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5 NAIA officers charged with extortion
Criminal charges were filed yesterday against five security officers who allegedly extorted money from a Chinese at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3......»»
‘Senior High’ and ‘Fractured’: Youth is not wasted on these young stars
The shows Euphoria, Elite and 13 Reasons Why offer depictions of the so-called Generation Z that baffle, shock and titillate their audiences. The young people in these shows succumb to the call of their sexual urges, wantonly take prohibited drugs and drink themselves to catatonia. Raging hormones fuel their pursuit of YOLO (you only live once) moments and defiance of authority figures. That same sense of edgy, confused, tension-filled environment of sex and drugs are also in the local shows Senior High and Fractured, which follow the footsteps and narratives of their international counterparts in highlighting the many versions of truths and lies in the lives of their young characters. Central hook In Senior High, the stories of teenagers of different economic backgrounds in a private high school, their struggles with authority figures, and a big tragedy-mystery that needs to be resolved are the central anchor and hook. The made-for-TV campus that is Northford High looks and screams “mahal ang tuition.” Students are all in crispy Ivy League-inspired uniforms, and the typical school cliques are well- represented. What has been presented so far in the show’s 25 episodes are a tragic death, bullying, mental health, video scandals and online gossip accepted as gospel truth, homoeroticism, drugs, sexual predation and anger issues with parental and other authority figures. In the acting department, top-tier performances come from Andrea Brillantes, who plays the roles of twin sisters; JK Labajo, who brings a true rich-boy sophistication to his role; Elijah Canlas and Miggy Jimenez, both lending juicy and saucy touches to their juvenile delinquent characters; Kyle Echarri, exuding a becoming softness and knight-to-the rescue vibe; and Daniela Stranner, a delicious alpha mean girl. Among the authority figures, Angel Aquino, Mon Confiado, Anna Abad Santos and Baron Geisler -- in a career-defining performance – are superb. Senior High scratches the surface of teen troubles. As more episodes come, one hopes the problems of today’s youth get a more thorough dissection an a broader, more compassionate perspective. [caption id="attachment_191711" align="aligncenter" width="525"] The cast of ‘Fractured’[/caption] Trapped vloggers In Fractured, a group of popular, influential vloggers are invited to an is island resort to make content about it. The vloggers get their biggest plot twist when they are all marooned in what seems like a deserted part of the island resort. Aside from the elements, they have to contend with scarce food and water, the uncertainty of rescue and other looming dangers. Three episodes on, what makes Fractured an interesting watch is the deft manner by which the personal lives, problems, insecurities and dark sides of the vlogger characters are revealed. Since tensions among them are at an all-time high, catfights between femme vloggers erupt. Two of the macho vloggers assert alpha status, while a different and groovy kind of love blossoms between two male vloggers. Aside from the writing and glossy look of the show, the acting by Seth Fedelin, Francine Diaz, Kaori Oinuma, Daniela Stranner, Raven Rigor and Sean Tristan are also compelling come-ons. For all the chaos and darkness in Senior High and Fractured, we also witness real friendships forged by the young characters, love at its most romantic or bittersweet, and realizations and redemptions even. Youth is not wasted on the younger ones, after all. The post ‘Senior High’ and ‘Fractured’: Youth is not wasted on these young stars appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Travel patterns led to arrest of mother-daughter drug smugglers
Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco lauded on Friday the BI Anti-Terrorist Group (BI-ATG) for its role in the successful interdiction of two drug couriers on 27 September. In a report given to Tansingco, BI-ATG airport head Bienvenido Castillo III shared that the mother-and-daughter tandem, who were identified as Siti Aishah Binte Awang and Nur Alaviyah Binte Hanaffe, both Singaporeans, were intercepted after arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 via a Qatar Airlines flight QR928 from Doha. According to Castillo, the two suspects attempted to transit to Hong Kong via the Philippines but the BI officer at NAIA 3 intercepted them after detecting suspicious travel patterns. Castillo said that they also received information about the suspects from their international counterparts. They observed that the suspects would come in and out of the country in several instances and noted suspicious travels. He added that they also discovered another individual with the exact same patterns; hence, they immediately coordinated the matter with the members of the NAIA-Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-DITG). After alerting the task group, members from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) conducted an immediate entrapment operation with the assistance of airline representatives. A canine inspection showed that the duo’s luggage contained suspicious materials. Checks by the BOC confirmed that their bags contained six cookie tin cans and five cylindrical chip cans containing 564 pellets with a white powdered substance. The substance, identified as cocaine, totaled more or less 14,360 grams, with a current street value of PhP76,108,000. Tansingco hailed the arrest and commended the BI-ATG for the immediate and proactive actions that led to the interdiction. The BI chief said that the alertness of their immigration officers in analyzing the travel patterns of these criminals was instrumental in this arrest. Tansingco added that close coordination among government agencies in the airports is necessary to protect our borders from all kinds of criminal activity. Both suspects were arrested by the PDEA and remain under the agency’s custody for the filing of the appropriate charges against them. The post Travel patterns led to arrest of mother-daughter drug smugglers appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NAIA lady scanner, others found ‘guilty of stealing’
