It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1345683/ex-councilor-of-samar-companion-slain |
A former councilor of Calbayog City in Samar and his female companion were shot dead by still unidentified assailants on Thursday, Oct. 8.
Jessie Jackson and Erika Ygrubay were aboard a motorcycle in Tinambacan District at 1:50 p.m. when they were suddenly fired upon by the still unknown assailants who were also on a motorcycle.
Jackson served as a town councilor from 2016 to 2019.
Another ex-politican assassinated.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118016 |
The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former mayor, vice mayor, and nine council members of a town in Catanduanes province to up to 10 years in jail over irregularities in the procurement of a backhoe loader worth more than PHP13 million in 2005.
15 years to get a verdict. These people are going to jail for irregularities over buying a backhoe loader.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118007 |
The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Service Unit has been placed under restrictive custody after he was charged for sexually assaulting former Ozamiz City vice mayor Nova Princess Parojinog who is detained at the facility.
In a press statement on Friday, PNP spokesperson, Col. Ysmael Yu said Lt. Col. Jigger Noceda is charged with rape, acts of lasciviousness, unjust vexation, and a violation of the Safe Spaces Act filed by the PNP Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC) based on the affidavit submitted by Parojinog.
The charges were filed before the Quezon City Prosecutors' Office on Wednesday.
“He will be administratively held and inquired. The Chief PNP strongly stresses that this act is not a virtue of police being responsible, respected, and disciplined. It will be dealt with accordingly,” Yu said.
The Chief of the PNP's Custodial Unit has been charged with raping an inmate.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/345070/judge-tagged-in-fellow-magistrates-slay-yields |
A retired judge allegedly behind the murder of a fellow magistrate has surrendered to agents of the National Bureau of Investigation, the Supreme Court said on Saturday.
Supreme Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez said he had informed Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta of the surrender of retired judge Oscar Tomarong, formerly of the regional trial court (RTC) in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte.
Tomarong is accused of plotting the May 9, 2019, murder of Judge Reymar Lacaya of the RTC in nearby Liloy town.
Marquez said his office had earlier received reports about Tomarong while he was still a judge in Liloy. He then reshuffled Tomarong’s court assignment with that of Lacaya, who was then the RTC judge in Sindangan.
According to the NBI investigation, Lacaya, during his three months on the Liloy court, may have discovered numerous irregularities as well as court orders reversed by Tomarong which led to the release of several drug suspects.
Lacaya was killed shortly after the rearrest of those suspects, the NBI said.
A judge finds out his colleague is corrupt and reverses some of his orders. The corrupt judge then has the man murdered.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118187 |
More than 4,000 police officers were dismissed from the service as part of the intensified internal cleansing program of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the country's top cop said on Monday.
“Of (the) total number of personnel found guilty of administrative offenses, 4,591 were summarily dismissed from the service for serious infractions, while 7,888 were meted suspension terms and 846 cops were demoted in rank,” PNP chief, Gen. Camilo Cascolan, said in a press briefing in Camp Crame.
Cascolan said these policemen were punished for their involvement in criminal activity including illegal drugs, grave misconduct, serious neglect of duty, serious irregularity, malversation, dishonesty, and graft and corruption.
He said 608 erring personnel were penalized with forfeiture of salary, 119 were restricted to quarters, and privileges of 205 others were withheld.
Among those dismissed from the service, 549 were for drug-related cases comprising 410 who tested positive for drug use and 139 for involvement in illegal drug activities, Cascolan noted.
“The PNP Internal Cleansing Program doesn’t stop there, rather it will continue to be implemented with greater zeal and commitment in the best interest of transparency and accountability in public service,” he said.
Thousands of cops dismissed or disciplined in one way or other since....they don't say.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/759250/coa-flags-philhealth-for-nearly-p1b-in-overpayments-p6-9b-in-disallowances/story/ |
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) made overpayments of P936.653 million to health care institutions (HCIs) in 2019, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in its annual audit report.
For the same year, the state health insurer also incurred a total of P6.967 billion in unsettled audit suspensions (P84.36 million), disallowances (P6.88 billion) and charges (P2.41 million), COA also reported.
“Full reimbursement of the package rates (All Case Rates or ARC and Z Benefit) to various health care institutions for 312,577 sampled claims despite the lower member-patients’ hospital charges plus the maximum amount of professional fees resulted in overpayment of P936.653 million,” the state auditor said.
It pointed out that this deprived the people and the government of “fully achieving PhilHealth’s program objective of increasing financial health protection of member-patients since the HCIs were the ones who benefited more therefrom.”
