It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
At least 60,000 electric poles nationwide have been in the middle of the roads and caused obstruction since last year, which could potentially cause thousands of accidents, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said Thursday.
Poles ending up in the middle of roads were the result of road construction and widening projects.
Gatchalian, who defended the Department of Energy’s (DOE) budget in the Senate plenary, said it would cost some P3.7 billion to remove such impediments.
But the senator said there was a joint circular between DOE and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in 2019 that specified compensation for electric cooperatives when they removed those poles.
The DPWH even allotted some P3 billion for removal, according to him.
“[The joint circular says that] by the end of 2019, Dec. 31, there should be no more obstruction on the road. We know it is the end of 2020 there are still 60,000 poles along the road,” he said.
“Interestingly, we also found out that in the work programs of those road widenings. . . The cost of removing those poles is embedded in those programs. It means that the government has been allocating funds to remove all those poles in all of the work programs.”
The removal of the poles was correlated with road networks’ safety, he said, and the widened roads would be rendered useless because of such obstructions.
“People think it is a small, trivial issue but 60,000 poles all over the country has a potential of creating 60,000 car accidents, this is not a small matter,” the senator said.
In October, the National Electrification Administration under the DOE was ordered by lawmakers to present an "actionable plan" to address the issue.
Senators noted that widened roads with electric poles were obstructing traffic and have become parking lots or vendor areas.
Gatchalian said he has relayed the matter to the DPWH and the DOE to enforce the joint circular in 2019, adding he has given them until the first half of next year to remove the electric poles.
The problem, he said, was a lack of coordination between the two agencies.
“It is a simple lack of coordination . . . They should now implement those joint circulars because those specified how to execute this and I am requesting and mandating them that to finish the removal of the posts, by early part of next year because the funds are already there and all they have to do is sit down and work out a time table to remove it,” Gatchalian added.
 |
| https://business.inquirer.net/312167/coa-disallows-another-p153-13m-worth-of-tax-credits |
Another P153.13 million in tax credit certificates (TCCs) earlier issued by an arm of the Department of Finance (DOF) through a scam involving unqualified—and some even nonexistent—garments and textile companies have been disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) as part of the crackdown on illegal tax perks given away over a decade ago.
In a statement on Friday, the DOF said the COA last month wrote Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III to tell him that the agency had issued new notices of disallowance to the TCCs obtained by Capital-Roll Knit Corp., Primeknit Manufacturing Corp., Tai-Cheng Integrated Resource Inc. and Uni-Glory’s Knitting Corp.
In 2018, COA uncovered P11.2 billion in questionable TCCs issued to 33 garments companies from 2008 to 2014 even as they were not registered with the Board of Investments, hence not entitled to fiscal and other perks given away to investors such as tax credits.
The DOF issued tax credits to non-existent companies!! Don't they verify these things?
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1363414/drunk-cop-in-tondo-shooting-incident-face-criminal-charges |
A police officer is facing murder and frustrated murder charges over a Nov. 20 shooting in Tondo, in which he was accused of killing a man and injuring another, the Manila Police District said in a text message on Saturday.
The complaint was filed at the Manila Prosecutor’s Office against Patrolman Alvin Santos, who is assigned at the Santa Cruz Police Station of the MPD.
According to an MPD report, the incident happened early morning on Friday, Nov. 20.
Santos reportedly threatened to arrest two men — Joseph Marga, 32, and Mark Lester Quiñones, 28 — as they were on their way home.
Santos was said to be drunk at that time.
Marga then told Santos that he lived nearby, but the police officer, who was not pleased with his reply, shot Marga several times, also hitting Quiñones.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1363364/ex-jolo-police-chief-annayo-shot-dead-in-maguindanao |
Former Jolo, Sulu police chief Police Lieutenant Colonel Walter Annayo, who is facing cases over the June 29 fatal shooting of four Army intelligence officers, was shot dead in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao on Saturday afternoon.
In an initial report from the Maguindanao Police Provincial Office, Annayo, 41, had just parked his car to buy buko (coconut water) juice along the Narciso Ramos Highway in Barangay Macabiso when an unidentified gunman on board a white Toyota Fortuner, shot him in the head and the body.
Police said Annayo died on the spot. The incident happened at around 1:45 p.m.
