The God Culture: Did the 3 Magi in the Gospel Come From the Philippines?

Did the three wisemen or magi in the Gospel account of Matthew sail all the way from the Philippines to visit baby Jesus? Timothy Jay Schwab of the God Culture says so. Let's take a closer look at the evidence Tim offers. Then we will take a look at scripture and see what it has to say. Tim has a few videos on this subject but we will be concentrating on his book Solomon's Treasure which he claims is "the monumental case for the Philippines no one can disprove."

The Search for King Solomon's Treasure pg. 229

Psalm 72:10-15 KJV

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised.

This is King David’s prophetic prayer of his coming lineage but he is far more detailed than given credit if one simply reads the passage. When you read this chapter in the Catholic Bible, it begins with brackets boxing in a false paradigm from the start reading “[Of Solomon].” We take major issue with such thinking as it is proven wrong multiple times in context easily. King Solomon never had all kings nor all nations serve him. Only the Kings of Arabia paid him tribute (1 Kings 10:15) not the whole world in any sense even the known world of his day. Solomon could not “save the souls” of the needy nor could he “redeem their soul,” those are Messianic qualities reserved exclusively for the Son of Yahuah God. Prayer is not being made for Solomon continually as he’s dead but Messiah and only Messiah is praised daily not Solomon. In other words, there is absolutely nothing about the passage which identifies Solomon. This is Jesus(Yahusha).

Where do these kings originate who will bring Messiah gifts after His birth? Tarshish, the isles (Ophir, isles of the East), Sheba and Seba. Seba has a derivative in Hebrew in Saba or Sabah now in Malaysia but formerly part of the Philippines or really, Sheba. By definition, Seba is assimilated as a territory, in this context, by Sheba. We now know where these lands are as all of them identify the modern Philippines. Ophir is Luzon, Sheba is Visayas with Seba as it’s territory or Sabah, and Tarshish is Mindanao. It was the Land of Creation named Elda, rebranded Havilah after Havah’s curse of childbirth and after the Flood, the land of gold. They brought gold, frankincense and myrrh just as the Queen of Sheba brought the same when she gave to the Temple project and these are the ancient elements used in Adam’s very first sacrifice which is why they matter specifically.

pg. 230-231

Tim's thesis is that the Philippines is Tarshish, Sheba, and Seba. Therefore the kings in Psalm 72 came from the Philippines. But because the Psalm is a prophecy of Jesus Christ that means this is a prophecy of the three wisemen in Matthew 2 who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the young Jesus. According to this Psalm there were actually six kings who visited Jesus and not the traditional three.

This passage also addresses the number of Wise Kings, yes kings, who came after Messiah’s birth. With the list provided in David’s prophecy in Psalm 72, we know that there were more than three kings however. There were at least six kings total. So, why would Hopkins narrow that down to three in his song? Actually, this fits the precedent established in scripture as ancient Ophir was divided into three territories just as it is today – Ophir as Luzon, Sheba as Visayas with Seba/Sabah and thirdly, Tarshish as Mindanao.

pg. 239-240

Because these visitors were from the Philippines that means they brought back knowledge of Jesus Christ and thus Filipinos knew about Him before the arrival of the Spaniards.

Certainly, the lines sounded good as Magellan explained Jesus because the ancient Ophirian well- knew it was their ancestors who brought Messiah gifts after His birth. However, follow this through logically a little further and you will realize the Philippines already knew Jesus(Yahusha) long before the Roman Catholics or really, Holy Roman Empire came.

p. 242

That the magi came from the Philippines also explains why the focus of the Christmas season in the Philippines is not a tree but a star.

In fact, has anyone ever wondered why the Philippines has the longest Christmas celebration on earth at over three months? That, too, predates Catholicism as we already established Ophirians knew Jesus(Yahusha) personally and directly from the time He was two years of age as the Kings brought Him offerings. When one looks at the actual birthdate of Messiah which we prove to be the Feast of Shavuot/Pentecost known as the Day of Covenant Renewal in basically early June, you will notice a pattern here. That is the culmination of the Spring Feasts of the Bible which begin in the first Hebrew month with the Passover season and end in the Feast of Shavuot, the birth of Messiah. Though they are celebrating the wrong time of year thanks to Catholicism, Filipinos appear to continue this tradition of a three-month celebration ending with the Birth of Messiah when their ancestors observed the sign in the sky of the Star of Bethlehem. 

This is also why we believe this practice is likely rooted in the Spring Feast celebration of three months. Further support for this comes from the parol, a giant five-pointed star, which is the center of the Filipino celebration and not the Christmas Tree which Jeremiah 10 rebukes as pagan along with it’s six or eight-pointed star of Remphan. It would be no surprise the land of the Wise Kings would have the longest celebration of Messiah’s birth even commemorating the three kings in the very end.

This celebration may have been Catholicized over the years but it is not Catholic in origin and actually appears to have truly Biblical ancient roots. 

pg. 242-243

There is absolutely no evidence that Filipinos were celebrating a 4 month long celebration at the end of the year to honor the birth of Jesus Christ before the Spanish arrived. Notice that Tim makes that claim but offers no proof. Likewise the tradition of the parol does not pre-date the Spanish.

The word paról is the modern Filipino spelling of the original Spanish name farol, meaning "lantern". In the native languages, parol and lanterns in general are also known as paritaan.

