It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1144939 |
Police officers are investigating the killing of a barangay official in this city in broad daylight on Thursday.
Lt. Col. Noah Aniversario, city police chief, on Friday identified the victim as Ali Gampong, chairperson of Barangay Tiguma here.
Aniversario said initial investigation showed that Ali was driving home when shot by a lone gunman aboard a passing vehicle.
A video captured by a closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) showed that Ali was repeatedly shot by a rifle-wielding attacker seated at the back of a pick-up truck that got alongside the driver side of Ali’s car.
Residents near the place of the incident rushed Ali to the Aisah Hospital in Barangay San Pedro but he was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.
Ali became the village chief of Tiguma by succession following the death of Rou dela Cruz, the elected barangay chairperson.
Dela Cruz was shot and killed at the fish section of the local public market on June 20, 2019.
An incumbent barangay councilor and a pastor, who are alleged members of the TABADA crime group and communist-terrorist group (CTG), were nabbed via virtue of search warrants in separate operations past 1 a.m. on Friday, June 25, 2021, in Bohol.
Operatives identified that two suspects as Carmilo Tabada, a barangay councilor in Barangay Poblacion, Trinidad Bohol, and Pastor Nathaniel Vallente, a resident of Barangay San Jose in Mabini Bohol. Both were served with search warrants for violation of Section 28 of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
At around 1:40 a.m. on Friday, a joint operation spearheaded by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7) led to the arrest of Tabada, 51, an incumbent barangay councilor of Barangay Poblacion, who is tagged as the leader of TABADA crime group engaged in gun-running activities in Bohol and allegedly an active member of a CTG.
The search warrant served against Tabada was issued by Judge Azucena Macalolot-Credo, Executive Judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Talibon in Bohol last June 21.
The serving of this search warrant resulted to the confiscation of a unit of .45 caliber pistol, a piece of 9 mm machine pistol KG9 with live ammunition, a hand grenade, and subversive documents.
The said operation was witnessed by some of the barangay officials of barangay Poblacion in Trinidad, Bohol. Tabada is currently detained in Trinidad Police Station while a case for violation of RA 10591 and RA 9516 was being prepared.
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/384693/retired-cop-gunned-down-by-unidentified-assailants-in-consolacion-cebu |
A 46-year-old retired police officer was gunned down by two, still unidentified assailants past 4 p.m. today, June 25 in District 1, Barangay Pulpogan in Consolacion town, northern Cebu.
Police Corporal Rechie Gileran, the investigator of the case, identified the victim as Michael Rivera Ernie, a retired Police Officer 3 (PO3) who was also a resident of the said barangay.
Gileran said Ernie was shot by two attackers whom he believed to be on board another motorcycle. He added that they are still facing a blank wall as to the possible identities of the suspects and motive of the killing as of this posting.
As of this posting, Consolacion police continue to gather information from witnesses who are until now, remained afraid to disclose any.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/06/26/2108179/ex-pnp-chief-5-others-convicted-over-boat-procurement |
Former Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa and five other retired PNP officials were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for graft in connection with the P131.55-million rubber boat scam in 2009.
In an 88-page decision promulgated yesterday, the Sandiganbayan Third Division found Verzosa “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2013, the case stemmed from the PNP’s procurement of 75 rubber boats and 18 spare engines or outboard motors from three “technically and financially” unqualified suppliers: EnviroAire Inc., Geneve SA Philippines and Bay Industrial Philippines Corp.
The ombudsman said the procurement did not even undergo a public bidding in violation of RA 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Furthermore, the ombudsman said the procured boats were defective and incompatible with the standard specifications earlier recommended by National Police Commission (Napolcom), thereby “causing undue injury to the government.”
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/06/26/2108185/2-former-bi-execs-cop-get-life-p50-million-extortion |
Former Bureau of Immigration (BI) deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles and retired police officer Wenceslao Sombero Jr. were sentenced to life in prison for plunder over the P50-million extortion of gambling tycoon Jack Lam.
In a decision promulgated yesterday, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division said the prosecution panel of the Office of the Ombudsman “proved beyond reasonable doubt all the essential elements of plunder” under Republic Act 7080 against Argosino, Robles and Sombero.
The three former officers were also found guilty of violation of Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices) for which they were sentenced to six to 10 years of imprisonment with the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Filed by the ombudsman in March 2018, all the cases stemmed from the two BI officials’ alleged extortion of P50 million from the Macau-based gambling tycoon in exchange for the release of 1,316 Chinese nationals working at his Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga.
