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New DCPO chief pledges technology-driven approach
THE new director of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) underscored the utilization of technology to streamline their operations......»»
Russian Spy Chief Makes Bizarre Claim of US, UK, and Ukraine Involvement in Moscow Attack
In a recent development, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has made startling accusations against Ukraine, the US, and the UK, claiming they.....»»
New DCPO chief to focus on personnel morale, asset optimization
THE Davao City Police Office (DCPO) bid farewell to PCol. Alberto Lupaz and welcomed its new City Director, PCol. Richard Bad-ang, in a turn-over ceremony at the Camp Captain Domingo E. Leonor on March 22......»»
Missing man found dead in Barangay Bonbon
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 50-year-old man who had been missing for two weeks was found dead in Sitio Golivas, Barangay Bonbon, Cebu City. The victim was identified as Adriano Fuentes Durano, a resident of Kiniasan, Barangay Bonbon, Cebu City. Police Major Philip John Libres, chief of Malubog Police Community Precinct, stated that on Tuesday.....»»
17 killed as truck loaded with sand collides with passenger van
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews /25 March) – Seventeen persons were killed when a truck loaded with sand collided with a passenger van in Antipas, North Cotabato Monday noon. Captain Godofredo Tupas, Chief of Police of Antipas town said the collision happened along a curve at the boundary of Barangay Greenhills and Lohong at 12:48 p.m. The van […].....»»
House mulls bigger CoA budget
House lawmakers on Thursday rallied to grant the Commission on Audit a bigger chunk of next year’s P5.768 trillion proposed national budget to strengthen its power to uphold accountability and transparency within the national government. The proposed allocation for the audit body in 2024 is only P13.36 trillion, way lower than its current funding of P13.8 trillion. From the 2023 General Appropriations Act, CoA received a budget cut of P42,494,000 to the 2023 National Expenditure Program of the Department of Budget and Management. Citing the crucial role of the CoA against mismanagement of public funds, Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raoul Manuel said the CoA must get and be entitled to receive a bigger share of the national budget, especially when there is huge funding for confidential and intelligence funds for various agencies Manuel lobbied the proposal to the House Committee on Appropriations, which is looking into the CoA’s budget for 2024. CoA’s mission is to ensure accountability for public resources, promote transparency, and help improve government operations in partnership with stakeholders to benefit the public. Its mandate includes examining, auditing and settling all accounts about the revenue and receipts of, and expenditures or uses of funds and property owned or held, or pertaining to, the government. The rookie lawmaker noted that while there has been a downward trend in CoA’s budget since 2022, the confidential and intelligence funds that he believes the CoA should be examining more, are surging. “This is despite the fact that for 2024, we have a proposed increase of 9.5 percent in the total national budget. So, the pie will grow, but the budget of CoA will decrease,” he said. Mismanagement of funds While several agencies sought bulk of confidential and intelligence funds, CoA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba said they also requested the same at P10 million being utilized for their operations to assist the prosecution in cases involving mismanagement of funds revealed in audit reports. “Our auditors often become witnesses in the cases filed in the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan. We help the security of our witnesses when needed,” Cardoba told lawmakers. “When someone complains about our personnel, we hire third-party investigators to help us,” the CoA chief explained. Next year’s proposed national spending plan is P5 million or 9.5 percent higher than 2023’s P5.268 trillion spending program, which the House had approved in barely six weeks under the General Appropriations Bill. Regardless, according to Manuel, given that there are still many items to be audited in the last year and the current national budget, CoA should be getting a bigger budget allocation. Echoing Manuel, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro said CoA has been assisting Congress, whose role is the power of the purse, in determining if funds given to the government agencies and their attached offices are properly used. “If there is an agency that is a plus for me, it is CoA because I can really see its performance. It releases performance audits and observations that help Congress,” she said. In a similar vein to the minority members, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, senior vice chairperson of the appropriations panel, also underscored that CoA’s role stands as a cornerstone of fiscal integrity “in a landscape where financial prudence and transparency are indispensable.” “Scrutinizing the use of public funds and resources not only ensures accountability but also fosters an environment of trust. Every peso spent with integrity, every transaction examined thoroughly, contributes to the overarching goal of economic growth,” the economist-lawmaker said. The CoA, according to Quimbo, is not merely an auditing agency, but a custodian of the nation’s financial health. The post House mulls bigger CoA budget appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Bum deal brings pain
