Tambuling Batangas Publication October 17-23, 2018 Issue | Page 6

President Duterte
to security forces:
‘Be neutral’ in 2019
Elections
By PND
TAGUIG CITY -- President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Monday,
October 15, commanded the nation’s security forces to be
unbiased and remain non-partisan during the election season.

In a speech during the Philippine Army’s change of
command rites here, the President asked soldiers to make a
deal with the Filipino people.

“Let us make a deal here, promise, we make a
commitment to the Filipino people. This election, strictly
neutral tayong lahat,” he said in rallying support for the
military and the police.

“The Armed Forces, the police, and the uniformed
personnel of government, I am asking you not to indulge
in partisan politics. Wala tayong susuportahan. Iyong mga
kandidato ko, ako lang because this is a political position.
But I expect everybody to respect that constitutional
prohibition,” the President explained.

President Duterte ensured that next year’s election
would be honest and nobody in his administration, not even
his close allies, could use the government’s resources.

In presiding over the Army’s change of command,
the President heaped praises on Lt. Gen. Rolando Bautista
for his successful tour of duty as Commanding General of
the Philippine Army.

During Bautista’s stint as Commander of the 104th
Infantry Brigade and head of the Joint Task Force Basilan,
he led the operations against the Abu Sayyaf and other
IS-inspired terrorists, seizing several enemy camps and
neutralizing two of the most dreaded foreign jihadists and
bomb makers.

Upon assuming command of the Philippine Army,
General Bautista orchestrated more than 100,000 combat
operations, most of which were against the terrorist CPP-
NPA.

This resulted in “the neutralization and
apprehension of hundreds of rebels and the recovery of
hundreds of firearms from various lawless elements,” the
President said.

“Under his watch, the Philippine Army also
provided crucial support to the PNP in law enforcement
operations, leading to the apprehension of Abu Sayyaf
leaders, members, and other fugitives as well as the surrender
and neutralization of hundreds more,” he added.

Also during General Bautista’s tenure, the Army
oversaw the development of training interventions and
the activation of additional Infantry Battalions, a Light
Armored Cavalry Troop and an Intelligence Security Unit to
supplement the competencies of soldiers further.

With General Bautista’s accomplishment, his
successor, Major General Macairog Alberto, will be
inheriting a stronger professional workforce and a more
empowered and dependable Army.

“To General Alberto, know that we will constantly
face threats and challenges as we trudge the noble path
of realizing lasting peace and sustainable development. I
trust that you will take up this action as our Army’s new
Commanding General,” the President said.

The President asked the troops to support the
leadership of General Alberto as the government sustains
the gains of its reforms, stressing the Filipino people count
on the Philippine Army to remain steadfast in its mission of
preserving peace and defending freedom.

President Duterte Honors Wounded Soldiers

Meanwhile, after presiding the Army change of
command rites, President Duterte honored and extended
financial assistance to injured soldiers recuperating here at
the Army General Hospital in Fort Bonifacio.
Most of the soldiers, who received the Order of Lapu-Lapu
with the Rank of Kampilan, sustained the injuries during
combat operations in different provinces in Mindanao. Some
of them are members of government forces who liberated
Marawi City last year.

The soldiers who received the award and cash
assistance were Pvt. Arjay Pascasio, Cpl. Claudio Turcolas
Jr., Pfc. Arwin Mainar, Pvt. Jesson Abuhan, Pvt. Richard
Angngad, Cpl. Olicito Tubos, Cpl. Donald Abuzo, Sgt.
Renato Eucogco, Sgt. Rian Tanghinan, Sgt. Fernando
Bacquiran, Ssg. Jose Soriano, Tsg. Michael dela Vega,
Sgt. Torreon Domingo, Pfc. Bobbyn Pacas, and Sgt. Cirilo
Navidad Jr.