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/793058/2-killed-including-allegedly-drunk-cop-who-opened-fire-inside-the-mpd-hq/story/ |
Two police officers were killed Friday night, including an allegedly drunk cop who started indiscriminately shooting inside the Manila Police District (MPD) headquarters, according to Mai Bermudez’s report on “24 Oras Weekend.”
[Two people were shot during that indiscriminate firing.]
The allegedly drunk police officer was identified as Police Executive Master Sergeant Reynante Dipasupil of the MPD Police Intelligence Operation Unit.
The other fatality was identified as Police Executive Master Seargent Romeo Cantal while Police Staff Sergeant Reynaldo Coldova was injured.
Francisco said Dipasupil was not on duty on Friday evening. However, he insisted on retrieving a weapon from his office.
[He’s assigned to the DPIOU. He was very drunk. Although initial investigation showed that the DPIOU office was closed, he broke into the room.]
[He broke the doors down and took a rifle. He also had his service firearm on him, but we've now recovered all of the weapons.]
Based on the initial investigation, Dipasupil fired a weapon once, then went to the ground floor.
The suspect then fired at Francisco’s office.
[First, he went to the Office of the Director. But I had on-duty officers there, so what he did was he fired at the office's glass partition. I was not there at that time.]
Authorities are looking into the motive for the crime.
A drunk cop began firing inside MPD headquarters. Now he and another cop are dead. No motive so far.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/06/27/2108442/dilg-says-pnp-should-keep-out-politics-it-orders-dismissal-6-cops |
With the 2022 polls approaching, the Department of the Interior and Local Government reminded the Philippine National Police to stay away from politics as it dismissed from the service six police officers over the illegal arrest of a vice-mayor in 2017.
In a statement sent to reporters, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año reminded the police force to remain non-partisan public servants.
“We have been saying this: No one is above the law. The dismissal of these cops is a warning to the entire PNP to be non-partisan especially during the election season,” he said.
A Napolcom investigation found that the six indeed committed grave misconduct and grave irregularities in the performance of their duties, according to the Interior chief.
The Napolcom also found their misdeeds to be election-related as then-vice mayor Garcia-Yulo was a political rival of then-Moises Padilla Mayor Magdaleno Peña in the 2019 elections.
In 2017, Garcia-Yulo and her husband Felix Mathias Feria Yulo were driving along Barangay Crossing Magallon in Moises Padilla when they were signaled to halt for a vehicular search by the six cops headed by Reloj.
The couple claimed they were illegally accosted and harassed by the officers, who belonged to the Moises Padilla town police.
The six dismissed were accused of conducting an illegal checkpoint, performing unlawful arrest upon the Yulo couple, and performing an illegal search and seizure of the vehicle of the couple in violation of the 2013 PNP Police Operational Procedures.
"The search performed by the respondents on the complainants was unlawful because aside from violations of the PNP Police Operational Procedures, they also failed to prove the area where the checkpoint was placed was within their immediate control," Año said.
Año in his statement called on the PNP as well as politicians to learn from the Garcia-Yulo case, which he said was classified as "political harassment."
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1451942/ex-soldier-charged-for-shooting-couple-over-stray-goat-in-zamboanga-city |
Ex-soldier shoots two people because they complained about his goats eating from their garden. The woman is dead but the man remains in critical condition.A retired soldier is facing murder and frustrated murder charges after he shot a couple who complained about his goat that strayed into their vegetable garden.
Police Major Albin Cabayacruz, commanding officer of the Zamboanga City Police Station 7, said Rozalino Epat Garig, 67, a retired member of the Philippine Army who lived in Purok 2, Barangay Malagutay here, got very angry when his attention was called by Maria Corazon Bernardo Antonio, 34; and her husband Joseph Delos Santos Antonio, 37, about his goat that went to the couple’s garden.
Garig reportedly got mad and rushed to the Antonio couple’s house in Zone 4, Lumbang, Barangay Dulian at 10 a.m. on June 24, while the latter were celebrating the Feast of St. John.
“Garig was a subject of complaints by the couple due to his unattended goats foraging in their vegetable garden,” said Cabayacruz. “There was a heated argument between the suspect and the victims. Out of his anger, Garig shot the couple several times using his caliber 45 pistol.”
