Insurgency: Insurgency in PH to End This Year

It's official, again. The insurgency will be ending by the end of the year.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/20/23/defense-official-says-insurgency-in-ph-to-end-this-year

Senior Undersecretary Ireneo Espino of the Department of National Defense said insurgency in the Philippines will be finished before the year ends.

“The country will be insurgency free before the year ends, so that means business can be opened anywhere in the country, business can prosper,” he said.

Espino made the pronouncement during the General Membership Meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), a group of business executives in the country with more than a thousand members.

According to Espino, the only remaining insurgent group the government is focusing on is in Samar.

“As far as the insurgency fronts are concerned, there is only one remaining front being addressed by the Armed Forces and it will be addressed this quarter, the insurgency front in Samar. So basically all the insurgency fronts are already declared cleared, zero insurgent,” he adds.

Wow! That headline is very misleading. It appears the AFP has declared total victory now by saying "all the insurgency fronts are already declared cleared, zero insurgent." Except that is not the case at all. The NPA remains very active. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210846

Three fighters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (NPA) were killed in an encounter with troops of the Philippine Army's 61st Infantry Battalion (6IB) in the boundary of far-flung barangays of Leon, Iloilo on Friday.

“There were three casualties on the part of the NPA and none from the 61st IB. They recovered two M-16 armalite rifles, assorted belongings, and subversive documents,” Leon Municipal Police Station (MPS) officer-in-charge PLt. Danilo L. Noca, said in an interview.

The rebels who fought with the soldiers were members of the NPA's Sibat Platoon, Southern Front, Komiteng Rehiyon-Panay.

The encounter happened at the boundary of Barangays Cagay and Danao, approximately 1.5 to two kilometers from the last clash in Barangay Camandag on Sept. 12. 

Are these three fighters the only members of this front? Seems doubtful. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210527

A New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla was killed in an encounter with government troopers in Esperanza town, Agusan del Sur on Sunday.

In a statement Monday, the Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID) identified the slain NPA as Madagi Tumanan, a resident of Gingoog City, Misamis Oriental.

Timanan died during the clash with soldiers from the Army's 26th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Barangay Guibongon, Esperanza municipality.

“Based on the report of Lt. Col. Sandy Majarocon, the commander of 26IB, the troops encountered around five NPA rebels in the area, which resulted in the death of Tumanan and the recovery of an M16 rifle,” 4ID said in a statement.

It added that the slain rebel's remains will be turned over to his family through the Philippine National Police in Gingoog City.

 

Meanwhile, the 4ID also reported the recovery of six high-powered firearms last Sept. 22 in an encounter in Barangay Bontongon, Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.

“The troops of the 8IB clashed with seven NPA terrorists which resulted in the recovery of two firearms and an additional four others after the search and clearing operations,” the 4ID said.

The firearms included two M1 Garand rifles, a .45-caliber pistol, an M16 rifle, an M203 grenade launcher, and a .22-caliber pistol.

In addition, the troops also recovered an anti-personnel mine with a fuse and detonating cord at the vicinity of the encounter site.

Is it logical to believe these five were the ONLY NPA fighters in the entire area? Of course not. Whatever front they belong to is not insurgent free.

In the Zamboanga Peninsula there are at least 19 NPA fighters left. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1839114/military-hunts-19-remaining-npas-in-zamboanga-peninsula

The Army has assured mountain resort operators in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental of their safety amid recent encounters with communist rebels in the area.

Lt. Col. Nolasco Coderos Jr., commander of the Army’s 97th Infantry Battalion, said the armed encounters in the last few days in Sergio Osmeña and Piñan towns were due to the New People’s Army guerrillas being constricted by intensified military operations, and not due to a harassment operation.

Coderos explained that the rebels were running away from their lairs in Misamis Occidental’s side of the sprawling Malindang mountain range and had strayed into Piñan and Osmeña towns.

This gave his soldiers the opportunity to chase after the rebels who then engaged in a firefight in a bid to buy time for an escape.

Lt. Col. Jose Andre Monje, commander of the 10th Infantry Battalion operating in Misamis Occidental, said they have counted 12 remaining rebels in the province, indicating their radically weakening state.

Over at Zamboanga del Norte, Coderos said only seven rebels are trying to maintain holdouts there.

The boundaries of the two provinces host what remains of the Western Mindanao Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines, said Coderos.

Again, that is not an insurgent free NPA front. 

The AFP has warned NGOs to not support the CPP-NPA.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210810

The Visayas Command (Viscom) on Friday said non-government organizations (NGOs) aiding the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) should stop activities of raising revenues to help fund the operation of the underground movement as it will get them in trouble.