A contract inherited from the previous Land Transportation Office regime is now a major cause of headaches for the leadership of the agency and, in effect, the entire nation as it caused the delay in the release of driver’s licenses. German firm-led joint venture Dermalog introduced the Land Transportation Management System or LTMS which is a P3.4-billion project awarded in 2018. The dispute over the contract is the crux of the stalled distribution of the cards. The company has been disqualified from the contract to produce the plastic licenses, which it assumed from Allcard which failed to perform its obligations. Worse, in 2020, according to documents filed with the Ombudsman, Dermalog “interfered in and controlled the LTO’s printing system of driver’s license cards.” LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo “Jay Art” Tugade inherited the problem after he was appointed in November 2022. With the actions it took, Dermalog was considered by LTO officials a “threat to national security.” Post-qualification of Dermalog for the contract was based on the ground of its failure “to fully comply with its obligations under its 2017 contract with LTO.” A 2021 report of the Commission on Audit flagged LTO’s payment of P3.15 billion to Dermalog despite several defects that delayed and disrupted the system. LTO is conducting an extensive probe which may lead to the possible scrapping of the Dermalog contract. Congress is ready to probe the alleged “illegal payment” despite the “incomplete turnover of deliverables.” The circumstances proved that the contract was in clear violation of procurement and auditing rules, warranting an extensive probe. The German-led venture had reneged on the deal more than four years after the December 2018 delivery date as the system is still not fully functional and fully rolled out. The Dermalog system was incompatible with the LTO processes that needed to be adjusted to accommodate the new system’s functions. The Ombudsman in denying Dermalog’s petition to cite bidding committee officials for graft said: “Respondents (members of LTO bidding body) did not commit any irregularity when they objected to the post-qualification of the complainant (Dermalog) in the 2021 procurement.” “It also took Dermalog until 2 July 2021 to agree to turn over all “source codes,” in escrow, create an upload facility and include it in the Inventory Management System, thereby removing LTO’s dependency on it; and grant to LTO the exclusive right to use the watermark or hologram delivered to it, “recognizing in the process the need of the LTO to be independent of the vendor as a lesson from the past.” “Its avowed intention to turn over in escrow only means that it has not indeed fully complied with its obligations under the 2017 procurement,” according to the Ombudsman’s resolution. The Ombudsman said it was not inclined “to indict respondents (LTO bidding officials) for violation of Section 3 of Republic Act 3019 for delay under RA 9184 when the facts, as they are in this case, showed that Dermalog has not been candid in its business dealings with LTO and has, by itself, caused the delay it complains about.” The dispute over the contract has held hostage the LTO, the Department of Transportation, and Filipino motorists to Dermalog’s demand that the government pay it in full despite its shortcomings. Eventually, the deficiency from the deal reflects on the image of the administration since it has been quite a while since inefficiency has been a distinctive complaint against frontline service providers. The post Bum deal brings pain appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Filipino villager to be nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino villager plans to be nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea. Ruben Enaje, a 63-year-old carpenter and sign.....»»
2 nabbed for possession of shabu, explosives, guns in Zamboanga City
The police arrested two men after authorities discovered explosives, firearms and shabu from their hideout in Barangay Quiniput, Zamboanga City on Wednesday afternoon......»»
Pentagon chief reaffirms support after latest China aggression in WPS
Austin emphasized US support for the Philippines in defending its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in a phone call with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday. .....»»
Kaspersky Shares Cybersecurity Tips for a Peaceful Getaway during the holy week
As the holiday season approaches, the urge to unwind and kick back is natural. And it’s all too common for people to let their guard down completely when connecting to the Internet too– but shouldn’t. Recently, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group shared its findings on identity theft cases in the country. Between November […].....»»
PRO-Davao no idea of Quiboloy’s whereabouts
THE Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao) has responded to the accusations of Makabayan ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. France Castro that they are “clueless about the whereabouts of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy”......»»
Baltimore Bridge collapse: Police had about 90 seconds to stop traffic before bridge fell
BALTIMORE — It was the middle of the night when a dispatcher’s warning crackled over the radio: A massive cargo ship had lost its steering capabilities and was heading toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Within about 90 seconds, police officers who happened to be nearby responded that they managed to stop vehicle traffic over.....»»
Jihadists
For his own purposes, Vladimir Putin has been trying to link the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall in Moscow to Ukraine. The casualty figure for that attack has now risen t.....»»
Victims of Baltimore bridge collapse include those from Mexico, Guatemala
Maryland [US], March 27 (ANI): Among those reported missing following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the US are Mexican nationals, CNN reported, citing Rafael Laveaga, Chief of the Consular Section of Mexico's Embassy in Washington. Laveaga refrained from specifying the exact number of missing Mexican nationals when he addressed reporters near the scene on Tuesday. A reporter asked Laveaga: ".....»»
Danao City ‘gun maker’ nabbed in raid
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 39-year-old man, who was accused of the illegal manufacture of guns, was arrested in a raid in his residence in Sitio Sapangdako, Barangay Matija, Danao City in northern Cebu, Tuesday dawn, March 26. In a report, the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) said that the raid was based on a.....»»
Cebu City buy-bust: Over P12M ‘shabu’ seized from 2 HVIs
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police confiscated over P12 million worth of suspected shabu from the possession of two men during a bust-bust operation in Brgy. Bulacao, Cebu City on Tuesday evening, March 26. The buy-bust operation was conducted at around 10 p.m. in Lower Sario in Brgy. Bulacao. One of the suspects was identified as.....»»
Ministry helping improve BARMM’s business climate names 10 new officials
The Bangsamoro chief minister has filled out ten regional positions in one of the ministries under him to boost its operation as requested by business blocs enticing foreign investors to venture into viable businesses in the region......»»
Fake booking scams up – ACG
Fake booking scams increased in the second week of March, the Anti-Cybercrime Group of the Philippine National Police reported yesterday......»»
Holy Week security in place: Zambo police
Holy Week security in place: Zambo police.....»»