Election day is here! That means more corruption and bloodshed. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been ousted which means corruption has won again. Thank goodness China will protect the Philippines from the evil white man. As long as the Philippines remains meek and humble of course.
As a “foregone conclusion” to ouster moves against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, her fellow magistrates will have her removed by voting in favor of the solicitor general’s petition declaring her appointment as invalid, Mindoro Oriental Rep. Reynaldo Umali said yesterday.
Why does it have to be a foregone conclusion? Men like Reynaldo are always jumping at the bit to slam their political enemies rather than waiting for justice to take its course.
An additional 2,000 policemen were assigned to 133 identified hot spots in Western Visayas to help secure the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on May 14.
Ridiculous. Sad that election time turns the country into a veritable war zone.
EO 54 provides a P1,150 across-the-board increase in the employees compensation for all permanent disability pensioners in the private sector, as well as qualified beneficiaries in the public sector.
The benefit increase is effective from January 2017, according to the EO. In 2017, Duterte also approved a P1,000 Social Security System (SSS) pension hike after a long debate on the increase.
Who wouldn't cheer the President for giving them more money? The problem though is where will it come from? Duterte can't even afford to raise teachers salaries!
A TOTAL of 22 barangay captains in Cebu City are facing administrative and criminal complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman for their failure to liquidate the cash assistance they received from the City Government in previous years.
All of them are known allies of Barug Team Rama.
Association of Barangay Councils president and Tisa Barangay Captain Phillip Zafra said the cases are politically-motivated.
It is not improbable that these cases are politically motivated. In the Philippines the government will put up with all kinds of illegalities until bribes aren't paid or favour is lost or a new administration takes the reins. Could be that these barangay captains really are liable for not liquidating the cash assistance given to them. But it also could be that the Mayor let it slide until now just before the elections to wreck political revenge.
The Supreme Court (SC) voted 8-6, granting the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida, which questioned the qualification of Sereno to serve as the country’s top magistrate.
Well they did it. And it looks like just barely. 8-6 is a much more narrow margin than 11-3. Now that Sereno is gone, it's time to celebrate!
In a statement, Gadon said with Sereno out, the high court and the judiciary have been "liberated... from the vestiges of the yellow cult which for many years have enslaved the people through machinations of deceit, fraud, indoctrination and brainwashing for the advancement and protection of the yellow interest."
"I dedicate this win to the legacy of Chief Justice Renato Corona. A legacy cut short by the most politically vicious and self-aggrandizing political persecution perpetrated by Noynoy and his ilk," Gadon added.
This kind of rhetoric really sickens me. The corruption in the Philippines has no color except brown and maybe a little off-white or yellow if there is Chinese blood mixed with the Filipino blood. If this weekly series on corruption has taught me or you dear reader anything I hope it is that corruption is endemic to the Philippines, transcends political party, and defies reformation.
And then his language about "this win." Sereno's ouster is not a win for anyone. It is a shame and shows that once again corruption has won. Take your pick. Either: Sereno really is corrupt and her appointment was fraudulent and deceitful, the court is corrupt for using the extra-constutional quo warranto instead of impeachment to remove Sereno, Gadon is tool of a corrupt administration seeking to oust Sereno by any means necessary. One or all of those is true. In any case corruption has won the day. And these people think they have somehow "won" like it's all a game.
Speaking of corruption which defies reformation, get a load of Bato over here spewing out the same old BS.
Yeah sure. Remember this:
Maybe if he focused on the ask at hand instead of making promises he can't keep, just maybe then he could get the job done.
A witness told probers that a white Toyota Innova vehicle intercepted Velasco’s vehicle.
Then at least three suspects alighted from the vehicle and shot the victim’s passenger window before fleeing toward Commonwealth Avenue.
The initial investigation showed that the victim’s car had at least 20 gunshot holes. The investigation is still ongoing.
Death is a job hazard when you are involved with Filipino politics. Especially if you are working for the DOJ.
Candidates for village and youth council elections, their supporters and even voters better prepare their buttocks for some beating if they get caught in the act of violating election laws.
