It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/regions/933156/3-navy-men-in-hot-water-after-palawan-bar-brawl/story/ |
Three members of the Philippine Navy were involved in an altercation against a group of men outside a bar in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan early morning Thursday.
According to a report in State of the Nation, members of the local government’s Anti-Crime Task Force attempted to break up the fight. Instead, video showed a would-be peacemakers being strangled and punched by one of the sailors.
The injured ACTF member said he will file a case against the serviceman who accosted him.
The Navy said it is investigating the incident and coordinating with local authorities.
(There’s an ongoing investigation to discover the full details of the incident. Rest assured that we will take appropriate action based on the results of the investigation.)
(We also wish to inform everyone that Naval Forces West is open to the public and we are coordinating with the local officials and agencies to quickly resolve this issue.)
Three members of the Philippine Navy were involved in an altercation against a group of men outside a bar in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan early morning Thursday.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2025/01/17/2414836/gsis-flagged-p2-billion-investment-3-companies |
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for investing P2.3 billion in stocks of three companies with no record of profitability and for its failure to collect P14.7 billion in premium contributions paid by employees in various government agencies as of end of 2023.
In its 2023 annual audit report on the state insurance firm, the COA said a detailed examination of the GSIS Investment Reports for 2022 and 2023 showed it invested P2,307,919,680 of its funds in stocks of three companies “that have no proven track record of profitability over the last three years and have not paid dividends at least once over the same period.”
The three companies were not identified in the audit report, but the COA said a further examination of the GSIS Investments Reports showed that the state firm already incurred a total of P251.371 million in valuation loss as of the end of 2023 “attributable to the aforementioned investment in stocks.”
The COA recommended to the GSIS to “plan the recovery of the stock investments from the three companies at a term not disadvantageous to the (GSIS Investment) Fund.”
In the same audit report, the COA also called out the GSIS for its failure to collect from various government agencies, local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations and government financial institutions a total of P14.748 billion in premium contributions deducted from the salaries of its employees.
The audit body noted that of the total P22.343 billion in Social Insurance Contributions Receivables as of Dec. 31, 2023, some 66.01 percent or P14.748 billion was already past due, of which P4.464 billion remained unremitted or “outstanding receivables” for 10 to 15 years.
The COA recommended to GSIS to prepare a realizable collection and recovery plan with a workable timetable for cleansing and reconciliation of accounts with concerned agencies; conduct regular dialogues with the head of agencies, especially those tagged as “delinquents” on the possibility of entering a MOA to settle the issues and for GSIS to “exhaust all available remedies to collect the unpaid premium contributions from those erring agencies pursuant to Section 41 (w) of RA 8291.”
Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) is calling on lawmakers to investigate the “questionable” P2.308-billion GSIS investments.
Stressing that “gambling” with public sector workers’ hard-earned contributions on high risk investments is alarming, the ACT said Congress needs to take action against GSIS for exposing pension funds to “reckless practices.”
The Commission on Audit has flagged the Government Service Insurance System for investing P2.3 billion in stocks of three companies with no record of profitability and for its failure to collect P14.7 billion in premium contributions paid by employees in various government agencies as of end of 2023.
Gunmen ambushed and killed a candidate for the municipal council of Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte, at dusk on Saturday, January 18, in Midsayap, Cotabato.
Officials of the Midsayap Municipal Police Station and local executives separately told reporters on Sunday morning, January 19, that the 46-year-old Jerry Beltran Dopredo died on the spot from bullet wounds in the head.
Dopredo is aspiring for a seat in the municipal council of Northern Kabuntalan, one of the 12 towns in Maguindanao del Norte, a component province of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
He was riding his motorcycle when he was attacked by two men, armed with pistols, in Barangay Central Katingawan in Midsayap, killing him instantly. Midsayap is in the first district of Cotabato province under Administrative Region 12.
Barangay Katingawan, where Dopredo was ambushed, is located near the border of Midsayap and Northern Kabuntalan towns.
The assailants of Dopredo immediately escaped using a getaway motorcycle, according to witnesses.
His relatives in Northern Kabuntalan told reporters that they are convinced that the murder of Dopredo, who had served as member of their municipal council years before, was politically-motivated.
The director of the Bangsamoro regional police, Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, said he has instructed the director of the Maguindanao del Norte Provincial Police Office to dispatch intelligence agents to Midsayap to help municipal police investigators put a closure to the atrocity that left Dopredo dead.
Gunmen ambushed and killed a candidate for the municipal council of Northern Kabuntalan, Maguindanao del Norte, at dusk on Saturday, January 18, in Midsayap, Cotabato.
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| https://globalnation.inquirer.net/261661/coa-flags-ofw-hospitals-services-unutilized-funds |
The Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) Hospital failed to deliver significant medical services in its first year of operation under the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) because it did not utilize its P292.5-million budget for equipment, medicines and medical supplies, a government audit report has found.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the DMW, which took over management of the hospital in Pampanga from the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) in January 2023, for its “inability to effectively manage budget consumption.”
