It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
A drunk 30-year-old special action police officer was arrested after he fired his gun indiscriminately in front of a videoke bar just an hour before the New Year celebrations in Bagabag town in Nueva Vizcaya province.
Arrested was Patrolman Loreto Padual Abrio, a member of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force-145th Special Action Company based in Lamut, Ifugao, and a native of Mercedes village in Eastern Samar Province, said Police Major Oscar Abrogena, Bagabag police chief.
Bagabag police responded to Barangay (village) Tuao North after receiving a phone call from a villager that a man wearing civilian clothes fired a gun.
Abrio, who was apparently drunk, was seen roaming in front of the videoke bar.
He was accosted and bodily searched.
He yielded his service caliber 9mm gun.
A spent bullet was also found, aside from a magazine with 13 bullets, inside his sling bag.
Abrio was placed under the custody of Bagabag police while paraffin and ballistics tests are being readied prior to the filing of administrative charges for the illegal discharge of his gun.
A PNP-SAF member has been arrested for indiscriminate firing on New Year's Eve.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1711279/cop-arrested-for-shooting-wounding-2-persons-in-cabanatuan-city |
A police officer was arrested after he shot two persons with his service firearm in this city on New Year’s day.
Patrolman Andres Quibuyen III was arrested in Barangay (village) Aduas Centro at around 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1.
He is detailed at the Philippine National Police’s Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) in Camp Crame.
Responding police officers seized a firearm from the suspect.
“Initial investigation revealed the suspect who is under the influence of intoxicating liquor shot the victims with the use of a short firearm,” the local police reported.
The reason for the shooting was not stated in the report.
Meanwhile, victims Arapat Pandodum, 26, and Salman Mama, 28, of Barangay Rizdelis, also in this city, were being treated in a local hospital, police said.
A formal complaint for double frustrated homicide was filed against Quibuyen before the city prosecutor’s office.
A police officer has been arrested for shooting to people on New Year's Day.
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| https://www-philstar-com.translate.goog/pilipino-star-ngayon/metro/2023/01/02/2234766/miyembro-ng-pcg-arestado-sa-indiscriminate-firing?_x_tr_sl=tl&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |
A member of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) went to jail after being involved in the indiscriminate firing during the New Year's celebration in Quezon City last night.
Based on the report of the Pasong Putik Police Station, under the leadership of PLTCOL Vicente Bumalay Jr., the suspect was identified as Ferdinand Bagundol, 40, a PCG member assigned to the General Services Division, Coast Guard Base Parola, and a resident of Brgy. Happiness, Quezon City.
PS-16 personnel were said to be on patrol when they found the suspect, who appeared to be drunk, while firing his gun several times around 8:37 pm in front of Block 8 Lot 16, Don Ramon St., Hobart Subd. , Brgy. Happiness, Quezon City.
The authorities immediately arrested the suspect and brought him to the precinct.
A .99 caliber pistol, two magazines with seven bullets and seven fired cartridge cases were recovered from him.
The suspect is now in custody and will be charged with violation of RA 10591 or The Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.
A member of the coast guard has been arrested for indiscriminate firing on New Years.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1712298/abalos-seeks-courtesy-resignation-of-all-pnp-colonels-generals-amid-possible-drug-links |
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. has called on all colonels and generals of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to submit their courtesy resignations, amid fears that high-ranking officials are already linked to the drug trade.
In a surprising move announced in a Wednesday press conference, Abalos said that asking for the courtesy resignation of PNP officials may be the quickest way for the country to address the drug menace that has infiltrated the police force.
(It appears that the problem is big within the police organization, as there are generals and colonels involved in the illegal drug trade. According to the recommendation from PNP and other police officers, I am calling on all full colonel up to all generals for them to submit a courtesy resignation.)
(I know this is sudden, but this is the only way to make a fresh start. We will do something drastic, it is a very radical approach to this problem, but I do believe we must cleanse our ranks.)
Abalos said that a committee of five would be tasked to review the profile of the officials who would submit a courtesy resignation. While their courtesy resignation is still under review by the committee, the officials would still function in respect to their current assignments.
Once the committee approves the resignation, only then would the officials concerned be removed from the service.
