It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Five barangay officials were arrested in Zamboanga del Sur province for two counts of violation of the Omnibus Election Code, a police official said Thursday.
Col. John Francis Encinareal, director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), said the suspects were arrested through a warrant, in Barangay Dulop, Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur on Thursday morning.
Encinareal identified the arrested village officials as Ismael Españo, 71, the barangay chairperson of Dulop; barangay councilors Ronald Amamangpang, 40, Edgar Sarajena, 46, and Juliana Maputi, 41; and barangay treasurer Evelyn Amamangpang, 36.
He said the case against the village officials stems from their alleged involvement in vote-buying during the May 9, 2022 elections.
However, Encinareal did not say who the five arrested barangay officials have campaigned for and supported during the polls.
He said the court of Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, which issued the arrest order dated August 19, has set the bail for each of the accused at PHP36,000 per count.
The suspects were taken to the CIDG-Zamboanga del Sur field office for documentation and proper disposition.
Five barangay officials have been arrested for vote buying/
CONTRARY to his earlier pronouncement, Isabela Municipal Police Station Chief Major Joseph Partiday said Thursday, August 25, 2022, that members of the communist terrorist group (CTG) could be behind the killing of a barangay captain in the town on Wednesday.
Barangay Cabcab Captain Danilo Dautil, 61, succumbed to gunshot wounds on his nape and right portion of his chest near his armpit at the Isabela District Hospital a few minutes after he was shot by unidentified suspects.
Investigation showed that Dautil was riding his motorcycle on his way home from the town proper when at least two suspects came out from the sugarcane plantation beside the road, blocked his way and shot him at close range.
Partidas said that they were earlier looking at two angles. The killing could be politically motivated or it could be robbery since his bag was missing from the crime scene, he said.
The police said that as they dig deeper into the case, it became clearer that it is possible that Dautil was killed because of his active involvement against insurgency in the barangay.
A barangay chief has been assassinated perhaps by the NPA but the cops don't really know.
Suspected insurgents gunned down a 54-year-old barangay chairman in front of his family in Calatrava, Negros Occidental Friday, Aug. 26.
The murder of Barangay Lalong Captain Benjamin Javoc was the second involving a barangay captain in just three days by heavily armed men in Negros Occidental.
Before dawn Wednesday, Aug. 24, Danilo Dautil, 62, barangay captain of Barangay Cabcab, Isabela, Negros Occidental, was shot dead while on his way home.
The municipality is about 100 kilometers south of Calatrava and is a two-hour drive.
Police considered Dautil and Javoc’s murders as insurgency-related.
Police Major Lumyaen Lidawan, Calatrava police chief, said at least 10 unidentified armed men arrived at Javoc’s house at around 4:30 a.m.
Lidawan said gunmen shot Javoc outside his house and this was witnessed by his wife and son.
The suspects proceeded to ransack the victim’s house and carted away his personal belongings and P20,000.
Lidawan said they are considering this killing as insurgency-related, since the barangay was reported to be infested with armed rebels.
Police could not yet elaborate, pending the investigation.
Another Barangay chief has been assassinated and the cops have blamed the NPA but they are not sure. It's a guess.
Members of the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have arrested an active police officer while gambling inside a casino in Pasay City.
In a statement Sunday, Brig. Gen. Warren De Leon, chief of the PNP-Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG), identified the cop as Maj. Rolando Isidoro, 51, is presently assigned to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Section of PNP Police Security Protection Group (PSPG).
The IMEG National Capital Region Field Unit operatives arrested Isidoro in a law enforcement operation at 6:20 p.m. on Saturday following a report from a concerned citizen that the police commissioned officer was frequently seen playing slot machines inside the casino.
The arrest was done in coordination with the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) and the Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) of the National Capital Regional Office, PNP-PSPG, and the Security Management Office of Resorts World Casino.
Isidoro will be facing charges for violation of Article 231 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to memorandum circular No. 6, series of 2016, and Republic Act 6713 aside from administrative charges.
A PNP officer has been arrested for gambling inside a casino.
The chief of police in Pilar town in this province died after he reportedly shot himself by accident at dawn on Monday, authorities said.
In a report, Colonel Romell Velasco, Bataan police director, said Major Rizaldy Rubio died while being taken to Orani District Hospital after sustaining a bullet wound to his abdomen.
Velasco said Rubio’s wife, May, reported hearing a gunshot from her husband’s room at past 4 a.m.
Rubio was staying with his family in Orani during his death.
Velasco ordered a thorough investigation to determine the circumstances around the incident.
Another PNP officer has accidentally killed himself.
A couple and a government employee were arrested with 50 grams of suspected shabu worth P340,000 during a buy-bust operation in Sitio Missionaries, Barangay Suba in Cebu City shortly after midnight on Saturday, August 27, 2022.
Leia Alcantara, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas, identified the arrested individuals as Roberto Yburan, 32, and his wife, Maide Riza, 30, and Melvin Christ Abesa, 35, who works as a Job Order employee at the Cebu City Hall.
