Retards in the Government 230

 It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1505559/retired-army-soldier-shot-dead-in-camarines-sur

A retired member of the Philippine Army was gunned down in Minalabac, Camarines Sur on Friday night, police report said Saturday.

Police Staff Sergeant Ernesto Verdadero  said Edgar Pellosis, 51, was shot by an unidentified gunman in his residence in Barangay (village) Antipolo at around 5:30 p.m.

A witness said the suspect was wearing face mask, black jacket and had long hair.

A retired solider was assassinated by an unknown man for unknown reasons.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1505905/cop-linked-to-gunrunning-killed-in-masbate-shootout

A police officer suspected to be involved in gunrunning was killed during an entrapment operation in Masbate on Saturday, said the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The PNP identified the suspect as PSSG Garfilo Pahilino Jr., an intelligence operative of the Placer Municipal Station.

According to a police report, operatives of the PNP-Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group (IMEG) operatives were about to arrest Pahilino in Placer, Masbate after he allegedly sold three .38 caliber revolvers and one Norinco caliber .45 pistol to a poseur buyer.

A shootout happened after the suspect allegedly drew a gun and opened fire at the arresting officers. Police said Pahilino was killed during the shootout.

It is also believed that Pahililno had links to the Bustillos drug group and had operated a protection racket for some drug suspects in the province, said Dongbo.

A cop accused of gun running and with links to a drug gang was killed in a shoot out with the PNP.

 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157771

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Tuesday, directed the Police Regional Office-8 (Eastern Visayas) to look into an alleged indiscriminate firing involving a policeman who confronted a woman in Balangiga, Eastern Samar.

In a statement, Eleazar said Cpl. Alexander Salazar will face administrative charges once it is proven that he used his service firearm to threaten a civilian.

Salazar, who is assigned to the Hernani Municipal Police Station in Eastern Samar, is detained at the Balangiga lockup cell pending the filing of criminal charges.

Initial reports said Salazar confronted around 2 p.m. Sunday Abby Abrogar in Barangay 01, which the policeman allegedly fired his service caliber-9 mm Beretta to threaten her.

No one was hurt in the incident.

PNP officer fired his weapon at a woman to threaten her.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157675

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Monday said it is now investigating personnel assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for supposedly posting videos of themselves dancing or singing while on duty and in uniform on video-sharing app Tiktok.

“I was instructed by Commissioner (Jaime) Morente to hold these errant employees liable by forwarding their cases to our board of discipline for investigation and filing of the appropriate administrative cases,” BI port operations chief Carlos Capulong said in a statement,

Capulong, meanwhile, issued a memorandum on the matter where he warned that those who will defy the measure will face administrative cases for insubordination and misconduct.

He also reminded employees to strictly observe the ban on the use of cellular phones and other electronic gadgets while on duty.

Capulong said the Tiktok videos of BI employees in uniform could not have been taken if they are not on duty at the time, thus it is obvious that they had their mobile phones and gadgets with them.

Bureau of Immigration employees posted videos on Tiktok while on duty in their uniforms.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157890

Members of the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have arrested a police officer for allegedly extorting money from a fruit vendor in an entrapment in Quezon City on Tuesday.

In a statement Wednesday, Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, chief of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG), identified the suspect as Cpl. Myrldon Yagi, assigned at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 14 in Barangay Holy Spirit.

Yagi was arrested inside the Barangay Holy Spirit Hall Annex after receiving four pieces of PHP500 bill as payment of the complainant in exchange for not dismantling his fruit stand in Barangay Pasong Tamo and to redeem his mobile phone that was forcibly taken by the suspect.

The complainant said he was also mauled and threatened at gunpoint by the suspect, prompting him to seek the IMEG's assistance.

Another cop arrested for extortion.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157912

A police manhunt is underway against two “persons of interest” who allegedly shot dead a village councilman and his companion here on Tuesday afternoon.

