Revilla’s hand seen in police chiefs reshuffle

Revilla’s hand seen in police chiefs reshuffle By Marlon Ramos Inquirer Last updated 07:43pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007 CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna — Ranking officials of the Calabarzon police named pro-administration Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. as the person behind the deferment of a Cavite police director reassignment as part of a major reshuffle of police officials in the region. The temporary transfer of Cavite police chief Senior Superintendent Fidel Posadas to the Laguna provincial police office was part of an experimental reorganization in the Philippine National Police (PNP) which will first be implemented in the Calabarzon region. PNP chief Director General Oscar Calderon last week said the move was aimed at ensuring local police would not be used by politicians in advancing their candidacies. In the said set up, the police director of Cavite would swap his position with the Laguna police chief while the Rizal police director would exchange his post with the Batangas police chief. Quezon police director, Senior Superintendent. Hernando Zafra, was not included in the revamp as he was just relatively new in his position. The reshuffle would only last from May 4 to May 20, Calderon said. But during the turnover rites held here on Friday, journalists based at this camp were surprised when informed Posadas was not included in the revamp. Senior police officials, who declined to be identified to avoid being accused of politicking, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Revilla used his closeness with Malacañang officials to request for the retention of Posadas in his position. The senator’s action, they alleged, was aimed at influencing the local elections in favor of his political allies. The Inquirer tried to get the reaction of Revilla but his cellular phone was apparently turned off. A police official said Revilla, a former Cavite governor, also “wanted to ensure the victory of his brother in Bacoor.” The police officials were apparently referring to Strike Revilla who is running for mayor of Bacoor town under the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) party of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. One of the officials said the actor-turned-politician also requested Calderon to spare Posadas from the reshuffle. “We don’t have anything against Senator Revilla. But what he did was really unlawful. He used his influence as a lawmaker for his personal gains. Sana patas lang ang laban (Let it be a fair fight),” the first source said. Another source said they “pity” Calderon as the PNP chief’s “sincere programs to cleanse the image of the police service was sacrificed for the greedy intentions of a politician.” “This is really disheartening. We are disappointed. How can we become an independent institution when things like these are forced upon the PNP leadership?” the second source lamented. Sought for comment, Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan Jr., Calabarzon police director, said the reorganization of the provincial chiefs was way beyond his authority. In a press conference, Radovan said he had no knowledge about the supposed request of Revilla to retain Posadas in his position. He said the order of reassignment of his men was directly issued by Calderon. But he insisted that the experimental transfer was meant “to prove that the PNP is impartial and apolitical.” “This is a strategic move of the PNP to better its management system,” he said. Radovan also said Posadas was relatively new in his designation “so he’s not yet influenced by local politicians.” “But I’m not saying that all the other provincial directors are influenced by politicians,” he said.

(UPDATE) Misuari allowed to vote in Sulu

(UPDATE) Misuari allowed to vote in Sulu

DoJ: Ex-ARMM chief can even campaign

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 09:11pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Sulu Gubernatorial candidate Nur Misuari can vote on May 14 after a local court granted his petition for provisional release.

Judge Winlove Dumayas of Branch 59 of the Makati regional trial court granted Misuari’s request after the Department of Justice did not oppose the bid of the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), according to a copy of the ruling made available by the court Tuesday.

At the same time, the court ordered Misuari to be back in jail on May 15, a day after the mid-term elections.

Radio reports said that the court has also allowed Misuari to campaign, which Justice Secretary Gonzalez said he would not object to if the former ARMM governor would do so.

Gonzalez said he instructed the prosecution not to oppose Misuari’s motion.

“He can still exercise his rights. Besides, he is a candidate,” Gonzalez said.

“If [Lieutenant Senior Grade Antonio] Trillianes is on television almost everyday, why not Misuari. They are both candidates,” Gonzalez said.

Trillanes, who has been charged with coup d’etat over a failed mutiny in 2003, has been allowed by the court to be interviewed by media while in detention.

The Commission on Elections said that the last day of campaign would be on May 12.

In his petition however, Misuari did not specify as to when he would go to Sulu although the court said that if he could find transportation that would take him to the province, he could leave on May 10.

Misuari, together with his spiritual adviser Ustadz Abuhariz Usman, are detained on non-bailable rebellion charges over the 2001 uprising in Sulu where almost 100 people were killed.

Police probe P40-M payoff by candidate to NPA

Police probe P40-M payoff by candidate to NPA
By Bobby Labalan
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 03:49pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007
LEGAZPI CITY — Police authorities are confirming reports on the alleged pay-off made by a gubernatorial candidate to the New People’s Army (NPA) in the amount of P40 million to harass his rival candidates in Albay province.

