It's your weekly compendium of foolishness and corruption in the Philippine government.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/29/casual-gov-t-employee-shot-dead-in-san-carlos-city |
A casual government employee was shot dead in Barangay 2, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday night, August 27.
Police identified the victim as Jerome Ducay, 36, of Barangay 5, San Carlos City.
Police Major Ryan Villasario, deputy chief of the San Carlos City Police Station, said Ducay was conducting an e-wallet transaction in a store when a man appeared and shot him at close range.
The suspect fled on foot. Ducay died on the spot from three bullets in the head and face.
Villasario said they are reviewing closed-circuit television cameras to identify the suspect.
Recovered from the crime scene were three fired bullets and a .45 caliber slug as well as the victim’s pouch containing a sachet of suspected shabu and P50.
Villasario said they are checking if the victim was part of a drug watchlist.
Police are probing two possible angles in the incident.
Villasario said Ducay might have been the target of a shooting incident last month where his friend was killed in Barangay 5.
Police are determining if suspect in that shooting could be the same individual who killed the victim.
Villasario said that they have identified a person of interest.
Police are also probing if the killing could be triggered by grudges.
A casual government employee was shot dead in Barangay 2, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental on Tuesday night, August 27.
The Office of the Ombudsman has formally filed a graft case against former Department of Health secretary Francisco Duque III and former Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service executive director Lloyd Christopher Lao in connection with alleged irregularities in the DOH’s transfer of its P41.46-billion fund to PS-DBM at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Copy of the charge sheet has yet to be released to the media yesterday but Ombudsman Samuel Martires confirmed to reporters that the case, which the anti-graft body’s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) filed at the Sandiganbayan on Aug. 27, involves the violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Section 3 (e) of RA 3019 prohibits public officials from giving unwarranted benefit, advantage or preference to a private party or from causing any party, including the government, undue injury.
Graft is a bailable offense, with bail bond usually set by the court at P90,000 for each defendant.
The case is to be raffled today to one of Sandiganbayan’s seven divisions.
The Office of the Ombudsman has formally filed a graft case against former Department of Health secretary Francisco Duque III and former Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service executive director Lloyd Christopher Lao in connection with alleged irregularities in the DOH’s transfer of its P41.46-billion fund to PS-DBM at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/30/ex-village-chair-nephew-wounded-in-abra-shooting |
A former barangay chairman and his nephew were wounded in a shooting incident in Sitio Ramramot, Barangay San Antonio, this town, on Thursday night, August 29.
Police identified the victims as former Barangay Chairman Marcelino C. Banayos, 58, and his nephew, Janssen B. Blanes, 20, construction worker, residents of Sitio Saluden, Barangay Bañacao, Bangued.
Investigation said the victims were onboard a white Nissan Navarra pickup truck enroute to Barangay San Antonio when were they were shot by unidentified gunmen riding a black vehicle.
The suspects fled and the victims sustained bullet wounds and taken to the hospital.
A former barangay chairman and his nephew have survived an attempted assassination.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1978744/ex-town-councilor-survives-hit-try-in-abra |
A former Sanggunian Bayan (municipal council) member in Dolores town was wounded in an ambush Sunday, September 1, in Dolores town in Abra province, police report said.
The victim, identified as Gregorio “Goyo” Castillo, 74, a former member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Dolores was shot at by still unknown gunmen in Sitio (sub-village) Curapo in Barangay (village) Poblacion at around 9:30 a.m.
According to the Dolores police, Castillo was parking his vehicle, when a motorcycle pulled up beside him. The driver, then, fired three shots at him before escaping the scene.
Castillo was taken to Seares Hospital in Bangued, Abra, where he is under observation. The report did not mention the areas in his body that were wounded by bullets.
A former town couniclor has survived an assassination attempt.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/1/deputy-town-police-chief-faces-charges-for-killing-2-videoke-bar-patrons |
Police Brig. Gen. James Gulmatico, Police Regional Office-12 director, has ordered the filing of criminal and administrative charges against a police captain who allegedly killed two videoke bar patrons in Barangay Osias, Kabacan, Cotabato on Saturday, August 31.
Gulmatico identified the suspect as Police Capt. Rommel Guhiling, Kabacan deputy police chief.
Guhiling shot Akmad Ali Salimuha and Mama Sandigan during a melee. The victims died from multiple bullet wounds. The victims’ companion, Norham Makakua, was wounded.
