PNP-PDEA misencounter probe report out soon
Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra announced on Sunday that the results of the investigation on the “misencounter” between the operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in an illegal drugs operation in Quezon City last February will be turned over to the agency this month. The […].....»»
12 pulis-QC, 19 PDEA agents ‘nagkapormahan’; ‘misencounter’ napigilan
Muntik nang mauwi sa panibagong misencounter ang pagkakapormahan ng 12 pulis ng Quezon City at 19 ahente ng Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency kahapon sa parking area ng isang mall sa Fairview, Novaliches. Ayon sa sketchy report, nagkaroon umano ng misunderstanding sa pagitan ng mga pulis at PDEA alas 3:50 ng hapon nang magsagawa sila ng […] The post 12 pulis-QC, 19 PDEA agents ‘nagkapormahan’; ‘misencounter’ napigilan appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Guevarra: NBI wraps up PNP-PDEA shootout probe; report in next few days
The National Bureau of Investigation has wrapped up its probe into the deadly Philippine National Police and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency shootout in Quezon City on February 24, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said......»»
Senate to start probe on PNP-PDEA ‘misencounter’ on Monday
Following its postponement, the Senate on Monday is set to start its investigation on the alleged ‘misencounter’ between the operatives of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine National Police (PNP), Senator Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa said on Sunday. This comes weeks after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to finish […] The post Senate to start probe on PNP-PDEA ‘misencounter’ on Monday appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NBI tiniyak na walang kikilingan sa “misencounter” probe
Manila, Philippines – Tiniyak ng National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) na walang kikilingan sa ginagawang imbestigasyon sa “misencounter” sa pagitan ng mga operatiba ng Philippine drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) at Philippine National Police (PNP). Ayon kay NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin, maninidigan ang bureau sa hamon tulad nang lagi nilang ginagawa kung saan kasama si NBI […] The post NBI tiniyak na walang kikilingan sa “misencounter” probe appeared first on REMATE ONLINE......»»
Joint PNP-PDEA inquiry, separate NBI probe into Commonwealth shootout
"During the buy-bust operation the PNP personnel involved without their knowledge the people they were transacting are PDEA Agents," the report read. .....»»
7 PDEA-Ilocos Norte operatives back in service after probe found critics wrong
Seven anti-narcotics agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, relieved and probed after a sting operation against a charcoal-maker in Solsona town in Ilocos Norte on Saturday last week, were reinstated......»»
Janet Napoles to serve 60 more years imprisonment sentence
The Sandiganbayan found convicted plunderer Janet Lim Napoles guilty of graft and malversation anew for her involvement in the P20.91 million pork barrel of ex-South Cotabato lawmaker Arthur Pingoy intended for livelihood projects that turned out to be ghost or non-existent. In a 66-page ruling handed down on Friday, the Sandiganbayan Special Second Division sentenced Napoles to up to 60 years in prison for four counts each of graft and malversation. Pingoy, however, walked free from the same charges, including direct bribery -- notwithstanding whistleblower Benhur Luy's testimony -- " for the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt." Aside from "pork barrel queen" Napoles, the anti-graft court likewise convicted erstwhile officials of the now-defunct National Agribusiness Corporation Rhodora Mendoza, Maria Ninez Guanizo, Victor Roman Cacal, and Evelyn de Leon of the Philippine Social Development Foundation Inc. Pingoy, who served three full terms as a member of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2010 -- was accused of funneling his P20.91 million Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel through bogus non-government organizations allegedly governed by Napoles in exchange for kickbacks. The Ombudsman’s probe disclosed that the projects nominated as financial assistance for farm implements, livelihood materials, and training turned out to be "ghost” projects as borne out by the Commission on Audit report and testimonies of the whistleblowers. The Sandiganbayan, however, ruled that "there is no sufficient evidence" that the erstwhile lawmaker indeed received kickbacks or commissions from Napoles. PDAF allocated to lawmakers is lump-sum and discriminatory funds intended to empower them "to identify key projects that local government units could not fund." It was later abolished by the Supreme Court in November 2013 after it became a source of corruption and was declared unconstitutional. Napoles, the principal suspect in the case, has been detained at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City since 2018 for plunder charges involving the unlawful disbursement of Senator Bong Revilla Jr.'s pork barrel worth P224 million. She is still facing several graft charges, all related to the pork barrel scam. The post Janet Napoles to serve 60 more years imprisonment sentence appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
PDEA-7 to probe reports on alleged involvement of some BSKE candidates in illegal drugs
CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) will look into reports on the alleged involvement in illegal drugs by some of the candidates in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE). Leia Alcantara, the PDEA-7 spokesperson, said that with less a month before the BSKE that is slated on.....»»
