It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Four cops have be accused of robbery and extortion.Four police personnel of Muntinlupa City Police Station are under investigation after allegedly robbing and extorting money from a couple in Barangay Putatan.
In a statement issued Thursday, the Southern Police District (SPD) identified suspects PSMS. Leoren Elomina Javier, 42; PCpl. Cris Callie Sulit Cruz, 34; PCpl. Jenniel Sumawang Calica, 33; and Pat. Jon Louie Esparagoza Peña, 29.
Based on SPD’s report, the suspects entered the victim’s home in Soldiers Hills Village, Barangay Putatan, past midnight on April 4, looking for her husband. The police officers then threatened to arrest the victim for violating the Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 if her partner failed to appear before them.
While waiting for her husband, one of the suspects forced the victim to open her GCash account, after which they transferred P50,000 to one of their accounts. The SPD said they also took cash amounting to P380,000 inside a travel bag and P9,000 from the victim’s backpack.
It added that when the victim’s partner arrived, the suspects confronted him and asked the couple to withdraw more cash from their ATM account but failed to do so since machines were offline at that time. The police officers threatened to arrest the couple again and asked them to send another P50,000 to their GCash account.
Moreover, the suspects took another P8,000 inside the victim’s motorcycle compartment before leaving.
According to SPD, the police suspects are currently restricted from leaving the Makati City Police Station during the pendency of a robbery-extortion complaint against them.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1753864/village-official-nabbed-in-quezon-on-drug-charges |
Police arrested a barangay kagawad (village councilor) in an anti-illegal operation on Good Friday in Mulanay town in Quezon province.
The Quezon police said in a report that anti-illegal drugs operatives, armed with a search warrant issued on April 4 by Judge Maria Chona Pulgar-Navarro of the Regional Trial Court in Gumaca town, swooped down around 3:30 p.m. on the house of Marvin Rejano, 43, a councilor in Barangay Butanyog.
Police arrested Rejano after they found a sachet of shabu (crystal meth) with a street value of P16,320 during the raid.
The police tagged the suspect as a “high-value” target in the government’s war against illegal drugs.
Rejano is under police custody and will face a complaint for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
A village councilor has been busted on drug charges.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1754000/outrage-cry-for-justice-ring-as-davao-de-oro-college-exec-gunned-down-in-tagum-city |
An official of a local government-run college in Davao de Oro province was shot dead by a lone gunman in this city on Black Saturday.
Colleagues and students of Mark Aldhrin Daquio were shocked and saddened following his murder in Barangay Magugpo South past 9 a.m.
Daquio was the guidance counselor of Kolehiyo Ng Pantukan (KNP), a tertiary institution run by the municipality of Pantukan in Davao de Oro province.
Lt. Col. Edgardo Bernardo, acting Tagum City police chief, told Inquirer by phone the incident happened as the victim was meeting with a lesbian woman who was selling a motorcycle unit to him outside an eatery along Mabini Street at around 9:30 a.m.
The police official said the victim was browsing the papers of the motor vehicle he was planning to buy when a man walked up to him, pulled a handgun and shot him twice on the head before speeding off on a motorcycle.
Daquio died at the scene.
An executive working for a government run college was gunned down by an unknown assassin.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1754074/pangasinan-towns-entire-fire-dept-axed |
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Ilocos Region (Region 1) has relieved the station head and entire force of Pozorrubio town, Pangasinan’s fire department four days after a midnight fire gutted three houses and killed a family of five.
Senior Fire Officer 3 Amante Clemente Battalao took over the station from SFO4 Randy Fabro, the fire marshal, who was relieved of his duty on April 4.
Battalao, in a phone interview on Saturday, said he received the order for him to assume the position three days ago from the BFP regional headquarters.
He also said Fabro returned to the BFP regional headquarters while the investigation was ongoing.
He added that seven other firemen from different towns were relieved along with Fabro.
Guico cited reports that the firemen were having a drinking spree when the fire broke out.