Police Major Maxim Peralta, Kabacan police chief, said Guhiling did not resist arrest by responding policemen. The suspect yielded his service firearm that he used in shooting the victims.
Gulmatico said homicide charges were filed against the suspect who was placed under restrictive custody at the Kabacan police station.
A police chief has been charged with murder for shooting two videoke bar patrons.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/2/jail-officer-arrested-for-illegal-possession-of-firearm-grave-threat-in-paranaque |
A jail officer was arrested by members of the Parañaque City Police for illegal possession of firearm, grave threat, and trespass to dwelling on Sunday, September 1.
The Southern Police District (SPD) said the suspect was identified as "Ruben," 36. He was arrested at around 2:40 a.m. in Barangay Don Bosco, Parañaque City.
The SPD said the victim was with his friends inside the compound for a gathering when Ruben suddenly entered his house and drew a firearm at them.
The group managed to disarm the suspect and was able to get hold of his .45 caliber pistol with five live ammunition.
They then called for police assistance from the Parañaque Police Don Bosco Substation leading to the suspect's arrest.
A jail officer was arrested by members of the Parañaque City Police for illegal possession of firearm, grave threat, and trespass to dwelling.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of Education (DepEd) over lapses in its P5.69 billion School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) in 2023, with reports of delays and non-delivery of nutritious food products (NFPs) and pasteurized milk in several regions.
Worse, some Schools Division Office (SDOs) even complained that there were insects found inside the nutribuns they received, while other food items were either "rotten, unripe, or crushed," the COA said.
In its 2023 annual audit report (AAR), the COA said that state auditors found that 21 SDOs suffered from delayed implementation of regular and milk feeding components. These included the SDOs in Mandaluyong City, Pasig City, Ifugao, Baguio City, Benguet, La Union, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Camarines Sur, Zamboanga City, Bukidnon, Valencia City, Malaybalay, Tagum City, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and Agusan del Norte, Butuan City, Cabadbaran City, Surigao City, and Surigao del Norte.
DepEd's SBFP was supposed to provide learners with hot meals and milk in order to enhance their health and nutrition values while contributing to the development of their immune system.
Unfortunately, the COA said the goal was not achieved such as in the province of Aurora where "pests/insects inside Karabun/Milky bun and E-nutribun (squash) were found during inspection of food commodities."
In the Bulacan SDO, it said that "some delivered food items were either rotten, unripe, or crushed," while in Misamis Oriental "1,001 pieces of E-Nutribun delivered from September 2023 to January 2024 were returned to the suppliers for replacements due to the presence of molds and discoloration on the bread one to two days before the expiry dates."
In Iligan City, the food products delivered had dubious expiry dates, it said. While the products were labelled to expire on Oct. 26, 2023, the expiry date indicated in the boxes bore a different expiry date, and the product manufacturing date was not easily discernible as well, it also said.
"The interest of the government was not protected and the attainment of the program objectives and the safety of the intended beneficiaries were put to risk due to non-conformance with specifications," the audit report observed.
The COA said it called out DepED for failing to reprogram unutilized funds from the SBFP. The excess or remaining balance of SBFP was supposed to feed all learners enrolled in school, with priority focus on the lowest grade level and other secondary beneficiaries, it also said. The DepED could also extend the number of feeding days or cover funding deficiencies in the NFP and milk requirements, it added.
The SDO in Sultan Kudarat had unutilized funds of P8,026,519.85, while the SDO in Bulacan had P691,323.10. Because of their failure to utilize these amounts, the audit team said they deprived beneficiaries of much-needed nutritional values, the COA said.
At the same time, the COA called out the SDO in Palawan for making full payment for NFP purchased for the implementation of SBFP in 2022 despite delayed delivery of goods amounting to P14,589,363.
"The commitment to provide good nutrition to learners was not optimally achieved due to the deficiencies that hampered the successful implementation of the program," it pointed out.
The Commission on Audit has flagged the Department of Education over lapses in its P5.69 billion School-Based Feeding Program in 2023, with reports of delays and non-delivery of nutritious food products and pasteurized milk in several regions.
A total of 87 counts of money laundering complaint involving more than P100 million transactions was filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday afternoon, Aug. 30, against 36 persons, including dismissed Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac and members of her family.
The complaint was filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
Aside from money laundering, the AMLC sought the forfeiture of about P6 billion worth of assets "accumulated by Alice Guo and her associates through their unlawful activities."
