It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
Mayor Jerry Treñas declared Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) Region 6 director Nora Patron a “persona non-grata” in this city for not intervening in the issues hounding the Iloilo City Government Employees Multipurpose Cooperative (ICGEMPC).
The CDA is a government agency in charge of the registration and regulation of cooperatives.
Executive Order No. 129 issued by Treñas yesterday states that Patron ignored the pleas for help of the city government and members of ICGEMPC.
The city mayor stressed that Patron instead issued Certificates of Compliance which were used by ICGEMPC officials to justify acts that the city government and cooperative members are questioning.
According to Treñas, as early as June this year the director had been requested for a consultative meeting to intervene and resolve the issues of the ICGEMPC but the requests were ignored.
ICGEMPC has been suffering from financial losses attributable to questionable loan transactions which to date amount to more than P31 million, and the dissipation of the capital share of its members, added Treñas, but that these matters have not been acted upon by the CDA, in violation of its mandate to coordinate with the efforts of local government units and the private sector in the development of cooperatives.
Treñas said the CDA-6 has indeed examined the financial records of the ICGEMPC but notwithstanding the identification of questionable loans still issued Certificates of Compliance.
And instead of enforcing the pertinent provisions of Republic Act No. 6938 as amended by Republic Act No. 9520, as well as other pertinent issuances of the CDA, the CDA-6 ignored the pleas of the city government and ICGEMPC members, which have the effect of protecting questionable acts at CGEMPC, Treñas added.
This “hampers and disrupts the efforts of the members of the ICGEMPC to cleanse their ranks, and to recoup the funds of the cooperative,” Treñas’ EO stated.
Iloilo CDA-6 director has been declared persona non grata for not doing her job.
TAGUM City Councilor Leo Revita still has compassion for his assistant "Ligaya", but she said the latter should be imprisoned for stealing nearly P200,000 from the former.
Ligaya, Revita's assistant, was arrested on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 at the Tagum City Police Station after it was proven that she was responsible for stealing almost P200,000 from the councilor's e-wallet.
On Wednesday evening, the councilor went live on her official Facebook page, Team Hamloy, where she confirmed that Ligaya was indeed imprisoned.
The councilor clarified Ligaya's imprisonment and it is not part of their vlog content.
According to Revita, her patience with Ligaya has run out because of how many times she has stolen money, the most recent of which was the use of the councilor's Gcash.
"I think of Ligaya as a friend, family. But he didn't do it just once, I didn't announce anything to the viewers because I felt sorry for him, he will apologize, he will also admit his guilt," the councilor said.
The councilor added that on January 1 of this year, she lost P80k, which according to CCTV, Ligaya took. She confessed what she had done, and promised to pay the money slowly.
But Revita was even more upset because Ligaya kept charging her for what she owed.
"There are a lot of extortionists coming from the shops where he drinks, he still owes me money," Revita said.
Because of this, it came to the point that she kicked Ligaya out of her house and she will only go to her if they make content.
She, however, will still be given a salary, depending on her part in their sideline projects.
Revita admitted that she took pity on Ligaya's situation, but she wanted her assistant to learn a lesson through a legal procedure for stealing from her.
"I can't find anything, I will give him legalization, teach him a lesson," the councilor said.
A city councilor's aide continually stole from her but she did nothing until he stole too much.
Former Agriculture Secretary and Bohol Governor Arthur Yap and six others face charges of plunder and graft tied to an alleged anomalous purchase of senior citizen health kits valued at P57 million.
On Sept. 26, former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, retired Judge Suceso Arcamo, former Provincial Prosecutor Macario Delusa, former Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Lim, and businessman Emmanuel “Willy” Ramasola asked the Office of the Ombudsman to investigate Yap and other respondents.
“In conspiracy with each other, the relatively young and able respondents committed corrupt practices that facilitated the plunder of the provincial government of Bohol in the amount of P56,816,444.25,” the complainants said.