He also said that the BFP responded late although the houses were located just a kilometer away from the fire station.
“Firetrucks from two neighbor towns were there first before them. Then the [Pozorrubio fire] truck allegedly had no water, and the firemen were not even wearing boots but slippers,” he said.
Guico said he has called up Pozorrubio town Mayor Kelvin Chan who informed him that the local government would also conduct its own investigation.
“The relatives of the fire victims are crying for justice,” he said.
A whole fire brigade has been relieved because of gross negligence.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/497829/2-village-execs-slain-in-separate-gun-attacks-in-maguindanao |
A village councilman and his wife were shot dead by still unidentified gunmen on Sunday morning in this town, a day after a village chairperson of Sultan Kudarat province was slain in an ambush in Maguindanao del Sur.
Abdulmalik Uban, 50, village councilor of Barangay Polloc in this town, died instantly while his wife Salma Uban, 48, expired at the hospital after they were shot by two gunmen along Rizal Avenue, Parang public market in Barangay Poblacion 2, according to Major Christopher Cabugwang, Parang municipal police chief.
He said his office had organized a Special Investigation Task Force to conduct a thorough investigation and identify the suspects.
“We assure the victims’ families that justice will be done,” Cabugwang said in a statement.
He said Uban and his wife just arrived at the public market on board a red Toyota Vios when two men approached them and opened fire. A closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the shooting already spread on social media.
Uban won the elections as the village councilor with the second highest number of votes. He moved to the spot of the number one councilor after the latter took over as village chair, following the killing of Abubakar Abdul, the elected village chair, in January this year, also in Parang.
In Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, unidentified gunmen ambushed a village chairperson of Lebak, Sultan Kudarat on Saturday, April 8, after he arrived in town to visit an ailing relative.
Danny Angkay, chairperson of Barangay Salaman, Lebak, Sultan Kudarat and companions were together in a minivan bound for Lebak when attacked by motorcycle riding gunmen along the Cotabato-Isulan national highway.
Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, director of police regional office in the Bangsamoro, said he had ordered the investigation of the twin incidents that happened during the holy week celebrations.
Two local officials in Mindanao have been assassinated in separate incidents.
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| https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/04/11/2257901/sixth-village-chief-slain-barangay-sk-elections-near |
The barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are still six months away, yet several village leaders have already been killed in separate attacks around the country, mostly in Mindanao.
The latest fatality was Tonesa Sarudin, chief of Barangay Mindupok in Maitum town, Sarangani. She died from a gunshot to the head, police said.
Sarudin was the fourth barangay captain to be killed in Mindanao and the sixth in the country since January.
She died instantly after a lone assailant shot her within the premises of the barangay hall, according to Brig. Gen. Jamili Macaraeg, Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos) police director.
The assailant fled in a waiting motorcycle.
Another Barangay chief has been assassinated.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/10/abalos-asks-pnp-general-9-others-to-go-on-leave-over-massive-cover-up-in-p6-7-b-shabu-haul-in-manila |
Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos ordered at least 10 police officials, including an officer with a rank of one-star general to go on leave while the investigation on what he describes as a massive attempt to cover up the arrest of a cop who was tagged in the 990 kilos of shabu seized in Manila last year.
The police officials whom Abalos has asked to go on leave were seen in a video footage that was captured apparently before the supposed arrest of Police Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo, Jr.
The highest ranking officer, Police Lt. Gen. Benjamin Santos, has already retired from the service in last month.
“All those in the video should take a leavce of absence pending the investigation of the task force which I created to look into this. If not, we will be constraint to issue appropriate orders for their preventive suspension pending investigation,” said Abalos.
Ten cops have been placed on leave pending an investigation into thier role of covering up the rest of a cop involved in drugs.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1755318/off-duty-cop-slain-in-cotabato-ambush |
Unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed on Tuesday an off-duty police officer while he was driving along the national highway in Kabacan, Cotabato.