Lt. Fayeed Cana, spokesperson of the Maguindanao police provincial office, on Wednesday identified the victims as Mansor Andil, 34 village councilor of Barangay Pandag, and Aliakbar Abdulatip, 37, both of Pandag town in Maguindanao.

The victims were on board a motorbike when gunmen on a separate motorbike were seen by several villagers tailing them along the national highway in Barangay Makir at past 4 p.m.

The villagers heard a succession of gunfire and later found two men lying dead beside the highway.

Cana said the two assailants were earlier captured by security cameras suspiciously loitering near the municipal town hall before the shooting.

Lt. Col. Rommel Dela Vega, Datu Odin Sinsuat town police chief, said the victims died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds.

A village councilman was slain by unknown men for unknown reasons.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157906

An official of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) was wounded in a shooting on Wednesday morning in Koronadal City.

Lt. Col. Joedy Lito Guisinga, Koronadal City police chief, said Engr. Normina Pahm, 55, was waiting for a ride to the regional office inside an apartment compound in Block 1, Mabini Street in Barangay Zone 4 when she was shot at around 7:20 a.m.

He said Pahm, the assistant regional director for the administrative services division of DOST-12, sustained a gunshot wound on her right shoulder and was immediately rushed to the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital.

“She is now in stable condition and undergoing further treatment,” the police official said in a radio interview.

Citing accounts from witnesses, he said Pahm was sitting in a steel swing with two other co-workers standing nearby when a still unidentified male suspect casually approached her and opened fire twice using a handgun.

One of the bullets hit the victim while her two other female companions were unharmed. The suspect hastily left the scene after the shooting.

An employee of the Department of Science and Technology was wounded in an attempted assassination.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/408552/cosap-4-cebu-city-hall-employees-1-brgy-worker-fail-drug-test

Four Cebu City Hall employees and another barangay employee have failed the surprise drug test and have proved positive for illegal drug use.  

The City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (COSAP) conducted a series of drug tests since October 27, 2021.  

John Jonah Rodriguez, COSAP head, said that these individuals would go through the proper process with the City Legal Office (CLO).  

Among the four city hall employees, three are from the City Agriculture Department (CAD), with a regular, a casual, and a job-order employee.  

The fourth City Hall employee was a newly hired job-order employee assigned at the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP). 

The barangay employee is a loader at Barangay San Jose.

Four Cebu City Hall employees and one barangay worker tested positive for drugs.

Coronavirus Lockdown: Dolomite Beach, Christmas Parties, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

The private sector is now being encouraged to employ only vaccinated people.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/807753/galvez-hiring-only-applicants-vaccinated-vs-covid-19-not-discrimination/story/

There is no discrimination if a company will refuse employment to an applicant who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19, vaccine czar and National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Wednesday.

Galvez made the remark after the private sector suggested to the Inter-Agency Task Force Against Emerging Infectious Diseases incentives for vaccinated individuals.

These include giving companies the right to hire only those who have been vaccinated. Employees who have yet to be inoculated have been suggested to be tested weekly at their own expense.

“It is the prerogative of companies to hire, train, promote and fire employees,” Galvez said in a text message when asked if allowing companies not to hire unvaccinated people would be among the measures to incentivize vaccination.

On whether it discriminated against those who have yet to get vaccinated, Galvez said, “It is not discrimination but the moral and corporate responsibility of the company to protect its people, clients, consumers and business interest."

"Public interest is higher than personal interest,” Galvez said.

“The principle of recruitment is to get the best among the qualified. The company has the right to choose and reject applications. Why will you choose [someone] that will become a threat to your existence?” he added.

“In the next round of battle, the next round of surge will be the battle of the unvaccinated which will become the state’s liability and weakness in our fight against COVID-19," Galvez said.

"They are the burden that we have to carry on this long battle,” he added.

Galvez said companies having the prerogative to hire or reject an applicant was for “the promotion of public safety and common good.”

“Why hire people who do not accept moral responsibility with the company?” Galvez said.