Other respondents include lawyer Kathrin Fe Pioquinto, former provincial administrator; Giselle Quimpo, former chief of staff at the Governor’s Office; lawyer Julius Gregory Delgado, former provincial legal officer; Peter Ross Retutal, chief budget officer; Engr. Camilo Gasatan, chief provincial engineer; and Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, officer-in-charge of the Provincial Health Office (PHO).
Delgado formerly chaired the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), with Quimpo serving as vice chair. Retutal, Gasatan, and Lopez were members.
Also named as a respondent was businesswoman Stella Marie Ancla, sole proprietor of Dextel Trading, a provincial capitol supplier.
Responding to the allegations on Facebook, Yap said the case was anticipated, criticizing the current administration of Bohol Gov. Aris Aumentado as vindictive. Aumentado beat Yap in the May 2022 elections.
“Plunder case? I was not shocked. Are you still surprised? We shouldn’t be shocked anymore,” Yap said.
“At the beginning of Aumentado’s administration, the first thing he did was to create a group tasked with persecuting and persecuting us. It was an indication of what the new administration of the provincial government has done. It is not to increase the life of our people but they increase the persecution and prosecution of us,” he said.
Former governor of Bohol and several others are facing charges of plunder and graft.
Marynette Gamboa, former mayor of Dingras in Ilocos Norte, was arrested on Saturday in Laguna for murder charges, police said.
Gamboa, deemed second most wanted person in the Ilocos Norte province, stands accused of being the mastermind of Lorenzo Rey Ruiz's death in 2009.
Ruiz was president of locos Norte Electric Cooperative at the time.
The Regional Trial Court in Batac City, Ilocos Norte on July 11, 2022 ordered Gamboa's arrest, with no bail recommended.
Gamboa is also the "alleged mastermind in the ambush of Dingras mayor-elect Jeffrey Saguid and Sangguniang Panlalawigan board member Robert Castro in December also in 2009," a report from the National Capital Region Police Office showed.
The former mayor earlier said some powerful politicians in Ilocos Norte wanted her removed from her post.
A former mayor has been charged with murder.
The Sandiganbayan has convicted former mayor Constantino Bernardo Navarro IV of Del Carmen town in Surigao del Norte for delay in the liquidation of the P3 million intelligence funds he took from the municipality in two tranches in 2010.
Since the prosecution allowed Navarro to plead guilty to a lesser offense under Section 89 of Presidential Decree No. 1445, the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, and considering that he had settled his accountability, the anti-graft court imposed fine of P1,000 in each of the two cases.
Navarro was originally charged with two counts of violations of Article 218 of the Revised Penal Code for failure to render accounts in the P750,000 intelligence fund he got on Jan. 7, 2010 and P2,250,000 he took on March 18, 2010.
When Navarro's cases were heard last Sept. 25, the prosecution and the Sandiganbayan allowed him to withdraw his plea of not guilty to the original charges and accepted his plea of guilty to a lesser offense under PD 1445.
Section 89 of PD 1445 mandates the liquidation of a cash advance as soon as the purpose had been served, and no additional cash advance should be allowed until the previous amount had been liquidated.
"According to the prosecution, the civil liability in these cases has already been settled. The Court hereby authorizes the release to accused Navarro of the cash deposited as bail for his provisional liberty less the amount of P2,000 which shall be applied to the payment of fine imposed upon him conformably with Section 14, Rule 114 of the Revised Penal Code," the court said.
A former mayor has been convicted of not liquidating intelligence funds in a timely manner.
Two electricity consumers groups have filed graft and malversation cases against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now Pampanga representative, over the disbursement of P38.8 billion of the Malampaya funds that they said started during her presidency.
In a 24-page complaint filed on Sept. 28 at the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (Nasecore) and the Boses ng Konsyumer Alliance Inc. (BKAI) complained of 96 counts of graft and 96 counts of malversation against Arroyo.
The groups cited Presidential Decree No. 910 which created the Energy Development Board in 1976 and aimed to “intensify, strengthen, and consolidate government efforts relating to the exploration, exploitation and development of indigenous energy resources vital to economic growth.”