The tradition of the parol dates back to the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. It is a local adaptation of the Hispanic tradition of carrying small light sources (like torches, candles, or braziers) during the nine-day Christmas Novena procession leading up to the midnight mass (called Simbang Gabi in the Philippines).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parol

All of this is dependent on Tim's interpretation of Psalm 72. Right away we can see that Tim has a wrong analysis of this Psalm. First of all the heading on the Psalm, For Solomon, is not an addition by the Catholic Church. It is an original part of the Psalm which is found even in the Septuagint. This is indeed a prayer by David for his son Solomon. It is also a prophecy of Christ. Solomon is a type of Christ. In fact the Catholic Church does teach that this Psalm is a prophecy of the 3 wise men.

It is unnecessary here to remark how foolishly this passage has been wrested in the Church of Rome. They chant this verse as referring to the philosophers or wise men who came to worship Christ; as if, indeed, it were in their power of philosophers to make kings all upon a sudden; and in addition to this, to change the quarters of the world, to make of the east the south or the west.

https://www.studylight.org/commentary/psalms/72-10.html#verse-cal

Writing in the mid-1500's Calvin tells us that the Church of Rome taught the same thing Tim is teaching. The one exception being that no mention of the Philippines is made. Calvin says they, along with Tim, are wrong because Tarshish, Sheba, and Seba are not to the East which is where the three wisemen came from. 

If it could be proven definitively that Tarshish is not the Philippines then Timothy Jay Schwab's system will come crashing down. Tim offers a lot of proofs that Tarshish is to the East and is identified as the same as Ophir.

The Search for King Solomon's Treasure pg. 118

2 Chronicles 9:21 KJV

For the king’s ships (Solomon’s) went to Tarshish (Ophir) with the servants of Huram (Hiram King of Tyre) EVERY 3 YEARS, once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, silver, Ivory and apes and peacocks.

Solomon’s navy traversed far to reach these precious isles of gold – Ophir. One of the other names for this same region of Ophir is Tarshish which is fully and indisputably equated with Ophir in many passages. Is this because the writers of Kings and Chronicles disagree with each other? Not at all for they are the same place generally. In addition to 2 Chronicles 9, there are several scriptures which identify Tarshish especially the ships of Tarshish and they equate it to Ophir. The ships of Tarshish go to Ophir for gold and Tarshish for silver but both in the same area.

pg. 118

It is factually wrong that Ophir and Tarshish are equated as being the same region. Let's compare two passages which seem to make that equation.

1 Kings 22:48 KJV

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

2 Chronicles 20:36 KJV

And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Eziongeber.

p. 118-119

The same story is being told in both chapters. But they are each radically different. Before we analyze these verses let's see what the scripture has to say about the location of Tarshish. The book of Jonah establishes that the route to Tarshish lay west of Israel. Here is what Tim has to say about that.

One of the first objections we hear from Pastors and scholars is that Jonah travelled West to go to Tarshish. However, they are lacking the full context of the time. The Red Sea port was broken by Yahuah just before Jonah’s time in the days of King Jehoshaphat who attempted to replicate Solomon’s trip to Ophir. No such trip occurred and with the port destroyed by Yahuah, there was only one route left for the Ships of Tarshish to return to Ophir from Israel – through the Mediterranean Sea. A much longer journey indeed, they were there and not Eziongeber none-the-less according to Jonah.

1 Kings 22:48 KJV

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

Psalm 48:7 KJV

Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.

Now with proper context we can read the story of Jonah and understand it. Jonah is very direct in supporting that Tarshish is in the East ultimately certainly not in Spain nor Britain which do not fit Tarshish on many levels. Tarshish is in the same place as Ophir, a 3-year round trip journey from the Red Sea to the East and they would both have to prove they are Ophir as well. Notice how deliberate Jonah is in this account. It will make one realize just how brilliantly the Bible is written in fact and how foolish man’s attempts at interpretation can be at times.

Jonah 1:1-3 KJV

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

It is true Joppa is on the West Coast of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea and Jonah boarded a ship there which was headed to the Biblical Tarshish. However, since when does the Bible ever disagree with itself? We have found never. All such supposed contradictions are from those who are challenged in their understanding so let us not blame that on the Bible. They are all easily explained. This is one of those cases. Was Jonah seeking the most efficient route here? Was he a merchant? No. Jonah was running from Yahuah and he wanted to go as far as possible. So, he chose a ship heading to the Far East. Notice, he is going to a physical Tarshish as well and also remember, there is no Red Sea Port option in this era as it was destroyed. 

pg. 119-121

Tim's solution is that the port in Eziongeber was destroyed therefore the only route east was to sail from Joppa. Now, this presupposes that this ship was going to circumnavigate Africa to get to the Philippines. But that is impossible because there is no record of anyone ever making that trip. Ancient maps don't show a Southern Africa. There is one and only one account of such a voyage. It is recorded by Herodotus and they went the other way from east to west. I wrote to Frank Romer, whose translation of Pomponius Mela Tim uses, and asked him whether there was any proof that the Greeks circumnavigated Africa to trade in the east. Here is his response:

As to your question 2: I know of no such evidence on this question either. The earliest info about the circumnavigation of Africa indicates that the Egyptians under Necho II did it from East to West, but that’s it, with no indication that any kind of trade followed. There is no evidence, material or literary, known to me that the Greeks themselves circumnavigated Africa and traded directly with the Philippines.

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-god-culture-scholars-speak.html 

There simply is no record of anyone, let alone Filipinos in their balangays, circumnavigating Africa to trade with Tyre. 

This is a lie

Both Isaiah and Ezekiel tell us that Tarshish traded with Tyre.

Isaiah 23:1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 

Ezekiel 27: 1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 

2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;

3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.

12 Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs

Since no one was circumnavigating Africa to trade with Greece and Israel it means Tarshish must be located within the Mediterranean Basin. Now we can properly analyze 1 Kings 22:48 and 2 Chronicles 20:36. As I mentioned they both tell the same story but the details are different. Here are two commentaries which offer clarity on the matter.