According to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, the female Security Screening Officer and three other members of the Office for Transportation Security who were caught on closed-circuit television were "found guilty of stealing" in the cash-swallowing incident that occurred on 8 September 2023 at Terminal 1's final security checkpoint at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Bautista said the guilty verdict was included in the investigation report handed to him by the OTS group of investigators, including the CCTV footage showing the lady scanner putting the money into her mouth and three other accomplices. The female SSO is facing administrative and criminal cases, as well as those who were involved in the 8 September incidents. “Ang sinasabi sa imbestigasyon ay guilty na pera ang sinubo. Although ang sinasabi nga ng babae ay chocolate daw, mayroon siyang affidavit. Pero ang nakita ng mga imbestigador na guilty siya,” Bautista said in an interview with the media after a Senate hearing on Tuesday. “Ang result ay, although hindi pa lumalabas officially, parang lumalabas na talagang nakita na mayroon silang pagkakasala. Apat kasi yung nakita natin dito na may talagang ginawa sa CCTV. Siguro pag nagkaroon ng criminal investigation, may lalabas pa kung mayroon pang other people involved,” he added. CCTV footage showed that at around 8:20 p.m. on 8 September, the Chinese passenger, identified only as Mr. Cai, placed his shoulder bag on the inspection tray at the final security checkpoint. As Cai passed through the body scanner, the screener could be seen conducting a manual search of his bag on the inspection table. The screener “suspiciously turned away while apparently holding something in her left hand with her fist tightly closed. She then swiftly placed something in her waist area and went back to the inspection table.” Cai had returned to the screening area and complained after discovering that his wallet was open and some of his money was missing. The passenger confronted the screener, who turned her back on him. In footage taken by another CCTV camera, she was “clearly seen deliberately swallowing the dollar bills, folded into one small piece,” as she used a handkerchief to cover her mouth. The screener was seen having difficulty swallowing the bills despite drinking water from a bottle given to her by a colleague. The screener’s supervisor approached her, “seemingly communicating with her” as she was “almost choking in her effort to swallow the dollar bills” to “apparently ensure that the bills were properly disposed of (no evidence),” according to the report. Cai has refused to file charges against the screener. Former OTS Administrator Ma.O. Aplasca confirmed on Friday, 22 September, that they received the counter affidavit of the accused and even said that, as of today Friday, she continues to deny the allegations that she swallowed the dollar bills. An OTS source said that it is not the normal way to eat chocolate by pushing something into her throat with her finger and drinking bottled water afterward. Secretary Bautista has directed the Office of Transportation Security (OTS) to immediately file the necessary charges against security screening personnel found involved in an 8 September incident of baggage theft at Terminal 1 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Bautista expressed frustration and dismay at the incident at NAIA that the Secretary was recently trying to promote among potential foreign investors who may want to operate and maintain the country's main gateway. He even authorized imposing the maximum penalty on those found guilty to demonstrate the Department's determined push to rid NAIA as well as other attached agencies of scalawags. Former OTS Administrator Ma.O. Aplasca submitted his courtesy resignation last Tuesday, 26 September, to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. through DOTr Secretary Bautista after Speaker of the House of Representatives Martin Romualdez asked him to resign or the speaker would personally block the budget of OTS and DOTr due to the repeated stealing scandal. The post NAIA lady scanner, others found ‘guilty of stealing’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Viral OTS screening officer relieved
The Office for Transportation Security confirmed on Thursday that the female security screening officer involved in the theft of $300 from a departing Chinese national passenger at NAIA Terminal 1 has been relieved. According to OTS administrator Ma.O Aplasca, the footage from the CCTV camera is clear and was used as basis to prove the passenger’s complaint about the loss of money in his wallet when he went through the final security check. However, the OTS chief refused to name the 28-year-old female OTS personnel because they have to conduct a follow-up investigation on who the accomplices were in the robbery. The OTS initially hid the incident of theft involving their SSO, but the said issue erupted after some OTS staff spoke to the airport in-house media because they also sympathized with the robbery issue. Reports disclosed that the incident happened on 8 September and the OTS did not release it to the media for almost two weeks, giving the reason that the investigation was still ongoing. Meanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority expressed dismay at the incident as MIAA officer-in-charge Bryan Co issued a warning that any airport frontliners whose actions undermine MIAA’s efforts to improve service standards at the airport have no place in the NAIA. The OTS, on the other hand, was instructed by the Department of Transportation to file the requisite charges against the security screening staff. In other developments, some senators on Thursday were one in saying that unscrupulous activities of airport officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport must be put to an end. In separate statements, Senators Grace Poe, Joel Villanueva and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa demanded an investigation into the new scheme of airport screening officers to steal valuable items from passengers at the country’s main gateway. Poe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Services, condemned the incident which she described as “infuriating and embarrassing.” “It seems that they [airport officials] never run out of gimmicks to steal money at the airport,” she said referring to the viral video. Villanueva echoed the same sentiment, adding that the incident would drive tourists away from visiting the country. For his part, Dela Rosa said the OTS and DoTr should work hand in hand to “get to the bottom of this newly discovered modus operandi at NAIA.” “We are hurting our own reputation before the international arena if this crime is not being addressed immediately,” Dela Rosa said. With Jasper Dawang and Jom Garner The post Viral OTS screening officer relieved appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Chinese national intercepted at NAIA
The Bureau of Immigration arrested a Chinese national last Monday at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after being found to be facing charges in China for illegal gambling. The BI-NAIA identified the suspect as Jiang Ning, a 27-year-old male who attempted to depart via a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when the BI officers noted a derogatory record in their system issued against him by the Chinese authorities. Upon verification, the Bureau confirmed that Jiang is the subject of an Interpol Red notice after allegedly being wanted in China for involvement in setting up a gambling group, which was said to control 14 gambling platforms for illegal profits in China and the Philippines. The BI-NAIA added that his group was said to have operated from 2014 to 2021 and to have induced more than 100 thousand Chinese to engage in illegal gambling activities. A warrant of arrest was already issued against him by the Qijiang District Public Security Bureau of Chongqing Municipality. He was charged with opening a casino in violation of the Criminal Law of China and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Jiang was immediately referred to the BI Legal Division to be charged with undesirability. He will be detained at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending his deportation proceedings. The post Chinese national intercepted at NAIA appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Chinese national wanted for illegal gambling nabbed at NAIA