The unvaccinated are "the burden that we have to carry on this long battle." That is the kind of language that will lead to mandates so that unvaccinated people will be compelled to get the shot. This is despite the virus having an over 90% recovery rate. This is also despite the Philippines not having enough vaccines for everyone just yet. But they are slowly getting there.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157273

The Philippines has received more than 91.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines with a total of 53,315,069 doses have been administered nationwide, the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 said on Wednesday.

The National Covid-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed 28,620,352 were used as first doses while 24,694,717 were given as second doses.

The average daily jabs administered in the last seven days stood at 405,588 doses compared to 420,069 jabs recorded during the previous week.

During President Rodrigo Duterte's taped Talk to the People aired on Tuesday night, NTF chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., reported that larger vaccine deliveries continue to pour in this month.

In October alone, Galvez said the Philippines has received over 20 million doses.

The government, he said, is targeting to scale up the nationwide daily vaccination rate of up to 1.5 million doses to fulfill its promise of "achieving a happy Christmas this year."

It also wants to raise its target vaccination coverage from 70 percent to 90 percent of the country’s eligible population, he added.

"We will be opening the general population, then the pilot of children vaccination, and we are ramping up the vaccination of students, teachers, and tourism personnel, OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), and seafarers," Galvez said.

Will there be a "happy Christmas this year" in the Philippines? Of course. But people had better keep that happiness within their family circle.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/808123/halloween-istmas-parties-allowed-within-families-doh/story/

The Department of Health on Saturday reminded the public that Halloween and Christmas parties are permitted, as long as these gatherings are done within the "bubble" of their families.

"Mass gatherings are still prohibited, [but those taking place] within the bubble of the family are allowed, but safety protocols needed to be implemented," DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Laging Handa briefing.

Vergeire said the public should avoid being in 3Cs  (closed, crowded, close-contact) places.

"I-recognize natin 'yan na 'yan po ang mga pinakamagbibigay ng impeksiyon sa pamilya (We should recognize that these will be the main cause of infection in families)," she said, adding that health protocols must be observed in outdoor gatherings.

"Kung merong may sintomas, huwag na muna tayong mag-attend ng mga ganitong party" (If a person has symptoms, he or she should not join parties), Vergeire said.

Apparently this does not apply to politicians because Sara Duterte and others flew to Cebu to attend the birthday party of Rep. Yedda Romualdez.

Apparently relaxing quarantine restrictions in the NCR has revealed just how stir crazy everyone is after being cooped up for weeks. People are flocking in droves to Duterte's Dolomite Beach to see the amazing whitewash job his administration has done. This has caused the Palace to warn that the beach could turn into a super spreader event.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1506185/potential-superspreader-event-palace-warns-vs-complacency-amid-manila-dolomite-beach-frenzy

Malacanang on Monday warned the public against complacency in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic amid reports of crowding and disregard of health protocols at the dolomite beach in Manila Bay.

During his press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque reminded parents that children are still not allowed to go out of their homes, and their as outdoor activities would have to concern only essential undertakings.

(First of all, children are only allowed outside for essential activities, so they cannot really move out for leisurely trips and for travel.)

(So first of all, we are calling on the public to remember that we are still under a pandemic, even if our daily cases have started decreasing, COVID-19 is still present so we should not be complacent.)

Roque’s reminder came as several government agencies — from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to the Department of Health (DOH) issued a warning after the massive crowding that was observed at the Manila Baywalk’s dolomite beach in the past two weekends.

On Sunday, there were reports that authorities have recorded over 4,000 individuals at the dolomite beach — which seats on one section of the rehabilitated Manila Bay. The dolomite beach, a project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, is being promoted as a possible tourist spot.

The IATF has noted that the overcrowding of the beach violates health protocols. The Manila Police Department says they will deploy more officers to control the crowd. But despite all this worry the DENR says they will not be closing the beach.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/808268/denr-rules-out-closing-dolomite-beach-to-public-amid-pandemic-despite-crowds/story/

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) won't close the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach even if it was crowded amid the COVID-19 pandemic over the weekend.