To recall, Annayo was administratively relieved after nine of his men were involved in the fatal shooting of four soldiers last June 29 in Jolo.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1363828/ex-councilor-of-eastern-samar-town-nabbed-for-drugs |
A former councilor of Hernani town in Eastern Samar province was arrested in an anti-drug operation on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the anti-drugs unit of the provincial and municipal police arrested Marcos Abaloyan, 60, for alleged possession and selling of five transparent sachets containing shabu weighing 0.24 grams worth P1,655.
Abaloyan, now detained at the Hernani detention facility, will be charged for possession and selling of illegal drugs.
The police said the suspect was ranked 14th on the drug watch list of the province.
 |
| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/11/24/2059030/dilg-some-mayors-involved-illegal-logging-mining |
Several mayors are allegedly involved in illegal logging and mining operations in their towns, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) disclosed yesterday as the agency ordered a crackdown on violators of environmental regulations.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said there were cases wherein mayors either directly or indirectly benefited from illegal mining and logging.
“There were instances like that, but not all (mayors). There are those who aren’t directly involved, but they know of their existence,” Año said in a radio interview, referring to the illegal activities that have been partly blamed for recent massive flooding.
“Maybe (operators of these illegal activities) funded their (mayors’) campaigns or supported their candidacies,” Año added.
Catastrophic flooding, landslides and other calamities spawned by the recent typhoons have again directed government attention to illegal logging, mining and other activities that violate environmental regulations as they have been blamed for major damage and casualties.
While Año did not say what the government would do about the alleged hand of local officials in the illegal activities, he implored the public to take the elections seriously.
“Our citizens need to learn and vote for those who are serious and have no connections to anything illegal. We need to pick, otherwise we would be experiencing these things over and over again,” he said.
Flooding during typhoon is blamed on illegal logging. The DILG says mayors are involved in illegal logging and mining. No wonder this scourge cannot be stopped! But instead of stopping these mayors it appears the DILG is blaming the people by telling them to vote wisely!
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/24/20/duterte-800-government-officials-employees-fired-for-graft-other-offenses |
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night said he will continue to "go after government officials and workers who are into graft and corruption," saying around 800 officials and workers have been dismissed from the service due to illegal activities.
The President named some of them, including Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) employees who allegedly pocketed tax collections and requested money in exchange for permit approvals.
Duterte said the sacked officials and workers faced administrative cases.
"Pa dating sa Ombudsman, the Ombudsman if he finds na tama na 'yung ginawa sa administrative case, so we will file the corresponding criminal charge," he said.
The Office of the Ombudsman is tasked to investigate and prosecute Philippine government officials accused of crimes, especially involving graft and corruption.
Eight women and labor groups on Monday filed a complaint in the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) against a regional official of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) who was identified in a Senate inquiry last year as having received in his office a lap dance as a birthday gift.
The complaint seeks to hold PhilHealth Regional Vice President Paolo Johann Perez responsible for violating Republic Act No. 9710, or the Magna Carta of Women.
It was filed in the CHR, in line with the commission’s mandate under that law to assist in cases involving violations of the Magna Carta.
The complainants are labor groups Sentro, Partido Manggagawa, Center for Migrant Advocacy and Foundation for Media Alternatives, and feminist groups Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), WomanHealth Philippines, Sarilaya and Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan.
“The acts cited pertaining to the purchase of a woman by PhilHealth employees and the condonation of such by the PhilHealth official, [is] fundamentally illustrating that women as a group can be bought and used as entertainment for sexual pleasure,” the complainants said.
 |
| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1364625/gunman-in-face-mask-shoots-ex-quezon-town-mayor |
The former mayor of the town of Pagbilao in Quezon province is in critical condition after he was shot by a face mask-wearing gunman on Tuesday afternoon.
Romeo Portes, 73, who is also the father of incumbent Mayor Shierre Ann Portes–Palicpic, was shot twice by a still unidentified gunman while the former seated in a chair in front of KGP building along J.P. Rizal street in Barangay Bukal around 5 p.m., said Police Colonel Audie Madrideo, Quezon police director, in a report.
A footage from a closed circuit television camera that was forwarded to the Inquirer by Madrideo showed that the assailant came aboard a motorcycle driven by his cohort, who was wearing a crash helmet.