More financial irregularities with PhilHealth.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1118265 |
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has recently filed cases against officials of Angeles City, Pampanga for violating various sections of the Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.
ARTA director-general Jeremiah Belgica personally filed three cases before the Office of the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) against officials of the Renewable Energy Management Bureau (REMB) of the Department of Energy of Angeles City in Pampanga.
The first complaint filed by ARTA before the Office of the Ombudsman cites “violation of Section 21 (d), (e), (g), and (h) of RA. 11032" which accounts their failure to give the requesting party a written notice on the disapproval of an application; failure to render government services within the prescribed processing time without due cause; and failure or refusal to issue official receipts.
Angeles City engineer Donato Dizon and former administrative aide Rowena Tiamzon were identified in this complaint.
The second complaint was against REMB director Mylene Capongcol for violation of Section 21 (d) and (e) of the Ease of Doing Business Act.
ARTA also filed charges at the CSC against other officials in the same bureau — lawyers Marissa Cerezo, Fortunato Sibayon, Ronald Angeles, and Clarita de Jesus.
Even in the simple matter of purchasing phones the government can't help but be irregular about it.State auditors flagged the purchase of 44 smartphones by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) totalling P2.1 million in 2018 and 2019 for being “excessive” as only four of them were being used for their intended purpose.
Of the 15 Samsung Galaxy S9 phones and the 29 Samsung Galaxy S10 phones bought by the NTC’s headquarters and Metro Manila office, the Commission on Audit (COA) found that only four phones were being used by engineers to measure broadband speed, reliability and coverage.
The COA found that of the 13 personnel conducting tests to measure broadband speeds, only three of them were issued the smartphones, while the rest had to borrow from other personnel to conduct tests.
So where are the rest of the smartphones? The NTC admitted in their reply to the COA that these were issued to branch directors and officers-in-charge and their technical staff.
In their defense, the NTC said that these officials also conducted broadband testing “anytime and anywhere” and that the smartphones helped them in the “conduct of their study and research so they can propose or formulate new policies or regulations for improved services.”
But the COA said these broadband tests and the use of the smartphones for study and research should have also been documented.
“We believe that there should be documentations prepared as a result of these activities to be used as inputs in the formulation of new policies or regulations,” state auditors said.
The COA also questioned why the NTC headquarters bought 22 units of the Samsung Galaxy S10 for P49,990 each, when the NTC office in Metro Manila was able to buy seven units of the same phone for just P46,500 each.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/759687/coa-philhealth-illegally-released-p291-m-worth-of-hazard-pay-to-employees/story/ |
More irregularities from PhilHealth.State insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) granted P291-million worth of hazard pay to its employees illegally, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.
In its 2019 annual audit report on PhilHealth, state auditors said that the amount —P236 million for regular employees and P55 million for casual employees—were distributed from 2016 to 2019 even if it is in violation of Republic Act 7305 or the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers (PHW), among other rules and regulations.
COA said that while the passage of the Universal Health Care law classified PhilHealth employees as health workers, their entitlement to benefits and allowances—including hazard pay enumerated under the magna carta—is not absolute since it is still subject to the law's pertinent provisions and regulations.
An official of a government-run sanitarium has found herself in a legal bind for ordering a repeat of a flag ceremony, claiming it was held too early and that she didn’t want to be marked absent.
Dr. Gemma Suelo, chief of the medical professional staff of Western Visayas Sanitarium (WVS) in Santa Barbara town, Iloilo province, is now charged in court for alleged violation of a law on respect and reverence to the national flag.
She posted a P6,000 bail last week after Judge Rodolfo Convocar of the 13th Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) issued a warrant for her arrest for alleged violation of Republic Act (RA) No. 8491 or the Flag and Heraldic Code of the Philippines.
The provision prescribes that the lowering of the Philippine flag should be done “solemnly and slowly so that the flag shall be down the mast at the sound of the last note of the anthem.”
It also mandates that “those in the assembly shall observe the same deportment or shall observe the same behavior as for the flag-raising ceremony.”
A complaint filed on behalf of WVS by Conrado Soronongon Jr., officer-in-charge of hospital operations and patient support service, said Suelo ordered a repeat of the sanitarium’s flag-lowering ceremony on Oct. 7, 2016, even after the flag was already lowered and folded.
Flag retreat in the government-run facility is held every Friday in accordance with Civil Service Commission Memorandum Circular No. 19 series of 2012, which also enjoined all public servants to attend the flag raising ceremony every Monday.
