It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1641155/21-policemen-face-criminal-administrative-charges-over-death-of-fellow-cop-in-masbate |
The police in Bicol region filed criminal and administrative charges on Thursday, August 4, against two officials and 19 personnel of the 503rd Maneuver Company of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB) in Masbate province in connection with the death of Patrolman Jaypee Ramores allegedly due to hazing.
The Police Regional Office (PRO) 5 filed the charges against the 21 police officers of the said unit for violating Republic Act (RA) 11053 which amended RA 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 at the Masbate prosecutors office.
Police Major Maria Luisa Calubaquib, spokesperson of Bicol police, said the administrative case of grave misconduct was also filed by the Regional Internal Affairs Service against the suspects.
They were earlier relieved from their posts and were placed under the custody of RMFB 5 in Camp Simeon Ola in Legazpi City in Albay province.
Ramores, 32, a resident of Talisay town in Camarines Norte, died while being treated at the Ticao District Hospital in San Jacinto town in Masbate around 9:30 p.m. on July 26.
He had severe bruises, burns on his chest, wounds on his feet and knees and other body injuries.
The autopsy conducted by the hospital on July 28 revealed that the victim died due to cardiorespiratory arrest, deep vein thrombosis secondary to pulmonary embolism, and multiple physical injuries secondary to blunt trauma, but the 503rd Maneuver Company reported that he died solely of cardiorespiratory arrest, and urine and blood infection with severe high blood pressure.
21 cops have been charged in the death of a fellow cop during a hazing incident.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180684 |
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested two suspected drug pushers, including a police officer, and seized PHP3.4 million worth of shabu in Caloocan City, as part of the strengthened anti-drug campaign of the administration of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
In a report released Friday, the agency said members of its northern district office in Metro Manila arrested Cpl. Mark Jefferson Lopez, a member of the Caloocan City Police Station Sub-Station 13, and John Raster Muñoz, in an operation along Zabarte Road in Barangay 172 at around 5 p.m. Thursday.
The suspects yielded around 500 grams of shabu in three transparent plastic bags, two mobile phones, and boodle money.
Authorities also seized Lopez's Philippine National Police (PNP) ID and his issued firearm Glock 17 with Serial No. 2102, pistol magazine, and 19 pieces of 9mm live ammunition.
The suspect, detained at the PDEA headquarters, will be charged with violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Meanwhile, Northern Police District (NPD) chief Brig. Gen. Ulysses Cruz ordered the administrative relief of the Sub-Station 13 commander, assistant commander, shift supervisor, and Lopez's team members.
“All of them were disarmed of their service firearm and placed under camp restriction pending the in-depth investigation which covers Lopez's current and previous designation. We do not condone the wrongdoings and irregularities of our erring personnel, I will assure the public that they will feel and face the full force of the law,” Cruz said in a statement.
A PNP officer was arrested for drugs and everyone in his substation was let go and placed under camp restriction pending an investigation.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/840466/sc-affirms-dismissal-of-ex-dfa-employee-for-bigamy/story/ |
The Supreme Court has affirmed the dismissal from service of a former employee of the Department of Foreign Affairs after she was found guilty of a crime involving moral turpitude.
In a 10-page decision promulgated on June 15, the High Court affirmed the 2018 resolution of the Court of Appeals and denied the petition for review filed by Rosa Gonzalbo-Macatangay.
“The petition is not meritorious. The Court affirms the CA ruling; the imposition of the penalty of dismissal from service is proper,” the Court said.
According to the SC, Macatangay did not contest that she is guilty of the administrative offense of conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude and that bigamy involves moral turpitude.
Citing the Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, the Court said that conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude is punishable with dismissal from service.
In 2014, the Civil Service Commission-National Capital Region found Macatangay guilty of the administrative offense and meted the penalty of dismissal from service, along with imposable accessory penalties.
This was after a complaint was filed before the CSC alleging that Modesto Macatangay Jr. married the petitioner in February 1997 while married to another.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling of the CSC in August 2017.
However, Macatangay argued that the CA erred in not considering the mitigating circumstances in her case.
For the Supreme Court, mitigating circumstances such as length of service, first commission, and outstanding performance, cannot be applied.
“The Court rules in the negative. The CA is correct in not appreciating the mitigating circumstances petitioner invokes. The facts of the instant case do not justify the mitigation of the prescribed penalty,” it said.
The High Court stressed that bigamy cannot be taken lightly.
“Bigamy cannot be taken lightly as its commission reflects the person's character. It involves moral turpitude as settled in jurisprudence,” it said.