A military commander said violators of election laws in the province would be subjected to spanking with the use of wooden paddles.
Lt. Col. Edgar Catu, head of the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion, said the provincial peace and order council came up with the proposed punishment at a meeting on Wednesday.
Candidates and local leaders “all agreed that election violators will be spanked,” Catu said.
The punishment, however, would not end in spanking alone, Catu said. Violators would be criminally charged, too, he said.
First of all the caption on the photo is priceless: "PINING FOR PEACE Candidates in Cebu City sign a peace covenant but police were prepared for more bloodshed on May 14"
Second of all, paddling?? Look at the size of these paddles!
That's not your daddy's belt! Think about how this works. If a candidate is found, or is alleged, to have violated campaign laws they will be spanked, i.e. punished. Only after receiving punishment will they also face criminal charges for which they will receive an additional punishment but only if they are actually convicted! This whole thing stinks of injustice. Getting punished before even being convicted of a crime is not justice.
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Anti Transnational Crime Unit (CIDG-ATCU) has arrested a barangay councilor candidate who turned out to be a wanted illegal recruiter Saturday night during a miting de avance in Tatalon, Quezon City.
The suspect, Alejandro Navarro, resisted arrest and ordered his driver to run over CIDG-ATCU and Intel division operatives.
CIDG-ATCU Chief Supt. Roque Merdegia Jr. said Navarro’s bodyguards, identified as Wilfredo Lico and Rolando Formanes, also exchanged punches with their operatives.
An operative ended up at the Philippine National Police General Hospital after sustaining injuries.
Authorities said Navarro had 40 standing arrest warrants issued by various courts nationwide for large-scale illegal recruitment and estafa.
What a melee!
According to Abenilla, the five were accused by incumbent village chair Cris Capina of committing perjury in administrative complaints they filed against him.
Police said Capina, who is not seeking reelection, was suspended based on the complaints where he was accused of misconduct in running the village.
What a scam! Did these men conspire to get the old village chairman sacked so they could take his place?
He is not the first politician to be targeted for assassination by anonymous gun men.
Police in a village in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur arrested on Saturday 69 detainees and escapees and six jail personnel who were allegedly being used as a private armed group.
Chief Superintendent Billy Beltran, director of Police Regional Office 9, said police also recovered guns and ammunition during the simultaneous raids in Barangay Dao.
The raids were conducted against detainees staying inside the governor's quarters in the provincial capitol. They were reportedly being utilized as a private armed group.
Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Antonio Cerilles vehemently denied the detainees were escapees or were a private army.
Cerilles, in a briefing with local media in Zamboanga del Sur, said the detainees were relocated to the provincial capitol complex because of lack of space in the provincial jail.
Police who did a surprise inspection of the Zamboanga del Sur provincial jail in Pagadian City on Saturday were stunned to find armed prisoners roaming freely outside their cells.
Senior Supt. John Guyguyon, Zamboanga del Sur police director, told the Inquirer by phone that they discovered some prisoners were allowed to carry firearms inside the jail while some were in another facility near the quarters of Gov. Antonio Cerilles in Barangay Dao.
“We have recovered 69 prisoners in Dao alone,” Guygoyon said.
At the main jail, he said the inspectors found some convicts outside maximum security detention.
“They were supposed to be inside but they were outside,” Guyguyon added.
According to him, the firearms of some of the inmates were even “more powerful” than those of the guards.
He said several firearms had been recovered but he could not yet provide the exact number. These included an Israeli-made Tavor rifle, Ak47s, shotguns and .45 caliber pistols.
Armed prisoners inside the jail and inside the governors quarters. Inexplicably crazy. How does something like this even happen? Who allowed them out and then supplied the high-powered weapons?
The PNP said 33 people were killed in the month-long election period. Most of those killed were elected government officials.
Of the fatalities, 18 were elected government officials, four were candidates, three were former government officials. Two were supporters, and six were classified as "civilian".
On the other hand, a total of 26 people — ten were found to have been political supporters — were wounded in the violent incidents.
PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said the number of violent incidents is lower compared to 2013 elections, when close to 60 incidents were recorded.