“There will be a committee of five formed, this committee would filter each official. For the meantime, their work continues and they should not worry because if they are really clean, there’s no problem. We can fix this, it’s only a few of them who are involved, but they are in critical positions,” Abalos said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“This is how it works: the courtesy resignations — if they would hand out courtesy resignations — they should not worry because they would work until the resignation is accepted. If it is accepted, then only then would they cease working, it will go through a committee of five,” he added.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief has not yet named who would be the five personalities that would form the said committee, but he assured that he will not be part of it.
“The committee will be the one to go through the records, regarding who is involved and who is not. I mean, you’ve heard Senator Bato (dela Rosa) when he said that there are still ninja cops in the service, there are such comments, and I would say yes, it’s true,” Abalos said.
“Maybe with this, we can start fresh in trusting the PNP. My trust with the PNP is there, I’ve been working with the PNP, I’ve seen men in uniform, women in uniform risking their lives. It will be unfair to them (if PNP is dragged down by ninja cops),” he added.
Abalos also clarified that this is not a mandatory order, saying that he is “appealing” to the colonels and generals to make the move.
DILG Secretary Abalos has asked all PNP leadership to resign because of increasing corruption within the ranks.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1712831/pnp-chief-azurin-other-top-officials-submit-courtesy-resignations |
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. and other members of his command group have heeded the appeal of Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and submitted their courtesy resignations.
Azurin did not name the other top PNP officials but confirmed the courtesy resignation of their organization's number two man, Deputy Chief for Administration (DCA) Lt. Gen. Rodel Sermonio.
"Yes, actually, all of us here, my command group, we have already submitted. Honestly, DCA (Deputy Chief for Administration) was even ahead of me. On the record, my command group was the first to submit to me," he said.
"And the surprising thing is, even DG-IAS (Inspector General - Internal Affairs Service) will be submitting as well," he added.
This developed a day after Abalos asked PNP generals and colonels to vacate their posts – a surprising move aimed at eliminating police officers allegedly involved in illegal drugs.
According to Azurin, he met with the other PNP colonels and generals and "there were commitments" to tender their courtesy resignation.
Still, the PNP chief clarified that filing of courtesy resignation is not compulsory.
"So that means you can feel that the senior officials, the generals, they are willing to be subjected to an assessment because what is that, it's just repeated accusations in our ranks, and this must stop once and for all," he said.
"'Those who submitted, of course we talked about it yesterday, didn't we, there were commitments, because those of you who attended the conference yesterday, I listened to that one by one. I said let's set aside those ranks, be open, because what's that, that's a career, so it's voluntary," he added.
PNP leadership has heeded the call to resign voluntarily but this will certainly not end corruption within the ranks.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/05/ex-village-exec-shot-dead-in-pangasinan/ |
A former barangay official was shot dead inside his vehicle in Rosales, Pangasinan on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
The victim was identified as Bryan Trinidad Did, 51, of Barangay Toboy, Asingan, Pangasinan.
Police received a report that a Sports Utility Vehicle was causing traffic on the Don Teofilo Sison Bridge.
Lawmen found the victim with bullet wounds in the body. He was taken to a hospital in Rosales where he was declared dead.
Motive yet to be determined and assailants still unidentified.
A former barangay official has been assassinated.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/01/01/2234555/ombudsman-indicts-more-public-officials-2022 |
Work seemed to have gone back to normal at the Office of the Ombudsman as it was able to indict more public officials before the Sandiganbayan in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Based on third quarter data, the Sandiganbayan Judicial Records Division received 209 cases from the ombudsman from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30 this year, breaching the 163 cases filed by the ombudsman in 2021. The Sandiganbayan is yet to release its fourth quarter data for 2022.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires had earlier admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic hampered the agency’s investigative work and resolution of cases because of a series of closures of its main office and regional offices after a big number of employees tested positive for the virus.
The ombudsman filed a measly 117 cases at the Sandiganbayan in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic. It was the agency’s lowest feat since 2007 when only 93 cases were filed under then ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
As in previous years, 2022 recorded the most number of cases filed with 104 for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act while 86 for malversation of public funds.
Meanwhile, 13 were appealed cases which were originally decided by regional trial courts before being elevated to the Sandiganbayan.
Among the cases lodged by the ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan in 2022 were graft charges against over 40 officials of the Bureau of Immigration in connection with the so-called pastillas scam, wherein143 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese, were allowed entry into the country from 2017 to 2020 without undergoing immigration procedures supposedly in exchange for money.
The Ombudsman indicted more people in 2022 than in the past two years since the pandemic began.