“Aiding, conspiring, and providing financial support to the terrorist group is a crime punishable under our law. For those who are doing this, we urge you to stop,” Visayas Command chief, Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, said in a statement.

The military and the police, he said, are determined to end the local communist armed conflict in the Visayas and “will not hesitate to enforce the full extent of the law to bring justice for our people who have been the victims of these nefarious acts.”

Arevalo’s statement came as the Department of Justice (DOJ) conducted Thursday a preliminary hearing against 25 members of the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET) who are facing charges of violation of the Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.

If all the fronts are insurgent free then how can anyone be supporting the CPP-NPA? It defies logic unless there are still NPA members in those fronts. 

NPA fighters are still being encouraged to surrender though a formal declaration of amnesty has not been proclaimed by President Marcos. However it appears that not only do surrendering NPA fighters get benefits but the families of NPA fighters slain in battle can also receive benefits!

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210627

The Department of Social Welfare and Development-Western Visayas (DSWD-6) has provided financial and funeral assistance to the families of the six New People’s Army (NPA) rebels who were killed in a clash with troops of the Philippine Army’s 47th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on Sept. 21.

47IB civil-military operations officer 1Lt. Charmaine Sancho on Wednesday said all bodies were identified and claimed by their respective next of kin.

Together with Kabankalan Mayor Benjie Miranda, Sancho witnessed the release of the PHP10,000 cash aid to each family representative of the five fatalities from Negros Occidental at the City Social Development Welfare Office (CSWDO) on Monday.

The fatalities, all from NPA South West Front Squad 2 of Sangay Yunit Propaganda Platoon 3, were identified as Pedro Pillar Jabalde, 31, of Barangay Malabuyucon Buenavista, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental; the squad leader initially identified as Alejo “Peter/Bravo” de los Reyes; Ruben de la Cruz Gaitan, 31,of Barangay Camansi, Kabankalan City; Bobby Totin Pedro, 28, of Barangay Tabu, Ilog; Mario Fajardo Mollon, 60, of Barangay Cabia-an, Candoni; Melisa Hiro de la Peña, 23, of Barangay Inayawan, Cauayan; and Janesa Malasabas Romano, 22, of Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City.

The release of the cash assistance for the family of the fatality from Guihungan is being processed, Sancho said.

The Kabankalan City government also provided cash assistance and food packs to Gaitan’s family, while the other local governments, where the other fatalities came from, also granted burial assistance to their families.

Troops of the 47IB clashed with the group of communist rebels, led by Jabalde, who fired at them in Sitio Lubi, Barangay Tabugon while responding to the reported presence of armed men demanding food and money from the locals.

Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, dismissed claims the soldiers committed human rights violations during the encounter, saying the operation was legitimate and welcomed any inquiry by any independent party.

“Those who died in the said encounter were top cadres of the communist-terrorist group. Their long record of notoriety is well-known in southern Negros or the CHICKS (Candoni, Hinobaan, Ilog, Cauayan, Kabankalan, and Sipalay) area,” he said in a statement on Monday. 

These six men were well known and notorious yet the government is giving their kin benefits? On what basis moral and legal is that justifiable?

Remember when the AFP declared Sulu Abu Sayyaf-free? Turns out that was wrong. 

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/09/26/regions/sayyaf-killed-9-policemen-wounded-in-sulu-encounter/1911766

An Abu Sayyaf fighter was killed and nine police commandos were wounded in a firefight Saturday in Sulu province in southern Philippines.

The fighting was the first between security forces and the pro-ISIS group following the military's declaration that the province is now free from the Abu Sayyaf.

Police forces were sent to the remote town of Panamao to serve an arrest warrant on a wanted Abu Sayyaf member Muksidal Jumadil at his hideout in the village of Seir Hagad after villagers tipped off authorities about his presence.

Jumadil opened automatic fire on the commandos, sparking a fierce battle that eventually resulted in the killing of the gunman. The wounded commandos, all members of the 7th Special Action Battalion, were rushed to a hospital. Among the wounded were a captain and two of his lieutenants.

Police said Jumadil was wanted for a string of murders in the Sulu. No other details about his criminal past were made available by the authorities. Many of the Abu Sayyaf leaders in Sulu had been killed in military and police operations and their members surrendered the past years to avail of the government's amnesty program.

Granted this is only ONE Abu Sayyaf member and he was being arrested due to a warrant for murder. But how many other ASG members remain in Sulu? Members of the BIFF, MILF, and DI remain active in Maguindanao.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1836748/maguindanao-sultan-kudarat-military-operations-kill-3

Operations by police and military forces in Maguindanao del Sur and Sultan Kudarat provinces, authorities said.