In a press conference after the filing of the complaint, the DOJ revealed that a request has been made with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) that Alice be placed in its blue notice.
“Right now we requested a blue notice which will now obligate the other receiving countries to give us information on the whereabouts of a particular individual,” said DOJ Undersecretary Jesse Hermogenes T. Andres
He said that Alice remains in Jakarta, Indonesia based in information relayed by Indonesian authorities.
Once charges have been filed in court against Guo and warrants of arrests have been issued, Andres said “we will proceed to the next stage which is a red notice.”
“Lahat ng mga bansa na dadaanan n’ya ay may obligasyon na s’ya ay dakpin at ibalik sa PIlipinas (All of the countries she will go to have the obligation to arrest her and return her to the Philippines,” he said of the Interpol’s red notice.
On the money laundering, the complaint stated that Guo and the other respondents violated Republic Act (RA) 9160, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (AMLA).
Those named as respondents in the complaint aside from Alice Guo are her sister Shiela Guo; their father Jian Zhong Guo, also known as Angelito Guo and Angelito Dela Cruz; their mother Lin Wenyi, also known Wen Yi Lin and Amelia Leal; and Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, a representative of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.
The other respondents are former Technology Resource Center (TRC) director general Dennis L. Cunanan; Seimen Guo; Zhiyang Huang; Rachelle Joan Carreon; Baoying Lin; Ruijin Zhang; Thelma Barrogo Laranan; Rowena Gonzales Evanelista; Rita S. Ytturalde; Merlie Joy Manalo Castro; Yu Zheng Can; Mariella Joy Masiclat; Jaimielyn Santos Cruz; Roderick Paul Bernardo Pujante; Juan Miguel Alpas; Jayson Masuerte; Bernard Chua; Lack L. Uy; Nancy J. Gamo; Wuli Dong, Wang Weili; Nong Ding ChangLang Xu Po; Ma The Pong; Huang Yue Hai; Shicong Zhang; Ma Tram; Maybeline R. MIllo; and Walter Wong Long.
AMLC Investigation and Enforcement Department Deputy Director Adrian Arpon said the case involves around P100 million worth of transactions.
“This is just the first of many cases that we will be filing,” Arpon said as he pointed out that about P7 billion worth of properties and other assets are under investigation.
The case concerns the operations of the POGO Zun YuanZun Yuan Technology, Inc. located in the Baofu Land Development, Inc. compound in Bamban that was raided by authorities for its involvement in criminal activities
“The instant case involves corporations that tried to conceal the true nature of their businesses and to make it appear that they are engaged in legitimate activities,” the complaint stated.
According to the complaint, the money laundering charge involves “disguising financial assets so they can be used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them.”
“Through money laundering, the criminal transforms the monetary proceeds derived from criminal activity into funds with an apparently legal source,” the complaint added.
A total of 87 counts of money laundering complaint involving more than P100 million transactions was filed before the Department of Justice against 36 persons, including dismissed Mayor Alice L. Guo of Bamban, Tarlac and members of her family.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Department of Education (DepEd) over its unsettled P12.297 billion notices of disallowances and suspensions, and the "substantial accumulated unliquidated" cash advances of P6.959 billion in 2023.
In its 2023 annual audit report, the COA blamed DepEd's "non-compliance with the existing laws, rules, and regulations" which resulted in the department incurring P10,099,733,281.52 in suspensions and P2,190,140,136.53 in disallowances.
The report covered DepEd's financial transactions during the time of Vice President Sara Duterte as the department's secretary.
The COA explained that a transaction is suspended in audit when it is temporarily disallowed or disapproved until the requirements on matters raised in the course of audit are complied with.
A transaction is disallowed when it is disapproved either in whole or in part for being an illegal, irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, or unconscionable expenditure, it said.
In its report, the COA asked DepEd officials to "cause the immediate settlement of the suspensions, disallowances, and charges."
At the same time, the COA said DepEd had unliquidated cash advances amounting to P6,959,017,036.51 due to "lapses" in granting, liquidation, and monitoring of cash advances, as well as "disregard" of existing rules and regulations.
It pointed out that Section 21 of Executive Order No. 77 dated March 15, 2019 prescribes the reglementary period for the rendition of account on cash advances for local travels. Under COA Circular 97-002 dated Feb. 10, 1997, no additional cash advances shall be allowed unless the previous cash advance given to an official or employee has been settled, it said.