DENR Undersecretary Benny Antiporda made the position even if throngs of people flocked to the artificial white sand area, raising concerns that this could be a super spreader event.

(We cannot close it down. If we spent so much just to close it, I don't think it will be fair to the Filipino people.)

The Manila Bay Dolomite Beach project, dubbed as beach nourishment, costs P389 million.

Antiporda said since the mass gathering in the area over the weekend, authorities have modified the guidelines to only allow a batch of people to stay in the area for five minutes, after which they will have to leave so the succeeding batch will get to enter.

Likewise, Antiporda said that the DENR and the Manila City government has deployed additional marshalls to ensure that visitors are complying with minimum public health standards such as social distancing and proper wearing of face mask and face shield.

"The dolomite beach was opened to relieve the anxiety of the people amid the pandemic, but we will not permit a super spreader. We are recalibrating our system to ensure the safety of our people," he said.

"We are doing our best to satisfy everybody," Antiporda added.

"If you build it, they will come." Funny that the government is so concerned about telling Filipinos to limit Christmas parties to family members and the DOH is concerned that voting be done in the shortest time possible to prevent infections but the DENR won't shut down this beach. The government also closed cemeteries for Undas but that's no big deal because everyone is going to community with their dead relatives before the closure.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/808251/pinoys-flock-to-cemeteries-days-before-these-are-closed-for-undas/story/

Some Filipinos trooped to cemeteries over the weekend and early on Monday, days before these are closed for All Saints' Day (Undas).

At the Manila North Cemetery, some visitors went to visit their departed loved ones even before sunrise, according to a report by Darlene Cay on GMA News' Unang Balita on Monday.

They said they wanted to make sure they could visit before cemeteries are closed on Friday.

As of 7:40 a.m. on Monday, 403 people were already allowed to enter Manila North Cemetery, according to a report by Manny Vargas on Dobol B TV.

During these allowable visits, visitors must be limited to 10 persons per group, and the venue must only allow 30% of capacity, though this can be raised to 50% if the local government unit (LGU) authorizes it.

Some local government units are asking the national government that they be allowed to open public cemeteries on October 30 and 31, according to League of Provinces of the Philippines president Marinduque Governor Presibitero Velasco Jr.

At Manila North Cemetery, visitors are screened at the police assistance desk at the entrance.

Senior citizens and minors are not allowed to enter. 

Police also confiscate banned items such as pointed sharp objects, flammable items, liquor, sound system for loud music, and gambling items. 

Outside the cemetery, flowers and candles were being sold at almost double their usual prices. Vendors said prices may even increase this week closer to All Saints' Day on November 1.

Every Undas cemeteries are left awash in a sea of garbage. Ever since the pandemic began and face masks and shields were imposed upon the people the nation has been awash in a sea of pandemic garbage.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157725

A party-list lawmaker on Monday said there is a need to take “stronger action” to address a new form of pollution induced by the extensive use of surgical face masks and other single-use personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Representative Bernadette Herrera said the government should craft an action plan that would involve intensified monitoring and enforcement activities by concerned government agencies, such as the Department of Health, the Department of the Interior, and Local Government, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“It’s time that we take the so-called Covid-19 waste pollution seriously. Authorities need to develop and implement an action plan to address this problem before it’s too late,” Herrera said. “These agencies need to tighten up their monitoring efforts to ensure proper handling and disposal of Covid-19 waste, which poses serious risks to public health and the environment.”

Herrera said there is a growing concern over the unprecedented increase in single-use plastics including surgical face masks, face shields and gloves since the pandemic began.

“Beyond causing a deadly respiratory disease, the coronavirus has brought a new, and largely overlooked, threat to human health: more potentially harmful microplastics in the environment, this time from used PPE,” she said.

The thing is though that Filipinos do not care about anti-littering laws and throw their trash wherever they please. The solution is to get Filipinos to understand that littering is bad. 

