Retards in the Government 313

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

 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1778247/ex-councilor-of-zamboanga-del-sur-town-survives-gun-attack

A former town legislator and vice mayoral candidate in the 2022 elections of Tabina town in Zamboanga del Sur survived a gun attack on Wednesday night.

Major Shellamie Chang, regional police information officer, said Rally Caguia Eslit, 48, of Manicaan village in Tabina town, was with his family heading home aboard an Isuzu Dmax pickup vehicle, when two unidentified men aboard a KLX 150-cc motorcycle approached and fired at the driver’s seat.

Eslit, who was driving the vehicle, was hit on the back of his neck.

The incident happened at Dao-an village in San Miguel town.

After the incident, the gunmen fled towards the Betinan village of San Miguel town, police said.

Eslit was rushed to the San Miguel rural health center and later transferred to a private hospital in Pagadian City for further medication.

Investigators recovered from the crime scene a fired cartridge case of caliber .45 pistol.

A former town councillor has been assassinated. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1777116/2-village-councilor-killed-in-maguindanao-sultan-kudarat

Two village councilors were killed in separate gun attacks Sunday and Monday in President Quirino, Sultan Kudarat province, and Paglat, Maguindanao del Sur.

Maj. Davis Dulawan, police chief of President Quirino, identified one slain councilor as Mahadi Khalipapa of Barangay Malingon, who was with his wife when attacked.

He said Khalipapa and his wife were on a motorbike driven by Khalipapa when ambushed by unidentified gunmen on May 29.

The village official died on the spot and his wife was slightly injured and was taken to a local hospital.

In an interview, Dulawan appealed to the town residents to help the police identify the culprits.

In Paglat, Maguindanao del Sur, the other fatality was a former village councilor in Barangay Damalusay, Nassr Mangetog, 54, of Barangay Damalusya in Paglat town.

He was attacked on Monday afternoon, according to town police chief Lt. Amer Hussein Disomangcop.

“He was tilling his farm lot and took a short breather when an unidentified man arrived and shot him without provocation,” Disomangcop said.

Police could not determine as of this writing the motive of the attacks and whether these were related to the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections this year.

One village councillor and one former village councilor have been assassinated.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1202837

A police station commander in Angeles City in Pampanga and six other policemen were nabbed for alleged unlawful arrest and arbitrary detention of 13 civilians.

 

Agents of the Philippine National Police (PNP) anti-scalawag unit arrested station commander Maj. Marvin Aquino, M/Sgt. Romulo Meligrito, S/Sgts. Nikko Dave Marquez and Mark Steven Sison, and Corporals Richard Gozum, Diosdado Villamor Jr. and Jaypee Mangilit on Friday, according to a statement released by Brig. Gen. Warren de Leon, chief of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG), over the weekend.

 

De Leon said the planned operation also resulted in the arrest of a civilian asset identified as Esmael Arviola for illegal possession of a .38-caliber revolver with four live ammunitions.

 

The operation stemmed from the complaint of the daughter of recently arrested drug offender, who claimed the suspects asked for PHP30,000 in exchange for the lesser offense of illegal gambling instead of violations under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.

 

The alleged offender was arrested in Angeles City on May 28 by Police Station 2 agents.

 

“During the conduct of inspection at the PUPC (person under police custody) detention cell, it was found out that 13 persons were arbitrarily detained without any single complaint filed against them up to the time of operation,” de Leon said.

 

“Further, no entry at the official police blotter and in the CIRAS (crime information reporting and analysis system) of the station in relation to the arrest and other circumstances causing the (continuous) detention of the victims.”

 

In another statement, Police Regional Office-3 (Central Luzon) director Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr. reaffirmed their “continuous commitment in support of the Internal Cleansing Program to cleanse the ranks and identify rogue PNP members whether they are active, retired, or dismissed from the service.”

 

He said the arrested cops were immediately relieved from their posts.

Seven cops have been arrested for extortion and illegal detention. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/5/bilibid-s-ambulance-driver-caught-in-attempt-to-smuggle-dried-tobacco-leaves-bu-cor

An ambulance driver of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City attempted to smuggle a contraband into the detention facility last Saturday, June 3, but he was caught and is now under investigation.

In a statement, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) identified the suspected violator of the bureau’s standard operating procedures as Corrections Officer 1 Marvin Ceballos.