Superintendent Elieser Bron, public information officer of the Bicol Police Regional Command, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview that the reports they had received were still raw and had no supporting evidence, making it difficult for them to pinpoint the candidate being alluded to.

“We received similar information on the alleged pay money made to the dissident-terrorists but we could not just identify the culprit without corroborating evidence or witness,” Bron said, referring to information circulating in the intelligence circle about the payment made by a candidate closely identified with the administration.

Published reports said that the gubernatorial candidate asked the NPA in Albay to deny his rivals access to the barangay (villages) in exchange for the P40 million he paid.

The NPA however denied the report.

Brigadier General Arsenio Arugay, commanding general of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, confirmed receiving similar information and that they were coordinating with the PNP in verifying the report.

Governor Fernando Gonzales already complained about the harassments experienced by his supporters from armed groups, especially in the second and third districts of the province.

He said the harassment was orchestrated and being done to deny him access to the people.

Bron said investigation on this matter continued and appealed to the public, who might have knowledge about the NPA deal, to come forward so that it could be documented and the necessary case could be filed in court.

He assured the potential witness of confidentiality of information and security.

inquirer

Terror suspect is a candidate for councilor in Pangasinan

Inquirer
Last updated 07:42am (Mla time) 05/09/2007
MANILA, Philippines — A suspected al-Qaeda-linked militant said Monday he’s running in next week’s elections to help bolster peace and development in his small town, where he sometimes reminds residents that he’s a terror suspect to grab attention.

Dawud Tyrone Santos, a suspected member of a militant group of Islamic converts, said he’s running to become one of eight councilors of remote Anda town in Pangasinan — a Catholic community where security officials say his group once ran a terror training camp.

Police have suspected that Santos belonged to a group called the Rajah Solaiman Movement, which has been linked to militant groups like the Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines and the Indonesia-based regional terror network Jemaah Islamiyah.

Santos says he tells villagers that he was wrongfully accused.

NAMFREL drops SMS, goes back to ‘old school’ tabulation

NAMFREL drops SMS, goes back to ‘old school’ tabulation
By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 09:05am (Mla time) 05/09/2007
MANILA, Philippines — After experiencing difficulties in using short-messaging system (SMS) in tabulating the results of the 2004 Presidential elections, the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMREL) is going back to using e-mail, fax and courier service in collecting copies of election returns for the upcoming May 14 general elections.

In a phone interview, NAMFREL Secretary General Eric Alvia said that the system they will be using this year is the same one used in the 2001 general elections. Alvia said they are giving NAMFREL volunteers the option to use any means necessary to send municipal results to the NAMFREL headquarters in La Salle Greenhills in San Juan City.

“They can send their reports via e-mail, fax or they can call. If they don’t have any electronic transmission methods they can opt to send it using courier service until the reports come to our headquarters,” Alvia said.

On the other hand, Alvia said they are trying the WeRoam wireless broadband access service of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), which is supposed to reach areas with no Internet connection.

Likewise, Alvia said Namfrel is putting up a new free-to-view website that will host all of the tabulated results.

“The Namfrelphilippines.org website will be up within the week, before the May 14 elections,” Alvia said.

NAMFREL had tested an SMS process of sending election returns to the NAMFREL headquarters in the 2004 Presidential elections. However, it suffered various problems including flooding of thousands of text messages into the dedicated NAMFREL server.

Likewise, the entire process of tabulating the SMS reports took almost as long as the manual method.

Police probe P40-M payoff by candidate to NPA

Police probe P40-M payoff by candidate to NPA
By Bobby Labalan
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 03:49pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007
LEGAZPI CITY — Police authorities are confirming reports on the alleged pay-off made by a gubernatorial candidate to the New People’s Army (NPA) in the amount of P40 million to harass his rival candidates in Albay province.

Superintendent Elieser Bron, public information officer of the Bicol Police Regional Command, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview that the reports they had received were still raw and had no supporting evidence, making it difficult for them to pinpoint the candidate being alluded to.

“We received similar information on the alleged pay money made to the dissident-terrorists but we could not just identify the culprit without corroborating evidence or witness,” Bron said, referring to information circulating in the intelligence circle about the payment made by a candidate closely identified with the administration.

Published reports said that the gubernatorial candidate asked the NPA in Albay to deny his rivals access to the barangay (villages) in exchange for the P40 million he paid.

The NPA however denied the report.

Brigadier General Arsenio Arugay, commanding general of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, confirmed receiving similar information and that they were coordinating with the PNP in verifying the report.

Governor Fernando Gonzales already complained about the harassments experienced by his supporters from armed groups, especially in the second and third districts of the province.

He said the harassment was orchestrated and being done to deny him access to the people.