COVID-19 cases continue to drop. Now the DOH has declared that the Philippines is at low risk for COVID-19.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/808275/philippines-now-at-low-risk-classification-for-covid-19-doh/story/

The Philippines is now at low-risk classification for COVID-19, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Monday.

In a media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said all regions in the country are either at moderate-risk and low-risk classification.

She said the country recorded a negative two-week growth at -48%.

Meanwhile, the average daily attack rate (ADAR) decreased to 5.89 per 100,000 from the previous 11.41.

"Nationally, we are at low-risk case classification with a negative two-week growth rate at -48% and a moderate-risk average daily attack rate at 5.89 cases per every 100,000 individuals," Vergeire said.

Of course it remains to be seen how long that low-risk classification remains in place but it has always been true that number of infected and the number of dead has been minimal compared to the over all population. So far there have been 2.77 million cases with 42,077 deaths. That is 2.5% of the population infected and .03% of the total population and 1.5% of the infected dead. Not a very deadly virus now, is it?

Grave News From the Philippines

One could say that, in the Philippines, cemeteries are sacred spaces. They are where people bury their loved ones whether below the ground in a grave or above the ground in a sepulcher. Every November 1 crowds descend upon cemeteries to commune with the dearly departed by having a loud, noisy barbecue or picnic next to or standing over their bones. Undas is usually a big money making event for flower, candle, and food vendors but not this year. For the second year in a row Undas has been cancelled leaving many vendors wondering how they will make ends meet.

https://www.panaynews.net/closure-worries-vendors-how-to-make-ends-meet/

The five-day closure of cemeteries would be a challenge, according to ambulant vendors.

The period from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 would have been their “prime” days to earn, said Flordeleza Regalado of Barangay Oñate de Leon, Mandurriao district.

Regalado has been selling candles, candies and food for over 30 years outside the Mandurriao public cemetery.

People have started visiting their departed loved ones in cemeteries, but “tuman pa kalaka,” Regado noted.

“Pigado gid. Makabenta kami sang P500 sa isa ka adlaw pero laka lang. Kis-a wala gani da nagakalab-ot,” she said.

According to Regalado, the P300 to P500 income per day cannot meet the daily needs of her family.

The closure will put more hardships on the vendors already reeling from the pandemic, according to Regalado.

Before the pandemic, Regalado said their daily income reached as high as P3,000.

Regalado’s niece Christine has the same sentiment.

She has been selling candles, coffee, and food in the Madurriao public market for 10 years now.  Christine earns an average of P500 daily, but “kis-a pa-timing-timing man.”

According to Christine, her meager income is not enough for their daily household expenses.

From P3000 to P300 per day. That is a 90% cut which will certainly make life difficult. But perhaps these kind of jobs should not be seen as careers. Maybe there is a better way to take care of your family than being an ambulant candle vendor. How does one end up with a career in selling trinkets to cemetery visitors? Perhaps it is a family thing. Regalado and his cousin Christine are both cemetery vendors. Perhaps they live in a cemetery?

In too many cases cemeteries are not only the resting place for the dead but also a resting place for the living.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/407230/informal-settlers-inside-cemetery-can-stay-probe

Informal settlers  living inside the cemeteries here will not be removed.  

This was the pronouncement of the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification and Enhancement (PROBE) team that is preparing for the upcoming All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. 

PROBE Head Racquel Arce said that the city government does not wish to demolish or evacuate those living inside cemeteries  since there is no relocation site for them anyway.   

But to minimize health risks brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, those living inside cemeteries instead are asked to stay in their homes and avoid going out unless they have urgent business outside such as buying food or medicine.  

Only adults should go out from their homes but they are not allowed to loiter in the cemetery as well.  

Since it is anticipated that the public will flock cemeteries on November 1 and 2, even if only vaccinated individuals are allowed, the cemetery residents must not join in with the crowd.  