Shabu worth P74,800 seized; 4 nabbed in suspected drug den in Brgy Labangon
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A report made by a concerned citizen led authorities to shut down another suspected drug den in Cebu City and arrest four drug suspects. The suspected drug den was located in Sitio Andang in Barangay Labangon. Leia Alcantara, spokesperson of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (PDEA-7) , said.....»»
Sara Duterte’s P2.7B confidential expenses as Davao mayor should be probed—Castro
Davao City’s confidential expenses that ballooned to P2.697 billion during Vice President Sara Duterte’s stint as mayor should be probed by the Commission on Audit, a lawmaker said Monday. The call for investigation was prompted by the 2022 report of the CoA, which found that Davao City spent P2.697 billion on confidential expenses between 2016 to 2022, or an average of PP385.3 million per year over the preceding six years. Duterte served as the Davao City mayor from 2016 to 2022 before she assumed the VP post in July of last year. Based on CoA findings, Davao City incurred P144 million of confidential expenses in 2016, which was more than doubled to P293 million in 2017 and further climbed to P420 million in 2018. The city’s confidential fund expenses further grew to P460 million in 2019 and were maintained consistently for the subsequent years of 2020, 2021, and 2022. In an interview on Monday, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro, who sought the CoA probe, stressed that the P2.697 billion totality of confidential expenses of Davao City in the previous six years “could have been utilized more effectively to benefit the education sector, specifically by providing much-needed support to teachers.” “We were shocked also [by] the report of the CoA. With this controversy of confidential funds, we are thinking of asking the CoA to investigate,” she said. “The CoA should file an audit observation memo and then ask them to explain maybe the misuse of funds and then file necessary legal action.” She added, “Imagine more than a million a day spent for the confidential funds in a city. I just wonder how it was spent and where it was spent. So, we want the CoA to review if the city government of Davao City led by Vice President Sara Duterte by then really followed the guidelines or the joint circular 2015-01.” The said joint circular outlined by CoA with the Departments of Budget and Management, National Defense, and of the Interior and Local Government, and Governance Commission for GOCCs, contains guidelines on the entitlement, release, use, reporting, and audit of confidential and intelligence funds that are in the General Appropriations Act. Daily Tribune has been asking for Duterte’s comment, but she remained mum on the issue. While Castro admitted that the local government units are entitled to confidential funds for peace and order maintenance, it was “ironic” that Duterte sought allocation of such funds given that she claimed Davao City was “very peaceful, disciplined, and well” during her tenure. "So why is it necessary to have an increasingly confidential fund?" the lawmaker stressed, noting such a fund should be used for other fruitful endeavors. "I remember the time the teachers of Davao City were asking for city allowance, but she did not grant it. Instead, she refused and even got mad with ACT (Alliance of Concerned Teachers) during that time," Castro pointed out. While none in the law limits the amount of confidential funds, the militant lawmaker pointed out that it should be rationalized. A proposed law aimed at imposing a cap and limit on confidential funds, streamlining the allocation of such that would promote transparency and accountability, is currently being crafted, according to Castro. It will be filed in Congress when the session resumes in November. The post Sara Duterte’s P2.7B confidential expenses as Davao mayor should be probed—Castro 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......»»
