It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/04/25/6-cops-charged-over-detention-of-lady-mining-protester-in-mati-city |
Six police officers are facing cases in the City of Mati, Davao Oriental over the detention of a woman during a confrontation against mining operations last year.
The arbitrary detention and unlawful arrest cases – copies of which were obtained by the Manila Bulletin – were filed by Claridel Cellona-Lincoln, a resident of Barangay Macambol in the City of Mati, before the city prosecutor’s office after lawmen allegedly detained her from June 28, 2025 to July 3, 2025 after the incident.
Charged were then Davao Oriental Provincial Police Office chief Police Col. Julius Silagan, then Mati City Police Station chief Police Major Anthony Gumban, Police Major Cirelo Solana, Police Master Sgt. May Ponce, Police Master Sgt. Aiza Cablinda, and Police Corporal Katrina Jayson.
Lincoln recounted in her affidavit that Barangay Macambol Chairman Cireno Salazar and fellow barangay officials arrived at the barricade site within her property in Purok Casinihan.
Salazar was accompanied by Silagan, who brought about 100 armed police officers, including some members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), according to Lincoln.
“We regulated the passage of heavy vehicles on our private road. But more or less 100 policemen swooped down on our property without warrant and dismantled our bamboo pole and forcefully entered my house by the street and unlawfully arrested me and my companions Bryan Codilla and Donars Narisma,” Lincoln said in her affidavit filed on April 21.
Lincoln, along with local fisherfolk, barricaded a portion of the road leading to the nickel mining site of Hallmark Mining Corp. in Barangay Macambol on June 26, 2025.
She, along with members of the Davao Oriental Pujada Landscape Eco-Tourism Association, Farmer, Fisherfolks, Family, and Friends (Dapubleta F4), were protesting the alleged inaction of the mining company on their request to address damages to their livelihood allegedly due to landslide from the mine site.
They justified the barricade by prohibiting vehicles owned by the mining firm from entering.
Police confronted the protesters and insisted that the road should be cleared following an order from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Silagan said that he was ordered by then Philippine National Police chief Police Gen. Nicolas Torre III to implement the clearing operation.
But protesters insisted that police do not have any warrant or court order to implement road clearing operations in a private property.
As residents refused to dismantle the barricade, police told residents to challenge their action before the court.
Police and barangay peacekeepers dismantled the barricade and forcibly took Lincoln and her colleagues.
Videos of the confrontation circulated in social media last year, including police officers entering the house and kicking a door inside a house after Lincoln locked herself inside the room.
Glocelito Jayma, counsel of Cellona and protesters, said police filed cases against Lincoln and her colleagues but were eventually dismissed by a local court in October last year.
"It took us few months to formally charge the police because we waited for the disobedience case filed by the police to be dismissed," Jayma said.
The cases were dismissed after barangay officials and the police failed to show proof that the dirt road was part of the provincial road network or donated to the government for public use.
Thus, the arrest and detention were unlawful since the landowner has the right over the land where the road is located, Jayma said.
Jayma added that his client did not commit any crime. The lawyer also disclosed that they have lodged an administrative complaint before the National Police Commission and are awaiting an update from the agency.
“There is no legal basis to the arrest conducted by the police on such day because I have done nothing illegal and I committed no crime,” Lincoln stated in her affidavit. “I can say that because of what we have done in setting up a boom or bamboo pole gate in our private road inside our private land at Purok Casanihan.”
Police Regional Office-11 spokesperson police Major Catherine dela Rey was asked for a statement on April 23 on the case but she has yet to respond.
Six police officers are facing cases in the City of Mati, Davao Oriental over the detention of a woman during a confrontation against mining operations last year.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/04/27/coa-flags-doh-over-p693-m-expired-expiring-medicines |
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged almost P217 million worth of expired medicines in the medical inventory of the Department of Health (DOH).
That is as of Dec. 31 last year and COA, in its Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM), said P476.5 million more are set to expire.
“These figures suggest that procurement planning and inventory management could be further refined to prevent overlocking. The volume of near-expiry medicines also presents a risk that supplies may lapse before reaching beneficiaries,” COA states in its report.
“This situation impacts the timely distribution of medical resources and could lead to the inefficient use of government funds,” it added.
COA earlier flagged DOH for inventory deficiencies, including delays in recording and lack of documentation on the movement of medicines.