Colonel Harold Ramos, Cotabato provincial police director, identified the officer as Staff Sargeant Abejay Dandan, a member of the police’s provincial drug enforcement unit, who resides in Carmen, Cotabato.
Dandan, 35, was driving his black Toyota Innova when ambushed at 8:05 p.m. on April 11 in Barangay Katidtuan.
The suspects, who were on board an SUV and who used assault rifles in killing Dandan, immediately sped away after the attack.
Dandan’s son and a house help who were with him, were left unharmed.
Ramos said there was a similar attempt years back on the life of Dandan but he survived.
A cop who survived an assassination attempt years ago has been assassinated.
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| https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/04/12/2258372/cop-jailed-beating-poking-pistol-girlfriend |
A police corporal landed in jail for badly mauling a girlfriend and aiming a pistol at her nape as she grimaced in pain that netizens caught on video that went viral on Facebook.
Cpl. Louie Jay Lumancas of the Magpet Municipal Police Station attacked her girlfriend, Shaira Basmayor Kahar, in Canapia Subdivision in Kidapawan City late Monday.
He was immediately arrested by responding personnel of the Kidapawan City Police Office who, along with other emergency responders, rushed the badly beaten woman to a hospital.
Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, director of the Police Regional Office 12, told reporters Wednesday he had ordered the filing of separate criminal and administrative cases against Lumancas.
Various cause-oriented blocs of women in central Mindanao had urged the police to immediately prosecute the suspect for violation of Republic Act 9262, also known as the state’s Violence Against Women and Children’s Act.
People privy to the incident told reporters the drunken Lumancas first confronted Kahar over her alleged dealings with a suitor before he started punching her in the face and different parts of her body.
Lumancas also repeatedly hit Kahar's face with his right knee before he grabbed her hair and aimed a pistol on her forehead.
A cop has been arrested for beating his girlfriend.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/12/ex-qc-mayor-bautista-then-city-administrator-cuna-charged-in-2-graft-cases-before-sandiganbayan |
Former Quezon City mayor Herbert “Bistek” M. Bautista and then city administrator Aldrin C. Cuña have been charged with two counts of graft before the Sandiganbayan for alleged irregular implementation of projects amounting to P57.4 million when they were city officials.
The two cases were filed by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB).
The first case, which was assigned to the anti-graft court’s third division, involved the P25.34 million paid to Cygnet Energy and Power Asia, Inc.
The criminal charge sheet stated that Bautista and Cuña made the full payment to Cygnet for the Supply and Installation of Solar Power System and Waterproofing Works for Civic Center Building.
Cygnet, however, was allegedly not entitled to the payment for its reported failure to secure the Net Metering System from the Manila Electric Company which was a requirement of the Supply and Delivery Agreement.
The second case went to the seventh division. It involved the payment of P32.1 million to Geodata Solutions, Inc. for online occupational permitting and tracking system.
But the charge stated that there was no appropriate ordinance from the Sangguniang Panglungsod nor was there complete delivery of the products procured.
The OMB recommended bail of P90,000 for each of the two cases.
The former Mayor and City Administrator of Quezon City have been charged with two counts of graft in two separate cases for the irregular implemntation of projects.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2023/04/12/2258376/700-bilibid-guards-replaced-part-prison-reform |
Corrections Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. has replaced the guards manning the New Bilibid Prison’s Maximum Security Compound after he received reports of misdeameanors while on duty.
State-run PTV4 also reported that Catapang, a former military general, also assigned Supt. Purification Hari as the NBP MaxSeCom chief, replacing CInsp. Lucio Guevarra, who was acting superintendent.
MaxSeCom houses inmates serving prison sentences of longer than 20 years.
In his speech during the ceremonies on Wednesday morning, Catapang said that the 700 prison guards who were replaced will undergo re-training and will be assigned to other prison and penal farms.