BuCor’s Officer-in-Charge Deputy Director Angelina L. Bautista said that Ceballos was caught trying to bring inside the NBP dried tobacco leaves after he ferried a person deprived of liberty (PDL) for an emergency referral.

Bautista said that as a standard operating procedure, “all personnel and vehicles coming inside the NBP searched for prohibited items.”

Like illegal drugs, cellular telephones, wines, liquors, cigarettes, and other items particularly deadly weapons, tobacco leaves are prohibited inside NBP and six other detention facilities managed and supervised by BuCor nationwide.

BuCor Director General Gregoio Pio P. Catapang Jr. reiterated his directive to watch over the bureau’s personnel not just the PDLs.

“’This is the reason why our program Reform BuCor also includes the reform of our personnel along with the reforms of the PDLs,” he said

An ambulance driver for New Bilibid Prison has been caught smuggling in contraband. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1202883

The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a former cashier to up to seven years in prison for malversation involving more than PHP250,000 in public funds.

The anti-graft court’s Second Division affirmed the 2022 decision of the Baguio Regional Trial Court Branch 6 convicting Nila Cariño, the former cashier of state-owned Human Settlements Development Corp. (HSDC) - Maharlika Livelihood Complex.

Cariño was likewise fined PHP295,764 representing the amount malversed.

She was charged in 2018 following findings by the Commission on Audit - Cordillera Administrative Region that she incurred cash shortage in public funds representing collections entrusted to her and which she failed to turn over or deposit from Oct. 13, 2017 to July 24, 2018.

She was subsequently dismissed while the case was pending.

Cariño appealed her conviction with legal assistance from the Public Attorney’s Office, claiming the prosecution failed to establish that the missing amount of money was in her possession since no cash count was conducted.

She said the alleged missing or unaccounted for money has been turned over to her successor.

However, the Sandiganbayan ruled that the absence of any explanation from Cariño evidently showed that she cannot account for the cash shortage.

“There is prima facie evidence that she misappropriated the missing funds," the anti-graft court said in its June 5 decision that was made public Monday.

A former cashier has been convicted for malversation of funds. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/6/6/graft-charges-filed-vs-dpwh-officials-contractor-execs-over-alleged-sinking-sub-standard-iloilo-flyover

For the first time, legal action has been taken against officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the contractor of the unused P680-million flyover, one of the last pet projects of former senator Franklin Drilon in Iloilo.

Iloilo City Councilor Plaridel Nava filed criminal complaints against four officials of the Western Visayas regional office of DPWH for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Named respondents were Regional Director Nerie Bueno, former regional director Tiburcio Canlas, Assistant Regional Director Jose Al Fruto, and Construction Division Chief Ormel Santos.

Also included in the charges sheet are International Builders Corp. (IBC) owner Allen Son Tan, the company’s President Helen Edith Lee Tan, and John Does.

“The DPWH officials will also be facing administrative complaints for gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct,” Nava told Manila Bulletin in a phone interview.

To recall, the flyover that straddles between Iloilo City and neighboring Pavia town has been closed since September 18, 2022. The flyover partially opened last June 30, 2022 and was fully opened by September 5. It was closed less than two weeks after its structural integrity was questioned as it began sinking.

Last month, an independent firm hired by DPWH claimed that P250 million in funding is needed to repair the defective and unsafe flyover.

Nava said he decided to take legal action and hinted that the flyover problem would not be addressed allegedly because of politics.

“We all know they are political allies,” Nava told Manila Bulletin.

Nava was referring to the linkage of contractor IBC as Congressman James ‘Jojo’ Ang Jr. of Uswag Party-list is the nephew of the contractor.

Uswag is a regional party-list that is the brainchild of Iloilo City Jerry Treñas.

Officials of the DPWH are being charged with graft over the sinking flyover in Iloilo.

 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1779916/top-da-exec-faces-graft-raps-over-sugar-fiasco

Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban of the Department of Agriculture (DA) is facing graft charges in the Office of the Ombudsman for his alleged role in the sugar import controversy in February wherein he supposedly favored sugar traders to allegedly smuggle 250,000 metric tons of sugar into the country.

In a 16-page complaint filed on Monday, the National Congress of Unions in the Sugar Industry of the Philippines-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Council (Nacusip-ARB) and the Alternatiba ng Masa party list asked the Ombudsman to indict Panganiban for usurping authority and for violating Section 3 of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which lists unscrupulous practices of public officers.