Pursuant to the decree, several service contracts were entered into by the government for the purpose of achieving “self-reliance” in the country’s energy requirements primarily through “intensified and coordinated exploration, exploitation and development” of indigenous energy resources to accelerate overall economic growth.
“From 1976 to early 2000, no President dared to circumvent the purpose for which this law was enacted; at least, not until respondent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came into power,” said the complainants Petronilo Ilagan of Nasecore and Rogelio Reyes of the BKAI.
According to them, one of the service contracts was the Camago-Malampaya Reservoir, or the natural gas project in Palawan.
The complainants said that between January 2002 to June 2013, the project contractor was able to remit a net share to the government of P173.280 billion from the proceeds of the petroleum operations, later known as the Malampaya Fund, P38.8 billion of which were disbursed as of May 21, 2012.
The disbursements, according to the complainants, started during the presidency of Arroyo, whom they accused of “taking advantage” of a provision of PD 910.
In particular, they said that the funds were released from 2006 to 2012.
The provision they were referring to was on the decree’s appropriations provision, which stated that the special fund formed shall be used to “finance energy resource development and exploitation programs and projects of the government and for such other purposes as may be hereafter directed by the President.”
Arroyo “willfully and unlawfully disregarded” the law when the funds were disbursed for other purposes like agriculture and irrigation programs, calamity rehabilitation projects, relocation and housing projects, infrastructure projects, transportation, national security rehabilitation and improvement projects—the “Pantawid Pasada Program,” among others—according to the complainants.
“A closer scrutiny of the … disbursements from Malampaya fund would show that all had nothing to do with ‘energy resource development and exploitation programs and projects of the government,’” the complainants stressed.
Former President GMA is facing 96 counts of graft and 96 counts of malversation.
Thirteen more police officers in Navotas City have been recommended for suspension in connection with the killing of a teenager last month in a case of mistaken identity.
Meanwhile, eight other officers already dismissed because of the same case were cited for another set of offenses.
Police Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr., director of the National Capital Region Police Office, has already received a resolution handed down by the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) directing him to implement the sanctions, Philippine National Police spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said at a press briefing on Friday.
The IAS recommended the suspension of Executive Master Sergeant Jose Elizalde Oriendo; Staff Sergeants Rondell Sauza, Johnvir Tagacay, Melvin Napay, Mervin Villanueva, Rolan Orbita, Kenneth Amangan, Jorge Boco Jr. and Ever Layco; and Corporals Aldrin Pascual and Mark Joseph Quillan.
The 11 were found to have violated the 2021 Revised PNP Police Operational Procedure, particularly on the use of lethal force, during their pursuit operation against a murder suspect on Aug. 2. They were looking for Reynaldo Bolivar but ended up killing 17-year-old Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar, whom they mistook for the suspect. More dismissals
The remaining two officers in the group, Capt. Juanito Arabejo Jr. and Chief Master Sergeant Aurelito Galvez, were found guilty of neglect of duty for failing to subject the other concerned officers to a paraffin test. Arabejo heads the investigation section of the Navotas police while Galvez is his subordinate.
Tagacay was also recommended for further suspension lasting 59 days for failing to turn on his body camera during the manhunt for Bolivar.
13 more cops have been suspended over the death of teenager in Navotas City.
State prosecutors have filed criminal charges against six Navotas police officers implicated in the death of 17-year-old Jerhode Jemboy Baltazar.
In the charge sheet dated Sept. 15, Assistant City Prosecutor Arvin Carael and City Prosecutor Armando Cavalida named the respondents to the murder charges as Executive Master Sgt. Roberto Dioso, Staff Sgts. Gerry Maliban, Antonio Bugayong, Jr., and Nikko Esquillon, Cpl. Edmard Blanco and Pat. Benedict Mangada.
It has been filed before the Navotas City Regional Trial Court.
No bail was recommended for the temporary liberty of the police officers, who were all assigned at the Navotas City Police Station.
Charges have been filed agains six cops in connection with the killing of a Navotas City teenager.
Four policemen in this city are being investigated for their alleged involvement in a P15-million Philippine National Police recruitment scam in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.