Opening Pandora’s box
Exposing the recruitment racket where Filipinos are brought to Italy using bogus work permits, Daily Tribune’s show Usapang OFW may have opened a can of worms in the country’s skewed policy of relentlessly exporting labor. In most countries, being a migrant worker is a career move, not a forced one to have a decent human existence. The diaspora now consists of more than 10 million Filipinos who are promised by their elected leaders every time they are visited that the time is coming when opportunities at home will allow them to return. Policies, however, continue to lean toward promoting overseas employment mainly due to the lure of $3 billion in remittances that shower the country like manna from heaven monthly. Filipinos are preferred first-class workers due to their proficiency in English and their famed work ethic, resilience, and cheerful nature. The demand for Filipino workers is exploited by those seeking a fast buck by recruiting them. Those seeking jobs abroad are sucked dry before they can get a contract and then squeezed of their hard-earned money again at every opportunity by vultures, including the government. Tales like the emergency repatriation fund being misused to buy overpriced sanitary napkins and similar kickback rackets abound. Some 400 workers recounted to the online program how a Filipino employment consultancy firm based in Italy, Alpha Assistenza SRL, headed by Filipino co-CEOs Krizelle Respicio and Frederick Dutaro, victimized them through a “serial scamming” where they paid substantial sums only to be issued fake Nulla Ostas or work permits. The labor trafficking the Filipino firm had been engaged in was revealed after several individuals surfaced to narrate the ordeal they experienced at the hands of Alpha Assistenza. Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution to investigate the likely scam operation, but the probe’s focus should be on the officials who are complicit with the crooks. The victims recounted how the sting of bringing Filipinos to Italy with fake work permits could only be possible through the collusion of officials in the foreign diplomatic outposts. An immediate impact of the revelations of massive human trafficking may squander the country’s recently won Tier-1 ranking in the Global Trafficking in Persons report of the US State Department. As a Tier-1 country, the Philippines is considered to have fully met the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking. The government was applauded for its continued demonstration of “serious and sustained efforts” to fight human smuggling and illegal labor deployment. “These efforts included investigating more trafficking crimes, convicting more traffickers, amending its anti-trafficking law, increasing funding to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking, and sentencing nearly all traffickers to significant prison terms,” the US State Department said. Being dropped from Tier-1 would have the effect of foreign governments tightening entry procedures for Filipino workers and the issuance of tighter rules on labor recruitment conducted by local agencies. “Corruption and official complicity in trafficking crimes remain significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action during the year,” the US report said. The report continued: “Some officials in law enforcement, immigration agencies, and other government entities are allegedly complicit in trafficking or allow traffickers to operate with impunity. Some corrupt officials allegedly accept bribes to facilitate illegal departures for overseas workers, operate sex trafficking establishments, facilitate the production of fraudulent identity documents, or overlook illegal labor recruiters.” Italy could just be the tip of the iceberg of a possibly colossal syndicate tapping into the tens of millions of job-seeking Filipinos for a lucrative illegal recruitment ring. The post Opening Pandora’s box appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Libya prosecutor orders arrest of 8 over dam disaster
Libya’s prosecutor general on Monday ordered the arrest of eight officials suspected of negligence that resulted in two dam breaks that killed nearly 4,000 people in Derna city. The officials are suspected of “bad management” and negligence, a statement from Al-Seddik al-Sur’s office said, adding that they served currently or previously in offices responsible for water resources and dam management. The flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami, broke through two ageing dams on 10 September after a hurricane-strength storm lashed the area around Derna, a port city in Libya’s east, causing the reservoirs to overflow and break. On Saturday, the official death toll passed 3,800, and international aid groups have said 10,000 or more people may be missing. After opening a probe, Libya’s prosecutor general said more than a week ago that the two dams upstream from Derna dad been cracked since 1998. But repairs begun by a Turkish company in 2010 were suspended after a few months when Libya’s 2011 revolution flared, and the work never resumed, the prosecutor said on 16 September, vowing to deal firmly with those responsible. Wall of water The first dam to collapse in the disaster was the Abu Mansur dam, 13 kilometers from Derna, whose reservoir held 22.5 million cubic meters of water. The deluge then broke Al Bilad, the second dam, which had a capacity of 1.5 million cubic meters and is just a kilometer from the coastal city. The wall of water and debris swept through the normally dry riverbed or wadi that cuts through the city center. Both dams were constructed by a Yugoslav company in the 1970s, “not to collect water but to protect Derna from floods,” Sour said earlier. Since Libya’s 2011 revolution, a budget has been allocated every year to repair the two dams, but none of the successive governments has undertaken the work, according to an official. In a 2021 report from the Libyan audit bureau, officials criticized “procrastination” on resuming repair work at the two dams. In November 2022, engineer and academic Abdel Wanis Ashour warned in a study that a “catastrophe” threatened Derna if the authorities did not carry out maintenance on the dams. WITH AFP The post Libya prosecutor orders arrest of 8 over dam disaster appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