The PNP said there are 126 suspects in the violent incidents, 111 of whom are still at large. Six were arrested and then detained while nine of the suspects were released.
The finally tally is in! 33 killed and 26 wounded.
Duterte is finally going to (kind of) keep his jet ski promise!
Oops! I guess not!
Malacañang on Tuesday announced that President Rodrigo Duterte had told two assistant secretaries to resign over allegations of corruption or face termination.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that Department of Justice Assistant Secretary Moslemen Macarambon Sr. and Department of Public Works and Highways Assistant Secretary Tingagun Umpa were asked to tender their resignation letters.
The call for Macarambon’s resignation stemmed from the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission's investigation that he allegedly intervened "on behalf of suspected smugglers of gold and precious jewelry" at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
Umpa, on the other hand, allegedly asked for commissions from contractors of DPWH projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Two more Duterte appointees are gone over alleged corruption. Will he file charges or make a complaint this time?
Did he?
What was supposed to be a historic visit to the vast undersea region situated east of Aurora turned into what Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. described as a "symbolic" event.
The President seemed unaware that he was unable to go to the Philippine Rise, since he highlighted in his speech that his visit was meant to uphold the country's exclusive ownership of the area by allowing 50 Filipino scientists to "explore and discover" what the undersea region has to offer.
Roque said it was "not feasible" for the President to go to Philippine Rise, as the area was a bit far.
"You see, the Philippine Rise is beyond the 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone. So you have to go beyond 200 nautical miles. It's somehow not feasible to basically go there. And Philippine Rise is actually beyond the waters," Roque said.
"It (Philippine Rise) is a bit far. It's a 120 nautical miles away. And it's a logistic nightmare. So this is symbolic. We're sending off the scientists, but the scientists will proceed," he added.
All this symbolic nonsense while the Philippines' claims in the SCS are being eroded daily.
President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, promised to protect him from any ouster attempts.
"The assurances of Xi Jinping were very encouraging... 'We will not allow you to be taken out from your office, and we will not allow the Philippines to go to the dogs,'" Duterte said in a speech during the send off ceremony off Aurora province for Filipino scientists who will conduct research in the Philippine Rise.
China "will not allow the Philippines to go to the dogs?" Too late!
Per election rules, candidates are given five days to resolve a tie either through coin toss or drawing of lots.
This, unless the candidates decide to concede through a written notice, Icaro said.
Interesting. What if there is a tie at the national level? What if Duterte and Grace Poe had to decide the fate of the Philippines with a coin toss?
The applicability of last week’s Supreme Court decision removing the Chief Justice from office through a quo warranto petition to the President and other impeachable officials is “purely speculative,” Malacañang said on Tuesday.
In deciding to boot out Sereno, the Supreme Court pointed out that the Constitution did not explicitly state that constitutional officers like the President, Vice President and Supreme Court justices could be removed only through impeachment.
“Impeachment is not an exclusive remedy by which an invalidly appointed or invalidly elected impeachable official may be removed from office,” said the ruling written for the majority by Associate Justice Noel Tijam.
“To subscribe to the view that appointments or election of impeachable officers are outside judicial review is to cleanse their appointments or election of any possible defect pertaining to the constitutionally prescribed qualifications [that] cannot otherwise be raised in an impeachment proceeding,” the ruling added.
In fact, the ruling said, even the Presidential Electoral Tribunal has recognized quo warranto petition as an option in ousting a President and Vice President who have already been declared winners of an election.
Harry Roque is wrong. This ruling applies to ANY and ALL impeachable officials including the President. The administration is scrambling like ants to try and close the Pandora's box they have opened.
Asked whether there is a serious threat of an ouster, Roque clarified that the president was only expressing his sentiments.
"Wala naman siguro. Naglalabas lang siya ng saloobin kasi parang wala na siyang mabuting naririnig sa mga 'kaputian (I don't think so. He was just expressing his sentiments because it's like he hasn't heard anything good from the 'whites'),'" the Malacañang spokesman said.
Unbelievable!