The COA cited the government hospital’s “failure to establish a good working system for procurement, property and inventory management” for the unutilized budget.
“Consequently, the mandate of the hospital to provide free and comprehensive medical services to the OFWs and their dependents was not fully realized,” state auditors said in a report last December.
The total unused allocation for fiscal year 2023 included the “continuing fund” amounting to P78.55 million from Dole, which initially operated the OFW Hospital when it opened in May 2022.
The remaining unused amount, on the other hand, accounted for 67 percent of the total funding for 2023 at P319.3 million.
The machinery and equipment that were not procured due to negligence in using the allotted funds included a digital mammogram, mechanical ventilators, an X-ray machine, two anesthesia machines, test kits and laboratory reagents.This negligence was “indicative of the inability to establish a good working procurement system,” the COA said, adding that it jeopardized the government hospital’s effective delivery of services.
The state auditor noted further that the OFW Hospital had “yet to establish its own bids and awards committee.”
The COA examiners had listed the medical services rendered by the hospital, the bulk of which were laboratory tests with a total of 106,278 patients served. But they pointed out that most of the laboratory services were outsourced to other hospitals.
Around P7.5 million worth of diagnostic services and screening tests for the OFW Hospital patients were done at Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital and St. Francis De Sales Diagnostic Center Inc.
“Understandably, setbacks are expected since it was the first year that the department (DMW) managed the operations of the OFW Hospital. Nonetheless, the department should be mindful of finding a concrete solution and a system that will accelerate its procurement processes,” it stressed.
The hospital management agreed to several recommendations from state auditors, including studying the viability of forming a separate bids and awards committee solely for OFW Hospital, creating a procurement plan for the needed medical equipment and supplies, strengthening the inventory system and studying existing agreements with the provincial government of Pampanga and possibly creating new ones.
The Overseas Filipino Workers Hospital failed to deliver significant medical services in its first year of operation under the Department of Migrant Workers because it did not utilize its P292.5-million budget for equipment, medicines and medical supplies, a government audit report has found.
The Sandiganbayan has sentenced former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista and former city administrator Aldrin Cuña to prison and imposed a lifetime ban from public office following their conviction for graft.
In a 146-page decision dated January 20, the anti-graft court’s Seventh Division found Bautista and Cuña guilty of violating Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“They are each sentenced to suffer an indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of six years and one month as minimum to 10 years as maximum. Additionally, said accused are sentenced to suffer perpetual disqualification to hold office,” the decision stated.
The case stems from a P32.1 million payment in 2019 to Geodata Solutions Inc., which was favored in the procurement of an online system designed to process and track occupational permits.
Before the project’s implementation, applicants were required to visit City Hall in person, often enduring long queues. The Quezon City government procured the Online Permitting Tracking System that year to streamline the application and payment process for occupational permits through a fully digital platform.
The Office of the Ombudsman argued that no proper city ordinance authorized the project during Bautista’s term and that there was insufficient evidence to prove the system had been delivered.
The Sandiganbayan ruled that Bautista and Cuña violated Section 3 of Republic Act 3019, which prohibits government officials from granting undue benefits or special treatment to private parties, particularly in agencies responsible for licenses, permits and concessions.
The anti-graft court, however, decided not to impose civil liability or fines on Bautista and Cuña, as the P32.1 million had already been fully paid to Geodata Solutions and was deemed unrecoverable. The private party involved was not named as a respondent in the case.
Bautista had filed a motion to dismiss the graft charges against him, but the Sandiganbayan rejected it, citing lack of merit in his claims that the prosecution’s evidence was weak. A subsequent motion for reconsideration was also quashed by the court.
The court said the motions merely delayed proceedings, noting that sufficient evidence was present.
Bautista and Cuña may still appeal the Sandiganbayan’s decision to the Supreme Court.
The Sandiganbayan has sentenced former Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista and former city administrator Aldrin Cuña to prison and imposed a lifetime ban from public office following their conviction for graft.
A police officer allegedly raped a 17-year-old student here.
Police Col. Nicomedes Olaivar, city police director, has placed the suspect, a police master sergeant assigned at the Police Station 3 here, under restrictive custody while charges for rape and grave misconduct are being readied against him.
The victim said that the suspect sexually molested her inside his bunkhouse at the back of the Traffic Enforcement Unit office on Pendatun Ave. before dawn on Jan. 16.
The victim said she and a female friend met the suspect while attending the fiesta of Barangay Bula, this city, on the night of Jan. 15.
She said that the suspect befriended her after introducing himself as a policeman.
“After he introduced himself as a policemen, I didn’t have second thoughts to trust him when he invited us for a dinner,” the victim recalled.
The victim said that after their dinner, the suspect volunteered to bring her to her house in Barangay Fatima here aboard his motorcycle.
She agreed with the suspect but he asked her to have a drinking spree in a beerhouse before going home.
After the drinking spree, the victim, who was already tipsy, requested the suspect to bring her to her house.