Two men from Maguindanao del Sur suspected of involvement in gunrunning activities were killed when they resisted arrest after an entrapment operation in Lambayong town, Sultan Kudarat, said Major Jethro Doligas, Lambayong police chief.

Doligas said the two gunrunners opened fire on a man they were negotiating with about 1 p.m. for the sale of two homemade sniper rifles at the national highway in Barangay Didtaras.

Doligas identified the fatalities as Abdulazis Bukakong, a suspected member of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters residing in Barangay Kulambog, and Alimudin Tayan, an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front residing in Barangay Darumpua, both in Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao del Sur.

In Ampatuan town, also in Maguindanao del Sur, military forces killed a suspected member of the Dawlah Islamiya terrorist group during a military operation.

Brigadier General Oriel Pangcog, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, identified the suspect as Merlo Mling, who was killed in a brief clash Sunday with soldiers from the 40th Infantry Battalion.

Pangcog said the clash began when Mling and his companions fired at soldiers heading toward the outskirts of Ampatuan to check on reports about the presence of gunmen in the area.

As much as the government wants to make Mindanao a tourist destination they need to face the truth that terrorism still remains a threat. 

Assassinated Businessmen July to September 2023

This is a list of assassinated businessmen for the 3rd quarter of 2023. And also some attempted assassinations. 

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/515341/businessman-killed-in-danao-personal-grudge-eyed-as-motive

A businessman engaged in distributing soft drinks was killed by still unidentified perpetrators in Danao City last Monday, July 10, 2023.

The victim was identified as Gino Pasana Durano, said Police Lt. Col. Clark Arriola, chief of the Danao City Police Station. 

Durano, 45, was a resident of Purok Calabasa, Barangay Cambubho, also in Danao City. 

Based on initial investigations from the police, residents in Purok Calabasa, Barangay Cambubho heard successive bursts of gunfire around 4:55 p.m. on Monday.

A few minutes later, some of them found Durano, bloody and lifeless on his lawn. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but physicians declared him dead on arrival. 

The victim’s neighbors immediately reported what happened to the Police Community Precinct in Barangay Lawaan, also in Danao City. 

According to Ariola, investigators are considering personal grudge as the possible motive behind the businessman’s killing in Danao. 

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/07/18/2281995/maranao-businessman-hurt-ambush-attackers-arrested

A Maranao trader who owns a mobile phone store was wounded in an ambush on Monday in Iligan City.

His three attackers were arrested by pursuing policemen an hour later.

Col. Reinante Delos Santos, acting director of the Iligan City Police Office, said Tuesday Junaid Panguinaguina is now confined in a hospital.

Panguinaguina, who is from Ramain town in Lanao del Sur, was driving his Ford Everest pick-up truck when he was attacked by three gunmen at a busy stretch of the Quezon Avenue in the center of Iligan City.

The suspects — Abdulgafor Macaraya Potawan, Aladdin Macaraya Andang and Abdulrashid Pacasum Macaraya — were cornered and arrested by personnel of the Iligan City Police Station 5 and the Iligan CPO.

Potawan, Andang and Macaraya are also from Lanao del Sur.

Police investigators told reporters Paguinaguina owns an establishment in Quezon City and sells smart phones and accessories. He frequently comes home to visit relatives in Iligan City and towns in nearby Lanao del Sur.

https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/519027/businessman-shot-dead-inside-his-house-in-cordova-town

A 42-year-old buy-and-sell businessman was shot dead by unidentified assailants inside his house in Barangay San Miguel, Cordova town, Cebu on Friday evening, July 28, 2023.

Police in its report identified the victim as Glecerio Untal Jr. of Purok 2 of this barangay in the town.

Untal was described as a businessman, who would buy and sell motorcycles.

Untal was believed to have been shot twice, which was believed to be one in the head and another one in the body.

Police Corporal Allan Vercede, desk officer at the Cordova Police Station, told CDN Digital in a phone interview, that they were still conducting a followup investigation to identify and arrest the killers and to determine the motive behind the crime.

Initial investigation showed that the victim, Untal was alone in his house in Purok 2, Barangay San Miguel when he was killed.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/2/businesswoman-shot-dead-in-ormoc-city

A businesswoman was gunned down in her house in Barangay District 1, Ormoc City, on Tuesday, August 1.

Police identified the victim as Emily Porcadilla, 55, alias “Emyat,” an “ukay-ukay” (used clothes) trader.

Initial investigation said the victim was in her room when several unidentified armed men wearing bonnets barged in and shot her several times.

Gunmen escaped on board a red van and the Ormoc City Police Office (OCPO) found the victim lying on her bed lifeless with multiple bullet wounds.