The report also raised questions about whether demand was properly assessed and whether the volume matched actual needs.
In the same report, COA said it recommended to DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa to require agency heads to implement a more stringent timeline and closely monitor the disposal of expired drugs, medicines and medical supplies to prevent delays and minimize storage cost.
At the same time, it recommended efficiency in distribution through timely coordination with concerned programs/units, as well as prioritization of the distribution of expiring medicines and to determine the specific causes of the expired stocks.
The Commission on Audit has flagged almost P217 million worth of expired medicines in the medical inventory of the Department of Health.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday said prosecutors have secured the conviction of a former Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) employee in Zamboanga City for multiple counts of money laundering, following complaints filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat (AMLCS).Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Mary Jane Sytat, along with AMLC legal officers lawyers Charlemagne Tambo and Claudine Joy Gonzales handled the cases for direct bribery, robbery with intimidation, and violation of Republic Act (RA) 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act filed before the Prosecutor's Office in Zamboanga City.
The Zamboanga City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 12 convicted BIR Revenue Officer IV Flora Sarau Albao of Revenue District No. 93A of BIR Zamboanga City, for violations of Sections 4(a) and 4(b) of RA 9160 (Anti-Money Laundering Act).
Albao was apprehended in an entrapment operation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in 2022 for extorting PHP500,000 from a certain Ms. Ledesma.
The NBI and AMLC later found Albao maintained 36 bank accounts across four banks.
As a Revenue Officer IV with an equivalent pay of Salary Grade 19, Albao’s monthly income was PHP49,835, with an annual income equivalent to PHP598,020, yet she deposited an average of PHP93,000 from May to August 2022, which is more than double her salary during that period.
"Public office demands a higher standard of accountability and integrity. Those entrusted with the privilege to serve must not only perform with excellence but also uphold the highest degree of candor in all their dealings —this is the benchmark that our Bagong Pilipinas government will never compromise,” Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said.
The RTC Branch 12 sentenced Albao to seven to 13 years of imprisonment for the first six money laundering cases with a PHP3-million fine for each count, and four to six years of imprisonment for the remaining six money laundering cases with a PHP1.5-million fine for each count, to be served successively.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1273796 |
Two Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairpersons in Makati City have been suspended after being found guilty of misconduct by the city’s Sangguniang Panlungsod, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced on Monday.
Remulla said complaints will also be filed against the two SK officials before the Office of the Ombudsman, noting with concern that corruption appears to have reached even affluent villages.
In a press briefing, Remulla said the SK chairperson of Barangay Dasmariñas was suspended for six months for allegedly demanding a 20-percent kickback from a supplier for a Halloween project. The official was also accused of submitting an SK resolution bearing the falsified signature of the SK secretary.
Meanwhile, the SK chairperson of Barangay Magallanes was suspended for three months for allegedly submitting documents with forged signatures, including that of an SK kagawad (councilor) who was reportedly abroad at the time. The official admitted the documents were not personally signed but claimed prior consent had been given.
Remulla emphasized that cases will be pursued regardless of a barangay’s status.
“Wala po kaming sinisino. Maliit man o mayaman na barangay (We do not discriminate, whether it is a small or wealthy barangay),” he said.
Two Sangguniang Kabataan chairpersons in Makati City have been suspended after being found guilty of misconduct by the city’s Sangguniang Panlungsod, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced on Monday.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2219550/pnp-2-cops-relieved-for-traffic-violation-in-manila |
A patrolman driving a police vehicle and his immediate superior, a police major, were administratively relieved from their posts for a supposed traffic violation in Manila, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday.
The Land Transportation Office (LTO) had summoned the two police officers after they were seen transporting two wooden pushcarts protruding from the back of their vehicle.
In response, in a briefing in Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said, “Starting yesterday… They were administratively relieved from their posts undergoing pre-charge investigation pending completion of the investigation.”
He did not immediately name both officers.
Assigned at the Moriones Police Station, the two officers were making the rounds in their area of responsibility last April 16 confiscating road obstructions, including the two wooden pushcarts, Tuaño explained.
When the two officers decided to instead deliver the confiscated road obstructions to the Manila City Hall for the bigger storage space, they were caught on video plying Asuncion Street near Lakandula Street, transporting the two wooden carts at the back of their vehicle.
“Our PNP personnel’s intentions were good because they were confiscating obstructions from public places,” Tuaño said.