Police Col. Noel Aliño, Bacolod police director, in a media interview, said that these policemen surrendered their firearms after they were relieved from their posts pending the investigation.
A Non-Uniformed Personnel assigned to the Bacolod City Police Office was also implicated in the case.
The case broke out after several complainants recently showed up accusing an incumbent official of La Castellana and his female companion of asking a certain amount in exchange for an assured slot in the PNP.
Aliño said he learned that the incident started in 2016. He did not elaborate further while the Provincial Internal Affairs Service (PIAS) is conducting an investigation.
“We will not tolerate this,” he said, adding that it’s time that this scam should end.
Aliño said that the burden of proof should come from these personnel so that they can clear their sides.
He said that he will implement whatever the outcome of the investigation.
Four cops are being investigated for a recruitment scam.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the filing of charges against former Sugar Regulatory Administrator (SRA) Hermenegildo Serafica over alleged violation in the Government Procurement Reform Act.
The case stemmed from the almost two-year gap between the awarding of the contract on March 19, 2018 for the procurement of farming equipment in 2017 and the issuance of the notice to proceed with the procurement on September 3, 2020.
The equipment in question were 25 units of ripper harrower.
"In this particular case, this Office cannot turn a blind eye on the three year period it took to issue a notice to proceed," the Ombudsman said in a 21-page resolution.
"The delayed award, by itself, could have only amounted to Simple Neglect of Duty and Misconduct but the protracted period to notify the supplier to proceed with the delivery of the harrows is a badge of (1) want of even the slightest care, or a conscious indifference to consequences, and (2) flagrant disregard of an established rule," it added.
"As such, there is probable cause to indict Serafica under RA 9184 (Procurement law), specifically under Section 65 (a) (2) thereof for delaying the award and implementation of the contract beyond the prescribed periods of action."
The Ombudsman also said Serafica, who resigned from the SRA in 2022 following a sugar importation controversy, failed to show that such ripper harrowers were particular and compatible only to the tractors procured in 2020.
The Ombudsman has ordered charges against the former SRA head.
The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the conviction of former Davao del Norte congressman Arrel R. Olaño for the misuse of his P7.72 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2007.
Olaño had been convicted of three graft and three malversation charges together with businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles. He was also found guilty in one case of direct bribery. He filed a motion for reconsideration which was denied by the anti-graft court.
The cases against Olaño arose from his receipt of P3.175 million from Napoles for endorsing Philippine Social Development Foundation, Inc. (PSDFI) and Countrywide Agri and Rural Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (CARED) as "project partners" in the implementation of livelihood projects for barangays in the 1st district of Davao del Norte.
In his motion for reconsideration, Olaño argued that the memoranda of agreement and liquidation papers presented during the trial were not properly authenticated. He also denied endorsing CARED and PSDFI because he said it was the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) that selected the said non-government organizations (NGOs).
He also pointed out that even if he wished to endorse CARED and PSDFI, it was ultimately the TLRC that approved their partnership.
But the Sandiganbayan junked his allegations. The court said his arguments lacked merit because the prosecution was successful in establishing how he endorsed CARED and PSDFI as project co-implementers even without undergoing competitive public bidding.
"In sum, the totality of evidence established that in consideration for the kickbacks he received, accused-movant Olaño misused his position to select and endorse CARED and PSDFI as supposed co-implementers of non-existent PDAF funded projects without the benefit of public bidding nor authorized by any appropriation law or ordinance with the end of eventually funneling the proceeds thereof through said entities for the benefit of accused Napoles and of his own," the court said in its resolution.
The Sandigan has reaffirmed the conviction of a former Congressman for graft and malversation.
Criminal complaints were filed against a police officer who was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a man during a brawl inside a bar in Quezon city on October 3.
According to Quezon City Police District chief Brigadier General Redrico Maranan, Patrolman Edwin Rivera is facing charges of murder and illegal possession of firearms, along with two others.
Rivera is a 26-year-old police officer assigned to the Regional Mobile Force Battalion of Philippine National Police (PNP) – National Capital Region.
