It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/428166/12-mandaue-city-hall-employees-test-positive-for-illegal-drugs At least 12 employees in Mandaue City Hall were confirmed positive for illegal drug use, results of a surprise drug test conducted last January showed.Damaso Tumulak, head of the Human Resource Management Office, said 10 employees were from the Department of General Services (DGS) while the two others were from the Mandaue City Environment and Natural Resources Office (MCENRO). He said of the 12 positive city hall employees, 11 are job order employees and one was a regular employee.Results of the confirmatory tests would take about a month before it will be received by the city government.The results of those who tested positive for illegal drugs during the initial screening will still be subjected to a confirmatory test.
12 employees of Mandaue City Hall have tested positive for drugs.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1169020 The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the filing of murder and planting of evidence charges against three police officers tagged in the death of a Spanish national in Siargao Island two years ago.
In a statement Friday, the DOJ said the Office of the Prosecutor General, in a resolution dated February 9, charged Capt. Wise Vicente Panuelos, Staff Sgt. Ronel Pazo, and Staff Sgt. Nido Boy Cortes with murder and planting of evidence for the death of Spaniard Diego Lafuente.
“The information for murder and planting of evidence will be filed at the Regional Trial Court, 13th Judicial Region, Surigao del Norte,” Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento said.
The Spanish Embassy in Manila has pursued Lafuente's case with DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra last October asking the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the case.
3 cops have been charged with murder and planting evidence over the shooting of a Spanish national who was a drug suspect.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1169053 A municipal official in one of the towns in Basilan has been shot and wounded in Lamitan City, the police reported Friday.
Maj. Nurhaib Bungkac, Lamitan police chief, identified the victim as Anwar Halik, 48, the municipal administrator of Tuburan, Basilan.
Bungkac said the incident occurred around 7 p.m. Thursday in Sitio Nawasa, Barangay Maganda, Lamitan City.
He said Halik was closing his store when a gunman repeatedly shot the town official.
Halik was rushed and admitted to the Lamitan District Hospital for treatment.
A town official was shot by an unknown man for unknown reasons.
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1922705/bacolod/local-news/dismissed-cop-shot-dead-in-bacolod-city TWO unidentified gunmen shot dead a former policeman while driving his motorcycle in front of the University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos along Lizares Extension in Barangay 40, Bacolod City past 10 p.m. Thursday, March 3, 2022.Major Leo Estopa, commander of Police Station 6, said Ryan Lumogdang, 41, of Barangay Estefania in the city succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.Estopa said they are eyeing personal grudges as possible motives in the killing of the victim.He said they are also coordinating with the family of the victim to determine if he had received threats before he was gunned down.Estopa added the investigators will also check the security camera in the area to identify the perpetrators.Lumogdang, a former Police Officer 1, was assigned at Bacolod City Police Stations 1, 2, 4 and City Anti-Illegal Special Operations Task Group before he was dismissed in 2017 after he tested positive for illegal substances during a random drug test.
A former cop who was dismissed for using drugs was killed by unknown men for unknown reasons.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1169137 A former Camarines Sur mayor was sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment by the Sandiganbayan in connection with irregularities in the lease of portions of the town's municipal public market eight years ago.For violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, former Baao mayor Melquiades Gaite was also perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
The 47-page decision penned March 4 and uploaded recently said Gaite gave unwarranted benefit and advantage to a private firm, Lamvert Consolidated Complex Development Corp. Inc. (LCC), by entering into a 25-year lease contract for portions of the Baao Public Market.
The lessee, under a municipal ordinance, was required to pay a deposit of PHP1.719 million for the 1,704-square-meter lease to be spent exclusively for the development of the market and its facilities.
The Commission on Audit however said no such deposit was made.
"While the prosecution was unable to establish that the Municipality of Baao, Camarines Sur suffered any damage or injury as a result of the 25-year lease contract, it sufficiently showed that the LCC enjoyed unwarranted benefit as a result of the gross inexcusable negligence of the accused," the court said.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1169174 Former Davao City information officer Jefry Tupas filed cyber libel charges against vice presidential aspirant Walden Bello at the Hall of Justice here on Monday.
This after Bello accused Tupas in an online press conference last week of being a drug dealer, claimed the latter was caught “snorting PHP1.5 million worth of drugs."
