It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1514009/donsol-councilor-two-other-aspirants-found-dead-in-bikoy-advinculas-rented-place |
An incumbent councilor and two other personalities vying for the said local position were found dead in Peter Joemel “Bikoy” Advincula’s rented place in Daraga, Albay, authorities reported on Friday.
According to an initial report, Advincula, 32, personally went to the police on Friday morning to report the incident, which happened on Thursday evening.
The victims were the municipal councilor of Donsol, Sorsogon, Helen Garay, 53; as well as two other aspirants for councilor in the said town identified as Karren Averilla, 44; and Xavier Mirasol, 61.
Advincula told the police that he found the victims in his rented establishment at Barangay Busay in Daraga, Albay on Thursday evening, at around 8:30 pm.
Initial investigation revealed that the suspects could have been killed at around 8:00 am, 10:30 am, and 12:30 pm, according to the report.
It can be recalled that Advincula was involved in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” video which surfaced back in 2019.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/12/21/sc-bars-ex-neda-chief-neri-from-holding-public-office |
The Supreme Court has barred former government official Romulo Neri from holding public office after it found him guilty of grave misconduct for brokering the controversial NBN-ZTE deal in 2007.
Neri served as director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from 2006 to 2007 during the term of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In a decision promulgated July 5, 2021 but uploaded on the Supreme Court website only on Thursday, the SC Third Division dismissed Neri from service, cancelled his eligibility, forfeited his leave credits and retirement benefits and perpetually disqualified him from reemployment in government service.
“Petitioner actively brokered for ZTE's bid by using his public position despite knowing the corruption involved in the project,” the High Court said in a 19-page decision.
Neri had testified in a Senate hearing that then Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos bribed him P200 million to approve the national broadband network deal with Chinese company Zing Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE), who submitted a proposal to put up a national broadband network that would link all government agencies and offices.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1159505 |
The son of a congressman here and his companion were gunned down by an unidentified assailant on Thursday afternoon in far-flung Barangay Pagatapat.
Maj. Jerson Estanilla, City Police Station 7 commander, said an investigation is still ongoing to identify the killers of Roland Sherwin Uy, 45; and Samuel Tabalan, the caretaker of the family’s sand and gravel business.
Estanilla said they responded to a report about a shooting at around 1 p.m. at a quarry area in Pagatapat where Uy has a sand and gravel business.
Police later found the two victims dead when they arrived.
Uy is the son of Cagayan de Oro 1st District Rep. Rolando Uy and brother of City Vice Mayor Rainier Joaquin Uy.
The victim was also serving as Carmen's village councilor at the time of his death.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1159705 |
The chairperson of a far-flung barangay in Enrile, Cagayan was arrested for possessing high-powered guns and bullets in a raid at his residence on Friday evening, the police said in a belated report on Sunday.
Lt. Col. Efren Fernandez II, the newly installed spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-2 (Cagayan Valley), said Wilfredo Dueñas, the village leader of Liwan Sur, did not resist arrest.
Seized from him were an M-14 rifle with magazine and 12 bullets, four additional magazines with 45 bullets, a 12-gauge shotgun with a bullet, three rifle grenades, three magazines for .45 caliber handgun with 42 bullets, three homemade shotguns, two bullets for .40-caliber gun, two bullets for 9mm pistol, eight used .45 caliber cartridge cases and a magazine for M-16 rifle.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1159774 |
A soldier and two of his cohorts have been arrested for illegally selling weapons.Joint police and military operatives have arrested three men, including a soldier, in an entrapment operation involving the sale of firearms and ammunition in this city, officials announced Monday.
Brig. Gen. Florence Ortilla, Police Regional Office (PRO-9) director, identified the arrested suspects as Cpl. Alkhaizer Balboa, 36, assigned at Camp Enrile, this city; and his two cohorts as Rodolfo Llenado Jr., 37; and Remar Hadjiri, 43.
Ortilla said the three were arrested in an entrapment operation around 1:30 a.m. Sunday at a hotel along Gov. Camins Avenue, Barangay Canelar, here.
Ortilla said confiscated from the suspects were government-issued firearms and ammunition that included two M-16 Armalite rifles, one M60 Machinegun, one M653 rifle, two .45-caliber pistols with ammunition, 14 boxes of caliber 5.56 live ammunition, empty shells, ammunition box, gun parts, a pick-up truck, and PHP800,000 marked money.