To make ships to go to Tarshish.—In 1Kings 22:48-49, we read: “Jehoshaphat made ships (i.e., a fleet) of Tarshish, to go to Ophir for gold; and it went not; for the ships were broken (i.e., wrecked) in Ezion-geber. Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships; and Jehoshaphat consented not.” There is no mention of a previous alliance and partnership in the ship-building with Ahaziah. Moreover, the expression of our text, “ships to go to Tarshish,” appears to be an erroneous paraphrase of “ships of Tarshish,” or “Tarshish-men,” as we might say; a phrase which really means, vessels built for long sea-voyages. According to Kings, the ships were built “to go to Ophir for gold;” in other words, to renew Solomon’s traffic with India from the port on the Red Sea.

To go to Tarshish. This clause, even if the text is not corrupt, yet cannot mean what it seems to say; but in the word "to go" (Hebrew, לָלֶכֶת) must mean, of the sort that were wont to go to Tarshish, i.e. that were used for the Tarshish trade. We are guided to some such explanation by 1 Kings 22:48, where it is said the ships were "ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir" (1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chronicles 8:18). That the ships could not be to go to Tarshish is plain from the fact of the place, Ezion-geber (2 Chronicles 8:17, 18; 1 Kings 9:26), on the Red Sea, where they were built.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/2_chronicles/20-36.htm

I am under no delusion that the above comments will satisfy Tim. However if we take into account that Jonah was fleeing to Tarshish from the west coast of Israel, that Tarshish traded with Tyre, and the fact that there is absolutely no record of any robust trade route which circumnavigated Africa then it becomes clear that the two solutions are likely correct. Ships of Tarshish, meaning a type or class of vessel, were being built to go to Ophir not that ships were being built in the South to go to Tarshish in the East. Thus Tarshish and Ophir are not the same place.

I know Tim will bring up the fact that the Spanish were looking for Tarshish in East Asia. But so what? Just because they were looking for it there and just because Magellan thought he found it in the Philippines does not make it so. Our guide here is the scriptures and not the treasure hunting schemes of the Spaniards. 

The other two places mentioned in Psalm 72 and which Tim claims are the Philippines are Sheba and Seba. According to Tim Sheba is Cebu and Seba is Sabah. However, this is wrong. According to the Septuagint the proper designation of these places is Arabia and Saba.

The kings of Tharsis, and the isles, shall bring presents: the kings of the Arabians and Saba shall offer gifts.

https://biblehub.com/sep/psalms/72.htm

This is pretty much an agreed upon thing. It is only Tim who breaks the consensus and says Sheba and Seba, as well as Tarshish, are the Philippines. The fact that he thinks the Septuagint is a fraud is of no consequence because it was found at Qumran and it is the only text which preserves Cainan in Genesis 11.

The Septuagint is Egyptian, uh, frauds. They were not temple priests. There were no temple priests in Egypt at that time.

Answers in First Enoch Part 10: Bible History of the Garden of Eden. Affirming Enoch's Geography

Everything about that statement is simply wrong. The Septuagint was found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls and represents an older form of the Hebrew text.

The discovery among the scrolls of Hebrew biblical texts that agreed closely with the Septuagint Greek also changed the way scholars viewed that translation. Certain books of the Old Testament, notably Jeremiah and 1 Samuel, had long been known to have some significant differences from the Hebrew Masoretic Text. Many suspected the Septuagint translators as being responsible for these differences. The Scrolls clarified, however, that the Septuagint translators had, for the most part, translated the Hebrew in front of them straightforwardly. The more significant differences between portions of the Septuagint and the Masoretic Text were due to differences in different Hebrew editions of the biblical books, not the activity of the translators.  

https://stpaulcenter.com/the-dead-sea-scrolls/

The Septuagint is also cited in the New Testament. Therefore calling it a fraud means the Gospels and letters of Paul are fraudulent.

What would natives of Sheba be called? The answer is Sabeans. We encounter this nomenclature twice in the KJV.

Isaiah 45:14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.

Job 1:15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.

The Sabeans stole Job's livestock and they are described as being men of stature and are mentioned along with Egypt and Ethiopia. Are Filipinos men of stature? No they are generally short. Did Filipinos sail to wherever Job lived and raid his animals? Of course not.

Seba is mentioned with Egypt and Ethiopia, and must therefore have been a southern people. In Isaiah 45:14 we meet with the gentilic form, (csebha'im) (Sabaeim), rendered "Sabaeans," who are described as "men of stature" (i.e. tall), and were to come over to Cyrus in chains, and acknowledge that God was in him-their merchandise, and that of the Ethiopians, and the labor of Egypt, were to be his.

https://bibleatlas.org/seba.htm

It turns out the word Sabeans in Isaiah and Job is the same word as Sheba in Psalm 72.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7614/kjv/wlc/0-1/

A nation in southern Arabia? No kidding! Sheba is not in the Philippines. This pretty much seals the deal. And guess what? In Solomon's Gold Timothy Jay Schwab never investigates the meaning of H7614!

The absence of this word from his book shows he is not doing deep research. Tim had an agenda. He watched videos that claimed the Philippines is Ophir and then he decided those videos were not good enough so he wanted to strengthen the case. That is what he said in an interview.