“Petitioner flagrantly disregarded the law in marrying Modesto despite her knowledge of his prior and existing marriage; as the appellate court aptly observed, this ‘shows her moral depravity and cast[s] serious doubt on her fitness and integrity to continue in the public service’,” it added.
The SC has affirmed the dismissal of a DFA employee for bigamy.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180779 |
Members of the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have arrested two ex-police officers wanted for violation of Republic Act 10591, the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, in separate operations in the provinces of Pangasinan and Rizal.
In a statement on Sunday, Brig. Gen. Samuel Nacion, chief of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG), said their operatives together with Taytay Municipal Police Station (MPS) personnel initiated a search warrant operation that led to the arrest of retired Pat. Ephraim Ferrer Jr. in Barangay Sta. Ana, Taytay, Rizal last August 4.
Nacion said Ferrer is responsible for the proliferation of illegal drugs and a protector of drug personalities operating in the areas of Barangay Pinagbuhatan in Pasig City and C6 in Taytay. He is also involved in carnapping, gun running and carrying unlicensed firearms.
Confiscated during the search was one unit Armscor .40 caliber pistol and assorted live ammunition.
The arrested suspect was brought to Taytay MPS for documentation and proper disposition.
Meanwhile, SPO1 Armando Arenas Junio Jr., a dismissed member of the Quezon City Police District's Station 6-Batasan, was arrested by virtue of a search warrant by members of the IMEG and Pangasinan Police Provincial Office operatives in Barangay Tambac, Bayambang, Pangasinan last August 2.
“The dismissed policeman was reported for indiscriminate firing whenever he is under the influence of liquor and still introducing himself as cop. The suspect was arrested and was brought to Bayambang PS. The search was done in an orderly manner which was witnessed by the barangay officials,” Nacion said.
Confiscated during the search were a .45 caliber pistol with defaced serial number and inserted magazine containing eight live bullets, as well as other ammunition.
The arrested suspect is now under the custody of Bayambang Municipal Police Station for documentation and eventual filing of case.
Two ex-cops have been arrested. One of them for catnapping, gun running, and drug dealing and the other for indiscriminate firing while drunk.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1180736 |
The City Legal Office here has recommended the filing of administrative charges against the city veterinarian and eight others found to have “euthanized" 11 stray dogs, five of them puppies, in Barangay Navais, Mandurriao on July 20.
In a report furnished to the local media on Friday, lawyers Joseph Edward Areño and Lloni Viterbo submitted their recommendation to the mayor’s office on Thursday.
In their findings, the city lawyers noted that the city veterinarian, Dr. Thomas Forteza Jr., has failed to prove that the dogs were dangerous, suffering from pain or discomfort, or diagnosed with a disease.
“The policy of the state is not to outrightly euthanize stray dogs but to impound them, make them available for adoption, and only under exceptional situation, such as when they are found sick or rabid or vicious or some other justifiable purpose, that the law sanctions killing them, whether instantly or after observation period,” the lawyers said in their report.
They added that the 11 dogs could have been impounded for three days and if suspected to be rabid, they should have been “isolated and observed accordingly” and submitted to laboratory examination upon death.
In a talk on July 27 with the investigating team, Forteza admitted that he and his team, composed of Restituto Ebrada, Junivel Sampiano, Joseph Sesbreño, Raymund Rovido, Lito Amonador, Elanger Suating, Julio Forteza, and Markwel Clamor, conducted an operation in Barangay Navais to catch stray dogs but “in the process killed or euthanized” them, including the five puppies.
Forteza pointed out that there were “rampant stray dogs in the area”, rabies victims at the adjacent barangay, and “consistent positive cases for nine years.”
The city veterinarian also cited provisions of the Animal Welfare Act of 1998 and the Anti-Rabies Act of 2007 as among his legal basis for the mercy killing of the dogs.
Forteza was acting in response to the request of Navais Punong Barangay JJ Jhanneigh L. Mercado on July 14 to “send a competent team in order to catch stray dogs as (they) cause danger” to his constituents.
Forteza also told the investigating team that Mercado requested that the dogs be euthanized, directing them to a spot in the barangay where the team could kill and bury the animals.
They city veterinarian of Iloilo is accused of wrongfully euthanizing 11 stray dogs. In his defense he claims he did it at the behest of a barangay captain.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1642155/pcso-gave-p144-m-aid-to-10-hospitals-despite-incomplete-papers-coa |
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) gave P144.011 million in financial aid to 10 government hospitals to purchase medical equipment even with incomplete documents, according to a Commission on Audit (COA) report.
State auditors said the donation cast doubts on the “impartiality, objectivity, and consistency” of the PCSO’s evaluation and approval of grants from 2020 to 2021.