The Order of Lapu-Lapu with the Kampilan Rank
Medal is awarded to government workers and civilians who
were seriously wounded or injured or suffered a great loss of
property as a direct result of their participation to a campaign
or advocacy of the President.
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October 17-23, 2018
PACC bares state of corruption in the Philippines
By Susan G. De Leon
On it’s first year anniversary (October 4, 2018) and barely six months
in operations, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC)
outlined the state of corruption in the country.
Created thru Executive Order No. 43, PACC has a continuing mandate
to fight and eradicate graft and corruption in the different departments,
bureaus, offices, and other government instrumentalities to ensure that
public officials and employees, except those who conduct themselves in
a manner worthy of the public trust.
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) founding chairman,
Dante Jimenez, also a former naval officers sits as PACC chairman, by
virtue of an appointment by President Rodrigo Duterte.
During “The Presser”,a Presidential Communications Operations
Office’s (PCOO) initiative to give the public a better understanding of
current issues, Jimenez said a “bulok na kalakaran” or rotten culture
of corruption has wormed its way into our bureaucracy, including the
legislature and judiciary, from top to bottom.
Corruption & Survey Polls
Corruption perception surveys and other polls tend to validate our poor
status relative to corruption. But even in the absence of survey figures, we
continue to see evidence of corruption in daily government transactions.
Jimenez said, in our country, bribery and extortion in so called “street
level bureaucrats” are common.
“Examples are the corrupt traffic enforcers extorting from traffic
violators, or in fixers at city halls. More dangerous are politicians in high
positions protecting the system of “bulok na kalakaran” in a complicated
web of corruption,” Jimenez said.
The general definition of “corruption” in Latin is “corrupture” – meaning
“to break down together” or cor – the heart; rupture, to break.
“Our country is broken-hearted and breaking down,” Jimenez said.
“Corruption is the ‘misuse of public funds for personal gain. It is carried
out either by bribes, fraud, embezzlement and kickbacks’, he added.
PACC reports and fact-finding inquiries
“Since we started receiving complaints in March 2018 up to the end
of September 2018, the PACC has received a total of fifty nine (59)
verifiable complaints against various government departments and
agencies. Verifiable complaints are complaints supported by documents
whose veracity can be readily checked. The Department of Public Works
and Highways (DPWH) had the most number of verifiable complaints
received, topping the list,” Jimenez said.
The number of verifiable complaints against government-owned and
controlled corporations (GOCCs) is also high, placing these agencies
second in the list. The Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) and the Department of Finance (DOF) tied for the
number three ranking. Completing the “top 4” of the PACC list are the
Department of Agriculture, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department
of Transportation, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the
Department of Labor and Employment.
According to Jimenez, all reports received at the Commission come
from the Office of the President (OP), clarifying that communications
intended for PACC are first received at the OP, and forwarded to PACC
for action. To validate the complaints, the Commission conducts fact-
finding inquiries.
The Chairman bared, they have conducted four fact-finding inquiries so
far.
These included the following: 1. July 25, 2018 fact-finding inquiry
conducted at the Mabini Hall, Malacañang, Manila with 46 individuals
either as complainants or resource persons invited to enlighten the
Commission on issues over certain infrastructure projects and related
matters in the Bicol Region; 2. August 24, 2018 – conducted at Intramuros,
Manila to clear certain questions at DOLE and POEA; 3. September 10,
2018 also at Intramuros, Manila as continuation of DOLE-POEA fact-
finding inquiry; and 4. September 28, 2018 led by Commissioner Manny
Luna conducted in Cagayan de Oro City to enlighten the Commission on
the several issues like rice shortage, delayed irrigation projects, questions
at the Bureau of Treasury, questionable renewal of mining contracts, and
illegal logging.
Corruption in the Construction Industry
According to Jimenez, early reports and fact-finding missions they
have so fa undertaken tend to underscore problems on corruption in the
infrastructure and construction industry.
“These are observed during the Bicol and the ongoing Mindanao Missions
and during a presentation by a contractor victim of an extortion video
involving P4.1 million allegedly by District Engineer Roberto Nicolas
of South District Engineering Office of DPWH together with four other
DPWH personnel on August 30, 2018 in Pasig City,” Jimenez said.
The Chairman shared that a top ranking official of the DPWH confided
to him that a corruption in DPWH projects are usually done by District
Engineers as influenced by politicians, usually congressmen in the
various Congressional Districts in the country.
SITUATION
Executive Branch
As Jimenez continue, he said that in 2013, a Senator revealed that he
and some Senate colleagues allegedly received 50 million pesos as
incentive for voting former Chief Justice Renato Corona in May 2012 on
top of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) allocations.
An uncontroverted fact was Secretary Abad’s admission that the 50
million pesos channeled to the senators came from the Disbursement
Acceleration Program (DAP).
This “cross border transfer” of funds, e.g., funds of the Executive
Department transferred to the Legislative Department was declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2014.
The Office of the Ombudsman indicted this year the former President
and his Budget Secretary for mere usurpation of legislative power, a
decision which the Commission called a mere slap on the wrist that reeks
of selective justice.
Only this August 2018, the commanding officers of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) Health Services Command (HSC) and AFP Medical
Center, also known as the V. Luna Hospital, under the Department of
National Defense and 20 others were ordered relived to face court martial
for their alleged involvement in anomalous transactions, and has been
set for trial.
The BIR and the Bureau of Customs are among the most corrupt
collection agencies, and have been involved in cases of embezzlement
and extortion.
“A typical example was when the PACC jointly with the NBI entrapped
and arrested, based on tip-off, three BIR personnel in Makati City for
attempting to extort six hundred thousand pesos (P600,000.00) from a