Children living in the cemeteries must also be kept in their homes at all times as any child seen loitering without adult supervision will be rescued. 

Arce urged families in cemeteries to lock-in their children, elderly, and people with comorbidities, so they will not be at risk of catching COVID-19 from cemetery visitors.  

For informal settlers with stalls for trade inside the cemeteries, they have to clear their stalls and transfer to the designated selling areas outside the cemeteries by Monday, October 25, 2021. 

Where exactly are these families living inside the cemetery? Where have they erected their makeshift shanties? How did they end up there in the first place? You have to be in a desperate place to decide to live in a cemetery. How many Filipinos are living in cemeteries and what is being done about it? Sounds like a real problem to me.  No one should have to live in a cemetery. Not children and not even caretakers. 

Of course, it goes without saying that we will all end up living in a cemetery. Well, that's usually what happens.  But in the Philippines one might lay in his grave for a few years and then have to be removed once the lease runs out.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/21/21/drug-war-victims-cremated-as-grave-leases-lapse

Exhumed remains of seven individuals killed under President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs were cremated and blessed Wednesday after the leases on their graves expired, a priest leading the effort said.  

Fr. Flavie Villanueva, founder and leader of Project Paghilom, which supports bereaved families of drug war victims, said the step is "part of [the program's] continuous campaign for holistic healing for the widows and orphans of victims of the war on drugs of the Duterte administration." 

“Remember that these remains, these victims out of poverty and fear were hurriedly buried. Because of poverty, because of fear, they didn’t have enough to buy a more dignified grave site… They didn’t have the luxury to own a grave site, forcing them to simply rent grave apartments that expire after 5 years," Villanueva told ABS-CBN News. 

“If they will not be exhumed, they will end up in sacks, graves or even lost forever.” 

The seven individuals, whose urns were blessed at a church in Manila Wednesday, died in anti-drug operations in 2016, the first year of the Duterte administration. 

Their urns were turned over to their families. Villanueva said this would "allow them to have more a intimate experience of grieving, which hopefully leads to healing.” 

"By next year, we’re also talking with some cemeteries, where their loved ones will be inurned perhaps in more dignified grave sites," he said. 

At hand at the rites was Vice President Leni Robredo, who vowed support for families of alleged victims of extrajudicial killings as they move forward with grief. 

(We can't bring back the lives of those we have lost but if we improve our lives, that's how we honor them, that even if they are not here anymore, you ensure that those who were left behind are taken care of.)

(I'm here, my office is here [for you]. If you need anything— even just someone to talk to, we are open to everyone.) 

The Office of the Vice President has partnered with civil society groups in providing various interventions for families who lost their loved ones to EJKs. 

Villanueva said his group expects that the lease of many grave sites of drug war victims would also expire next month, and that more exhumations would happen.

That is sad and pathetic. Paying a lease for a grave? There is no rest for the dead in the Philippines. Well, for many of them anyway. Just imagine how callous these cemetery owners have to be to stuff your dead corpse into a rice sack and onto a pile of other dead corpses stuffed inside rice sacks all because you can't pay your rent. I have covered this inhuman and heart wrenching practice before.

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2108198/manilas-apartment-tombs-where-poor-bury-their

Caretakers also tend to the apartment tombs. Unlike more elaborate burial structures, which are bought and owned in perpetuity, apartment tombs can only be rented for five-year terms, after which the bones of the deceased will be evicted. Then there are two options: the bone box, a concrete ossuary not much bigger than a large shoe box; or the rice sack, labelled with the surname of the dead and tossed on to a tumbling pile in a tin and breeze-block shed at the rear of the cemetery. 

For a fee, renewals on the lease of an apartment tomb were offered before 2008. Then the Pasay City Public Cemetery was taken over by new management and, due to overcrowding, it said, renewals would no longer be granted.