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) reported that a Chinese national was arrested on 18 September by BI officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) after being found to be facing charges in China for illegal gambling. The BI-NAIA identified the suspect as Jiang Ning, a 27-year-old male. Jiang was arrested at the NAIA Terminal 1. He attempted to depart the country via a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when BI officers noted a derogatory record in their system issued against him by the Chinese authorities. Upon verification, the BI confirmed that Jiang is the subject of an Interpol Red notice after allegedly being wanted in China for involvement in setting up a gambling group, which was said to control 14 gambling platforms for illegal profits in China and the Philippines. The BI-NAIA added that his group was said to have operated from 2014 to 2021 and to have induced more than 100 thousand Chinese to engage in illegal gambling activities. A warrant of arrest was already issued against him by the Qijiang District Public Security Bureau of Chongqing Municipality. He was charged with opening a casino in violation of the Criminal Law of China and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Jiang was immediately referred to the BI Legal Division to be charged with undesirability. He will be detained at the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, pending his deportation proceedings. The post Chinese national wanted for illegal gambling nabbed at NAIA appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pinay from Africa held with P18.3-M cocaine
A passenger flying in from Africa was arrested for allegedly trying to slip in illegal drugs worth P18.3 million at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group said on Friday. In a statement, PDEG chief, Col. Dionisio Bartolome Jr., identified the suspect as Zenaida Esperanza Losloso, 49, a Filipina of Lucena City who had flown in from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Losloso was arrested by operatives of the PDEG, PDEA, NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group, Bureau of Customs-Port of NAIA at Terminal 3 at 9:45 p.m. on Thursday. Seized from her were 3,454 grams of suspected cocaine in a plastic sachet with an estimated value of P18,306,200. The suspect and evidence were brought to the PDEA office for documentation and disposition. She is facing charges of violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Drug Act of 2002 and RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. The BoC-NAIA said the illegal drugs were discovered after the suspect’s baggage went through the initial X-ray inspection. The X-ray screener marked it with an “X” to signal that the bag showed a suspicious image and needed to undergo a physical inspection. A physical examination revealed the suspected cocaine in the lining of the suitcase. The post Pinay from Africa held with P18.3-M cocaine appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BuCor chief lobs kubol ultimatum
All inmates or whom the government prefers to call persons deprived of liberty, or PDLs must immediately dismantle their kubols, which are the private residences, inside the supposed maximum-security New Bilibid Prison. Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said the removal of the exclusive facilities will be immediate. The problem has been recurring since the term of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III when a series of raids resulted in the removal of the amenities that high-profile detainees enjoy. Later on, during President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, it was found that the NBP was used as a transit point for the drug trade involving several detained drug lords. “This is part of the continued efforts of the Bureau of Corrections for the security of PDLs. Thus all structures in the seven Operating Prison and Penal Farms nationwide to voluntarily dismantle or the bureau will do it for them,” he said. Raps will be imposed Catapang said the Kubols are not the luxury huts seen in the past that were occupied only by moneyed PDLs but these are makeshift dividers made of plywood constructed for privacy and additional space. “Nevertheless, we ask them to demolish these for transparency,” he said. Yesterday, PDLs at the New Bilibid Prison voluntarily dismantled 60 makeshift rooms or kubols located at the security housing building 1 and 6 NBP North, SHB 9 NBP East Quadrant 4 and SHB 7 NBP West Quadrant 2 while the dismantling of kubols in Quadrant 3 Maximum security compound is still ongoing. Catapang warned that if there are still kubols installed inside the NBP by Monday, Bucor personnel from the Diversified Maintenance Unit will tear it down. “I have instructed newly appointed Deputy Director General for Operations, Gil Torralba to lead this operation including the Greyhound (Galugad) operation that will be conducted regularly at the national penitentiary,” Catapang said. Torralba for his part told Catapang “We will clean up BuCor, Sir.” “We need to do this so that we can confiscate contrabands still in possession of PDLs. They are fully aware that we have given them the chance to surrender all illegal items but if they still refuse and they are caught red-handed, I’m sorry to say that they will have to stay longer at NBP as we will not hesitate to file charges against them,” Catapang said. The post BuCor chief lobs kubol ultimatum appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Managers: Phl remains on track
Despite the lackluster 4.3 percent in the second quarter, growth this year is expected to reach the target range of 6 percent to 7 percent gross domestic product expansion, according to Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno. “To do this, we will expedite the implementation of government programs and projects, to provide fiscal stimulus to increase the productive capacity of the public and private sectors and address the adverse recent impacts of typhoons.” Diokno added. Economic managers gathered in Fort Ilocandia in Laoag City to hold the Post-State of the Nation Economic Briefing that discussed the country’s economic situation and plans on 14 August. Diokno said in 2022, GDP increased 7.6 percent from 5.7 a year ago and a 9.5 percent contraction in 2020. Diokno said the economic team is determined to pick up government expenditure in the third and fourth quarters. Revenue collections remain robust from January to June as these totaled P1.9 trillion up 7.7 percent or P132.6 billion year-on-year which is also higher than the mid-year program by 2.7 percent. Hence, Diokno said they have already pipelined 194 infrastructure flagship projects worth P8.3 trillion of which 132 are located in Luzon that will address irrigation, water supply, flood management, agriculture, digital connectivity, physical connectivity, health, and power and energy. Diokno also highlighted some of the projects like the Laoag International Airport Development Project, the EDSA Greenways, the TPLEX Expressway Expansion Project, the Laguna Lakeshore Road Network Project, the Ilocos Norte-Sur-Abra Irrigation Project, and the Naga Airport Development Project. “The Philippines is determined to be a world leader in the race to net zero and the Ilocos Region will be a strategic partner in this mission. Dubbed to be the renewable energy capital of South East Asia, Ilocos Norte is emerging to be a promising player in the clean energy arena. Being home to the first and largest wind farms in the country,” Diokno stressed. In his address, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr., said from a peak of 8.7 percent in January, headline inflation slowed to 4.7 percent in July due to improving domestic food supply conditions and lower global oil prices. However, he also admitted that core inflation remains high at 6.7 percent although it has already started to decline due to the monetary tightening. The BSP has responded to inflation by aggressively raising its policy rate, as of today, the BSP has raised policy rates by 425 basis points. Prices reined in “The good news is that inflation expectations are still well anchored. The markets continue to believe that we will hit our target range by 2024 and stay there in 2025,” Remolona said. Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman also gave an update on the use pf the budget for 2023. Pangandaman said at the end of July, the total amount of the national budget that has been released already is around 93 percent. “And we expect all our government agencies including all the cabinet members present here, to spend your budget so we can help grow the economy,” Pangandaman said. While for next year, the government budget will amount to 5.768 trillion and it is 21.7 percent of the GDP it has already been submitted to Congress last August 2 and the budget is expected to be passed earlier than expected. The National Economic Development Authority said it wanted to lower the poverty level to single digit. For Socioeconomic Planning Undersecretary Carlos Bernardo Abad Santos, the government has effective regional development plans. In the Ilocos Regional Development Plan from 2023-2028, the NEDA expects the Ilocos region to have a 7 percent to 7.5 percent growth while lowering the poverty incidence by 7.3 percent. ‘Build, Better, More’ under BBM;s watch Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the “Build, Better, More” program of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is very much aligned with the medium-term development plan for 2023 to 2028 and is consistent with the 8-point economic agenda of the president. Bonoan said that from July 2022 to May 2023, the DPWH has built, maintained, rehabilitated, widened, and upgraded 4,082 kilometer of roads, 497 bridges, built 2,103 flood control projects, 55 evacuation centers, 216 kms farm to market roads, 8 kilometers of farm to mill roads, 138 kilometers tourism roads, 18 kilometers of roads to seaports, railway stations, and airports, 4,038 classrooms, and 6,002 rainwater collector system. “Because of climate change, we have to address and be building and developing resilient and sustainable communities in the 18 major river basins in the country,” Bonoan said. Some of the major projects that the department would like to continue are converting the Daang Maharlika which is actually now Asian Highway 26 which starts in Laoag City and will go around Cagayan Valley and has extended all the way to Zamboanga City. Bonoan says that they want to convert this backbone of the national highway into seamless travel. “In other words, there should be no major stops along the way, along this Maharlika highway,” Bonoan said. Bonoan said they’re going to build 12 major bridges, and the first bridge is the Cavite-Bataan Interlink bridge with a span of more than 32 km. Should it be completed, this will be the second-longest bay bridge in the world. The department also plans to start the Luzon Spine Expressway which will run from Laoag City to Bicol, Bonoan says that this will be 1,073 kms more. As for Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, major Department of Transportation projects like the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, Metro Manila Subway, EDSA Greenway Projects, EDSA Busway, MRT-3 Rehabilitation, LRT-1 Cavite, LRT-2 West Extension, MRT-7, and the modernization and capacity expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are proceeding. For the Department of Information and Communications Technology Ivan John Uy, there is already a cybersecurity plan for 2023 to 2028 which is a consolidated output of all the stakeholders in designing which includes the best practices all over the world. “We’ve ramped up in our cybercrime detection, we are busting cybercrime syndicates all over the country especially those that are dealing with scammers,” Uy said. Uy said agency is also enhancing cybersecurity status by designing courses to upgrade cybersecurity professionals. He admits that worldwide, there is a 3 million job vacancies on cyber security. DICT said by the end of the year, the department will have Two Terabits of capacity from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan all the way to Manila and we should expect very good Internet connectivity by the start of next year especially on the Luzon area. These structures also open opportunities to data centers and BPOs along the places mentioned which produces employment. DICT expects that foreign investment opportunities and interest in those areas will boom. The post Managers: Phl remains on track appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
3 acquitted seafarers return from Nigeria
Three Filipino seafarers acquitted of drug charges in Nigeria arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday night, while the remaining eight are set to be repatriated Tuesday night. According to Captain Edgardo Flores, consultant and former owner’s representative of the Greek-owned Eastern Mediterranean Manning Agency, seafarers Romnick Albarracin, Kent Ryan Oblenda, and Judezar Quetua arrived on 7 August at the NAIA Terminal on a Qatar Airways flight QR-1432 from Doha, Qatar. Arriving on Tuesday in the same gateway are Reynante Antolin, Edgar Bechayda, Fidel Gerapusco, Dennis Maningo, Ervin Pabuaya, Bryan Ramos, Ralph Sumangil and Voltaire Tejero. Flores said the first three seafarers were welcomed by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, Department of Migrant Workers Assistant Secretaries Fely Bay and Venecio Legaspi, representatives from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. He said the DMW provided P30,000 cash assistance for each seafarer, which according to Flores will help a lot to restart their lives and seafaring journeys again. Meanwhile, Flores questioned operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency who also attended the arrival of the three seafarers. He said the PDEA personnel wanted to seal the papers of the three seafarers as “DEPORTED” instead of “REPATRIATED.” “These seafarers were all freed by a Nigerian court, why will they tag them as deported? If you tag them deported, the Bureau of Immigration will put DEPORTED on their passports, which can compromise their future jobs,” he said. The post 3 acquitted seafarers return from Nigeria appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Bilibid’ decongestion continues, says BuCor