“But, the way the obstructions were transported, this is what we call a dangerous load,” he added.Tuaño further noted that the LTO had preventively suspended the patrolman’s driver’s license.
According to the LTO’s show cause order for the two officers, they are expected to appear before the transport agency at their Quezon City office and explain the incident on Wednesday.
A patrolman driving a police vehicle and his immediate superior, a police major, were administratively relieved from their posts for a supposed traffic violation in Manila.
Two active police officers and four other individuals were arrested for allegedly illegally transporting P290,000 worth of suspected mineral ores in Misamis Oriental, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Tuesday.
The six suspects were caught aboard an Isuzu L300 at a checkpoint in Sitio Mahayahay in Barangay Limonda, Opol town late Monday afternoon, according to a police report from the Police Regional Office Northern Mindanao (PRO 10).
It identified the two active police officers as a police senior master sergeant with the alias “Gerry,” 47; and a police staff sergeant with the alias “Jefferson,” 37, both of whom were assigned to the Monkayo municipal police.
Meanwhile, the four others were identified with the aliases “Regine,” 46; “Nerie,” 33; “Jesson,” 32; and “Francisco,” 46.
“Upon inspection, the team observed in plain view that sacks of alleged mineral ores were placed behind the passenger seat of the vehicle,” PRO 10 explained.
“The individuals on board failed to present any pertinent documents to support the transport of the alleged mineral ores, which led to their apprehension,” it added.
The police did not immediately say where the mineral ore had come from and where it was headed; nor detailed how the four civilians were involved.
Authorities recovered 58 sacks of suspected unprocessed minerals as well as the two police officers’ service firearms with four magazines and sixty pieces of live ammunition.All six suspects were taken into the custody of the Opol municipal police, awaiting cases for violating Republic Act No. 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act.
In a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Tuesday, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said the agency’s chief, Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., had ordered the two implicated police officers to be relieved from their posts.
“They were caught in Misamis Oriental, but the two officers are assigned in Region 11, at the Monkayo Municipal Police Station. So, it’s out of their jurisdiction,” Tuaño noted.
“It appears they are giving protection while the mineral ore is being transported,” he added.
Two active police officers and four other individuals were arrested for allegedly illegally transporting P290,000 worth of suspected mineral ores in Misamis Oriental.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/04/28/marikina-city-hall-employees-arrested-in-entrapment-over-permit-related-complaint |
Two city hall employees in Marikina were arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by the local government in coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Barangay Fortune on Monday, April 27.
In a statement, the city government said the suspects, both administrative aides, were apprehended while inside a government-issued vehicle and are now under police custody.
The operation was carried out following a complaint from a businessman over alleged unauthorized collection linked to permit processing.
Police said marked money was recovered during the operation.
The local government said it immediately coordinated with the PNP to act on the complaint and conduct an intelligence-driven entrapment operation.
The city government reiterated its policy against abuse of authority and said appropriate action will be taken against those involved.
Two city hall employees in Marikina were arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by the local government in coordination with the Philippine National Police.
San Pablo, Laguna Mayor Arcadio Gapangada Jr. filed malversation and graft complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against Vice Mayor Justin Colago over the alleged payment of salaries to around 200 "ghost" employees.Gapangada said Monday the complaint was based on an investigation into alleged payroll irregularities in the Office of the Vice Mayor, where individuals were listed as employees but allegedly did not actually receive their salaries."They are not the ones receiving the natural salary that other people are receiving the salary and this was done by deceiving them," Gapangada told reporters.The complaint alleged that Colago certified and signed documents used for the processing and release of wages, including the daily time records (DTRs), accomplishment reports, and corresponding payrolls.Gapangada cited daily time records (DTRs) and accomplishment reports covering Oct. 1 to Dec. 30, 2025, as part of their documentary evidence.He added that some individuals listed as employees denied receiving salaries."Records will show that the paymaster is there... someone accepted the money. Now when you interview the people involved, they did not accept... and they are ready to give sworn statements," Gapangada said.According to the mayor, some listed workers were reportedly abroad or residing outside Laguna.Gapangada added that most of the alleged ghost workers were hired under job order arrangements and received daily wages of around P600.Colago is also facing complaints for alleged violation of Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service, grave abuse of authority, serious dishonesty, and grave misconduct.
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