(The suspect is currently in jail and has been charged with murder and illegal possession of firearms in relation to Omnibus Election Code for gun ban.)
(Others who are also charged with the case are his two companions, Joshua Balisalin and a John Doe, who are both at large.)
Based on the police report, the shooting incident occurred around 4:45 a.m. on Tuesday after a fight ensued between Rivera and the victim at the Spotlight Beer Bar and Cocktail Lounge in Barangay Novaliches Proper.
The service crew who witnessed the incident sought the assistance of Novaliches Police Station operatives, who immediately responded and apprehended the suspect.
Rivera is currently under the custody of PNP – Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit.
The cases against him were filed before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
A cop has been charged with murder.
The Commission on Audit (COA) discovered that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has failed to maintain the cleanliness of the warehouse where it stores relief goods, causing it to be infested with rodents and cockroaches and resulting in eventual spoilage.
In a 238-page special audit report on the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management funds, state auditors called out DSWD’s Metro Manila regional office on the sorry state of the facility where it stores relief items.
Made public on Sept. 18, a copy of the consolidated audit report on disaster funds was submitted on Aug. 30 to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who concurrently serves as chair of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
The COA also listed several observations on the storage facility supervised by the DSWD’s National Capital Region (NCR) office, including the disorganized piling system for the relief goods.
Based on their inspection of the warehouse, the audit team said pallets or square timbers were not used as base for the piled stocks and the relief goods were “stacked haphazardly with no clear organization or label of items.”
The state auditors’ inspection also showed that most of the goods meant for repacking were no longer in their original boxes, which made it difficult for the warehouse staff to locate and retrieve the required items for repacking.
“The food packs were stacked on top of each other with no proper labeling, which resulted in some food packs being damaged or expired,” the audit team said in its report.
Even worse, the goods, especially coffee and cereals, had to be transferred due to the presence of cockroaches and rats in the facility, it added.
The infestation was due to the absence of regular pest control measures in the facility, according to the state auditors, citing what the warehouse staff members told them.
“The Audit Team encountered difficulty in conducting a physical count of the goods due to the disorganized piling system,” the auditors admitted in their report.
From their partial inspection, they found that a total of 249 cereals and handwash liquid soaps had already expired in the camp management kit.
“The lack of cleanliness and organization in the storage area increases the risk of spoilage, damage and loss of goods, which could result in financial losses to the government,” the COA noted.
Apart from the disorganized relief goods, auditors found that the DSWD storage facility was already in a “state of disrepair” and could soon be “unfit” to accommodate relief goods for emergency situations.
Auditors observed that the external structure of the storage facility of the NCR field office of the DSWD already had visible signs of “wear and tear,” which included broken windows, damaged roofing, and even a missing part of the entrance door.
It also pointed out that there was a lack of security when it came to the main entrance of the facility, as the warehouse staff held their office along the aisle of the building’s main entrance.
“This area is not conducive for working as it was neither properly enclosed nor sufficiently protected against intrusion by unauthorized persons,” the auditors stressed.
They also noted that the door for the main entrance was defective, posing a risk of theft.
Meanwhile, food packs and family kits were stored only in a tent outside the building, the auditors noted.
These shortcomings observed on the storage facility of the DSWD’s Metro Manila office could likely affect the agency’s quality of service, according to the COA.
“Likewise, the poor fencing of the facility poses a risk of theft, vandalism and other security breaches that could compromise the safety of the staff and the stored goods for distribution,” the audit team added.
The special audit report did not specifically pinpoint the exact location of the warehouse being used by the DSWD-NCR office, but based on the Inquirer’s search, the Metro Manila field office has its main warehouse in Pasay City.
State auditors recommended that the head of the General Services Section conduct regular pest-control measures to prevent contamination and wastage.
It also directed the DSWD to instruct the warehouse staff to install pallets or square timbers as a base for all the stocks.
The agency was also told to implement appropriate shelving and labeling systems for the goods and, if necessary, request steel racks for easier access, inventory and monitoring.
The audit team also recommended a regular cleanup of the DSWD facility.
The COA says several DSWD warehouses are unclean.