The training, which will be in a classroom setup, will also include a refresher on the rules and regulations of the bureau. It will be conducted by international prison reforms expert Prof. Raymund Narag of Southern Illinois University.
Catapang said he has not seen improvement in their handling of MaxSeCom. "I still receive information of misdemeanors," he also said, adding that some of them also do not go on duty but have someone sign their attendance.
Replacing them are 300 prison guards who will be provided with bodycams.
700 Bilibid guards have been reassigned and will undergo training because they are corrupt and commit misdemeanors while some do not go on duty but have someone sign for them.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2023/4/13/ex-iloilo-city-mayor-councilor-charged-with-graft-before-sandiganbayan |
Former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick E. Mabilog and incumbent Councilor Plaridel C. Nava II have been charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan for creating a towing company that was granted a contract by the city government.
The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) charged Mabilog and Nava with violation of Section 3(h) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Bail of P90,000 was recommended for each of them.
Section 3(h) prohibits a government official from having financial or pecuniary interest "in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity."
In filing the criminal charge, OMB prosecutors said that Mabilog contributed P500,000 as initial capital for the formation of 3L Towing Services and issued business and mayor's permits even without the application of Leny B. Garcia, the alleged dummy owner of the firm.
Nava, on the other hand, was charged for scouting suppliers of wheel clamps from China. He also allegedly prepared the documents for 3L Towing Services' registration with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
The OMB said that the firm was eventually awarded the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Iloilo City government to undertake clamping and towing of illegally parked vehicles within its territorial jurisdiction without competitive process.
Thus, the OMB accused Mabilog and Nava of "intervening in their official capacity" for 3L Towing Services to enter into a MOA with Iloilo City, "all to the detriment of public service."
The former Mayor of Iloilo City and a councilor have been charged with graft over hiring a towing company for the city that they created.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1755787/muntinlupa-court-orders-arrest-of-ex-bucor-chief-bantag-for-murder-of-bilibid-inmate |
The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court has ordered the arrest of former Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Gerald Bantag and his deputy, Ricardo Zulueta, for the death of Bilibid inmate Cristito Palana Villamor or Jun Villamor, the alleged middleman in the killing of broadcaster Percival Mabasa or Percy Lapid.Escorial was presented to the media on October 18, 2022, where he mentioned that the order to kill Lapid came from someone inside Bilibid.
Barely a week later, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Villamor has died.
An independent autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Raquel Fortun based on evidence suggested that Villamor may have suffocated from a plastic bag over his head.
Bantag and Zulueta are both indicted for two counts of murder each–for the death of Villamor and Lapid.
The murder case in connection with the death of Lapid is pending before the Las Piñas Court.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1755840/pdeg-head-domingo-relieved-from-post-after-alleged-cover-up-of-anti-drug-cops-arrest |
Police Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo, head of the Philippine National Police – Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), has been relieved of his post, according to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo.
Fajardo, in a text message to INQUIRER.net on Thursday, confirmed that Domingo was relieved as PDEG Director.
“Yes po he was relieved as Director, PDEG,” Fajardo said.
Fajardo also said that Brig. Gen. Faro Antonio Olaguera, who used to head the PNP Legal Service, would replace Domingo.
Domingo was dragged into controversy after his name surfaced as one of the high-ranking police officials who allegedly tried to cover up the arrest of anti-narcotics operative Police M/Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo in October, 2022.
Mayo was apprehended during an anti-drug raid in Tondo, Manila, where 990 kilograms of crystal meth or shabu, with a street value of P6.7 billion, were seized.
Last Monday, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. shared closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of Domingo and other high-ranking police officials entering an establishment where Mayo and several bags and luggage were brought.
After a discussion between Domingo and the other high-ranking police officials, Col. Michael Angelo C. Salmingo and Col. Julian Olonan who were part of the group, joined Mayo in a vehicle.
Abalos then asked 10 police officials involved, including Domingo, to go on leave. Domingo, for his part denied any cover-up, assuring the leadership that they would comply with the order.