He said the entrapment operation was launched following days of surveillance on the illegal activity of the suspects.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1159772 |
A couple found guilty by a Marikina court of selling drugs from their home to undercover cops four years ago have been acquitted by the Supreme Court (SC), citing lapses by officers in the handling of evidence.
The SC acquitted and ordered the release from prison of Aminodin and Bernadette Rago and set aside the Marikina City Regional Trial Court Branch 193's guilty verdict on the illegal sale and possession of drugs.
After reviewing the records, the SC found compelling reasons to reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals (CA), citing "several unexplained gaps in the chain of custody”.
Among other things, the court said there was no evidence that the seized items were properly placed in an evidence bag or container upon confiscation.
The testimony of one of the arresting lawmen also "lacked details on how he handled and stored the seized items while in transit to the police station and prior to their turnover to the forensic chemist".
There was likewise a discrepancy as to who personally received the seized items when they were turned over for the laboratory examination as it was first received by a policeman for recording purpose before it was turned over to another office for the actual examination.
"All told, the chain of custody has been broken, which the prosecution failed to adduce any justifiable reason for its non-compliance by the apprehending officers. Thus, the acquittal is in order," the SC ruled.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1515301/la-union-court-dismisses-drug-case-vs-julian-ongpin |
The La Union Regional Trial Court has dismissed the drug case against Julian Ongpin, son of business tycoon Roberto Ongpin in connection with several grams of cocaine found in the room that he shared with visual artist Breanna “Bree” Jonson.
“After an independent assessment of the evidence on record… the Court is constrained to dismiss the criminal case for lack of probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest against accused Julian Roberto Ongpin, in view of the utter non-compliance of the requirement of Sec. 21 of RA (Republic Act) 9165,” Presiding Judge Romeo Agacita Jr. said of San Fernando RTC Branch 27.
Section 21 of RA 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act refers to the chain of custody for authorities to strictly follow the procedure in handling confiscated drugs.
Non-compliance with the chain of custody can render the evidence inadmissible that may result in the dismissal of the case against the accused.
In Ongpin’s case, the court said the confiscated cocaine was not immediately marked during the seizure.
“Such flagrant lapse in the chain of custody puts into serious doubts the evidentiary value and integrity of the seized items,” the court said.
The court added that the police cannot also argue that there should be a presumption of regularity when they have processed the scene of the crime.
“To allow the presumption to prevail notwithstanding clear lapses of the established procedure is to negate the safeguards precisely placed by the law to ensure that no abuse is committed,” the court said.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1159947 |
The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former lawmaker and two others for two counts of graft in the funding of a vocational education program run by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) using Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2005.
In a 33-page decision written by Associate Justice Oscar Herrera Jr. dated November 12, the anti-graft court’s Special Second Division sentenced former Iloilo 2nd District Representative Judy Syjuco, former TESDA deputy director general for field operations Santiago Yabut Jr., and Tagipusuon Cooperative president Maria Nela Yniesta from six to eight years in prison for each count.
The three were also ordered to pay the government a total of PHP6.984 million in civil liabilities.
The pieces of evidence presented by the prosecution “more than sufficiently established the required quantum proof for the conviction of the accused of the offenses charged”, the Sandigan ruled.
On July 23, 2014, they were accused of entering into transactions with the cooperative, founded by the Syjucos in 1998, for the implementation of TESDA’s “Education for All” program.
The transaction involved a Memorandum of Agreement with the Tagipusuon Cooperative, covering its Invigorating Constituent Assistance in Reinforcing Employment (I-CARE) Program, to be funded by Judy Syjuco’s PDAF for PHP20 million.
The cooperative, according to the investigation, was unqualified at the time.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1160015 |
A former soldier was arrested for possession of an unlicensed firearm at a checkpoint here, police reported Wednesday.
Maj. Carl Jayson Baynosa, Pigcawayan town police chief, said Akmad Nando Datu Manguda, 37, used to serve the military under the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade.
Manguda, of Barangay Tamontaka, Cotabato City, did not resist arrest after the police found a Bushmaster 5.56 mm rifle in his vehicle at a checkpoint in Barangay Presbitero around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“He has no pertinent documents with him whatsoever regarding the firearm,” Baynosa said.
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