Well you know the amazing thing was is my wife is Filipina and we travel to the Philippines rather often and being here I was looking into different channels on Youtube I believe is where I saw this first.  There was a video "Philippines is Ophir" and I thought wow I know what Ophir is and but I've never seen anybody prove the location of Ophir. So I look at it and of course it's like most videos. It's a good video, it's a great claim but you leave the video thinking, maybe. And we're at a point, because we're a research group it's not just me, and we're at a point in our lives where we want to prove things.  We want to see things proven out completely. And that's what we set out to do. 

https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-god-culture-biography-of-timothy.html 

"That's what we set out to do." That is not how a researcher works. A real researcher lets the data shape his conclusions and not the other way around. What we see time and time again is how Tim twists everything to fit his preconceived notions. Now, I know Tim will bluster against this article and his fans, if they read it, won't care, but the fact is the Bible never locates Tarshish, Sheba, or Seba to the Far East in the Philippines. They are close at hand to Israel. 

Retards in the Government 255

It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.

  

https://mb.com.ph/2022/04/15/bgy-councilman-6-others-nabbed-over-illegal-cockfighting-in-pangasinan/

A barangay councilman and six others were apprehended for their alleged involvement in ‘tupada’ (Illegal cock fighting )in Brgy Pangalangan, San Carlos City on Thursday.

Virgilio Mondares, 61, councilman of Brgy Pangalangan, San Carlos City, along with Romy Ventura, 50, Ernesto Benitez, 63, pot maker; Dionisio De Guzman, 69, Marlon Soriano, 43, a construction worker, and Elmar Jimenez, 20, vendor, were arrested for taking part in the illegal cockfighting.

The Pangasinan Provincial Police Office reported it had confiscated one live fighting cock, four dead fighting cocks, one gaff and money bets of different denominations amounting to P1750.

A barangay councilor has been arrested for illegal cockfighting.

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1926484/cebu/local-news/dismissed-malabuyoc-village-chief-to-appeal-ombud-decision-to-continue-running-for-mayor

THE village chief of Sto. Nino, Malabuyoc vows to continue her campaign for the town's top post even as she is facing dismissal and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

In a statement posted on her Facebook page, Sto. Nino village chief and Malabuyoc mayoral candidate Erlinda Piedad said the dismissal order against her is not yet final, as she recently filed an appeal before the anti-graft office.

(I will accept every criticism imposed on me. But for the people of Malabuyoc, Edang is still here to accept it. But it does not mean that I will no longer seek the mayorship. We will continue to fight to defend the poor)

Piedad, however, accused her political rivals of orchestrating her dismissal.

Piedad is running for mayor against town councilor Daisy "Daya" Lim-Creus, the wife of Malabuyoc Mayor Lito Narciso Creus.

Piedad, incumbent barangay councilor Luz Quiñones and former councilor Randy Quiñones were found guilty by the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for illegally disbursing around P50,000 of their village funds supposedly for the conduct of socio-cultural activities including the holding of games and dance and singing contests in 2014.

A dismissed  village chief is seeking to have her conviction overturned. She is also running for mayor even though she faces perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

https://mb.com.ph/2022/04/19/rizal-mayoralty-candidate-nabbed-for-alleged-involvement-in-murder-of-town-councilor/

A mayoralty candidate and incumbent vice mayor of Rizal, Cagayan was arrested by agents of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Philippine National Police ( PNP ) in Quezon City Monday afternoon, April 18, in connection with the murder of a town councilor in 2018.

The Cagayan Provincial Information Office reported Tuesday that incumbent vice mayor Joel Ruma has been charged in connection with the murder of Sangguniang Bayan Member Alfredo Alvarez who was shot dead in Tuguegarao City in 2018.

Aside from Ruma, other suspects in the killing who are objects of manhunt operation are Simeon Baloran, Jessie Labang, Dalden Guiwayan, Jose Batang and Jocel Sacayle .

Based on the information obtained by the CPIO at the PNP Kamuning Police Station (PS 10), the said official was cornered near the El Jardin 2 President Condominium, Sgt. Esguerra, Brgy South Triangle, Quezon City at around 4:00 p.m. last Monday.

Ruma’s arrest was based on the murder case he is facing (case number 23026) and also on the validity of the Warrant of Arrest issued by Judge Vilma Pauig of the RTC Second Judicial Region in Tuguegarao.

No bail was recommended for Ruma who is temporarily detained at CIDG Camp Crame .

Among the basis of his alleged involvement in the crime was the security camera footage near the crime scene that Labang and Baloran were responsible for the murder of SB Alvarez. The two were then serving as security aides of then Mayor Joel Ruma.

A candidate for mayor has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder of a town councilor.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1584911/breaking-shots-fired-in-ka-leodys-visit-to-manobo-tribe-ancestral-land-in-bukidnon

Several gunshots were fired against the camp of presidential candidate and labor leader Ka Leody de Guzman when they visited the ancestral land of the Manobo tribe in Quezon, Bukidnon on Tuesday, the Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) confirmed.

In a statement, PLM said that the meeting of De Guzman and his slate with the leaders of the Manobo-Pulangiyon tribe in Barangay Butong were disturbed by gunshots.

There were injured individuals during the shooting incident, PLM said. In a tweet, De Guzman said that two individuals sustained gunshot wounds — farmer group organizer Nanie Abela who was just beside the presidential bet when the shooting happened, and a leader of the Manobo-Pulangiyon tribe.

It seems there was an assassination attempt against Ka Leody while out on the campaign trail.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1584536/bacolod-court-finds-2-army-personnel-guilty-for-death-of-bayan-muna-coordinator

A Bacolod Court has found two Army soldiers guilty of the murder of Benjamin Bayles, Bayan Muna coordinator and a member of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.

In a decision made public Monday, the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court Branch 42 meted the penalty of up to 40 years imprisonment against Rafael Cordova a.k.a. Roger Bajon, and Reygine G. Laus a.k.a. Ronnie Caurino.