Bureau of Corrections director general Gregorio Catapang Jr. on Sunday revealed that the agency is transferring more persons deprived of liberty from the New Bilibid Prison once the construction of facilities in Iwahig, Davao and Leyte Prison and Penal Farms are completed. In a statement, the BuCor chief said that at least 500 PDLs have already been transferred to Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm even as the agency continues its implementation of the “Bilis Laya” Program. The program has seen the release of more than 4,000 PDLs from various prison and penal farms after serving their sentence, acquitted of the charges against them, paroled and those who qualified for the good conduct time allowance or GCTA. Catapang said that aside from congestion problem due to lack of facilities for PDLs at the NBP, he admitted that BuCor personnel are not prepared when the bureau was restructured from civilian to uniformed. Recently, Catapang addressed the members of the Committee on Public Order and Safety at the House of Representatives during the recent hearing and said that Republic Act 10575, otherwise known as the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013 which provides for the modernization, professionalization and restructuring of the bureau, was signed into law on 24 May 2013 by former President Benigno Aquino Jr. while its implementing rules and regulations was promulgated in 2016, three years after the passage of the law. “They were converted into uniformed personnel without training, to wear the uniform. When you say wear the uniform, they should be disciplined, they should follow orders and they should not commit corruption,” Catapang explained. Citing his experience as the Armed Forces Chief of Staff or even when he was a Battalion Commander or Company Commander, Catapang said he can outright dismiss a soldier using articles of war and if a soldier committed an infringement, he can easily be dismissed from the service. “It cannot be done in the BuCor because there are process that you have to follow like the Civil Service Commission rules and regulations and the Department of Justice. You cannot just terminate them immediately even if they committed corruption,” Catapang said. At the moment, the bureau is hiring young corrections officers as Catapang intends to promote all qualified uniformed BuCor personnel to next higher rank to weed out all scalawags in the bureau. The BuCor already hired 1,000 COs last year and currently hiring another 1,000 this year and the Department of Budget approved for the hiring of another 1,000 next year, Catapang told the committee. The post ‘Bilibid’ decongestion continues, says BuCor appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BuCor personnel not prepared to ‘wear uniform’ — Catapang
Aside from the congestion problem due to the lack of facilities for persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP), Bureau of Corrections Director-General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. admitted that BuCor personnel are not prepared when the bureau was restructured from civilian to uniformed. Catapang addressing the members of the Committee on Public Order and Safety at the House of Representatives during the recent hearing disclosed that Republic Act No. 10575, otherwise known as the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, which provides for the modernization, professionalization, and restructuring of the bureau was signed into law on 24 May 2013 by former President Benigno Aquino Jr. while it’s implementing rules and regulations were promulgated in 2016, three years after the passage of the law. “They were converted into uniformed personnel without training, to wear the uniform. When you say wear the uniform, they should be disciplined, they should follow orders and they should not commit corruption,” Catapang explained. Citing his experience as the Armed Forces Chief of Staff or even when he was a battalion commander or company commander, Catapang said he can outrightly dismiss a soldier using articles of war and if a soldier committed an infringement, he can easily be dismissed from the service. “It cannot be done in the BuCor because there are process (sic) that you have to follow like the Civil Service Commission rules and regulations and the Department of Justice. You cannot just terminate them immediately even if they committed corruption,” Catapang lamented. Right now, the bureau is hiring young blood of corrections officers (COs) and Catapang intends to promote all qualified uniformed BuCor personnel to the next higher rank to weed out all scalwags in the bureau. The BuCor already hired 1,000 COs last year and currently hiring another 1,000 this year and the Department of Budget approved the hiring of another 1,000 next year, Catapang told the committee “They will constitute the new blood of BuCor who will regain the trust and confidence of the Filipino people. We will therefore have a total of 3,000 new correction officers by end of 2024 who will represent the beginning of a reformed BuCor,” Catapang said. "We will ingrain to them integrity, dedication to service, and the courage to refuse corruption," he added. At present, the BuCor is continuously retooling and organizing seminars and training to promote values formation to all its personnel. “We need to do this because some of our personnel have been in the bureau for so long at dahil yung mga ninuno nila ay nagtrabaho din sa bureau, they felt entitled kaya talagang mahaba habang proseso para sila madisiplina,” Catapang explained. With regards to congestion, Catapang said that he will continue to transfer more PDLs from NBP once the construction of facilities in Iwahig, Davao, and Leyte Prison and Penal Farms are completed. So far, 500 PDLs have already been transferred to Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm and they have been implementing the “Bills Laya” Program wherein more than 4,000 PDLs have been released from various prison and penal farms after serving their sentence, acquitted of the charges against them, paroled and those who qualified for the good conduct time allowance or GCTA. The post BuCor personnel not prepared to ‘wear uniform’ — Catapang appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Transfer of PDLs to address congestion at NBP
Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. over the weekend revealed that they will continue transferring more persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) to the New Bilibid Prison once the construction of facilities in Iwahig, Davao, Leyte Prison and the Penal Farms are completed. He said some 500 PDLs have already been transferred to Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm and they have been implementing the “Bills Laya” Program, where more than 4,000 PDLs have been released from various prison and penal farms after serving their sentence, acquitted of the charges against them, paroled, and those who qualified for the good conduct time allowance or GCTA. This was disclosed by Catapang saying aside from the congestion problem due to the lack of facilities for PDLs at the NBP, he admitted that BuCor personnel are not prepared when the bureau was restructured from civilian to uniformed. Recently, Catapang addressed the members of the Committee on Public Order and Safety at the House of Representatives during the recent hearing and said that Republic Act 10575 otherwise known as the Bureau of Corrections Act of 2013, which provides for the modernization, professionalization and restructuring of the bureau, that was signed into law on 24 May 2013 by former President Benigno Aquino Jr., while it’s implementing rules and regulations was promulgated in 2016, three years after the passage of the law. “They were converted into uniformed personnel without training to wear the uniform. When you say wear the uniform, they should be disciplined, they should follow orders and they should not commit corruption,” Catapang explained. Citing his experience as the Armed Forces Chief of Staff or even when he was a Battalion Commander or Company Commander, Catapang said he can dismiss a soldier outright using articles of war and if a soldier committed an infringement, he can easily be dismissed from the service. “It cannot be done in the BuCor because there are processes that you have to follow like the Civil Service Commission rules and regulations and the Department of Justice. You cannot just terminate them immediately even if they committed corruption,” Catapang said. The post Transfer of PDLs to address congestion at NBP appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Graft buster clears Cusi
