he was referring to on Monday who allegedly extorted money from motorcycle distributors.
“Okay, since Caindec brought out his own name, yes, I was referring to Caindec,” he said, adding that he had affidavits to prove his extortion activities.
He said the affidavits were “a matter of public document already.”
“I have affidavits to probe po na kinikikilan niya iyong mga(that he was extorting money from) motorcycle distributors, and this is a matter of public document already, nang hindi po pumayag na mas mataas iyong kikil na ibibigay sa kanya, saka po siya nagkaroon ng kung anu-anong hadlang (when they refused to pay the amount he wanted, that’s when he started harassing them),” he said.
According to Roque, he had already raised the matter to LTO chief Edgar Galvante who allowed vehicle owners to process the registration outside of Cebu.
LTO-7 director is under investigation for allegedly extorting motorcycle distributors.
The Sandiganbayan has found former Milagros Mayor Natividad Isabel Magbalon of Masbate guilty of usurpation of public function reserved under the law to provincial governor.
In a decision dated September 17, the Sandigan's Sixth division through Associate Justice Karl Miranda sentenced Magbalon to six months to two years in prison for unlawful appointment of a Sangguniang Bayan member back in 2007.
Magbalon was charged after she appointed Gregorio de Jesus as Sangguniang Bayan member following the death of Eulogio de Jesus.
A medical doctor, Magbalon, in her defense, said she honestly believed in good faith that she had the authority to appoint a replacement in the vacated Sangguniang Bayan slot.
The anti-graft court, in convicting Magbalon, said Republic Act 7169 or the Local Government Code expressly states that it is the governor of Masbate who is authorized to fill a permanent vacancy in the Sangguniang Bayan of Milagros.
"Magbalon could not have legally appointed De Jesus as successor to the position permanently vacated by the death of De Jesus," the court said.
Ex-Mayor sentenced to 2 years in jail for making an illegal appointment 13 years ago!
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