EU businesses ‘questioning their position’ in China — trade commissioner
European businesses in China are increasingly questioning their positions in the face of tough new security laws and a politicization of trade, an EU commissioner warned in Beijing on Monday. "European companies are concerned with China's direction of travel," Valdis Dombrovskis said in a speech at the capital's Tsinghua University. "Many are questioning their position in this country." He pointed to a new foreign relations law and a recent update to China's anti-espionage laws as being of "great concern to our business community". "Their ambiguity allows too much room for interpretation," he warned. "This means European companies struggle to understand their compliance obligations: a factor that significantly decreases business confidence and deters new investments in China," Dombrovskis said. The EU trade commissioner is on a multi-day visit to the world's second-biggest economy, where he is set to meet senior economic officials and press the bloc's case that it is not seeking an economic decoupling from China. His trip follows a report by the Chamber of Commerce of the European Union last week that showed business confidence was at one of its lowest levels in decades. "For decades, European companies thrived in China," the Chamber's president Jens Eskelund said. But, after three "turbulent" years, he said, "many have re-evaluated their basic assumptions about the Chinese market". And it comes in the face of mounting trade tensions between the EU and China, following Brussels' decision to launch a probe into Beijing's electric car subsidies. The investigation could see the EU try to protect European carmakers by imposing punitive tariffs on vehicles it believes are unfairly sold at a lower price. The day after that announcement, the Chinese commerce ministry hit back at the EU's "naked protectionism", and said the measures "will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations". Speaking in Beijing on Monday, Dombrovskis insisted China remained an attractive investment opportunity for European businesses. "The EU and China both benefited immensely from being open to the world," he said. "Trading and cooperating across borders helped to shape our economic and geopolitical strength." But, he said, growing challenges for business risked turning "what many saw as a 'win-win' relationship in past decades could become a 'lose-lose' dynamic in the coming years". Ukraine war China's refusal to condemn Russia's war in Ukraine also poses a "reputational risk", he said. Beijing's position "is affecting the country's image, not only with European consumers but also businesses", he said. China has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict while offering Moscow a vital diplomatic and financial lifeline as its international isolation deepens. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is due to visit China next month. "China always advocates for each country being free to choose its own development path," Dombrovskis said. "So it's very difficult for us to understand China's stance on Russia's war against Ukraine, as it breaches China's own fundamental principles." The post EU businesses ‘questioning their position’ in China — trade commissioner appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Libya survivors angry of neglect protest
Survivors of the deadly dam bursts in Derna, eastern Libya have turned their despair to anger, staging a protest to vent their frustrations to the slow help and demand justice from negligent officials. The people want parliament to fall,” “Aguila is the enemy of God,” “The blood of martyrs is not shed in vain” and “Thieves and betrayers must hang,” hundreds of protesters shouted outside the city’s grand mosque. The protesters also demanded a United Nations office in Derna, the start of the city’s reconstruction, compensation for affected residents” and a probe into the current city council and previous budgets. Some protesters marched on a house reportedly owned by Derna’s unpopular mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi and set it on fire, according to images shared on social networks and by Libyan media. Al-Masar television reported that the head of the eastern-based government, Oussama Hamad, had dissolved Derna council and ordered an investigation into it. Politicians and analysts say the chaos in Libya since the 2011 fall and killing of Moamer Kadhafi has relegated the maintenance of vital infrastructure to the background. Dam waters submerged a densely populated six-square-kilometer area of Derna, damaging 1,500 buildings of which 891 were totally razed, according to a preliminary report by the Tripoli government based on satellite images. Libya has been split between two rival governments — a United Nations-backed administration in the capital Tripoli and another in the disaster-hit east — since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-backed uprising 12 years ago. In the face of the tragedy, rival Libyan administrations appear to have set aside their differences for now after calls to collaborate in the aid effort. On Monday, the Tripoli government said it began work on a temporary bridge over the river that cuts through Derna. WITH AFP The post Libya survivors angry of neglect protest appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
WHO seeks China access for Covid origin probe