A security guard in the area, who declined to to be named, claimed that the forest-clearing and mountain-leveling work took place before the closure of Boracay, and was stopped April 26.
However, a video clip of a backhoe doing excavation work on the leveled mountain was posted by a netizen on Facebook on Monday, saying the footage was taken only last May 11.
The area, according to the netizen, is a forestland and close to the roosting site of flying foxes, a bat species that is vital to the ecology of Boracay.
A local tricycle driver, who also declined to be identified, alleged that a politician owns the flattened mountain area.
It will be reportedly used for a swimming pool and other amenities.
The entire mountain was once covered with trees, but now, almost half of all the trees in the area are gone.
A road network going to Costa Vista Boracay is currently being built. It covers parts of the mountain.
According to workers at the site, construction activities go on day and night.
In the Philippines this is what passes for environmental rehabilitation. The DENR now claims ALL construction has been suspended including this but why was it happening in the first place even if it was BEFORE the closure?
Recalling his exchanges with Xi, Duterte said, "Ang tao naman basta ganoon ang paano mo, you remain meek and humble, eh 'yung ego niya, mag-start to, and then it turns to something basic like maaawa rin."
(When it comes to people, as long as you remain meek and humble, his ego starts to, and then it turns to something basic like they will have mercy.)
Duterte added that “negotiating” with China on the joint exploration and development of the West Philippine Sea, is better than “going to war where Filipino soldiers would surely be annihilated by a “cruise missile.”
“Sabi niya [Xi] sige, so we are now negotiating. Eh kaysa magkagiyera ako, sabi ko mauubos ang sundalo ko, pag-launch pa lang ng – alam mo, atin ito ganito kalaki, 'sus matamaan ito ng cruise missile, wala na, patay ang sundalo ko," Duterte said.
(He [Xi] said, okay, so we are now negotiating. Rather than go to war, I said, where I’d lose all my soldiers….If they get hit by this cruise missile, that’s it, my soldiers would die.)
In the Philippines this is what passes for an independent foreign policy.
From the Cabinet, the purge of officials linked to corruption has been expanded to the lower levels of government, with President Duterte announcing last night the suspension of several government prosecutors, airport Customs officials and other individuals pending their likely ouster from their posts and criminal indictment.
In a press briefing last night after his bilateral meeting with visiting Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Duterte identified the officials from a long list of names.
He said the officials are facing administrative charges after being investigated by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission. He expressed hope that the Office of the Ombudsman would conduct a more thorough probe and pursue criminal charges for graft.
This is a step up from simply firing allegedly corrupt officials.
The Ombudsman’s investigation showed that the rehabilitation of the bridges, which started on February 10, 2014, was supposed to be completed on June 29, 2014. But during the ocular inspection on December 3, 2015, the Field Investigation Office discovered that both projects were unfinished.
The Ombudsman said Alunan admitted that there was delay in the completion of the projects due to intervening factors such as the removal of the water pipelines attached to the bridge railings, the relocation of the electrical post, and heavy rains and flooding. However, notices to proceed in favor of OPELL Construction and Development Corporation have been issued.
The Ombudsman found that “there was an unreasonable delay of at least one year and six months in the completion of the projects” and that there was “delay in the completion of work by more than 380%.”
“During the implementation stage, respondents allowed the contractor to continue working on the project despite poor performance/accomplishment and unreasonable delay of the contractor in the projects,” the Ombudsman’s resolution read.
“They allowed the contractor to collect full payment thereafter with understated penalty/liquidated damages. As shown in the Disbursement Vouchers, the contractor was not made to pay for the unreasonable delay of each project of at least 562 days. Thus, the amount of liquidated damages was apparently understated and respondents clearly gave unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference to the contractor in violation of law,” it added.
Construction on two bridges was delayed by a year and a half yet the construction company still received full payment with little penalties for their delays. I suppose if they had charged sufficient penalties they would not have been convicted of grave misconduct as the contractor would then not have received any undue benefit. At least that is my understanding in light of the case last month where two AFP officers were acquitted of misconduct because even though they ordered and paid for faulty fire arms the manufacturer replaced them for free.