businessman in a joint entrapment operation conducted in Greenhills,
San Juan in June 2018,” Jimenez said.
A “tara system” alleged exists at the BIR where bribe money exchange
hands, between the delinquent taxpayer and unscrupulous BIR personnel.
The “lagay” or 100 percent of the bribe money is divided allegedly in
cuts of 50-60% for the top rank officials like the Regional Director or
even higher while the other 40-50% is divided among the Examiner and
cohorts.
At the Bureau of Customs under the Department of Finance, high
ranking government officials were reportedly coddling a gold smuggling
syndicate operating at the NAIA prompting the PACC to conduct an
investigation jointly with the NBI.
This led to the arrest of three (3) suspects on May 5, 2018 for attempting
to smuggle an estimated P6 million worth of gold jewelry through NAIA
Terminal 3.
The PACC recommended the suspension of three (3) prosecutors, one
former district collector, a lawyer from the Custom’s legal division and a
flight supervisor, and the conduct of lifestyle checks on the respondent.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
The Napoles pork barrel scam in 2013 that implicated several members
of Congress involving a mind-boggling P10 billion public funds over 10
years drew attention to the misuse of the pork barrel fund.
PDAF are discretionary funds for use by members of the House of
Representatives for their projects. It was declared unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court in 2013, while the Disbursement Acceleration Program
(DAP) was declared unconstitutional in 2014.
Today the Congress continues to use the pork barrel system after the
Belgica Ruling that declared it unconstitutional by the Supreme Court
in 2013.
Departments prepare the budget and present the budget to DBM, in
turn DBM presents the budget to the House. The House committee on
appropriations conducts a budget hearing and prepares a committee
report to be approved at the Plenary. Next, the House delivers the budget
to the Senate which also conducts hearing and prepares a committee
report for approval of the Senate. The House and Senate reconcile their
versions in the Bicameral Conference Committee and the final budget
approved by Congress is presented to the President for signing of the
General Appropriations Act (GAA).
This prescribed process, however, gets subverted in practice. The
government has been defrauded of billions from commissions and
kickbacks with the misuse of the Congressional pork barrels. In an
interview with the media, a senator exposed that “hundreds of billions of
pork allotments are hidden in the proposed 2019 national budget
JUDICIARY
As a justice advocate in the past 28 years starting in 1991 since the killing
of my late brother “Jaime “Boboy” Jimenez Jr. by a drug syndicate on
December 20, 1990, I have witnessed or personally experienced various
forms of corruption in the Judicial System. A victim has to hurdle layers
of corrupt practices in the five (5) Pillars of the Criminal Justice System,
namely Investigation, Prosecution, the Courts, Penology and Community
Pillar.
It is not uncommon for a police investigator asking for gasoline, meals or
other favors for the investigation to move. A corrupt Prosecutor receives
bribes for a speedy or favorable resolution.
Court hearings in the country are notorious for delays resulting in the trial
of a case stretching to an average of seven (7) years or as long as 20 years.
So-called “hoodlums n robes” those Judges or Justices are suspected in
accepting bribes for a favorable decision.
Indiscriminate issuance of Temporary Restraining Orders (TRO) at the
Court of Appeals has been reported. TROs are reportedly being issued to
the highest bidder with the Sheriff acting as bagman.
A case which I assisted in my NGO years demonstrates how corruption
is tolerated from Lower Court to Higher Court. It was an Expropriation
suit initiated in October 1999 by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)
in Civil Case No. 5447 “PPA vs Felipe Acosta, et al that centered on the
matter of “just compensation” the amount of five hundred pesos (P5,500.
00) per square meter against the PPA offered price of five hundred pesos
(P500.00) per square as fair market value of the lots as evaluated, the
subject lots being raw marshland, swampy and submerged in water.
The PPA assailed the decision as disadvantageous to the government as
the lots were overpriced. The case went up to the Court of Appeals which
also approved the amount. It went to the Supreme Court. The PPA then
was represented by the Solicitor General. In 2009, the Supreme Court
reversed the lower court’s decision and pegged just compensation at
P425.00 per square meter, it’s real value, not P5,500.00 per square meter.
I was witness to this sale by the owners of the lot located in Batangas
Port to the PPA.
Corruption is also rampant in the Penology Pillar. The convicted
murderer of my brother was able to escape using fake release papers
although he was re-arrested. Special treatment is afforded to rich or
influential inmates. The Witness Protection Program needs strengthening
to encourage more witnesses of crimes and corruption to come out.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Jimenez said, PACC being one year old in paper and six months in
operations, they were able to conclude that ‘corruption situation in our
country today continues to be alarming”.
“There is corruption in high places, corruption in the rank-and-file.
Corruption everywhere,” Jimenez said.
PACC recommend the following measures taken from the 10-Point
Reform Plan they have adopted in the Anti-Corruption Summit convened
on November 27-28, 2017 at the Philippine International Convention
Center (PICC) in Pasay City as a working guide for the Commission.
1. All agencies under the President should set the stage for bureaucratic
reforms for head of government to be accountable, take command
responsibility of all their actions and eliminate undue human intervention
of agents and middlemen in transactions;
2. Professionalize civil service based on meritocracy and continuously
increase the number of quality public workers proportional to the
demands of good governance;
3. Prompt and stern punitive actions for persistent corrupt practices
of incompetence, inefficiency, “kalakaran,” nepotism, “balimbing,” and
patronage as well as syndicated crimes like plunder and violations of
procurement of public goods, without fear or fervor;
4. Publish immediately all plans, projects and programs at all levels
and from all stakeholders, especially in the selection and procurement of
goods and services in all agencies;
5.
Modernize and innovate monitoring and data base systems of
transactions with reliable technology and independent public audit at all
phases of implementation, from pre-inspection to the point of origin and/
or destination, ensuring that accepted technology should, at all times be
working, secured, safe and accurate. (PIA-NCR)