The buy-bust operation was made at the couple’s residence.
Alcantara said Roberto and Maide are both jobless and have made illegal drug peddling allegedly their source of income. Abesa, a neighbor, works as their runner or delivery man.
The three arrested individuals are now detained at the PDEA-7 detention facility in Sudlon, Lahug while PDEA-7 prepare for the filing of appropriate charges against them.
Three people including a job order government employee have been arrested on drug charges.
Armed men killed in an ambush a town police chief in Maguindanao and a patrol car driver Tuesday morning as they were about to serve an arrest warrant on a wanted man.
Brig. Gen. John Gano Guyguyon, police director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), identified the slain police officer as Lt. Reynaldo Samson, police chief of Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The identity of the police car driver remains unknown as of posting.
The police officer and several of his men went to Barangay Kapinpilan, Ampatuan to serve a warrant of arrest against a wanted person at about 10 a.m. when they were waylaid along a dirt road.
It was not immediately clear what happened to the rest of the police team.
Witnesses said the gunmen also took the slain victims’ rifles and ammunition.
Guyguyon said a manhunt was immediately launched against the perpetrators after the incident.
Ampatuan town, the site of the infamous 2009 Maguindanao massacre located 70 km. south of this city, is known as one of the areas of operation of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
A police chief and his driver have been assassinated by armed men possibly the BIFF.
A member of the Philippine Army, who was linked to the killing of a village chief in Javier town, Leyte last week, was arrested by policemen for illegal possession of firearms in Tacloban City on Monday (August 29).
Sergeant Alexandro Calda, 33, did not resist arrest.
Lt. Nicky Bermudo, chief of the Javier Police Station, said their operatives have been monitoring Calda who was a suspect in the slaying of Joel Riños, the chairman of Barangay Inayupan, in Javier town on August 22.
The police said the suspect was identified through the aid of the closed-circuit television (CCTV), the Barangay Intelligence Network, and a witness who happened to be in the vicinity where the victim was shot dead.
Bermudo said the suspect introduced himself as a member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when the operatives came.
The suspect voluntarily opened the u-box of his vehicle where a .45 caliber pistol was sighted in plain view.
When asked by policemen to show the permits of his firearm, the suspect failed to show one.
The suspect and the confiscated items were brought to Police Station 2 of the Tacloban City Police Office for proper disposition.
A solider has been arrested for murdering a barangay captain.
A police officer and three other individuals were arrested in Quezon City for allegedly stealing copper cables.
The Eastern Police District (EPD) confirmed on Thursday that Patrolman Francis Baquiran and three others were nabbed in Barangay Cruz na Ligas on Tuesday morning.
“I will not condone nor disregard any personnel who were involved in illegal activities under my watch. We do not tolerate any misconduct and breach of discipline in the PNP organization,” EPD district director Col. Wilson Asueta said in a statement.
He assured the public that the EPD police officer, who is currently under the custody of the Quezon City Police District, will be relieved from his post if found guilty.
A PNP officer has been arrested for staling copper cables.
The Sandiganbayan has found a former mayor of Pozorrubio, Pangasinan guilty of falsification of public document for signing a marriage certificate that he did not solemnize.
In a 44-page decision promulgated on August 26, the anti-graft court said Artemio Que Chan violated Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code. He was sentenced to a minimum of two years and four months to a maximum of eight years and one day imprisonment.
The court said the accessory penalties of temporary absolute disqualification for public office and perpetual disqualification from right to suffrage were also imposed.
Chan was also directed to pay a fine of P5,000.
A former mayor has been found guilty of falsifying a marriage certificate that he did not solemnize.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has urged the management of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) to return to the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) P3 billion in dormant funds previously invested in high yield savings.
In a letter to PS-DBM OIC Atty. Jasonmer Uayan dated June 29, the COA recommended that the management “instruct the Head, Treasury Division to remit immediately the balance of High Yield Savings account of P3.000 billion to the BTr.”
Based on records reviewed by the COA, PS-DBM invested in high yield savings account with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to earn at higher interest rates than in current or savings accounts.
These investments however were already terminated in 2020. The amounts were reverted to PS-DBM’s current account with the LBP and the funds with the DBP worth P3.001 billion were reflected as “cash in bank - time deposits, local currency” in its records.
The P3.001 billion deposit earned P1.363 million in interest income. The interest income was already returned to the Treasury bureau as of March 18, 2022.
But according to COA, not just the interest but the entire P3 billion should be reverted to the national treasury’s general fund.
The agency reminded PS-DBM not to go beyond its mandate and authority.
“It is not in PS’s mandate to make investments and it has no authority to invest in High Yield Savings account. The practice of investing cash in a High Yield Savings account, therefore, deviates from its mandate of procurement of CSEs (common-used supplies and equipment) which requires the utilization of funds,” it said.
The COA has told the PS-DBM to return money it has illegally invested.