Those are unclaimed human remains spilling out of torn rice sacks. In the Philippines if you cannot afford to buy a grave you will eventually be placed in a rice sack and tossed into an ossuary. This is appalling and even the poorest man does not deserve this indignity. But dignity has always been in short supply in the Philippines.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2019/05/in-philippines-your-corpse-can-be.html 

Cemeteries play an important role in the cultural life of the Philippines. If you do not consider communing with the dead on November 1st an essential part of life then you are probably not a Filipino. To a Filipino the family bond is everything and it does not end at death.

Insurgency: CPP-NPA Threat Dwindling

Looks like victory over the insurgency is just a shot away. It's so close the PNP can taste it.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1156984

The government continues to win the hearts and minds of Filipinos and is close to attaining "decisive victory" against communist insurgency through good governance and better services, an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday.

“(Decisive victory is almost within our reach. Many people now believe in the effectiveness of our government's projects. This is why many communist terrorist group members have surrendered). After five decades, this is the only administration that is able to provide a holistic solution to insurgency problem," PNP director for operations, Maj. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia, said in a virtual press briefing of the National Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC).

Sermonia said these programs include the ongoing Barangay Development Program (BDP), the Duterte Legacy Barangay Caravan, and the revitalized "Pulis sa Barangay" where government services are being delivered and sustained even in the farthest barangays that were largely ignored during the past administrations.

Sermonia, who previously served as the PNP's director for police community relations, said the creation of the Global Coalition of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and Force Multipliers also contributed to promoting government programs for different sectors, especially those vulnerable to recruitment by communist front organizations.

"We debunk their narratives through good governance and better government services. Their ideology and violence now seem disruptive. We unmask their cadres and tactics through the mobilization of a coalition against their front organizations," he added.

On one hand it's great. The PNP and AFP are winning hearts and mind by supplying "good governance and better government services." On the other hand, why wasn't the government doing this in the first place? Why are there villages without electricity or roads or running water? It is really a testimony to how lame and ineffective the Philippine government has been. There is absolutely no reason this country should not be on par with Japan or South Korea or Singapore seeing as it has received just as much if not more western investment and intervention since Wold War 2. But here we are in 2021 and the Philippines is still the supplier of maids and handymen throughout the world.

Duterte has been hyped as the reason the government is finally building infrastructure in far flung areas and he says to hurry it up.

https://www.cnn.ph/news/2019/8/27/filipino-households-electricity-national-electrification-administration.html

President Rodrigo Duterte remains steadfast in his commitment to speed up the development in communities still infested with the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

As part of his efforts to counter insurgency, Duterte will visit Lucena, Quezon on Thursday to emphasize his administration’s peace and development initiatives in Calabarzon, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said in a press statement issued Wednesday.

“President Rodrigo Duterte, who is also Chairman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), shall resume his visits to the different regions to fast-track the development of conflict-affected and geographically-isolated barangays,” Esperon, who concurrently serves as NTF-ELCAC vice chairperson, said.

The NTF-ELCAC has identified a total of 822 villages that have already been cleared of NPA influence.

The 822 NPA-cleared villages are expected to receive PHP20 million each to fund their anti-insurgency projects.

You know, maybe, just MAYBE, the problem with the insurgency is that every President has made it a PERSONAL endeavor to see it eradicated by the end of their term. There is nothing especially wrong with that but it is ultimately very short sighted. Every administration has AFP officials claiming they will defeat the NPA by the end of the current President's term. Thus we have the AFP making bold and baseless assertions like the NPA is irrelevant or that it is about to be defeated. And here we are 52 years later and the insurgency is still going strong. 

In fact, some people think insurgents are sitting members of Congress.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1157138

Multi-sectoral organizations on Tuesday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to bar from next year's elections some party-list groups that have links to the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Members of Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIPI), League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP), Sulong Maralita, and Yakap ng Magulang, along with mothers of students who were recruited by militant organizations, picketed in front of the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila to call for the disqualification of party-lists belonging to the Makabayan bloc.

The groups said Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Anakpawis, ACT Teachers, and Gabriela Women's Party have been active in the CPP-NPA's underground revolutionary tactics to push for a communist system.