Bajon and Caurino were also ordered to pay the heirs of Bayles a total of P300,000 for civil, moral, and exemplary damages.

Bayles was shot to death on June 14, 2010, in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental, by two men wearing helmets and sweatshirts on board a black motorcycle.

One of the witnesses, John Rey Mayongue, said they were on their way home when they noticed a motorcycle stopped by on the side of the road where they were supposed to pass. 

He positively identified Bajon as the first who shot Bayles.

“I saw Benie jerking, falling in the canal…He just continues firing,” the witness said adding that Caurino followed Bajon and also started shooting at Bayles.

His testimony was corroborated by another witness, a tricycle driver who was also in the area when the incident happened.

As it turned out, as early as April, there were soldiers inquiring about Bayles and the witness also identified both Bajon and Caurino.

Both the accused, who admitted being members of the Intelligence Division of the Philippine Army denied involvement in the killing.

They said they were on leave from June 11 t 14, 2010, and were passing along Kabankalan City when they were stopped and arrested by the police.

Two soldiers have been convicted of killing a coordinator of Bayan Muna. It appears he was the target of a months long manhunt and was taken out. It seems impossible that the top brass of the AFP would have no knowledge of this operation.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1585172/nbi-files-graft-raps-vs-ex-philhealth-prez-10-other-execs

The National Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a graft complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman against the former president and 10 other executives of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) over alleged irregularities in its accreditation process.

Among the respondents was former PhilHealth president and CEO Dr. Celestina Ma. Jude dela Serna, who was sacked by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2018 for her lavish travel expenses and allowances.

Also included in the complaint were PhilHealth National Capital Region vice president Dennis Mas and officers Dr. Nenita Epifania Balbuena, Dr. Imelda Trinidad de Vera-Pe, Dr. Janice Gem Perlas, Dr. Rofien Ison, Diode Lantora, Yasser Ismail Abbas, Allan de Villa, Dr. Alejandro Perez and Jeffrey Pe.

They were charged with violating of Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and Republic Act No. 6713, more known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The NBI’s Anti-Graft Division said the case was based on a complaint filed in May 2017 by Dr. Leilani Mercado-Asis, who accused the officials of the corruption-plagued state health agency of arbitrarily disapproving the renewal of her accreditation as a “health-care provider.”

It said Asis claimed that she was not given due process when PhilHealth rejected her application supposedly based on an administrative case filed against her before the state insurer’s prosecution department.

The NBI said it later discovered that there was no pending complaint against Asis.

The NBI has filed charges against the former president of PhilHealth and 10 other executives over irregularities in their accreditation process.

https://www-remate-ph.translate.goog/ex-mayor-nanlaban-patay/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ex-mayor-nanlaban-patay&_x_tr_sl=tl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

The former mayor of Wao town died after allegedly fighting with the authorities.

The deceased was identified as William Comayog who is also the current barangay chairman of Inudaran Tagoloan II.

Based on the investigation, the National Bureau of Investigation filed an arrest warrant against Comayog for violating the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulations Act.

When they entered the suspect's residence, they allegedly fired at the authorities with an M79 grenade launcher and M-16 rifle.

It was here that authorities retaliated resulting in the death of the suspect, while a member of the operative was wounded.

Various types of high-powered firearms and ammunition were recovered from the suspect's residence.

Comayog is also the alleged leader of the Gandawali group that was allegedly behind the ambush on seven PDEA-BARMM agents in October 2018.

An ex-mayor who was behind the killing of 5 PDEA agents in 2018 died after engaging in a firefight with the NBI.

Coronavirus Lockdown: COVID-19 Vaccines "Will Buy You Freedom to Move Around", Cases Continue to Drop, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

The public has been told they need to learn to live with new variants.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171815

The emergence of different Covid-19 variants would always pose a threat and it is up to the people on how they will follow precautions and efforts to reduce transmissions.

Vaccine expert panel chair, Dr. Nina Gloriani, said Friday the world must have learned to live with the coronavirus disease 2019 by now.

“(It’s up to us on how we could prevent the increase in cases. While there are still cases, even if they go down, the transmission has always point of beginnings, its multiplications, the mutations of the virus),” Gloriani said in a virtual public briefing.

Gloriani said the recombinant Omicron XE variant, reportedly detected in the United Kingdom, is about 10 percent more transmissible than its Omicron parent, BA.2, but its biological mutation activity and behavioral characteristics are still being studied.

Translation: COVID is here to stay but any increase in cases is to be blamed solely on the public for not following health protocols. The DOH is preparing for a surge in cases after the election.

https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/4/14/COVID-19-surge-May-elections.html

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday warned of a possible spike in COVID-19 cases in the middle of May if Filipinos continue to disregard health protocols, saying it could surpass the infections recorded during the Omicron variant surge in January.

The compliance to minimum public health standards (MPHS), such as social distancing and proper wearing of face masks, declined by 12% in Metro Manila and 7% nationwide in March and April, according to the sub-Technical Working Group on Data Analytics (sTWG DA) and the Feasibility Analysis of Syndromic Surveillance using Spatio-temporal Epidemiological Modeler for Early Detection of Diseases (FASSSTER) Team.

Based on the disease models, a 20% decrease in MPHS compliance at the national level could lead to around 34,788 active cases with over 564 of these as severe and 267 as critical in mid-May; while a 30% decrease in MPHS compliance might bring the cases up further to as high as 300,000 over the same time period.

Despite the grim projections, the DOH said this is not cast in stone and it can be prevented if Filipinos wear proper fitting masks, isolate when they have flu-like symptoms, complete their COVID-19 shots and booster dose, and stay in well-ventilated areas.