This was one of the COA’s findings on the PCSO’s financial assistance for the procurement of medical equipment program.
“The complete documentary requirements serve as basis in confirming the appropriateness of the medical equipment to the level and capability of the hospital to operate and maintain the same, therefore these are vital in the proper evaluation of the eligibility of the applicant to receive the grant of financial assistance,” said the COA’s 2021 audit report on the state lottery agency.
State auditors noted that on different dates from June 2020 to Dec. 2021, the PCSO issued checks to the hospitals in amounts ranging from P1.4 million to P29.9 million.
The money was meant for the purchase of medical equipment of the hospitals, six of them military or police hospitals.
But the hospitals lacked one or more documents needed in evaluating whether they were qualified to receive PCSO financial assistance.
In another block of financial aid from 2017 to 2021, the COA called out the lottery agency for the P144.674 million granted to 13 hospitals for the medical equipment, which remains unliquidated as of end-2021.
The PCSO has been flagged by the COA for giving money to several hospitals but not properly documenting the process.
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| https://www.philstar.com/nation/2022/08/08/2201101/gang-leader-ex-cop-nabbed |
A former police officer tagged as leader of a criminal group has been arrested in Tayug, Pangasinan, authorities reported yesterday.
Former Lt. Col. Wilson Magpali was collared in Barangay Legaspi based on a warrant for murder, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said in a statement.
Magpali, who was arrested by personnel of the PNP-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group, is reportedly the leader of a gun-for-hire ring targeting politicians in La Union and Ilocos region.
Recovered from the suspect were a 9mm pistol and ammunition.
Magpali denied he is the head of the criminal group.
An ex-cop accused of being the leader of a gun-for-hire group has been arrested.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1644623/coa-flags-lack-of-due-diligence-in-p1-38-b-ppe-purchase |
The Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) did not exercise due diligence in buying P1.386 billion worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 front-liners as these were found to be unauthorized for sale or public use, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
State auditors said the seven contracts for PPE lacked the required documents such as the certificate of medical device notification (CMDN) and a product notification from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In its 2021 audit report on the PS-DBM, the COA said the agency “cannot assure its client-agencies of the safety of the PPEs” meant for health-care workers directly exposed to the COVID-19 virus.
The PS-DBM is an attached agency of the budget department that has been under fire for questionable procurements on behalf of other government agencies, the latest of which involved the purchase of pricey but slow laptops for the Department of Education.
“The [PS-DBM] did not exercise due diligence in procuring the PPE items, neither in crafting the technical specifications nor in the review and evaluation of the technical capacity of the supplier to deliver the goods to be procured using the nondiscretionary criteria,” the COA said.
It added: “In the absence of the CMDN for the PPE items procured, the PPE were not authorized for sale or for public use.”
The COA found that all seven contracts lacked the CMDN, which is proof that the product has been notified with the FDA prior to its manufacture, importation, export, sale, distribution, transfer, or use in testing, promotion, advertisement and sponsorship.
The CMDN is a requirement under FD Circular 2020-031, which states that importers and manufacturers of PPE should secure a CMDN prior to the commercial sale and distribution of such medical devices.
The COA has called out the PS-DBM for buying PPE's that were not fit for use.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1644588/coa-questions-lto-for-undue-payment-of-it-contractor |
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for the “undue payment” given to its foreign information technology (IT) contractor, Dermalog, despite the incomplete turnover of deliverables for the P3.19-billion Road IT Infrastructure project.
In its 2021 Consolidated Annual Audit Report (CAAR) for the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the COA said that LTO’s “acceptance of customized core applications with missing processes had caused undue payment to the vendor, which is disadvantageous to the government.”
These core applications include the Driver’s Licensing System (DLS) and the Motor Vehicle Inspection and Registration System (MVIRS), which were included in Component A of the said IT project also known as the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
According to COA, the DLS and MVIRS have unresolved issues as of December 2021 and their functionalities and processes are not yet fully configured, which caused disruptions in the operations of various LTO sites. In Quezon City Licensing Center, for example, the LTMS automatically rejects transactions of all motorists aged 65 years old and above and has inadequate examination terminals to cater to the big volume of applicants.
The new IT system has also caused massive delays in motor vehicle registration in LTO Baguio as reported by a local news channel Regional News Channel – RNG Luzon on its Facebook page last May 5, 2022.
According to the report, LTO clients are lining up early in the morning in the hopes of getting the documents they need, only to be told to return the other day. The LTO Baguio admitted that the delays in transactions were due to the rollout of LTMS, which requires more processes, and other factors such as slow internet connection.
The COA says the LTO paid for a new IT system that is awful.
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