In 2023, the COA said that DepEd granted additional cash advances worth P280,511,139.96 despite non-liquidation of previous ones. It noted that there was P1,326,752,808.19 dormant/long-outstanding unliquidated cash advances, and from that amount, P15,860,194.17 was from the National Capital Region (NCR) and P3,933,928.22 was from Regional Office XII given to officials who have already retired, resigned, are deceased, or transferred.
With its findings, the COA asked DepEd to immediately stop the practice of granting additional cash advances when liquidation of previous ones were not yet done, and send demand letters to concerned accountable officers still active in the service to settle all their unliquidated cash advances.
For outstanding cash advances which remained non-moving for 10 years or more, DepEd officials were asked to request authority from the COA to write them off.
The Commission on Audit has called out the Department of Education over its unsettled P12.297 billion notices of disallowances and suspensions, and the "substantial accumulated unliquidated" cash advances of P6.959 billion in 2023.
Former Albay Governor Noel Rosal has been dismissed from service and permanently barred from holding any public office, the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) announced on Wednesday.
His wife, Legazpi City Mayor Geraldine Rosal, has also been suspended from service for one year.
The OMB explained that the decision followed a 2022 complaint by a certain Adrian Nacion Loterte, which accused the Rosals of grave misconduct, oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
The former governor’s reassignment of several department heads violated Civil Service Commission rules, affecting the Provincial Government’s operations and service delivery, the OMB said.
Geraldine, on the other hand, was also held liable for the illegal secondment of Legazpi City Engineer Clemente Ibo to the Provincial Government.
This arrangement, allegedly orchestrated with her husband, allowed Engr. Ibo to serve both local units simultaneously, prejudicing public service, said the OMB.
“The Ombudsman’s decision against Mayor Rosal is immediately executory, despite a pending Supreme Court case challenging her 2022 disqualification by the Commission on Elections,” the OMB statement read.“This ruling underscores the Ombudsman’s commitment to upholding accountability and combating misconduct in public service,” it added.
Noel Rosal served as the governor of Albay in 2022. He was replaced by then Vice Governor Edcel Greco Lagman in the same year.
Former Albay Governor Noel Rosal has been dismissed from service and permanently barred from holding any public office, while his wife, Legazpi City Mayor Geraldine Rosal, has also been suspended from service for one year over accusations of of grave misconduct, oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/8/21/san-juan-city-vet-3-others-charged-over-deaths-of-dogs-cats-in-city-pound |
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Wednesday, August 21, announced the suspension and the filing of charges against the city's veterinarian and three others following the deaths of numerous dogs and cats at the city pound during the onslaught of Typhoon Carina last July 24.
Several photos and videos of the city pound in Barangay Batis that have gone viral on social media showed cages filled with rescued animals that were allegedly left on their own during the storm.
This led to the deaths of multiple cats and dogs under its care.
"Upon my instructions, the City Legal Department (CLD) quickly initiated an investigation to determine if the involved government employees can be charged administratively. The CLD subsequently recommended the filing of a formal charge with the grievance and disciplinary committee against the city veterinarian which I have already approved," Zamora said.
"I have placed him under preventive suspension to ensure that he will not be able to influence the investigation. Charged as well are three permanent employees. One job order employee was immediately terminated. Additionally, the city government is moving to relocate the Animal Pound to a safer location to prevent future incidents and improve conditions. These decisive actions reflect Makabagong San Juan's unwavering commitment to transparency, accountability, and the well-being of all its residents," he added.
San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Wednesday, August 21, announced the suspension and the filing of charges against the city's veterinarian and three others following the deaths of numerous dogs and cats at the city pound during the onslaught of Typhoon Carina last July 24.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the preventive suspension of Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chair Monalisa Dimalanta, arising from a compliant filed by the the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc. (Nasecore).
In its complaint, Nasecore alleged that Dimalanta allowed the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) to purchase electricity from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and pass the charges on to consumers without obtaining the necessary approval from the ERC, allegedly in violation of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).
"The evidence on record shows that the guilt of respondent Dimalanta is strong and the charges against her involve grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service which may warrant her removal from the service," Ombudsman Samuel Martinez said in an order dated August 20, 2024.
"(H)er continued stay in office may prejudice the case filed against her " the Ombudsman said adding that the preventive suspension will stay "until the administrative adjudication of this case is terminated, but not to exceed six months without pay," the order read.
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the preventive suspension of Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Monalisa Dimalanta, arising from a compliant filed by the the National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms Inc.