In an affidavit, Tupas said Bello has committed the crime of cyber libel under Section (c) (4) of Republic Act 10175 or the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012” in relation to Articles 353 and 355 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Today, I filed a cyber libel case against Mr. Walden Bello for the baseless, below-the-belt, hurtful, disparaging, damaging things he has said about me and against me during his recent online press conference,” she said.
She also clarified that she has never been arrested at any beach party nor have been charged with, much less convicted of any drug-related case.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1562205/bfar-director-4-others-face-graft-complaint-over-fishing-vessel-monitoring-system-project A complaint for graft has been filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Director Eduardo Gongona and four others in connection with the P2.09 billion contract awarded to a British company to equip fishing vessels with Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) transceivers.
The complaint was filed by lawyer James Mier Victoriano against Gongona and Department of Agriculture (DA)-BFAR bids and awards committee chairpersons Demosthenes Escoto and Hansel Didulo, and Chief Executive Officer Simon Tucker and Chief Financial Officer Richard Hurd of SRT Marine Systems Solutions Ltd.
Victoriano asked the Office of the Ombudsman to charge the respondents for violations of Sections 3(e), 3(g), and 3(j) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; Sections 30, 34, 65(c), and 65(d) of RA No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act; and Section 23.6 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA No. 9184.
In his complaint, Victoriano noted that the initial invitation to bid in 2017 for the Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System Project Phase II stated that the project was to be funded by the French Republic and through a loan agreement. He said the initial invitation to bid had an Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) of P1.6 billion.
According to Victoriano, the loan agreement required that the bidder must be either a French national or possess a joint venture agreement with a French national, and that the goods must be of French origin.
“Despite the requirement, SRT participated in the bid and was declared by DA-BFAR to be eligible and eventually won the bid. In fact, upon assessment by the French government, through its embassy, it found that SRT was not eligible owing to it being a British company,” he said.
Victoriano said it is clear that DA-BFAR did not comply with the conditions provided in the initial invitation to bid and would have continued with the award if not for the disapproval by the French government.
Because of the disapproval by the French Republic, BFAR then sought the approval of the National Economic Development Authority to cancel the loan agreement and proceed with the procurement for the project using local funding.
The BFAR Director and four others face graft charges over improper bidding and awarding of a contract to fit vessels with tracking monitors.
Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard “Ahong” has formally filed a perjury case against seven barangay captains who earlier filed a case of Malversation of Public Funds and Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against the mayor, before the City Prosecutor’s Office.
Respondents of the case include Association of Barangay Council (ABC) President and Bankal Barangay Captain Eduardo Cuizon, Gun-ob Barangay Captain Eleonor Fontanoza, Looc Barangay Captain Regina Ybañez, Tungasan Barangay Captain Triponia Abayan, Subabasbas Barangay Captain Joselito Tibon, Canjulao Barangay Captain Reynaldo Tampus, and Maribago Barangay Captain Rosalino Abing.Chan describes the case filed by the barangay captains in the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas as malicious and fabricated.To recall, the seven barangay captains filed the case of Malversation of Public Funds and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against the mayor, due to alleged questionable purchases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) related items which amounted to more than P47 million.Lawyer Jorge Esparagoza, Chan’s lawyer, also questioned the timing of the filing of the case by the barangay captains.“Why now that they filed this complaint? Four months before the election. They could have filed this within 2020 or 2021. But they did this deliberately and willfully as political manipulation and maneuver for purposes of the election. And that’s why we want to file this complaint to protect and vindicate the legal rights and interests of the mayor and to prove to the people of Lapu-Lapu City that these people are lying,” Esparagoza said.Aside from this, Chan said that they are also planning to file charges of Oral Defamation and Cyber Libel against the seven barangay captains.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/03/09/2166059/1sambayan-convenor-calleja-reports-harassment-extortion-try |
A convenor of opposition coalition 1Sambayan said Wednesday that he has been receiving threats for over a year, including a recent attempt to extort P5 million from him, in exchange for keeping manipulated suggestive photos from the public.
Lawyer Howard Calleja told a news conference that he received on Sunday messages to his official Facebook page from two accounts demanding that he deliver P5 million at a gas station in Parañaque City by Wednesday or else they will leak lewd imagery of him.
In another message, a Facebook user using the name Andy Walker sent manipulated photos of Calleja with model Deniece Cornejo and actress Cristine Reyes and a nude photo of the lawyer. Cornejo was a former client of Calleja, while Reyes is one of his clients.