Police conducted a hot-pursuit operation against the suspects but to no avail.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/7/indian-businessman-shot-dead-in-laguna

An Indian businessman was gunned down on Thursday morning, September 7, in Barangay Silangan Kabubuhayan here.

Police identified the victim as Chahal Karnail Singh, 62, a resident of this town.

Initial investigation said that residents heard two gunshots.

Minutes later, the bloodied body of the victim was found sprawled on the road shoulder.

Singh sustained two bullet wounds that killed him on the spot.

The victim’s collection and motorcycle were reportedly missing.

Police found an empty bullet shell at the crime scene.

Investigation is ongoing.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/09/11/2295513/cotabato-merchant-shot-robbed

A merchant was shot and wounded by one of three gunmen who robbed him at gunpoint in an attack late Sunday nearby Libungan town in Cotabato. The suspects also took his sling bag containing cash.

Juan Librea Bulleque Jr., who has a rice and corn grains business and is engaged in buy-and-sell of other agricultural products from around Libungan, lost P80,000 in the incident.

Col. Harold S. Ramos, Cotabato provincial police director, on Monday said that Bulleque, who has a trading establishment in the public market of Libungan, was attacked while he was about to enter their residential yard in Barangay Kabpangi.

Witnesses told local police probers that one of Bulleque’s three attackers shot him in the upper torso when he resisted and took his sling bag as he fell as they escaped using a motorcycle parked nearby.

Ramos told reporters that personnel of the Libungan Municipal Police Station are now trying to identify the suspects for immediate prosecution.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1660838/sri-lankan-businessman-slain-in-cotabato-city-gun-attack

A Sri Lankan businessman was shot dead by a still unidentified gunman along a busy street here Thursday afternoon.

Captain Kenneth Rosales, Cotabato City police station 1 commander, identified the victim as Mohamed Rifard Mohamed Siddeek, 46, a Sri Lankan national residing in Barangay Semba of Datu Odin Sinsuat town, Maguindanao.

Colonel Querubin Manalang Jr., Cotabato City police director, said a manhunt operation is still ongoing as of this posting.

Rosales said Siddeek had just alighted from his white mini-van along Don Rufino Alonzo Avenue in Barangay Poblacion Mother when a man approached him and opened fire without provocation.

Police found empty shells for caliber .45 pistol at the crime scene that is near the city mega market which is a densely populated area.

Witnesses told police probers that the gunman quickly fled on board a motorcycle driven by an accessory.

Civilians who know the victim said Siddeek was engaged in money lending and survived a gun attack in Barangay Broce of Datu Odin Sinsuat town last year.

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/09/15/2296328/trader-captures-own-murder-facebook

A businessman was shot dead while streaming a video of himself on Facebook.

Ryan Relator, 44, a resident of Barangay Poblacion in Banga, Aklan, was recording himself while driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he was shot by unidentified men on another motorbike in front of the barangay hall of New Buswang in Kalibo town.

The video showed Relator still managed to drive after he was shot. It appeared that he fell from his motorcycle, and then gunshots were heard again.

Relator was taken to the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbukon Memorial Hospital, where he died after undergoing surgery on Wednesday.

An investigation is underway.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/24/fruit-vendor-slain-in-quezon

A 40-year-old fruit vendor was shot dead on the Maharlika Highway in Barangay Lalig, here, on Saturday afternoon, September 23.

Police identified the victim as Christopher Magbayao, a resident of Sitio Sandig, Barangay Bukal, this town.

Investigation said the victim was driving his tricycle when he was shot by a lone gunman who fled in an unknown direction.

Magbayao sustained bullet wounds and was taken to the hospital where he was declared dead.

Probers found three cartridge cases from a caliber .45 pistol in the crime scene.

Police are digging deeper into the incident and a manhunt operation against the gunman is underway.

The God Culture: 100 Lies About the Philippines: #11 The Philippines is Cattigara

Welcome back to 100 lies The God Culture teaches about the Philippines. Today's lie concerns Timothy Jay Schwab's assertion that the Philippines is Cattigara which is a place located on Ptolemy's map of the world. This lie is a direct result of Tim's unfamiliarity with all of the primary sources regarding Magellan's voyage around the world except for Pigafetta's journal.

Tim's main and only argument for this erroneous assertion is that Antonio Pigafetta recorded that they set a course for that place and landed at Samar in the Philippines. Thus all other claims are bogus.

Cattigara, Philippines. Finding the Land of Gold. Solomon's Gold Series 15C. 

18:31 So, as you see on the map here Magellan is headed not just to the Philippines but very specifically to between the 12th and 13th degree north which is known as Samar on the map. Just look at it. There it is. Okay you know like Samaria? Yeah Columbus was going where? To meet up with the lost tribes of Israel. Who would name Samaria? Don't know. So hard to figure that out of course. Pigafetta just told us that is where Cattigara is. Done. Settled. This is fact and it's not up for debate.