"The good news is, at this point, these are all still projections," she pointed out. "We can still avert these estimates in favor of better scenarios. We can all do our part to help stop transmission and mutation of the virus."

Why are they making these kind of calculations? How are they helpful and not just more fear mongering and blame tossing? If the public are the blame for an increase in cases because they are not complying with MPHS then aren't those who are supposed to enforce those rules even more to blame?

Remember how the government took out a lot of loans to fight the virus? It's going to take 40 years to pay off that debt.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1583691/covid-19-debt-payoff-to-take-2-generations

It will take 40 years, or about two generations, to repay the P1.31 trillion in foreign debt that the Duterte administration incurred for the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Finance (DOF) said on Saturday.

Repaying the debts that piled up due to COVID-19 “will require a fiscal consolidation program and improved revenue collection,” said retired Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, now the DOF’s chief economist, in an economic bulletin.

As of January, the Philippines borrowed $25.7 billion (about P1.31 trillion) from banks and bilateral partners, but most of the P1.31-trillion debt were sovereign bonds, amounting to P559.1 billion, that will mature over the next years until 2060.

This should make us all feel better about our personal debts.

COVID-19 cases in the Philippines continue to drop with only 1,571 new cases being recorded last week.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172445

The number of new Covid-19 cases continues to decline nationwide with an average daily case of 224 for the week of April 12 to 18, a health official said Tuesday.

The recent average is 17 percent lower than last week’s 271, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media forum.

The country’s total tally of new cases for the same week is 1,571.

“Sa kasalukuyang bilang ng ating (In our current number of our) active cases, 18,672 [for] the asymptomatic or has mild symptoms while the number of severe and critical cases has gone down to 1,251. The positivity rate remains at 1.6 percent,” Vergeire said.

But at the same time cases are also rising.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1584616/14-areas-under-alert-level-1-having-gradual-rise-in-covid-19-cases

 Fourteen areas under Alert Level 1 are seeing a “gradual rise” in COVID-19 cases, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said during the taped weekly “Talk to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday.

Duque did not enumerate the 14 areas . But he named three regions with the highest number of recorded cases from April 12 to 18: Metro Manila with 606 cases, Calabarzon with 226, and Central Luzon with 181 cases.

The top three towns or cities nationwide are Cavite City with 101 cases, Manila with 92, and Quezon City with 82.

According to Duque, this developed despite a report of the Department of Health (DOH) showing fewer cases from April 10 to 17 — a total of 1,674, which gives an average of only 239 positive cases per day nationwide.

The DOH COVID-19 Tracker also showed that only 170 new cases were recorded on Monday, April 18 — much lower than the average number of cases per day in the previous week.

Why bring attention to this trend when the overall trend is cases are declining? Could it be because want the public to still be afraid that they could get infected? Could it be because they want people to get a booster shot?

The WHO is recommending door-to-door vaccination or else cases could explode.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/18/22/many-barangays-yet-to-reach-70pct-vaccine-coverage-who

The Philippines must focus on COVID-19 vaccination to avoid a surge as COVID-19 restrictions ease and the public's mobility increases, the World Health Organization said Monday.

Many barangays have yet to reach 70 percent vaccination coverage, according to WHO representative Rajendra Yadav.

Local chief executives must reach barangays with low vaccine coverage through "last mile approach" or house-to-house or close-to-home vaccination, Yadav said.

"Whether this social mixing and increased mobility during Easter will increase cases or not depends on whether people wore masks, avoided crowds and (gathered in) fully-ventilated places," he said in a televised press briefing.

"We should not rely on number of cases to know whether we have too much COVID or not. Rather we need to focus on increasing our vaccination. Whether the numbers will increase or not, only time will tell. We should not focus too much on the numbers of cases rather the number of people vaccinated."

It is possible for the Philippines to tally up to 300,000 active cases should the public relax adherence to health protocols, Yadav said.

"We have to prove those numbers wrong that's the challenge we face. If we relax our guards, our defenses then yes it’s possible to go to those numbers," he said.

"In South Korea, which has half of the population of Philippines, already has 600,000 cases per day. The good thing is Filipinos are one of the best in wearing masks. There was some decline recently in mask-wearing--that should not happen and we have to cover our people with vaccines."

In fact vaccination "will buy you freedom."

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/20/22/covid-vaccination-key-to-moving-around-presl-adviser

COVID-19 vaccines "will buy you freedom to move around", Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said Wednesday as he urged people anew to get their COVID-19 booster shots, fearing that the low uptake rate could derail the country's pandemic recovery and waste billions of pesos worth of jab supply. 

Concepcion reiterated the protection vaccines offer and said eligible individuals should at least get the first booster dose. Government is currently preparing for the rollout of the second booster shot for the elderly and immunocompromised.

(That is what we are protecting, the wall of immunity, so our freedom to go out, dine out with friends, and travel abroad or in the Philippines would be sustained.)

"The price of that is to improve our level of immunity through vaccination and booster... Kung magsasarado tayo ulit sa Alert Level 3 or 4, then masisira yung negosyo, pati yung economy ng Pilipinas... We should realize the whole implication here," he added.

(If we will close again due to Alert Level 3 or 4, then our businesses will be affected negatively. The economy of the Philippines will be affected badly, too.)

The improving domestic economy, manifested for example by the overcapacity of tourists in Boracay over the Holy Week, affirmed Filipinos' desire for things to go back to normal, Concepcion said. 

To sustain this, he said, a high COVID-19 vaccination and booster rate should be considered. 