The head of the World Health Organization has asked China to provide information on the origin of Covid-19 and allow its experts full access to investigate the source of the coronavirus. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the Financial Times he is awaiting the response of Beijing to WHO’s letter requesting for “full access” and information. The WHO wants to determine with certainty the origins of the Covid pandemic. There are currently two theories about the origin of the Covid-19 virus. One theory says the virus escaped from a laboratory where it is being studied in Wuhan, China. The second theory says an animal with the coronavirus infected people at a local market in the same Chinese city. A team of specialists led by the WHO and accompanied by Chinese colleagues had investigated China in early 2021. In a joint report, they favored the hypothesis that the virus had been transmitted by intermediary animal from a bat to a human, possibly at a market. Tedros said after that all options remained “on the table.” Tedros has repeatedly said the WHO would not abandon its investigation and has called on Beijing for transparency in sharing data, carrying out investigations and sharing the results. The WHO lifted the highest alert level that had been in place for the pandemic earlier this year. Thanks to vaccines, post-infection immunity and better treatment, the virus is now under greater control, although with the arrival of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, new variants are emerging. WITH AFP The post WHO seeks China access for Covid origin probe appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Sovereign shame
The government should recognize the possibility that Chinese workers in the country are committing espionage amid the escalating territorial friction in the West Philippine Sea. Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro raised the alarm, saying employees of mainly Chinese state firms may be engaged in potential “covert economic and information activities,” including propaganda operations, to sway public opinion in favor of the mainland. Among the workers on the watchlist are “the ones hired by Beijing’s state-run enterprises involved in public infrastructure projects,” according to Teodoro. The Department of National Defense said it is looking into clandestine dealings “happening in the background.” “It’s the activities that we cannot see… that’s what alarms us,” the defense chief said. “The best way to weaken a country, rather than by an overt warlike function or disruption of [its] facilities, is really to take control of [its] internal economy, internal processes, and the like,” Teodoro pointed out. The records of Chinese migrants in the country are inadequate based on previous Senate hearings. No government agency was able to provide the Senate, for instance, with an accurate number of illegal Chinese workers, indicating that they are not being monitored. Labor agencies have also failed to keep track of how many foreign workers are in jobs that, by mandate of the Constitution, should be for Filipinos only. Under the law, foreigners are only allowed to work in jobs that require highly specialized skills and where no Filipinos are deemed competent to do them. During the Senate probe, it was also discovered that as many as 119,000 Chinese nationals who came to the country as tourists are now residents and have jobs in violation of labor regulations. Chinese tourists, through some “gainful” means, were able to obtain special work permits from the Bureau of Immigration. They now work in very diverse areas such as Metro Manila, Clark, Subic, Cagayan and Cagayan de Oro. In one of the inquiries, a Department of Labor and Employment official explained that the special permits were issued without the need for an Alien Employment Permit, or AEP, because the nature of the employment was temporary, lasting from three to six months. The loose process, thus, has allowed foreign workers to enter the country practically unbridled. Senators questioned the discrepancy between the AEPs issued and the number of Chinese workers in the country. Independent sources said that as many as 200,000 to 400,000 Chinese workers are in the country. Four different agencies issue different permits that make the situation worse. The biggest insult by China is that its propaganda work against the Philippines and other opponents in the territorial conflicts is done in this country. Facebook recently removed two networks of fake accounts that were spreading government propaganda, one originating in China and the other in the Philippines. Taken down were 155 Facebook accounts, 11 pages, nine groups and seven Instagram accounts traced to China, and 57 accounts, 31 pages and 20 Instagram accounts based in the Philippines. Such operations breach Facebook’s rules against “coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity.” The Chinese network used faces created through an AI technique known as GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks). Facebook was able to trace the origins of the accounts because of their visual signatures. “This form of AI is readily available online, and its use (or abuse) by covert operations has exploded in the last year,” according to a report on the social media platform. Identified were a dozen GAN-generated images from the Chinese propaganda operation. Teodoro, who has access to a wealth of information, in revealing the supposed operations being conducted by the Chinese in the country’s backyard, virtually confirmed the problem has reached alarming proportions. It would be easy for the government to keep track of foreign workers if only the appropriate agencies would resist the seduction of human smuggling. In accepting bribes to let the aliens skirt the law, these officials and functionaries have placed our national security at risk. The post Sovereign shame appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
P1 million worth of weeds seized