Actually that is not what Pigafetta says. He says they set course for Cattigara but he never claimed that Samar is Cattigara. In fact the place is never mentioned again in the whole of his journal. Samar is also not in between the 12th and 13th degree.

Let's not forget that Tim claims Pigafetta is the only eyewitness account to Magellan's voyage.

2:00 The problem is well, they ignore history, real history, about as valid as you get such as Pigafetta's journal, the only eyewitness account of Magellan's arrival in the Philippines.

That is wrong on so many levels and reveals the total ignorance of Timothy Jay Schwab and his alleged research team. The fact is while Pigafetta's journal is an important source of information about the first voyage around the world there are other eyewitness accounts. Back in Spain the surviving crew were subject to interrogation. That testimony and a complete description of the voyage can be read at this link but it's all in Spanish. Maximilianus Transylvanus, a courtier of Emperor Charles V, actually interviewed the surviving crew members and wrote a summary of the voyage. 

Now, the book of the aforesaid Peter having disappeared, Fortune has not allowed the memory of so marvellous an enterprise to be entirely lost, inasmuch as a certain noble gentleman of Vicenza called Messer Antonio Pigafetta (who, having gone on the voyage and returned in the ship Vittoria, was made a Knight of Rhodes), wrote a very exact and full account of it in a book, one copy of which he presented to His Majesty the Emperor, and another he sent to the most Serene Mother of the most Christian King, the Lady Regent.

As this voyage may be considered marvellous, and not only unaccomplished, but even unattempted either in our age or in any previous one, I have resolved to write as truly as possible to your Reverence the course (of the expedition) and the sequence of the whole matter. I have taken care to have everything related to me most exactly by the captain and by the individual sailors who have returned with him. They have also related each separate event to Cæsar and to others with such good faith and sincerity, that they seemed not only to tell nothing fabulous themselves, but by their relation to disprove and refute all the fabulous stories which had been told by old authors. 

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_First_Voyage_Round_the_World/Letter_of_Maximilian,_the_Transylvan

In his introduction Maximilianus recognizes the importance and worth of Pigafetta's published journal and tells us that what is to follow was related to him by the surviving crew members. That is crucial for what he writes about concerning Cattigara.

When our men had set sail from Thedori, one of the ships, and that the larger one, having sprung a leak, began to make water, so that it became necessary to put back to Thedori. When the Spaniards saw that this mischief could not be remedied without great labour and much time, they agreed that the other ship should sail to the Cape of Cattigara, and afterwards through the deep as far as possible from the coast of India, lest it should be seen by the Portuguese, and until they saw the Promontory of Africa, which projects beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, and to which the Portuguese have given the name of Good Hope; and from that point the passage to Spain would be easy. But as soon as the other ship was refitted, it should direct its course through the archipelago, and that vast ocean towards the shores of the continent which we mentioned before, till it found that coast which was in the neighbourhood of Darien, and where the southern sea was separated from the western, in which are the Spanish Islands, by a very narrow space of land. So the ship sailed again from Thedori, and, having gone twelve degrees on the other side of the equinoctial line, they did not find the Cape of Cattigara, which Ptolemy supposed to extend even beyond the equinoctial line; but when they had traversed an immense space of sea, they came to the Cape of Good Hope and afterwards to the Islands of the Hesperides.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_First_Voyage_Round_the_World/Letter_of_Maximilian,_the_Transylvan

At this point in the voyage it is December 1521 and the crew are on the island of Tidore which is in the Moluccas. One of the ships springs a leak but it cannot be fixed. The other ship is told to press ahead to the Cape of Cattigara but they are never able to find it. 

There you go. Simple as that. Neither Pigafetta nor the surviving crew members claim Samar is the Cape of Cattigara or that they ever found its actual location. There is more to this story as those who listened to the testimony of these men decided that Gilolo island in the Moluccas was Cattigara.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.afk2830.0001.001&view=1up&seq=219&skin=2021

Item: it can not be denied that the island of Gilolo, lying near the Maluco Islands, is the cape of Catigara, inasmuch as the companions of Magallanes journeyed westward upon leaving the strait discovered in fifty-four degrees of south latitude, sailing such a distance west and northeast that they arrived in twelve degrees of north latitude where were found certain islands, and one entrance to them. Then running southward four hundred leagues, they passed the Maluco islands and the coast of the island of Gilolo, without finding any cape on it. Then they took their course toward the Cabo Buena Esperanza [Good Hope] for Spain. Therefore then the cape of Catigara can only be the said island of Gilolo and the Malucos.