"The pictures as he has shown or the statements that he has said to me, talking with my wife, are all fake and all fabrications and photoshops or what my friend in the IT [sector] said a 'deep fake',” Calleja said.
Prior to this, Calleja said he had received threatening letters and text messages.
One of these letters, sent during the holidays, threatened to give pictures of him to "Mocha [and] Bong Go."
(Atty. Howee, stop being too showy and boastful. Drop the nuisance case. Let the people decide. You’re too elitist and allied with the Reds.)
A text message from an unknown number, meanwhile, asked if Calleja’s wife and children are still safe, with a warning to keep safe and to always look behind his back.
Another text message from the same number said that they know where he lives and the car he drives, again warning to stay safe when heading out or something might surprise him.
Calleja declined to specifically name who he thinks are behind these threats, but said the messages he received contain hints as to who they might be.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1169387 |
The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a Negros Occidental court stenographer for forging her superior’s signature in a falsified court paper issued in exchange for PHP10,000 from a litigant.
In its 14-page per curiam decision published online on March 4, the SC found Bago City, Negros Occidental regional trial court stenographer Evelyn G. Montoyo guilty of two counts of prejudicial conduct, serious dishonesty, and acts of graft, three years away from reaching the compulsory retirement age of 65.
She was ordered dismissed immediately from the service with the forfeiture of all benefits and perpetual disqualification from a government position.
In exchange for the fee, Montoyo made it appear that a petition for cancellation of encumbrance was filed by a complainant and that evidence was submitted. To complete the process, she falsified a court order supposedly granting the petition for cancellation of encumbrance.
The spurious March 2012 order and a certificate of finality were submitted to the Negros Occidental Register of Deeds where the fake court papers were later traced back to the said court.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1566041/village-councilor-suspect-dead-7-others-hurt-in-isabela-shooting |
A village councilor and his attacker were killed while seven others were wounded in a shooting incident in Isabela province, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Wednesday.
In a report, the PNP identified the barangay councilor as Gerly Telan and the injured as barangay chief Briscio Gammari, Isidro Mamauag, Michael Mansibang, Vicenta Guiquing, Jose Mamauag, Sofrino Crisologo, and Allen Cauan.
Initial investigation revealed that all victims were in the middle of dancing in Dalena, San Pablo, Isabela on Tuesday, March 8, when the suspect suddenly appeared on the dance floor and shot the victims.
All were brought for treatment to the nearest hospital where Telan was declared dead on arrival, according to the PNP. The assailant, who is still unidentified as of posting, was also declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/429116/2-private-individuals-file-corruption-charges-vs-lapu-barangay-officials |
Two private citizens from Barangays Bankal and Maribago file separate graft and corruption complaints against their respective barangay officials for alleged questionable purchases of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) related items in 2020 and 2021.Celestino Pangatungan Jr., a senior citizen and a resident of Barangay Bankal, and Ruben Pangatungan, a family driver and a resident of Barangay Maribago, have filed the case before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.Respondents of the case are Punong Barangay Eduardo Cuizon; Bid and Awards Committee (BAC) Chairman Regino Cuizon; BAC members Cleofas Quijano, Manuel Cuizon and Mario Inot; and Barangay Treasurer Crisanta Inot for Barangay Bankal.For Barangay Maribago, the respondents are Punong Barangay Rosalino Abing; BAC Chairman Alemoden Pangatungan; BAC members Reynaldo Ompad, Anecita Paquibot, Jennes Maglasang, Eddie Daño, Arvin Fiel Abing; and Barangay Treasurer Melody Paquibot.Lawyer Sean Obenza, the lawyer of the complainants, said the case involved the purchase of Vitamin C for Barangay Bankal and glass cubicles and COVID-related accessories for Barangay Maribago.Obenza questioned the winning bidder, Rhice Trading, for the purchase of Vitamin C worth p285,000, after its nature of business involves only office and school supplies.“The two other canvassed entities, Ace Pharmacy and RE Pharmaceuticals were clearly engaged in the supply of medicines and Vitamin Cs but respondents chose to award the same to a trading company who supplies office and school supplies,” Obenza said.Meanwhile, the complainant alleged that the purchase of glass cubicles and COVID-related accessories worth P293,080 for barangay Maribago didn’t go through a bidding process.
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