Bron said investigation on this matter continued and appealed to the public, who might have knowledge about the NPA deal, to come forward so that it could be documented and the necessary case could be filed in court.

He assured the potential witness of confidentiality of information and security.

inquirer 

Partylist groups deny supporting Salceda’s candidacy

Partylist groups deny supporting Salceda’s candidacy
By Bobby Labalan
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 04:18pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — Three leftwing partylist groups, which are frontrunners in the upcoming elections, denied giving support to former Representative Joey Salceda in his bid for the gubernatorial post of Albay.

The three groups — Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela — came under fire from various sectors after it was noted that their campaign vehicles bore streamers of Salceda during a caravan.

Observers in Albay were alarmed by a possible connection between the support of the three partylist groups and published reports of an alleged P40-million payoff to the New People’s Army (NPA) by a gubernatorial candidate allied with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

These partylist groups have been accused by the military of being fronts of the NPA, a charge which they repeatedly denied.

Brigadier General Arsenio Arugay, commanding general of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division, earlier said candidates openly supporting these partylist groups were considered to have paid permit-to-campaign fees to the NPA.

Cathy Ascutia, provincial chair of Gabriela, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that they did not commit support for Salceda and were not endorsing his candidacy.

Ascutia explained it was Salceda who sent the vehicles to their group, which they utilized, but this did not mean they were beholden to him.

She said Salceda voluntarily offered the help which they readily accepted.

Anakpawis provincial chair Romy Barbodo said they might have been misinterpreted by the public as supporting Salceda because of the issue of environmental protection, which the progressive groups espoused and which was also adopted by the former chief of staff of President Arroyo.

But he stressed that environmental advocacy was just one of the issues being promoted by their group and it just so happened that Salceda had a similar advocacy.

Policarpio Baraquiel of Bayan Muna similarly denied giving any direct support to Salceda’s candidacy, adding that it was just a coincidence the former Albay Representative had the same stand on the environment issue as Bayan Muna.

The party-list groups said having a common stand on the environment did not mean they were supporting Salceda’s candidacy.

The three heads of the party-list groups lambasted Arugay for his comments against their groups which, they said, tended to open their supporters to harassment.

inquirer

‘Operation Courage’ starts in Pampanga vs poll fraud

‘Operation Courage’ starts in Pampanga vs poll fraud
By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
Last updated 01:25am (Mla time) 05/08/2007
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A week to the May 14 elections and amid cases of alleged vote-buying, a priest running for governor in Pampanga launched “Operation Courage” on Sunday to help in what he called ongoing efforts of voters to ensure a fraud-free election in the province.

“There are many stories of courage already,” Fr. Eddie Panlilio said in a statement.

“Voters need to be helped in resisting attempts to stop them from voting, to exchange their votes for money or favors or to cow them into fear,” he said.

He started the campaign on the eve of the 65th death anniversary of Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos through a 600-vehicle motorcade around the towns of Guagua, Sasmuan, Lubao, Floridablanca, Sta. Rita and Porac in the province’s second district.

Mobile sound systems played a recording of his messages in which he urged voters “not to be afraid.”

“Let us assert our right to choose the leaders we want. Let us vote according to our conscience,” went the message. Panlilio said the campaign was still part of his group’s “crusade for moral leadership and good governance.”

“Operation Courage,” he said, was launched as reports persisted that Board Member Lilia Pineda, also a candidate for governor, and her campaigners continued to herd people to big assemblies where they were supposedly given between P200 and P500.

Pineda had denied giving away money during these assemblies. She said she gathered people from remote villages to “give them importance and chance to hear my platform of government.”

Pineda, in a telephone interview, said she would fight fair in this year’s elections.

“Like in the 19 years I was in office, I would not buy votes or threaten people. If people should choose me it has to be on their free will,” she said.

Panlilio said his coordinators have reported being harassed by barangay officials loyal to Pineda. He said Pineda’s campaigners have approached families who have displayed his posters in front of their houses and urged them to vote for Pineda instead.

inquirer.net

Raps filed vs Sariaya mayor over unlicensed guns

Raps filed vs Sariaya mayor over unlicensed guns
By Marlon Ramos
Southern Luzon Bureau
Last updated 05:37pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007
CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines — Police have filed charges of illegal possession of firearms and violation of election gun ban against a Quezon town reelectionist mayor, police said Tuesday.

Senior Inspector Javier Baasis, public information officer of the Quezon police, said there was strong evidence linking Sariaya Mayor Concepcion Doromal to the confiscation in a checkpoint of a cache of firearms from one of the mayor’s convoy of vehicles last Friday.