Soronongon said he sued Suelo because he found the repetition of the flag retreat ceremony an “abuse of authority, demeaning and an irreverence to the national flag.”
But Suelo denied violating any law. In her counteraffidavit, she said she ordered a repeat of the flag retreat ceremony because it was held way too early and so that she and other sanitarium personnel who had arrived minutes before or at 5 p.m., the prescribed time, would not be marked absent in the event.
The resolution issued by Assisting Provincial Prosecutor June Ann Bernal said the repetition of the ceremony “ran contrary to the observance of the ceremony in an honored or esteemed manner.”
Another cop involved in drugs.A former police officer who went absent without official leave (AWOL) was killed in a buy-bust in Barangay Del Carmen, San Jose town in Camarines Sur Monday night.
In an interview on Tuesday, Major Malou Calubaquib, Police Regional Office 5 (PRO5) spokesperson identified the suspect as Vicente Imperial, a resident of the said village.
She said the anti-drug operation was launched by joint elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the provincial and local police forces in Camarines Sur.
“Sensing that he was transacting with police operatives, the suspect drew his gun and shot it out with the buy-bust operators,” Calubaquib said.
She said Imperial was placed under AWOL status when he went missing after getting involved in several illegal drug transactions.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regions/759963/ex-bulacan-police-chief-shot-dead/story/ |
Another retired PNP officer shot dead by assassins. This happens way too often. Why? Was he involved in drugs? Did he know too much? Did someone hold a grudge? All of the above?A retired police official was shot dead in Calumpit, Bulacan on Wednesday evening, police said on Thursday.
An initial information from the Police Regional Office III identified the victim as retired police colonel Fernando Villanueva, former chief of the Bulacan Police Provincial Office.
Authorities said the shooting incident happened around 6 p.m. along Bagbag Bridge in Barangay Iba O Este.
The victim and his driver were onboard a Mitsubishi Estrada when the suspects, riding a motorcycle, fired at them. Villanueva's vehicle was traversing the northbound direction from Malolos Capitol.
The suspects were able to escape, police said.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1347979/senators-on-slow-moving-2-dpwh-projects |
What's the problem? Corruption of course. Everyone knows that!Two senators aired their frustration on Wednesday over the slow progress of two infrastructure projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), one of which has not been completed after 20 years while the other has been on the “drawing board” for just as long.
During the Senate hearing on the proposed budget of the DPWH, Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III asked officials about the Cagayan de Oro Convention Center, which was conceptualized in 1998 by his late father, former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Pimentel said the construction of the convention center, which started in 2001, has not yet been completed until now.
“I hope we can find out what really is the problem because I think I wrote you in exasperation,” Pimentel said, speaking partly in Filipino. “I told you that the pyramids in Egypt were built in 18 years. And there were no backhoes, cranes, dump trucks. They were able to finish them in 18 years. I mean, in modern times, a convention center, we cannot finish in 20 years? Let’s be frank here: What really is the problem with it?”
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, meanwhile, expressed frustration over the still-pending 32-kilometer Panay-Guimaras-Negros Bridge.
“May we exactly know what is the status of this project? Up to now, it is still on the drawing board. It is so frustrating,” Drilon said.
“I am sharing with you the frustration of the people of Region 6 [Western Visayas]. This project has been pending, I think, for the last 20 years, and up to now, it has not even seen the first nail or the first sack of cement being poured. So really frustrating,” he added.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2020/10/15/duterte-hits-dpwh-for-rampant-corruption/ |
“If Congress would want really to know, ang mga project ng DPWH meron talaga ‘yan para sa ‘give’ (there is really a portion of DPWH projects being used to ‘give’ to certain people),” he said.
“Hindi ko alam kung sino (I just don’t know who they are). There are so many officials lined up in the bureaucratic mix so hindi ko alam kung sino na (I don’t know anymore),” he added.
According to the President, corruption stinks in DPWH.
“The first whiff… Dito sa DPWH malakas ‘yan diyan. Projects, yung mga project engineers, ‘yan lahat, right-of-way (It reeks in the DPWH. The projects, project engineers, right-of-way, everything)…” he said.
“Grabe ang corruption diyan. Walang construction na uumpisa dito na walang transaction. Meron ‘yan (The corruption is worst there. No construction starts without a prior transaction. I’m sure there is corruption there),” he added.
The DPWH is historically one of the most corrupt bureaucracies in the whole government. But why? Where is the oversight?Senators have questioned DPWH’s proposed “lump-sum-riddled” budget for 2021, citing the P345.25-billion in lump-sum appropriations lodged under the agency’s central office.
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