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/06/27/news/regions/sk-chairman-nabbed-in-drug-buy-bust/1804797 |
Agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested a Sangguniang Kabataan (SK/Youth Council) chairman in a buy-bust in Barangay Fishing Village, Malita town in Davao Occidental on Friday.
The PDEA regional office identified the suspect as Jeric Jeff Albino Ongayo, 22, SK chairman of the barangay.
Seized during the operation were a gram of suspected shabu worth about P14,000 and the buy-bust money. Also confiscated were a unit of.38 revolver and bullets.
Ongayo will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act of 2013.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1145204 |
The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has found Mayor Alicia Mori of Caraga, Davao Oriental guilty of simple neglect of duty.
The verdict stemmed from a Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) case against Mori for failure to comply with President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to clear roads of illegal structures and obstructions.
According to the decision of Ombudsman Samuel Martirez dated March 10, 2021, Año said “the Ombudsman found Mori guilty of simple neglect of duty with the penalty of reprimand pursuant to Section 10 (b) of the Ombudsman Administrative Order No. 17, Series of 2003 with a stern warning that a repetition of the same act shall be dealt with more severely.”
Mori was found accountable for neglecting her duties as a local chief executive as evidenced by records that show that the local government unit (LGU) of Caraga, Davao Oriental lacked any ordinance on road clearing, one of the major indicators in the DILG compliance assessment.
Authorities have arrested an incumbent barangay councilman of Barangay Baracbac Oeste in Balaoan town in La Union province in an anti-illegal drug operation in this town.In an interview on Monday, San Fabian Police officer-in-charge Maj. Ramil Mendioro identified the suspect as Bernard Olveña, 31, who was arrested on Sunday evening at Barangay Cayanga here.“A buy-bust operation was conducted by personnel of San Fabian police in coordination with Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Ilocos regional office against the suspect resulting in his arrest and the confiscation of one piece of a heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet containing suspected shabu,” he said.Mendioro said Olveña’s name was mentioned by some of the arrested individuals in their previous anti-illegal drugs operations.“He was monitored and became the subject of this operation. He was considered a high-value individual because of his position,” he said.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/06/30/2109044/barangay-captain-survives-gun-attack |
A barangay captain in Laguna was wounded in a gun attack yesterday.
Police said Arvin Manguiat, chairman of Barangay Palo Alto in Calamba City, was driving his Toyota Innova when unidentified men in a sport utility vehicle and a motorcycle blocked his vehicle in Barangay Paciano and opened fire.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=tl&u=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/30/21/barangay-kagawad-patay-sa-pananambang-sa-basilan&prev=search&pto=aue |
A barangay councilor died after an ambush in Barangay San Rafael in Isabela City in Basilan, Tuesday night.
The victim was identified as Hadji Ibnu Amerin, a councilor of Barangay Lukbutun in the city and also a businessman.
According to the investigation, Amerin was driving his truck when unidentified assailants shot him.
The victim sustained a bullet wound to the jaw and died while being rushed to a hospital in Zamboanga City.
Authorities are continuing to conduct an investigation to determine the motive and identity of the culprits.
Two men armed with handguns killed a councilman in a remote village of Midsayap town in Cotabato province on Tuesday afternoon (June 29).
Lt. Colonel Rolly Oranza, Midsayap police chief, identified the victim as Parocan Dilangalen, 51, of Bual Sur village.
Dilangalen was driving his motorbike heading for home from the town center at past 5 p.m. when two men on separate motorbikes were seen tailing him.
As he was near his home, one of the two men opened fire, hitting Dilangalen in his back and the bullets pierced through his chest, Oranza said.
Dilangalen was rushed to a hospital in the town where he died several hours later.
Oranza said initial investigation established that Dilangalen’s killing could be connected to a dispute over land pitting him and an unidentified family in the village.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1453687/junked-complaints-vs-teacher-accused-of-joining-npa-ops-proves-admins-harassment-solon |
The Sandiganbayan has found a former Samar provincial administrator guilty of misappropriating PHP76,000 to wages of "ghost" job order employees in 2005.
In its 64-page decision written by Associate Justice Kevin Narce B. Vivero dated June 25 and recently published online, the anti-graft court's Sixth Division sentenced Romeo Chan Reales to six to 10 years in jail for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and another two to eight years for the crime of malversation through falsification of public documents.