Are these men, who were well acquainted with the testimony of the entire crew dunderheads and ninny's who ignored actual history? Of course not. 

Tim ends this video by maligning Scottish Physician and writer John Caverhill.

37:10 John Caverhill deduced in 1767, before this map was created, that's why we want to cover this, that Cattigara was the Mekong Delta. Okay, so, we're talking about essentially Vietnam, okay. So he deduced? Is that an accurate word? Not even remotely. Is that what you call a ridiculous guess founded on nothing but ignorance? You mean he ignores Magellan? You know the actual explorer who found and corrected the course to Cattigara in writing and then he tries to figure it out? But well he's an idiot who ignores history then claims to be an historian. Ta-dah. Enough of this stupidity

Then in a faux retard voice he says:

I be academic so I forget the explorer who landed on Cattigara who left actual coordinates. Uh, no. I'm gonna throw that out and just make up my own location because, well, that's academic.

I agree. Enough of this stupidity. Neither Pigafetta nor the rest of Magellan's crew claim they ever landed on or found Cattigarra. The Philippines is not Cattigara. 

Retards in the Government 329

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

 

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/09/24/2298558/ex-bi-officer-pastillas-scam-fined-p5000

A former Bureau of Immigration (BI) officer ended her legal battle in connection with the so-called “pastillas” scam with a fine of P5,000.

During the proceedings on Thursday, former immigration officer Asliyah Maruhom was allowed by the Sandiganbayan’s Seventh Division to plead guilty to a lesser offense of “prohibited acts and transactions” under Section 7 (d) of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

In a decision issued on the same day, the Seventh Divison said that since Maruhom entered her guilty plea before the formal presentation of evidence by the prosecution panel of the Office of the Ombudsman, this “mitigating circumstance” shall work in her favor.

The court also ordered the release of the P30,000 bail bond that Maruhom previously posted for her provisional liberty and lifted the hold departure order it earlier issued against her.

Maruhom was among the 50 former BI officials and employees charged by the ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan with violating Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, which carries a sentence of six years to 10 years in prison and perpetual disqualification from public office.

An ex-BI official involved in the pastillas scheme has been charged with a fine. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1836433/leyte-village-chief-survives-slay-try

A village chief escaped death on Sunday after motorcycle-riding assailants tried to kill him in Barangay Poblacion, Leyte town, Leyte.

Edgar Dela Rosa, 52, a barangay captain of Baco, was on his way home on board his Toyota Hilux when the suspects fired at the vehicle on Mabini Street in Barangay Poblacion, Leyte town, Leyte.

Captain Rush Alvarado, chief of the Leyte town police, said Dela Rosa managed to hide inside his vehicle and evaded the bullets.

Local police immediately conducted a hot pursuit operation to arrest the suspects.

A village chief has survived an assassination attempt. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/25/3-pro-6-lawmen-test-positive-for-drugs

Only three out of the 13,201 police officers tested positive for illegal drugs in Western Visayas.

The Police Regional Office (PRO)-6 said 99.56 percent of policemen tested negative in the massive drug test ordered by Police Brig. Gen. Sidney Villaflor since he took over as Western Visayas police chief.

“It is my desire to ensure that those under my watch are free from any involvement in illegal drugs,” said Villaflor on Monday, September 25.

Their names were withheld but their places of assignment were the Antique Police Provincial Office, Capiz Police Provincial Office, and Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.

“They will face appropriate charges and possible dismissal from the service,” Villaflor said. “We will implement the highest penalties to those who will fall short of the expectation of the police and the people of Western Visayas,” added Villaflor.

Three cops have tested positive for drugs. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/25/traffic-enforcer-nabbed-in-drug-bust

A traffic enforcer was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Maasim, Sarangani on Friday, September 22.

Police Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, Police Regional Office-12 director, identified the suspect as Salihim Dulaham, 48, a traffic enforcer of Maasim.

Police seized from the suspect several grams of suspected shabu.   

Dulaham was tagged as a high-value drug trafficker operating in Sarangani.

A traffic enforcer has been busted for drugs.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210487

A security screening officer (SSO) has been dismissed from his post for allegedly stealing chocolates from a passenger, an official of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS) said Monday.

The OTS said the screener was served a dismissal order on Sept. 23 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 2, "for taking things from the luggage of a departing passenger while conducting baggage inspection last Sept. 13."

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), OTS spokesperson Kim Marquez said the screener claimed that the chocolates were given by the passenger.

Marquez, however, clarified that they are not allowed to receive anything as part of their "no gift/tipping" policy.

She admitted that the OTS has not received a complaint from the passenger, but said they received a report from an OTS supervisor, prompting them to probe the incident.