Citing the presumption of regularity, the Office of the Ombudsman threw out the graft complaint of a New York-based billionaire against former Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, other Department of Energy officials, Davao City-based executive Dennis Uy, and several others over the sale of 90 percent of the shares of the Malampaya natural gas consortium. On 18 October 2021, US-based geologist Balgamel Domingo and Filipino-American anti-Duterte leaders Rodel Rodis and Loida Nicolas-Lewis filed charges against Cusi, Uy, and the others involved in the sale of the Malampaya stake to the Udenna group of Uy. In a copy of the ruling obtained by the Daily Tribune, the Ombudsman said it could not delve into the complaint on the legality of the transaction since “the authority to make such a determination belongs to the court.” “Seemingly, this complaint is in actuality a collateral attack on the validity of the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement,” it said. The decision declared that “matters of such tenor are not determinable in a preliminary investigation before the Ombudsman’s Office.” “Without any judicial determination decreeing the illegality of the Share Sale and Purchase Agreement, this Office is left with nothing but to acknowledge its validity,” the ruling said. The Ombudsman cited a precedent in the case of Teresita Buenaventura vs Metrobank, in a ruling that stated: “The burden of showing that a contract is simulated rests on the party impugning the contract.” “This is because of the presumed validity of the contract that has been duly executed,” the Ombudsman ruling read. “Wherefore, the criminal charges for violation of Section 3(e) and of Republic Act 3019 against the respondents are dismissed for lack of probable cause.” The ruling was signed by members of a Special Panel of Investigators composed of Ronald Allan Ramos, Josephine Mae Rosapapan, Francisco Alan Molina and Bonifacio Mandrilla. Prime takes control The operation of the Malampaya project was recently assumed by the Razon group’s Prime Energy which bought a 45-percent stake from Malampaya Energy XP, or MEXP, of the Udenna group. MEXP had bought the shares of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., or SPEX, in the consortium. The Department of Energy had branded the complaint a political move since the two Fil-Am lawyers in the suit were prominent in the “Oust Duterte” movement in the United States. The complaint alleged that Cusi and other energy officials had granted “unwarranted benefits and advantage” to Uy’s UC Malampaya in the buyout of Chevron’s share in the consortium. Udenna, through spokesperson Raymond Zorilla, said there is “no law requiring approval of the transfer of shares of companies that have an interest in Malampaya.” Zorilla said the transfer of Chevron and Shell shares underwent strict bidding processes and due diligence by both multinational oil and gas players. “The share sales were above board and legal and had to pass scrutiny by Philippine regulators, international lenders, and the said private multinationals involved,” Zorilla added. Cusi, in an interview with Daily Tribune, had said the DoE was not involved in choosing the buyer of the shares of Shell and Chevron in the Malampaya project. “The DoE did not get involved in the sale (of shares). We don’t know that they are selling. Our question was what their standards are for choosing Udenna. Why didn’t you choose the big companies, and why Udenna?” he said. Industry experts said the sale of shares was a private transaction that the accusers, who are US lawyers, should have been very familiar with. Cusi said the DoE, during his watch, went beyond its mandate by reviewing the technical, legal, and financial aspects of the transactions, the results of which were provided to the public. Political agenda The complaint, he said, had an underlying political agenda connected to his being the head of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan or PDP Laban. “It is not only political propaganda against me, but it also has a destabilization background… because I’m the president of the PDP.” The complaints, in turn, stemmed from the unending Senate inquiries on the Malampaya deals. The DoE said the Senate probes and the controversies that resulted from them had caused costly delays in the review process that would ultimately affect the country’s energy security. To refute a recent remark by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, the DoE, in a statement said: “The inquiries of Senator Gatchalian are causing undue delay to the timeline of the consortium corporations, and this may eventually take its toll and put our energy security at risk.” The DoE’s approval of the sale of shares of stock of Chevron Malampaya LLC, one of the three corporations in the Malampaya Gas Field Project Consortium, had been dubbed by Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy, as “lutong Macau.” It also backed the Udenna assessment that the deals were above-board. “When the sales were made, both Chevron Philippines, which owned Chevron Malampaya, and Shell Petroleum NV, owner of SPEX, followed rigorous global standards,” the DoE said. Nicolas-Lewis was part of a 25-person delegation from the US-Philippines Society, a private group comprising business executives and diplomats, who met with Duterte a week before his inauguration as president in 2016. Nicolas-Lewis was then accompanied by former Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia, PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan, retired American diplomats, and executives of Coca-Cola, SGV, JP Morgan, and other top corporations. Nicolas-Lewis is the sister of former National Anti-Poverty Commission chairperson Imelda Nicolas, who was one of the “Hyatt 10” Cabinet members who turned against then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005. Imelda and most of the Hyatt 10 members ended up getting key posts in the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Imelda was made head of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. Nicolas-Lewis plot bared In February 2018, former President Duterte bared intercepted conversations that indicated Nicolas-Lewis was behind efforts to push the International Criminal Court, or ICC, to probe his war on drugs. Duterte revealed a recorded conversation between Lewis and another political opponent whom he did not name. “I was listening to the tapes of their conversation. It was provided to me by another country, but the conversation was somewhere in the Philippines and New York,” Duterte said. He said that among the recordings was one in which Lewis allegedly told another person: “See you in the headquarters when the case is filed.” Duterte then said in a public address that he was aware of developments on the ICC case and that lawyer Jude Sabio, the main complainant in the case, was a paid hack of Magdalo Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Rep. Gary Alejano, both failed putschists. Sabio withdrew his complaint before the ICC and revealed that the case was the handiwork of the dirty tricks factory of Trillanes. In 2016, Duterte pointed to Lewis as the financier of an alleged destabilization plot against his administration. Nicolas-Lewis invested heavily in the failed presidential campaigns of Liberal Party bets Mar Roxas in 2016 and Vice President Leni Robredo in 2022. The post Graft buster clears Cusi appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Huge difference (2)