However, the victim said the suspect brought her to his bunkhouse where she was raped.
Olaivar has relieved the chief of the Women and Children’s Welfare Desk at the Police Station 1 who allegedly tried to cover up the incident after the victim and her relatives lodged a complaint against the suspect.
The city police director said that he does not condone any wrongdoing and misconduct of his erring subordinates.
A cop has been dismissed for allegedly raping a girl.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1242294 |
A former soldier is among the violators of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gun ban arrested by the authorities in Talisay City, south of Cebu province.
The suspect identified only as “Rosevile,” 48, who went absent without leave (AWOL) from the military service and is working as a butcher, was arrested in his residence in Sitio Florida, Barangay Dumlog.
The officers from the Talisay City Police Office were armed with a search warrant issued by Judge Romeo Reyes Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 in Talisay City when they raided Rosevile’s house.
Recovered was a .45 caliber pistol with five live rounds of ammunition.
Lt. Col. Epraem Paguyod, chief of the Talisay City police, said in a report that the suspect’s neighbors lodged complaints against the suspect for his misbehavior when he gets drunk.
Paguyod said they are also checking the information that the suspect was into illegal drug use.
A former soldier has been busted for violating the election gun ban.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2026949/4-cops-in-2011-shooting-fired-for-abusing-power |
The Court of Appeals (CA) has found four police officers guilty of grave misconduct in the fatal shooting of a man and his son in 2011 due to excessive use of force and ordered their dismissal from the service.
The ruling of the appellate court’s Third Division, which was promulgated on Jan. 14, reversed the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman in 2012 to dismiss the complaint filed by the family of the victims.
Ordered dismissed from the police service were Police Capt. Lodovico Eleazar Jr., Police Cpl. Jomar Camat and Billy Joe Collado, and Police Staff Sergeant Erwin Lopez. Their retirement benefits were also deemed forfeited in addition to being slapped with a permanent disqualification from holding any job in government.
Contrary to the claim of the police officers that they acted in self-defense during a “shootout” with the victims, Rodrigo Eleazar and his son Gener, the court noted that the results of a paraffin test revealed that no gunpowder residue was found on the victims. In addition, an autopsy showed that they were shot mostly in the back.
“Police brutality and needless violence against civilians are disgraceful acts that cannot be condoned as [these] erode the very essence of law enforcement officers’ oath, which is to protect the communities they serve,” the appellate court said in a decision authored by Associate Justice Ruben Reynaldo Roxas.
On June 19, 2011, 64-year-old Rodrigo Eleazar and his son, 34-year-old Gener, were fatally shot in their house in Laoac, Pangasinan, with witnesses alleging the victims were targeted by police and barangay officials, including barangay Captain Edgar Eleazar and barangay “Kagawad” Rogelio Lopez, following a violent altercation.
The two victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds and showed no signs of gunpowder residue, contradicting the claims of the respondents that there was a shootout.
The Eleazar family filed an administrative complaint for grave misconduct against the police and village officials, but the Ombudsman dismissed the case, citing insufficient evidence to challenge the version of events presented by the respondents.In their defense, the police and village officials said the victims had fired at them, adding that they had gone to the house of the Eleazars in response to a report that Gener was firing his gun indiscriminately.
They also said that two .45-caliber pistol firearms belonging to the two fatalities were recovered at the scene of the incident, along with several spent shells that came from the guns.
The appellate court, however, said that the “respondent-police officers exhibited excessive force—an act constitutive of a clear intent to violate the law or a flagrant disregard of, at the very least, the Revised Philippine National Police Operational Procedures.”
Their use of excessive force demonstrated a blatant disregard for established protocols and human life, amounting to grave misconduct, it added.
While the court found the role of the barangay officials in the shooting to be “vague,” it ruled that they were proven to have assaulted Gener and consequently ordered their suspension for two years, 11 months, and 11 days.
As for the four police officers, the appellate court ruled that should they be separated from service before their dismissal could be enforced, the penalty would be converted into a fine equivalent to their one-year salary, payable to the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Court of Appeals has found four police officers guilty of grave misconduct in the fatal shooting of a man and his son in 2011 due to excessive use of force and ordered their dismissal from the service.
The Sandiganbayan has sentenced a traffic enforcer of the Manila city government to up to five years in prison for demanding bribe money from a truck operator in exchange for non-apprehension of his 18 vehicles in case of traffic violations.
In a 32-page decision promulgated on Jan. 20, the anti-graft court’s First Division denied the appeal of Joselito Garcia of the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau.
In his motion, Garcia sought the reversal of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 21’s decision finding him guilty of violating Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The First Division modified the RTC’s ruling and convicted Garcia of direct bribery under Article 210 of the Revised Penal Code.
Garcia was ordered to pay a fine of P81,000, with the accessory penalty of temporary disqualification from holding public office.
Based on the charge sheet, Garcia received P27,000 from truck operator Salvador Jecino on Feb. 21, 2020.
A traffic enforcer has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for bribery.
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