Asked why the subject was not suspended between Sept. 13 and 23, Marquez claimed that the CCTV footage they requested from the Manila International Airport Authority was delayed.

"As soon as we got the evidence, the personnel involved was dismissed the next day," she said, adding that the screener was a job order personnel. "They could be dismissed outright if they commit violations in their contractual obligations."

She said the OTS is calling on the passenger involved to shed light on the incident so they could further pursue charges against the personnel. 

An NAIA screener has been axed for allegedly stealing chocolates from a passenger. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210565

Members of the anti-scalawag unit of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have arrested a Manila police officer who has been convicted of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and physical Injuries.

In a belated report on Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Warren de Leon, chief of the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG), said 40-year-old Cpl. Mark Manuel Co, assigned at the Manila Police District, was arrested while on duty at the Police Community Precinct 1 in Pritil, Tondo, Manila on Sept. 20.

Co was sentenced to up to five years imprisonment based on the order issued by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 29 on Sept. 15.

The IMEG said Co was charged in 2012 after a pursuit operation against a minor who died in an accident after trying to evade a police checkpoint.

Co is temporarily detained at the IMEG Headquarters in Camp Crame for documentation before the turnover of the arrest warrant to the issuing court. 

A cop convicted of murder has been arrested. 

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1837134/dotr-19-airport-security-screeners-fired-for-stealing

A total of 19 personnel of the Office for Transportation Security (OTS), an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), have been fired since July 2022 after they were caught stealing from airline passengers, according to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista.

“Actually, we have investigated 60 cases [of theft incidents] at the airports [involving OTS employees],” Bautista said on Tuesday during the Senate deliberations on the DOTr’s budget request of P214 billion for 2024.

The cases included the Sept. 8 incident at Ninoy Aquino International Airport where an OTS screener was spotted on a security camera allegedly swallowing $300 in bills that she supposedly stole from a Chinese tourist.

The viral video was yet another black eye on the country’s main international gateway, which had been tagged before by a vacation rental management firm as among the world’s worst airports.

19 OTS personnel have been dismissed for theft.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/27/sandiganbayan-orders-90-day-preventive-suspension-of-antique-gov-cadiao-on-graft-charge

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the 90-day preventive suspension of incumbent Antique Gov. Rhodora J. Cadiao on a graft charge filed against her involving the alleged illegal reassignment of a provincial employee and non-payment of the employee's salaries and allowances from 2016 to 2018.

The complaint against Cadiao was filed by Antonio dela Vega, head of the Provincial General Services Office, who was transferred to the Culasi satellite office. The transfer had been invalidated by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the prosecution said in the graft charge. 

Dela Vega then asked the payment of his salaries and representation and travel allowances amounting to P1.665 million from 2016 to 2018.  Cadiao allegedly denied the payment.

The anti-graft court's preventive suspension order stated: "Wherefore, pursuant to Section 13 of Republic Act No. 3019, accused Rhodora J. Cadiao is preventively suspended from her position as Provincial Governor of the Province of Antique and from any public office which she may now or hereafter be holding for a period of 90 days."

"The Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government is requested to inform this court of the dates to which Provincial Governor Rhodora J. Cadiao started serving her preventive suspension and the date of its termination," the court said. 

It stressed that "the preventive suspension of the accused (Cadiao) shall be automatically lifted upon expiration of the 90-day period from the implementation of this Resolution," the court added. 

The Governor of Antique has been suspended while being investigated for graft. 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/27/coa-recommends-filing-of-charges-against-former-silang-lgu-officials-contractors-over-unfinished-projects

The Commission on Audit (COA) on Tuesday, Sept. 26, recommended the filing of charges against former officials of the Silang, Cavite local government after finding several unfinished and allegedly anomalous projects.

According to COA, it has recommended the filing of charges against former Silang Mayor Silang Mayor Socorro Poblete and the contractors of the projects which have already cost losses to the local government unit (LGU) in millions of pesos.

A COA Audit Observation Report (AOM) dated Dec. 28, 2022 found an overreporting in the Statement of Work Accomplished (SWA) on two projects. These projects include the construction of the new Rural Health Unit (RHU) and the 12-classroom building of Lucsuhin Elementary School.

According to the AOM, the RHU building was only 65.51 percent completed, as opposed to the 98.34 percent reported on the SWA, while the 12-classroom building at Lucsuhin Elementary School was only 21.07 percent complete, a huge difference from the reported SWA of 94.09 percent.

Silang Mayor Kevin Anarna had earlier expressed his disappointment after inspecting the school and seeing the students holding their classes with umbrellas to cover their heads.