Former Commission on Audit chairperson Ma. Gracia Pulido Tan and Commissioner Heidi L. Mendoza worked in tandem but their ill-fated partnership was marred by their mishandling of the audit of lawmakers’ pork barrel, which turned into a global disaster. The dysfunctional CoA turned Noynoy’s straight path into a crooked one, losing total control which led to the holocaust in Philippine fiscal administration under the triumvirate of Florencio Abad, Pulido Tan, and Mendoza. The appointees of then-president Aquino in CoA were the obstacles to the ability of President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill his promises and meet the high public expectations. In one instance, he ordered the CoA chairman to audit the accounts of the Philippine National Red Cross, given the President’s controversy with Senator Gordon. The CoA chief rebuffed the President, saying the CoA had no jurisdiction over the PNRC. That was indeed a rebuff and a disrespect because it was incredible that a 7th placer in the Bar did not know her constitutional power to audit. But when the President directed the Solicitor General to take action and make CoA audit the Red Cross, the CoA chief blinked and said CoA would conduct an audit “next week.” Such was the naughtiness of President Noynoy’s appointees to constitutional offices. President Digong appointed the former chief accountant of Davao as CoA chief in 2022. Digong’s decision had a lot of logic and common sense. First, it would remove hindrances to the fulfillment of his promises to the people. Then Chairperson Rizalina Justol was greeted warmly by the CoA officials and staff. “I am glad to be back at CoA, an institution that I had served for 10 years as an auditing examiner,” Chairperson Justol said. She chose 1 March as the date of her assumption as chairperson, it being a significant date as it was when she left the Commission in 1996. Justol, however, was not confirmed by the Commission on Appointments, and her term was overtaken by the assumption into office of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. President Marcos then appointed National Telecommunications Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba as CoA. He took his oath of office before Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Alexander Gesmundo. Cordoba obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1992. He entered the Ateneo School of Law and obtained his law degree in 1996. He passed the Bar in 1997. Atty. Cordoba was supposed to enjoy life with his appointment to the exalted post of chairman of the Commission, not far down the line of succession from the Head of State, but his life has been complicated by the backlog of more than 6,000 cases left behind by the former Commission Proper who wasted their official time on too much foreign travel, on the unconstitutional citizen participatory audit, and simply with their lack of direction. Cordoba was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan as a rising star of the Philippines. (To be continued) The post Huge difference (2) appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Tribune, Marcos share good gov’t journey (17)
“Without fear or favor,” was how former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. chose the Daily Tribune motto in justifying his vote for the acquittal of Chief Justice Renato Corona in the 2012 impeachment trial. Marcos was one of three senators, the others being Miriam Defensor Santiago and Joker Arroyo, who voted to acquit, against 20 who voted to convict Corona. The senator-judges voted only on article 2 of the original eight charges in the impeachment complaint, which was Corona’s “failure to disclose to the public his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth as required under the Constitution.” When Corona passed away in 29 April 2016, Marcos said that he had been a victim of a “great injustice.” “It is unfortunate that at the time of his death, he was still under this cloud that had remained above him since the impeachment trial,” Marcos lamented. He stressed that Corona was clearly a casualty of “selective justice.” History validated the points Marcos made as it was revealed that money was passed around, straight from a Palace slush fund, to influence the vote to oust Corona. In defense of his vote in the impeachment court, Marcos cited Lady Justice who “wears a blindfold for a reason.” “She is to render judgment based on law and evidence without regard to the circumstances and personalities of the parties involved,” he noted. He said that like Lady Justice, the senator-judges were bound to dispense justice “without fear or favor.” “An impeachment trial is sui generis. But, be that as it may, the Bill of Rights stands supreme over all the powers of government, including the power to impeach, and nowhere is this precept more opposite than in this case, where the government has mustered all the resources at its disposal not only to secure evidence against the chief justice but further to ensure his conviction,” Marcos had noted. He indicated that the crucial issues that had piqued the interest of the senator-judges, as well as of the public, “were outside the original ambit of the impeachment complaint” and were raised only after the filing of the complaint. “Evidence in some of these issues came from questionable sources, beginning with the unidentified ‘little lady’ who supplied documents anonymously, leaving them on gates and in mailboxes.” The “little lady” was later identified as a journalist who was doing errands for the Liberal Party to pin Corona and fulfill the wish of the late President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to have the chief justice removed. Marcos said that “at the expense of the sub judice rule, evidence was presented to the public on several occasions even before they were formally offered before this court.” “Worse, information was grossly exaggerated with the apparent intention to predispose the public mind against the chief justice,” Marcos pointed out. He cited as an example the Land Registration Authority report with the “discredited” list of 45 properties and the unauthenticated Anti-Money Laundering Council report claiming that the chief justice had $10 million. Fair, impartial and just Still, Marcos said the chief justice sufficiently addressed the accusations against him with regard to the filing of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth and the disclosure of his real properties and peso deposits. Relative to his dollar deposits, the chief justice believed that he was under no legal duty to declare them pursuant to Republic Act 6426 which affords absolute confidentiality to all foreign currency depositors, Marcos indicated. “In view of the ambiguous situation created by the concurrent application of the 1987 Constitution, the SALN law and the FCDU law, and absent a determinative judicial pronouncement that resolves the contrary positions in this legal issue, the chief justice must be presumed to have acted in good faith,” Marcos said. He pointed out that “it has been held that not all omissions and misdeclarations in the SALN amount to dishonesty.” “When the furor has died down and this political storm has subsided, I know that like Lady Justice we shall find solace in the fact that this decision, though it may be not popular, was fair, impartial and just,” Marcos declared. The post Tribune, Marcos share good gov’t journey (17) appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BI rescues Pinay trafficking victim