Operatives of the Quezon City Police District on Saturday reported the arrest of three drug peddlers and the confiscation of P1,080,000 worth of Marijuana in a buy-bust operation conducted by the operatives of Novaliches Police Station 4. P/Lt. Col. Jerry Castillo, Station Commander of PS 4 identified the three suspected drug pushers as Elton John Pangilinan, 24 years old; Christian Paul San Jose, 27 years old; and Rhay Van Lumanog, 22 years old, all residents of Barangay Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City. The report shows that PS 4 received information from a confidential informant regarding the illegal drug activities of the suspects in the area of Barangay Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City. Acting on the report, a buy-bust operation was conducted in coordination with PDEA-NCR at 3:30 a.m. on 16 September at Masterkee Carwash along Quirino Highway, Barangay Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City. A police officer acted as a poseur buyer and bought P35,000 worth of marijuana, and at the given pre-arranged signal, they were arrested. Seized from the suspects were nine kilos of marijuana valued at P1,080,000, a piece of cling wrap plastic bag, a big eco bag, a cellular phone, one white weighing scale, and the buy-bust money. The suspects will be charged with violation of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. “I commend the PS 4 personnel under P/Lt. Col. P Jerry Castillo for their relentless efforts on the campaign against illegal drugs, which resulted in the arrest of the suspects and the confiscation of pieces of evidence,” QCPD director, P/Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said. The post P1 million worth of weeds seized appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US authorities seize artworks allegedly stolen by Nazis
US authorities seized three artworks allegedly looted by the Nazis and which are being sought by the heirs of a Jewish art collector who died in the Holocaust, officials said Thursday. They confirmed a report in The New York Times that said New York investigators had taken these works by the 1900s Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele from three US-based museums. In warrants issued Tuesday and seen by AFP, the New York State Supreme Court said "there is reasonable cause to believe" the works constitute stolen property. The works were seized from the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio. The works in question include "Russian War Prisoner" (1916), a watercolor and pencil on paper piece valued at $1.25 million, seized from the Art Institute, and "Portrait of a Man" (1917), a pencil on paper drawing valued at $1 million and taken from the Carnegie Museums. "Girl With Black Hair" (1911), a watercolor and pencil on paperwork valued at $1.5 million, was seized from Oberlin. The warrants state that these works can remain where they are for 60 days, and they will be taken to New York at a later date. The art pieces are being sought by the heirs of Fritz Grunbaum, a prominent Jewish art collector and cabaret artist who died in the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 1941. "We are confident in our legal acquisition and lawful possession of this work," the Art Institute of Chicago said, adding that the piece held there is the subject of a civil case in federal court. The Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh pledged to "cooperate fully with inquiries from relevant authorities." The Times said the probe underway concerns about a dozen Schiele works allegedly stolen by the Nazis. Grunbaum's heirs have been in court for years trying to recover works that belonged to him. Courts ruled in 2005 that they had waited too long to act. But in 2016 then-president Barack Obama signed into law the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act to help recover art misappropriated or looted by the Nazis, and in 2018 Grunbaum's heirs received a favorable court judgment and recovered two pieces. The subject remains topical in other countries as well. In France, parliament adopted a framework law this July to facilitate restitution of property looted from Jews under German Nazi rule. According to statistics released at an international conference in the Czech Republic in 2009, some 100,000 of an estimated 650,000 stolen works have still not been returned. The post US authorities seize artworks allegedly stolen by Nazis appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BI arrested 3 foreign fugitives in Cavite
The Bureau of Immigration arrested one Taiwanese and two Nigerian nationals in the back-to-back operations it conducted this week. The BI Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Regional Office - National Capital Region, National Bureau of Investigation - Task Force Against Illegal Drugs (NBI-TFAID), and government intelligence units conducted a joint buy-bust operation on September 13 at a popular mall in Imus, Cavite, which led to the arrest of two Nigerian nationals who were identified as John Chukwuemeka Enuka, age 41, male; and Ugochukwu Christopher Nwabufo, age 31, male. The two were arrested after being caught selling illegal drugs in violation of Section 5 in relation to Section 26, paragraph B, and Section 11, Article II of Republic Act No. 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, during the operation conducted by the authorities. The authorities seized a large stash of marijuana and heroin with an estimated street value of P8 million. The BI said that based on their records, Nwabufo has already overstayed his visa. He arrived in the Philippines in 2022 and never left the country. Menuka, Enuka has worked for a company in the country, but he failed to present his documents during checks. Moreover, on 14 September in General Trias, Cavite, BI-FSU operatives arrested a Taiwanese national identified as Chen Kai-Wun, a 55-year-old male. According to the BI, the Taiwanese authorities designated Chen as a wanted alien and declared him a fugitive from justice. Based on the report of the Taiwanese authorities, Chen is the subject of a warrant of arrest issued by the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in violation of the Controlling Guns, Ammunition, and Knives Act of Taiwan in May 2023. He is allegedly the leader of a notorious Taiwanese arms trafficking organization. Chen is also involved in facilitating the illegal entry of other Taiwanese fugitives into the country. Nwabufo and Enuka were detained at the PDEA National Office in Quezon City, while Chen will remain in the BI Warden Facility in Camp Bagong, Taguig City pending his deportation proceedings. The post BI arrested 3 foreign fugitives in Cavite appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»