Police also filed the same charges against Doromal’s six security escorts who were riding in a sports utility vehicle of the mayor when flagged down at around 9:30 p.m. Friday in the joint military and police checkpoint in the village of Montecillo, Sariaya town.

“In fact, we were able to confirm from the LTO (Land Transportation Office) that the Hummer vehicle was registered to Mayor Doromal,” he said in a press briefing here.

Doromal earlier denied she knew the suspects and refuted allegations they were her security escorts.

He said Doromal had told the security officers she and her team just came from a campaign sortie.

But when the six men in the Hummer vehicle were asked to alight for a routine inspection, its driver refused, raising suspicions from the soldiers.

On inspection, seven caliber .45 pistols and three M-16 assault rifles were seen on the floor of the vehicle, Baasis said.

The men were immediately put under arrest, he said. But he added that while they were being brought to a local police station the suspects — identified as Rex Saliva, Donato Amorado, Reynaldo Lorena, Edmundo Lat, Demie Umali and Cristino Medina — managed to escape.

Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan Jr., Calabarzon police director, ordered an investigation of the incident.

Chief Inspector Sergio Vivar, Sariaya police chief, was relieved from his post. Radovan said administrative charges would be filed against Vivar and at least 10 of his men.

Vivar has been replaced by Chief Inspector Ronnie Miralles who was appointed as officer in charge of the Sariaya municipal police station.

Radovan said they are currently monitoring several politicians who reportedly hired armed civilian escorts but he declined to disclose their names.

inquirer 

UPDATE) Deputy Ombudsman to Binay: File case in court

UPDATE) Deputy Ombudsman to Binay: File case in court
By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 05:41pm (Mla time) 05/08/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Suspended Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay should file a case in court if he was questioning the suspension order issued against him by the Office of the Ombudsman, an official said Tuesday.

“How can the rules be violated? We assure you all that we did not violate the rules. If he believed that the rules have been violated, he should go to court and question it,” said Overall Deputy Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro in a hearing where Binay, who acted as his own counsel, was given a copy of the complaint that had been filed against him by a political rival.

The Ombudsman also gave Binay 10 days to submit his counter-affidavit and granted his request to hear only the administrative aspect of the case as indicated in the notice that he received a day earlier.

Former Makati City councilor Oscar Ibay had filed the complaint against Binay and other city hall officials for allegedly keeping “ghost employees” from 2004 to 2005.

Following an order from the Ombudsman, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) enforced last week the suspension order on Binay.

Binay questioned his suspension when the complaint against him has been confirmed only during Tuesday’s hearing.

“They suspended me without even asking the complainant to confirm their complaint. What is the basis of my suspension if that is the case, I don’t know, is this a new formula?” Binay asked.

But Casimiro told Binay not to put color in the proceedings.

“You are not being politically harassed. We only want to know the truth. Please cooperate,” Casimiro said.

Binay argued that his suspension was not valid because the Ombudsman did not follow the procedures as stated under the law.

But Casimiro stood pat on the order and told Binay that “as far as we are concerned you are still suspended.”

After the hearing, Binay said the proceeding was very confusing.

“In fairness, they are just doing their job but the handling is confusing,” Binay said.

Ibay told Binay to respect the Ombudsman’s order or face another case for usurpation of power.

“The order has been served. As of now, he is suspended. If he will sign any document as mayor, I will charge him with usurpation of power,” said Ibay, who was also present at the hearing.

Binay, together with City Treasurer Luz Yamane, were suspended after they were charged with alleged grave misconduct, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and dishonesty by Ibay for allegedly maintaining “ghost employees” at the Makati City Hall from 2004-2005.

Named in the same complaint were Makati Vice-Mayor Ernesto Mercado and city councilors.

Ibay said records from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) showed that the names of persons whose employment was terminated in 2003 and were delisted from GSIS records had remained in the BIR’s list of Makati City Government employees for 2004 and 2005.

He also said that the “ghost employees” were found to have remitted their income taxes for these years.

“These employees no longer perform any of their duties as government employees but are still receiving salaries from the City Government,” said Ibay.

Meanwhile, Congressman Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin claimed that local government undersecretary Marius Corpus had “pleaded that he might lose his job” if he failed to serve Binay’s preventive suspension order last Friday.

At the meeting of the Rotary Club of Makati at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City Tuesday, Locsin said that he and Binay had asked Corpus ask why the suspension order was being served after office hours. Locsin did not elaborate.

He also said that the attempt to take over city hall last Friday was intended to guarantee that Binay’s mayoralty opponent, actor Lito Lapid, be appointed officer-in-charge come election day.

The meeting was also attended by Binay, congressional candidate and Binay’s daughter Abigail, and Ibay.

Tagline: With a report from Katherine Evangelista, INQUIRER.net; Originally posted at 01:27pm