The Bureau of Immigration on Sunday reported that its operatives have intercepted a Filipina bound to Thailand — supposedly a victim of human trafficking — along with her alleged recruiter. BI officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, according to the report, intercepted the Filipina identified only as “Lynne” after she tried to board a Philippine Airlines flight to Bangkok on Friday. Authorities said that the Filipina presented herself as a tourist traveling with her friend identified only as “Che” after previously working as a factory worker in Taiwan. However, Immigration officers noted several inconsistencies with her statements and documents and later found that she had been recruited to work for a Thailand-based Chinese company. BI officers also suspected “Che” to have facilitated “Lynne’s” recruitment, providing her with fake documents to make the victim appear like a legitimate tourist and disclosing that the alleged recruiter was allegedly working as a recruitment assistant for a manpower agency in the Philippines and has multiple travels to Thailand. “We are now looking into alias Che’s records to see if she has facilitated the travel of other workers in the past,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said. Previously, another suspected human trafficking victim was also intercepted by authorities last Wednesday after trying to leave the Philippines for Vietnam, claiming that she was traveling to Vietnam as a tourist upon the invitation of a Vietnamese friend. But the Department of Migrant Workers revealed that the individual identified as “Issa” was actually bound for Cambodia after being illegally recruited. “We suspect they might have been recruited for a catphishing syndicate, similar to those previously intercepted and repatriated,” Tansingco said. Both cases have been referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking for further investigation. Authorities were also filing charges against the recruiters. The post BI rescues Pinay trafficking victim appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BBM, Tribune share good gov’t journey
When Daily Tribune was started in 2000, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. or BBM was Ilocos Norte Governor, and both newspaper and the namesake of his father, who was also a President, started on paths that frequently crossed. For instance, it was the Tribune, on 23 September 2013, that broke the story on the use of the Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP during the Senate impeachment trial of then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. That revelation by BBM — who had thought the money used in the impeachment trial had come from the Priority Development Assistance Fund that the Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional in 2013 — started the public scrutiny of the presidential pork barrel. Former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad then came out to admit the creation of the fund which he claimed was part of the fiscal stimulus program to counter the effects of a financial crisis that hit the Asian region in 2008. Aquino slush fund The DAP was later proven to be a Palace slush fund for legislators to do its whims and the acts creating it were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2014. BBM, then a senator, told Daily Tribune in an exclusive interview about the use of a supposed stimulus fund of the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III to bribe six senators who sat as judges in the Senate impeachment court for them to vote for the conviction of Corona in May 2012. Marcos said the Department of Budget and Management released P475 million in lump sum allocations to the six senators through the Department of Agrarian Reform that was made to appear as funds for livelihood projects. BBM said the funds were actually used to “induce” the senator-judges to convict Corona. Abad DAP author Abad, in January 2012, said P72.11 billion of those funds juggled from the budget was used for DAP, and the bulk of it was released to agencies and government-owned or -controlled corporations in 2011. Marcos said P100 million was released to him as part of the P475 million the DBM had allocated in six special allotment release orders or SARO, all with the same date of 6 December 2011 and made available through notices of cash allocation a year after. In a privilege speech two days after the Marcos interview, Senator Jinggoy Estrada accused Senate President Franklin Drilon of using discretionary funds to influence the impeachment proceedings against Corona. (To be continued) The post BBM, Tribune share good gov’t journey appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Truth is always right
On 2 April 2012, I wrote an open memorandum to His Excellency, the President of the Republic of the Philippines, Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, which read: “Your Excellency, I am respectfully writing you openly on the basis of national interest, that Heidi Mendoza should no longer be reappointed as Commissioner of the Commission on Audit. “Truth is not always popular, but it is always right. “Heidi Mendoza has almost always been popular, that is why she has almost always been wrong. “Mrs. Mendoza has been bypassed three times…I respectfully request that she no longer be re-appointed. “Official records revealed her questionable integrity, incompetence, and unfitness to hold the position. “Her public testimony that the five million US dollars UN peacekeeping fund was withdrawn by a general was denied by the UN officials in New York. “Her claim that the P50 million of the P200 million transferred to UCPB from Landbank Greenhills was missing was proven untrue by the Sandiganbayan. “Her testimony in the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona was stricken off the record. She was discharged as a witness. The court found her lying. “It would take volumes for me to write to you all of her falsehood. “Mr. President, please be kind to Heidi Mendoza. Spare her from the agony of being looked at with contempt by CoA auditors. They feel disrespected. Be kind to the hardworking rank and file, the saving grace of the audit institution.” But President Aquino reappointed Mendoza. Her whims and caprices together with those of her tandem, Grace Pulido Tan, bloomed with impunity of abuse, with Florencio Abad, who completed the “stars” in the “holocaust” in Philippine fiscal administration. THE AUDITOR derived its endless true and fascinating stories from the aftermath of this international tragedy. Mabuhay ang Daily Tribune! The post Truth is always right appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»