(Almost all of the families wanted go on vacation and Boracay is the best spot. For 2 years they were closed, and it is important to maintain our mobility. But the good thing here is that tourists are vaccinated. If they get sick, it will just be mild.)

The government really is doing all they can to push taking the shot. The economy never needed to be closed in the first place and if it happens again the government will be to blame no matter how much they try to blame the public. 

The reality is that despite the fear mongering is COVID-19 cases are down and there have never been any significant number of deaths from COVID as the death rate remains around 1% of the population and .05% of the infected. The low number of cases means there are now no more areas under lockdown.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1584619/no-more-areas-under-granular-lockdown-says-ano

There are no more areas under granular lockdown nationwide, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said during the taped weekly “Talk to the People” briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte that aired late on Monday.

“From April 10 to April 16, for the first time, there was no recorded granular lockdown in the Philippines,” Año said in Filipino.

There were six areas under lockdown during the previous week, but all had been lifted, as of April 16, according to Año.

Still, Año assured the president that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) would remain strict in implementing the minimum public health standards during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That doesn't mean there won't be more granular lockdowns. It is a tool still in the government's belt.

Unli Balut

Many restaurants in the Philippines offer unli-rice for each meal. One roadside eatery is offering unli-balut.

Sounds delicious right? Unli-balut means you can eat as many of these things as your heart desires:

But it's only unli for a limited time. You get 30 minutes!

P125 for 30 minutes of all-you-can-eat balut!  What a deal, right?  Well, too bad.  This eatery does not exist any more. Thank goodness.

Insurgency: Village Gets Electricity

In 2020 the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed. This law sought to give authorities more power to prevent terrorism. Opponents of the law said it would only lead to abuse and deprive people of their rights and freedoms.  In February of 2022 the House and Senate passed a law that would require all SIM cards to be registered as well as all require social media accounts to be registered with a real name and phone number. Supporters of the law said it would prevent terrorism while opponents said it would curtail personal freedoms. In a surprise move Duterte vetoed the law.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/04/15/2174584/duterte-rejects-bill-requiring-sim-card-social-media-account-registration

President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed the bill requiring SIM cards and social media accounts to be registered over concerns that this will “give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance.”

Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said Friday in a statement that Duterte rejected the measure over the inclusion of social media in the measure, “without providing proper guidelines and definitions thereto.”

The provision requiring social media networks to compel their users to provide their real name and phone numbers when creating accounts was inserted by lawmakers during the bicameral conference meetings on the bill and was not included in earlier versions of it.

The measure also penalizes people who use fictitious identities to register for social media accounts with a fine of up to P200,000, jail time of at least six years or both.

Lawmakers passed the measure in an attempt to address terrorism, text scams, bank fraud and defamation online, but internet freedom advocates said this bill will violate Filipinos’ right to privacy.

“It is incumbent upon the Office of the President to ensure that any statute is consistent with the demands of the Constitution, such as those which guarantee individual privacy and free speech,” Andanar said.

Despite Duterte's rejection of the bill, Andanar encouraged Congress to continue legislating measures aimed at creating a safer and more secure online environment as long as these stand judicial scrutiny.

Internet freedom and ICT rights advocacy group Democracy.Net.PH sent a petition signed by more than 61,000 individuals and groups to Duterte urging him to veto the bill.

"The bill is overly vague. It fails to provide a legal definition of 'social media' … The bill treats as crimes certain actions, such as 'trolling', 'hate speech', and 'spread of digital disinformation or fake news,' despite there being no basis to penalize these under existing Philippine penal laws," said Democracy.Net.PH director for rights Carlos Nazareno in a letter to Duterte.

Naturally, supporters of this law have already come out of the woodwork to fear monger that Duterte's veto means bombings will continue.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1583355/sotto-bombings-blackmail-scams-to-continue-with-veto-of-sim-card-bill

Bombings and scams will continue to proliferate following President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of the proposed SIM Card Registration law, Senate President Vicente Sotto III warned Friday.

“Ayos! Tuloy ang mga bombings and blackmail and scams using prepaid sims,” Sotto said in a tweet.

This, in reaction to Duterte’s decision to veto the said measure.

Bombings and scams will continue to proliferate because there is an insurgency going on and people are stupid. How many more times will I have to read about some idiot who gave his personal info to someone who texted him? 

The PNP claimed that any concerns about personal freedom and privacy were outweighed by the need to fight terrorism.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170996

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Card Registration Act will not infringe on the privacy of subscribers and will only serve as an extra layer of protection against illegal activities perpetrated through the use of mobile phones.

“If you remember before, hindi pa uso ang mga (there is no) cellphones, we use landline right and there is always a public directory that is accessible to all so what's the difference? It's the same except that we do this over our mobile phones. So wala naman siguro tayo naging problema (I guess we don't have a problem) before when it comes to privacy," Lt. Michelle Sabino, spokesperson of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) said in a presser in Camp Crame Wednesday.

She added that the benefits of the law, especially in terms of unmasking perpetrators of illegal activities such as fraud, text scams, terrorism, obscene messages, and disinformation, would outweigh the concerns of those who oppose its implementation.

To compare a cell phone to a landline is ridiculous especially these days when a cellphone is a minicomputer on which many spend their lives. Her reasoning that stopping crimes outweighs privacy goes to show how the PNP thinks. They do not care about the rights of the people which is why the PNP continually violates them. From cops who commit extortion to red-tagging activists to filing faulty warrants against said activists and then gunning them down inside their homes the PNP does not care about the rights of the people.

Contrary to the claims of Sotto and the PNP this law could have actually led to an increase in crime.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/02/09/22/sim-card-registration-could-lead-to-rise-in-crimes-warns-group

At first glance, mandatory SIM card registration looks good as it could be used to crack down on internet trolls and scammers. 