Anarna said Lucsuhin Elementary School students attend classes holding umbrellas at the partially open covered court when it rains. He added that some students have started getting sick after being soaked in the rain during class.

The Special Education Building (SPED) has also reportedly been left hanging by the contractor, leaving educators with no choice but to teach SpEd students in the school canteen.

Another COA AOM dated Jan. 23, 2023 found that the rehabilitation project of the drainage system in Metro Silang that cost more than  P12 million was only 75 percent complete when it was “abandoned without valid grounds by the contractor.” Advance payment made to the contractor amounting to P484,261.26 was not returned.

Another contract entered into by Poblete on Aug. 4, 2021 was for the construction of a Special Education Building (SPED) in Silang Central School worth P6,601,666.40. 

According to COA AOM No. 23-004 (2022) dated Jan. 1, 2023, the project was reported to be 100 percent complete as per the last SWA and Certificate of Completion and Final Acceptance attached to the project’s disbursement voucher.

The same report stated that “the release of the retention money was allowed despite the fact that the consecution was not on schedule and satisfactorily undertaken, in violation of the earlier discussed provision of RA 9184” and  that the retention money deducted from the progress billings was “deficient by P175,698.38.”

COA also flagged 13 infrastructure projects under Poblete's administration that started in December 2020 until April 2022 and that were reported completed by the end of 2022. 

It had observed that these projects costing more than P72 million reached 95 percent accomplishment “without undergoing preliminary inspections” and with the contractor not receiving any punch-lists, which contain “remaining works, work deficiencies for necessary corrections, and the specific duration/time to fully complete the project considering the approved remaining contract time.

The COA AOM dated Feb. 22, 2023 said “The existence, completeness, reliability and accuracy of the reported year-end balances of the Property, Plan and Equipment (PPE) accounts aggregating P2,758,890,226.22 cannot be fully ascertained due to the inability of the Municipality to conduct complete physical count of PPE and the noted discrepancies of P2,304,537,018.80 between accounting records and the Report on the Physical Count of Property, Plant and Equipment (RPCPPE), contrary to Section 124 of the Manual on the New Government Accounting System (MNGAS) for Local Government Units (LGUs), Volume I, and Commission on Audit (COA) Circular No. 2020-006.”

The agency also discovered five more projects that were found "problematic" which include the drainage project in Barangay Malaking Tatiao, the Home Economics Building of Silang Central School, the Storm Drainage System along Metro Silang, and the construction and installation of traffic signalization along Aguinaldo Hi-way corner P. Caramanzana Intersection T-Junction at San Miguel II, Silang.

The COA has recommended charges to be filed against several former city executives over unfinished projects.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/9/28/cop-arrested-over-death-of-2-people-in-malabon-illegal-drugs-related-motive-eyed-1

Operatives of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) have arrested a policeman in connection with the killing of two people and the wounding of another person in Malabon City.

NCRPO director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr. said the arrest of Patrolman Zenjo R Del Rosario was made around eight hours after the latter allegedly barged into the house of Alexis Guitierez in Barangay Acacia and engaged in a shooting spree on Wednesday, Sept. 27. 

Guiterez was declared dead in the hospital along with his companion Jay Bacusmo Apas due to fatal bullet wounds they suffered. The third victim, Baby Tadiamon, was taken to the hospital after she was hit on her body and left leg.

Nartatez said the operation was immediately conducted after the victims’ neighbors sought police assistance. 

 “Through the backtracking of CCTV footage in the area and interview of possible witnesses, the tracker team was able to uncover the identity of the suspect,” said  Nartatez.

The possible suspect who was wearing a bullcap and a jacket, was later identified as Del Rosario, assigned to the Station Drug Enforcement Unit- Malabon City Police Station. 

Nartatez has ordered an extensive investigation of the incident since the possible motive of the crime could be drug-related. 

A cop has been arrested for the murder of two people. 

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2023/09/27/2299279/psa-statistician-shot-dead-quezon-city

A statistician of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) was killed while two others were wounded after they were shot by unidentified gunmen in Quezon City yesterday morning.

Namer Ariate, 54, a special statistician of the PSA, and two others were riding a tricycle when the shooting took place in Barangay Payatas.

Police investigators said two men blocked the tricycle at the corner of Sampaguita and Santan streets at around 6:30 a.m.

The suspects, armed with handguns of unknown caliber, shot Ariate multiple times.

The two other passengers, both women, were hit by stray bullets.

The gunmen then boarded a motorcycle and fled toward Santa street.

Ariate and the other victims were brought to a hospital for medical treatment, but the statistician was pronounced dead on arrival by the attending physician.

Police investigators retrieved four deformed fired bullets and a metal fragment at the scene.

A statistician for the PSA has been assassinated.