He was also required to pay the provincial government of Samar PHP75,000 plus interest in civil liability.
The court noted that investigation showed that 25 job order workers listed on the time book and payroll of the provincial government were nothing but "ghost names".
The court noted that the "poorly controlled environment at Samar's provincial capitol enabled OIC-Provincial Administrator Reales to add fictitious persons to the payroll, put them forward for payment each period and stash away their wages."
"Taking advantage of the situation required less creativity and more devilry," the court said.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/07/01/2109477/over-200-cops-penalized-not-going-court-hearings |
The Philippine National Police penalized more than 200 police officers for failing to appear in court hearings for cases filed against suspects arrested in various police operations across the country, its chief said.
In a report cited by Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management said that the 211 police officers face penalties ranging from verbal reprimand to dismissal from service.
Of the 211 erring officers:
- 83 were dismissed from the service
- 31 were demoted to lower police ranks
- 92 were suspended temporarily
- 5 were reprimanded.
The report comes after Eleazar’s order to account for personnel who skipped court hearings or those who neglected their duty to testify in court from January 2020 to June 3, 2021.
"Our mandate as police [officers] does not end with arresting those who break the law. It is the duty of our police to attend the hearings of the case especially if they are summoned by the court or they are the arresting officer themselves," said Eleazar.
"Effective law enforcement demands that criminal elements are not only arrested but are also punished through conviction. So policemen who can’t justify why they failed to appear in court to testify will definitely face administrative cases," he added.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2021/06/30/2109051/laguna-cops-teens-slay-sacked |
Calabarzon police director Brig. Gen. Eliseo Cruz yesterday ordered the relief of 11 intelligence officers of the Laguna police in connection with the death of 16-year-old Johndy Helis and his companion Antonio Dalit in a drug sting in Biñan City on June 16.
Cruz said the policemen, who are facing pre-charge investigation for grave irregularity, were detailed at the personnel holding and accounting unit.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Eliseo Cruz, Calabarzon police director, said Capts. Emiliano Camama of Malvar, Batangas; Ruffy Taduyo of Pagsanjan, Laguna, and Ricky Gonzales of General Emilio Aguinaldo, Cavite were relieved from their posts for non-compliance with Eleazar’s Intensified Cleanliness Policy.
Camama was not wearing proper police uniform and failed to recognize his superior, who made a surprise visit to the police station.
Gonzales was sacked under the principle of command responsibility after one of his men was involved in indiscriminate firing.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/06/02/2109191/pnp-vows-full-cooperation-nbi-probe-alleged-abduction-cops |
The chief of the Philippine National Police, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, on Wednesday said the organization will fully cooperate with the National Bureau of Investigation's probe into the alleged kidnapping of three persons by Manila cops.
Eleazar said the case stemmed from allegations made by two kidnapping suspects that it was actually policemen behind the abduction of 23-year-old Rexcell John Hipolito, 21-year-old Ronald Jae Dizon, and 18-year-old Ivan Serrano.
The two kidnapping suspects are brothers who claim that they are police assets who pinpoint drug offenders to the police and that they identified the three kidnap victims as marijuana peddlers, Eleazar added. They further claimed that they were with the policemen when they took the three already-dead victims from their neighborhood in Sta. Cruz, Manila, last April.
The brothers are in the custody of the NBI, Eleazar said, adding that they might be placed under the government’s witness protection program.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1453807/pnp-inspectors-find-local-station-gone-to-the-dogs |
A group of internal affairs officers from the Philippine National Police was shocked to find dog turd among other unsightly scenes inside a police station in Mandaue City in Cebu during a surprise inspection last weekend.
The team from the regional PNP Internal Affairs Services (IAS) was appalled to learn that only the station’s deputy commander and three other officers, or barely 10 percent of the 45 personnel assigned to the city’s Police Station 1 were present.
“It’s more important to keep our stations neat and orderly with a sufficient number of policemen so it wouldn’t be embarrassing and the public would not hesitate to approach us,” Eleazar said in a statement.
When members of the IAS inspection team visited the station at 2 p.m. last Saturday, they saw clothes hung to dry inside the office, an empty bottle of an alcoholic drink, and improperly labeled garbage bins. The canine excrement completed the squalid scene.
The inspectors also saw that the desk officer on duty wasn’t properly wearing his face mask and had no face shield on.