An internet rights advocacy group, however, believes there are hidden dangers behind the measure that could lead to an increase in crimes such as extortion and even kidnappings. 

Democracy.net.ph team member Carlos Nazareno said SIM card registration in countries such as Canada has been a failure after consultants said they could not find any proof that it increased security.

He noted that in Mexico, the SIM Card Registration Act was enacted in 2009 and then repealed in 2012 after crime increased because of the law. Instead of deterring crime, he said the law became an incentive for criminals to steal cellular phones for the SIM cards. 

"Actually crime increased, that’s what happened in Mexico. So kidnappings, extortion calls, and assaults on civilians aimed at stealing cellular equipment increased in Mexico," he said in an ANC Rundown interview. 

He noted that extortions and even kidnappings increased after SIM card registration data was leaked on the internet. 

"In Mexico the registry got leaked to the internet and sold on the black market. I think it was sold for around 500 Mexican pesos which is about P1250. So ganoon kamura umikot siya sa internet," he said. 

Nazareno expressed concerns about the Philippines’ capacity to keep a secure database of information obtained from Filipinos who register their SIM cards. 

“In 2016 we had a Come-leak,” he said, referring to how the website of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) website was hacked a little more than a month shortly before the presidential elections that year.

“So the danger here is that when you put information in a central repository, and you can’t secure it, there’s the danger of stuff leaking. And I don’t think--it is very difficult for many companies to guarantee 100 percent security. Kasi, magagaling ang hackers eh.”

“If a company like Facebook with billions of dollars at its disposal wasn’t able to secure the data of people around the world…papano pa 'yung smaller companies? And let’s say entities sa Philippine government, ‘di ba?” he said.

“Imagine, if you need to register with your real name online, and your children create social media accounts, there’s a risk that their real names will be exposed to strangers on the internet. It opens them to harassment, doxing, scams, possibly kidnapping and even online sexual predators.”

“So let’s say you’re a parent, are you really going to let your kid go around giving their real name on the internet to strangers?” he said.

He also stressed that there are other steps that can be taken—aside from passing the SIM Card Registration Act—to crack down on cybercrime.

“What has to be done is due process. The (Philippine National Police), (National Bureau of Investigation), they need to get warrants from courts, serve the subpoenas to internet providers, social media providers, get the IP addresses, geolocations.”

It seems no one in this nation respects due process. Everyone accused is guilty and has to prove their innocence. Rather than having everyone register their SIM card and social media account the government needs to keep whittling away at the insurgency. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172226

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino has ordered units to intensify their focused military operations against the New People's Army's (NPA) extortion activities.

In a statement Wednesday, Centino said this would prevent the NPA from recovering from its defeats and prevent it from recruiting new members and committing atrocities.

"Let us continue to address the resource generation of the CTG (communist terrorist group) by stopping its extortion activities and seizing their firearms, ammunition, and other war materials," he said, adding that this would expedite the end of the local communist armed conflict in the country.

On April 11, the AFP seized during operations 22 high-powered firearms from NPA fighters in Agusan del Sur.

The 60th Infantry Battalion (60IB) of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Agila discovered 10 AK-47 automatic rifles, seven M-16 rifles, a light machine gun, an M-14 automatic rifle, M-79 grenade launcher, Garand rifle, and another M-16 rifle in Bagul River, Kasapa II, La Paz, Agusan del Sur.

The location of the arms cache was disclosed by an alias "Bolo", a former NPA rebel who recently surrendered to the Army.

The NPA's Guerilla Front 3 (GF3) secretary Maximo Catarata alias "Datu Makatindog" surrendered to the 60IB on March 31.

The AFP says in Southern Mindnao there are only 2 weakened fronts left.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172211

Southern Mindanao only has two remaining "weakened" communist guerrilla units, enabling the Army's 10th Infantry Division (10ID) to focus on Barangay Development Program (BDP) initiatives.

In a press conference here Wednesday, Capt. Mark Tito, 10ID spokesperson, said the collapse of New People's Army (NPA) structures in its areas of responsibility has given the military the time to focus on "more productive aspects."

These include, he said, enhancing territorial defense" to protect the country's sovereignty.

"It is important that we continue to sustain these accomplishments of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The BDP shall be implemented properly, so we can make sure that issues will not resurface and may cause revival of insurgency," Tito said.

According to Tito, the Barangay Development Program plays a vital role in the ending of local communist conflict "because of its sole purpose: good governance."

BDP is a hallmark program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the whole-of-nation approach to attain inclusive and sustainable peace. 

It's debatable that the Barangay Development Program creates "good governance" but this week it pulled a village into the modern world.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171962

A remote tribal village in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte finally got its own electricity over the weekend after the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) partnered with other government agencies to secure solar lights.

Residents of Sitio Baboy-Baboy, Barangay Camagong, Nasipit, also received a four-day training on basic solar power installation to be able to maintain the lights themselves, PTF-ELCAC officials said.

In a statement Monday, TESDA-ADN Director Rey Cueva said the residents installed the solar lights Sunday following the April 4-7 training, benefiting at least 36 Higaonon families in the village.

Cueva said the lack of access to electricity remains one of the basic challenges in far-flung areas such as Sitio Baboy-Baboy, which the military described as under the influence of the communist New People's Army (NPA).

It's hard to imagine that in the year 2022 there are communities in this nation without electricity. Providing the people with services so basic such as clean water, roads, and electricity should not be a job for the NTF-ELCAC. Development should be ongoing. If the government did its job without any corruption things could get done. As it is foreign NGO's are providing better services to the people than the government.