In an interview, LPP chair Remy Rosadio said the Makabayan members are being used to lure more Filipinos into joining the CPP’s armed struggle.

Rosadio cited evidence presented by former CPP-NPA rebels and high-ranking cadres, pointing out the involvement of the Makabayan bloc in the disappearances of students and indigenous peoples.

Apparently Joma Sison himself has said the groups associated with the Makabyan Bloc are all legal fronts of the CPP. But despite that the Comelec has allowed them to run and the AFP has not been able to shut them down. Why is this? Aside from that the NICA claims that 300,000-400,000 CPP-NPA-NDFP supporters have infiltrated the government. What's to be done with those people? Building roads won't defeat them or the Makabyan Bloc. Maybe the AFP needs a different strategy to deal with alleged legal fronts. If they have one they aren't talking about it.

With the existence of these front groups as well as the hundreds of thousands of CPP-NPA-NDFP members who have allegedly infiltrated the government one owed think the AFP and PNP would be worried about the threat they pose. But they seem to not have that under consideration.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/407483/afp-chief-of-staff-says-threat-of-cpp-npa-dwindling

The threat posed by the Communist Party of the Philippines – New Peoples Army rebels has greatly reduced in the face of the intensified operations by government troops, a top military official said. 

General Jose Faustino Jr., Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said the threats posed by insurgents here can be solved through the whole of the nation approach. Faustino is referring to the government’s National Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). 

NTF-ELCAC is the Whole-of-Nation Approach in defeating the local communist terrorist group and obtaining sustainable and inclusive peace throughout the Philippines. 

With this said, the AFP and the Philippine National Police are not the only ones tasked to solve the insurgency problem in the country but other government agencies as well from the national to the barangay level. 

Faustino said that although they can’t put a definite date yet on when the country’s insurgency problem can be totally eliminated, he said the gradual decimation of the latter’s forces is a step in the right direction. 

The top AFP official did not provide figures to prove his point but said that their intensified operations and awareness campaign over the existence of NPAs here continues to reap dividends. 

“The realization narin sa atin sa gobyerno, the whole of the nation, that this problem, the insurgency can be solved. With the whole of nation approach, with all the government instrumentalities, the private sector contributing and of course, government agencies and the local government units, with everybody cooperatnig, we have seen it, we have done it, we have reduced the threat of the CPP NPA…If we can’t reduce it totally, at least we could render it na talagang insignificant, na ordinary criminal group,” Faustino said.

Just exactly where does the Makabyan Bloc fit in here? While the NTF-ELCAC can persuade NPA rebels to surrender and avail of the extensive benefits program what is being done to combat the party-lists? What is the nature of the threat the pose to the nation? National Security Advisor Esperon says they are not doing anything illegal in Congress.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/11/06/2054943/makabayan-bloc-not-doing-anything-illegal-congress-esperon

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon has conceded that the Makabayan bloc is not doing anything unlawful in Congress despite the continuous word war between state forces and leftist groups over alleged red-tagging.

He said these groups tread the thin line between being an organization that supports worthy advocacies versus that which provides support to the communist armed rebellion.

“They are not doing anything illegal in Congress. They are not. But there are underground organizations that they, whether wittingly or unwittingly, support, that are connected with Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA) and the underground National Democratic Front,” he said yesterday in an interview on CNN.

Esperon said they have been conducting “manual surveillance” on elected members of the Makabayan bloc, noting that the defense sector can do this even without a court order as they have already deemed these individuals to be a security threat or contributory to groups who are threats to security.

“Manual surveillance is our operatives doing light surveillance of the target. We can do that. Deployment of troops or personnel to conduct surveillance on specific persons,” he added.

The Makabayan Bloc is not doing anything illegal yet they are under "manual surveillance" because they have been deemed to pose a threat. It's this kind of double-mindedness which will prolong the insurgency. If these people are security threats then they should absolutely be removed from Congress.