It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/350424/ex-barangay-councilor-shot-dead-in-barili-suspect-arrested |
Police in Barili town, southwestern Cebu arrested this morning, November 12, 2020, the prime suspect in the killing of a former village councilor who was shot dead inside his store in Barangay Mantalongon, Barili, Cebu on Wednesday night.
Jay Lito Salva Bendanillo, 41, a resident of Barangay Bolocboloc of the same town, is now facing murder charges after he was arrested past 9 this morning following a hot pursuit operation in Barangay Candabong, Dumanjug.
Bendanillo was positively identified by witnesses as the one who shot Porferio Carazo Reyes Jr, 52, a resident of Barangay Balao, Barili, and a former village councilor of the said barangay.
Police Corporal Michael Villardar, of the Barili Police Station, said that Bendanillo was arrested after a hot pursuit operation following the shooting incident.
Police said that as Reyes was preparing to cook dinner inside his store in Barangay Mantalongon on Wednesday night, Bendanillo suddenly arrived and shot the victim several times.
Reyes, according to police, was able to grab a bolo and hacked Bendanillo hitting him on the arm. But the suspect fired again hitting Reyes who slumped bloodied to the ground. Witnesses rushed Reyes to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Police said jealousy could be the motive behind the fatal shooting as Bendanillo reportedly has a long-standing grudge with Reyes whom he suspected of having an affair with his partner.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1121638 |
Three government officials are offering more than PHP1 million cash reward to anyone who can provide information leading to the arrest of the killer of a former barangay official in Guipos town.Gov. Victor Yu and his wife, first district Rep. Divina Grace, said Thursday they are offering up to PHP1 million, while Mayor Ruel Molina of Kumalarang town offers PHP50,000 to any informant who can help solve the killing of Jemar Pintac, 42.Pintac and his son, Mark Anthony, were supervising a road construction project in Guipos town when shot and killed around 3 p.m. on November 5.
This is the first time hearing about this story. It appears the murder of ex-village chief Jemar Pinta was reported in only one source and his status as an ex-village chief was not noted.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/11/14/2056758/flooding-metro-could-have-been-prevented-coa |
“Various projects were not completed/implemented within the specific contract time due to inadequate planning and absence of coordination mechanism with the other concerned agencies and stakeholders, which hindered the MMDA in attaining its objective to mitigate flooding in the metropolis,” a COA report read.
Based on the COA’s 2019 annual audit report on the MMDA released last Sept. 30, of the 108 programmed flood control projects of the agency for 2019 totaling P1.1 billion, only 45.37 percent or 49 projects amounting to P453.242 million were completed as of yearend.
But Baltazar Melgar, chief of the MMDA’s Flood Control and Sewerage Management Office (FCSMO), told The STAR that the projects cited by COA were “completed this year.”
“The said projects are only minor ones like improvement of drainage, riprapping and rehabilitation of waterways leading to our pumping stations,” he said.
“The completion of these projects was delayed because the approval of the GAA (General Appropriations Act) was also delayed, and there was an election ban,” he said.
The COA says the MMDA was lax in implementing loos control projects but they say that is not the case. In their defense they cite an election ban on public works. This ban is implemented every election season for about 45 days. The reason for the ban is:
The prohibition is aimed at preventing government officials from using government resources and facilities to influence the voters in their choices for national and local elective positions.
Just another instance how government corruption hurts the people.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1361719/commissions-from-govt-projects-ignite-tiff-among-zambo-sur-allies |
Two years after closing ranks against a common political enemy, Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Victor Yu and 2nd District Rep. Leonardo Babasa are breaking up their alliance due to a quarrel over commissions from government projects, another ally revealed.
Governor Yu and his wife, 1st District Rep. Divina Yu, have confirmed a falling out between them and Babasa due to the latter’s unfulfilled promise that the couple would decide whom to award national government-funded projects for his district.
These revelations sprouted as public works projects were put on the spotlight for alleged corruption that President Duterte vowed to stamp out in his remaining days in office.
Kumalarang town mayor Ruel Molina spilled the beans about the roots of the political quarrel after he felt alluded to by Representative Yu as having a hand in the killing of a former village official, who initiated an administrative case that led to his preventive suspension last month.
After winning as mayor in 2019, Molina allegedly pressured the village chief and six council members of Barangay Mahayahay to resign so his protege, the 7th councilman, can head the village.
Molina said the Yu couple was bent on controlling the “SOP of projects” even in Babasa’s district.
Long story short, and it is long, there was a political alliance between to families where one would be able to dictate who got what DWPH projects. A rather mundane and typical portrait of the endemic corruption in the government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1362103/palace-spare-tire-robredo-made-it-appear-she-was-in-charge |
Malacañang on Wednesday said that Vice President Leni Robredo became the most recent target of President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades because she made it appear that she was in charge of typhoon response efforts.
A visibly irritated Duterte started his weekly talk to the nation by falsely calling Robredo “dishonest” for supposedly claiming he was absent during Typhoon Ulysses’ onslaught.
Robredo never issued any remark asking for Duterte’s whereabouts when Ulysses wreaked havoc and caused massive flooding over parts of the country, only of real-time updates via her Twitter account when several netizens asked for helpfollowing massive flooding in Cagayan and Isabela due to Typhoon Ulysses.
But presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made an issue out of Robredo’s “postings.”
“And of course, her Twitter posts making it appear that she was the one calling the shots at the time of the typhoon was completely out of order…. And the President said, under the Constitutional scheme, the Vice President is a spare tire and when Ulysses struck, he (Duterte) was in charge,” he added.
It's really awful how the administration continues to kick Robredo no matter what she does. It's awful that they cannot all work together as they should. Just one more reason the nation remains the way it is.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III acknowledged on Wednesday that there was “corruption” in some of the previous dealings of the Department of Health (DOH) after Sen. Richard Gordon threatened to block the approval of the department’s budget.
In 2016, the DOH and J. Bros Construction signed a P3.5-billion contract to establish barangay health stations in public elementary schools.
The contract indicated that 3,200 stations should be built for the first phase of the program.
But when J. Bros Construction submitted its notice of termination of contract in March 2018 to the DOH it demanded payment of P2.1 billion for accomplishing the first and second phases of the project.
But the DOH had previously said that only 270 stations were built, which Gordon reiterated during the deliberations.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, who sponsored the DOH budget, said the department would want to follow the ruling of the Court of Appeals, which directed the agency to pay the private contractor for the 270 completed units and “whatever the [Commission on Audit] decides is due to the contractor based on quantum merit.”
Further, Cayetano said the DOH had terminated the contract with the contractor.
The DOH also blacklisted the contractor, “but such a decision was overturned” by a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), according to Cayetano.
“Thus, the DOH, with the [Office of the Solicitor General] is questioning this RTC decision. This case is pending before the RTC of Manila,” Cayetano added.
But Gordon said: “I am shocked. This is really swindling the country… Those people are really daring. So what are you doing about it, Secretary Duque? What are you and your lawyers doing about it?”
“Do you agree that there was corruption here?” he asked. “‘There’s corruption.’ I want that on the record as stated by the Department of Health.”
At lest Duque admits there has been corruption within the DOH. For whatever that is worth.
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