After disembarking from the vehicle, the gunman – in brown short pants, wearing a face mask, bull cap and with his right hand inside his gray jacket’s pocket – casually walked ten steps towards Portes, pulled a handgun from his pocket and shot the victim on his face at close range.
The gunman fired another shot at Portes after the victim fell on the ground, before he returned to the motorcycle to escape.
The assailant also fired a shot towards the two persons who came out from the building but missed.
 |
| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/25/20/12-congressmen-implicated-in-dpwh-corruption-says-anticorruption-body |
Twelve incumbent congressmen allegedly received kickbacks from the government’s public works projects, with some receiving up to 15 percent of the budget for infra projects, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission bared Wednesday.
PACC commissioner Greco Belgica, in an interview with Teleradyo, revealed that a lawmaker allegedly received a P10-million payola after a project contractor came to their office to report the incident.
“May isang proyekto na P100 million. Hinihingan daw siya. Hindi daw siya papasukin sa distrito na ‘yun pagka hindi siya nakipag-ayos,” he said.
(There was a project worth P100 million. He was asked for bribe. He was told he would not be allowed to enter the district if there’s no kickback.)
Meanwhile, some congressmen are allegedly pocketing from 5 to 15 percent of the budget of government infrastructure projects, Belgica added. The PACC was also able to gather evidence that could implicate the involved lawmakers.
“Meron tayong mga hawak pero kailangan itong imbestigahan at patibayan... Trabaho namin is to put a solid case that will stand in court,” he said.
(We have evidence but it still needs to be investigated and strengthened… Our work is to put a solid case that will stand in court.)
Criminal complaints have been filed against nine suspects, including a policeman, in the killing of Palawan lawyer Eric Jay Magcami, police said Thursday.
A police report said murder complaints were filed against the suspects, including Police Senior Master Sergeant Ariel Pareja, Jazer del Rosario, Marcelino Quioyo, and six others, before the Palawan Provincial Prosecutor's Office.
The PNP said Pareja is now under restrictive custody of the Palawan Police Provincial Office. Administrative complaints will also be filed against him, it added.
Police said Pareja has been moonlighting as a bodyguard for Quioyo, who was involved in a court case over a land dispute where Magcamit was representing the other party.
A traffic enforcer of the Makati Public Safety Department went missing during an entrapment operation by the agency and the police in Bgy. Bel-Air, Makati City on Monday night.
Enforcer Roberto Hojas, 46, was identified.
According to a report by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the Public safety department received a complaint about the alleged extortion of the enforcer on the Buendia Avenue section.
A policeman pretended to be a motorist in the area where the suspect stopped him at the corner of Malugay Street for turning around before 7 p.m.
According to police, the enforcer told the driver "don't you know that 500?" once taught the "no right turn" sign on the street.
The enforcer allegedly asked for P500 so that he would not issue a ticket that would pay P1,000 and confiscate the driver's license.
The undercover police gave him P500 marked money.
Several incumbent and former officials of the Department of Health (DOH), including incumbent Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Secretary Janette Garin, are facing a fresh wave of cases due to the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine.According to Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta, 99 relatives of those who died of severe dengue fever supposedly because they had been vaccinated with Dengvaxia, a vaccine manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, filed four cases against Duque, Garin, and 39 other officials:
- reckless imprudence resulting in homicide under the Revised Penal Code
- torture of children and torture resulting the deaths in violation of the Act Penalizing Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment;
- violation of the Consumer Act of the Philippines;
- violation of the Philippine Pharmacy Act, for vaccination without the required prescription and dispensing without pharmacist approval
PAO will assist the complainants in the legal proceedings
A police officer in Taguig City was arrested for extortion, the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported on Thursday.In a report to PNP chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, Col. Thomas Frias, Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) acting director identified the suspect as Chief M/Sgt. Minly Gutierrez, who is assigned at the Vehicular Traffic Investigation Unit of Taguig City Police Station.
Gutierrez was arrested by IMEG agents and operatives of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in an entrapment inside the police station at around 5:10 p.m. Wednesday after he received PHP20,000 in exchange for the release of an impounded car that was involved in an accident.
Acting on the complaint of a foreigner who was involved in a car crash, HPG and IMEG operatives initiated the entrapment operation against Gutierrez.