“Sugar farmers and workers in the sugar industry have been gravely affected by the sudden influx of imported sugar in the market,” said Nacusip-ARB council director Roland dela Cruz. “This is aggravated by the fact that what entered our country is smuggled sugar, seemingly facilitated by none other than a senior official of the Department of Agriculture.”

“We cannot let this pass,” he added.

The case stems from a shipment of refined sugar that entered the country on Feb. 9 that was flagged by the Bureau of Customs for lacking permits.

It was later revealed that the shipment, consigned to All Asian Countertrade Inc., was part of a 440,000 MT importation under Sugar Order No. 6, also signed by Panganiban reportedly under the directive of President Marcos, who sits as concurrent agriculture secretary, in an effort to bring down sugar prices.

What was irregular, however, was that the shipment arrived well before SO No. 6 became effective on Feb. 22, the complainants said.

Panganiban later admitted that he had instructed “three capable and accredited companies to proceed with the importation of sugar” as early as January when Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin issued a memorandum allowing the sugar importation.

In filing the case, the groups argued that an SO was a “necessary prerequisite to importation, otherwise, it is considered a smuggled agricultural product,” also pointing out that only the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has the sole power to issue an import order for the commodity.

By directing three importers as early as January to import sugar without an SO, they said Panganiban had “undermined and usurped” the function of the SRA board.

Moreover, they said Panganiban “has no power under the law to unilaterally choose and direct only three traders to proceed with the importation.”

The groups also questioned Panganiban’s handpicking of three traders—All Asian Countertrade Inc., S&D Sucden Philippines and Edison Lee Marketing Corp.—out of more than 100 available traders.

“What Panganiban did when he directed these companies prior to SO No. 6 shows his evident bad faith, gross inexcusable negligence, and manifest partiality,” the groups noted.

“By allowing such a huge bulk of sugar to be imported during this time lowered the price of sugarcane being sold by our sugar planters,” the groups said, and that “the effects of these events to our constituents, the sugar workers and planters, cannot be understated.”

Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban of the Department of Agriculture is facing graft charges in the Office of the Ombudsman for his alleged role in the sugar import controversy in February wherein he supposedly favored sugar traders to allegedly smuggle 250,000 metric tons of sugar into the country.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1780277/pampanga-rtc-finds-cop-nbi-errand-boy-guilty-of-jee-ick-joo-murder

A regional trial court in Pampanga on Tuesday found guilty a policeman and an errand boy at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the death of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-Joo.

However, the Angeles City Regional Trial Court acquitted the alleged mastermind, Superintendent Rafael Dumlao, due to the prosecution’s failure to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Dumlao was granted temporary liberty in 2019.

Meanwhile, meted with imprisonment of up to 40 years by the Angeles City Regional Trial Court are Police Chief Master Sergeant (previously SPO3) Ricky Sta. Isabel and NBI errand boy Jerry Omlang.

The two were also convicted for the abduction of Marissa Marquicho, Jee’s helper, and carjacking Jee’s vehicle. They will both be getting another 22 to 25 years imprisonment.

A PNP officer and NBI errand boy have been found guilty in the death of a Korean national. The mastermind was acquitted. 

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/06/07/2272082/ex-surigao-governor-charged-graft-plunder

Plunder, malversation and graft charges were filed yesterday against former Surigao del Norte governor Francisco Matugas for alleged fund misuse, which he reportedly committed before he stepped down from office last year.

The charges were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman by Oscar Pospia Jr., chief of staff in the office of Surigao del Norte Gov. Robert Lyndon Barbers.

Pospia asked the ombudsman to investigate possible violations of various laws including Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In the complaint, Pospia alleged that Matugas committed at least 120 counts of graft when he donated dozens of motor vehicles and computer laptops right after he lost in the May 2022 elections.

Matugas also allegedly donated several properties of the province to local government units headed by his relatives or political allies.

Pospia, who is also chief of the provincial environment and natural resources office, alleged that Matugas did not observe legal procedures when he donated immovable and movable properties of the provincial government with an estimated value of P270 million.

The properties would have been sufficient to meet the needs of the provincial government in discharging its mandates, the complaint read.

In a separate statement, Pospia said he filed multiple charges including plunder against the former governor over the alleged unlawful use of the rehabilitation and provincial disaster management funds amounting to P60 million.

The funds were intended for victims of Super Typhoon Odette that struck the province in December 2021. 

A former governor of Surigao del Nrte has been charged with graft.