Maniolas

Thousands of food packs worth millions of pesos which could have helped Typhoon Yolanda’s victims were instead lost to spoilage, a Commission on Audit special report on Yolanda relief operations concluded. According to the report, which was posted on the COA website, some 7,527 family food packs worth P2.7 million; 95,472 assorted canned goods; 81 packs of noodles; and, 21 sacks of rice went to waste due to improper handling in Yolanda devastated areas, particularly in Central and Eastern Visayas. The COA report blamed the losses on the lack of coordination between government agencies, which caused delays in the the distribution of goods. “Procured supplies intended for relief operations have not been fully delivered by the suppliers due to logistical gaps, such as lack of storage facility while awaiting repacking and eventual transport to affected areas and lack of delivery trucks,” the report read. Warehousing the donations and relief goods at the National Relief Operations Center also created a “logistical nightmare” for the DSWD, the state auditors added. Furthermore, the disposal of damaged goods and dented canned goods, which were excluded from food packs, were also unaccounted. “Relief distribution operations did not provide daily and periodic reporting on the results/status of its operations as well as accounting of funds received and its utilization given the huge funding, defeating the purpose of pinpointing responsibility and promoting accountability and transparency,” the COA reported. Aside from rotten relief goods, the COA report also revealed that some P700 million in donations from local sources Read More …

The prosecution panel in the homicide case against Coast Guard men implicated in the Balintang Channel shooting said they have proof that a Taiwanese fisherman was killed in the maritime incident last year. In an opposition it filed with the Batanes Regional Trial Court, the Department of Justice asked the judge to junk for lack of merit a motion to quash earler filed by seven Coast Guard men accused in the case seeking the case’s dismissal. In its motion to quash, the defense had insisted the case should be junked because no proof that homicide happened was ever presented by the prosecution in its complaint. But the Department of Justice maintained that the coastguardsmen failed to point out an “evident defect or a glaring failure to allege an essential non-evidentiary fact” when it asked the court to dismiss the homicide case. The DOJ called the motion to quash ” frivolous, groundless and dilatory.” “By selectively citing portion of Resolution dated December 20, 2013 and deliberately twisting their meaning and context, the counsel for the accused resorted to evidence aliunde [from outside, or not part of the original document] in assailing the information, which is prohibited,” said the prosecution. In its motion to quash information, the defense said the complainant did not even attach a death certificate or an autopsy report to prove Hong’s death. “The information does not charge an offense, since there is no one who was killed, i.e. there was no crime of homicide committed,” the defense added. Read More …

AFP, Defense officials monitor ‘great escape’ . At Camp Aguinaldo on Saturday, August 30, Defense chief Voltaire Gazmin, Foreign Affairs Sec. Albert del Rosario, AFP chief of staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., and other military officials monitor the situation of Filipino UN peacekeepers who were on a standoff with Syrian rebels at Golan Heights. All 75 Filipino peacekeepers are now safe after the last batch slipped away under cover of night from besieging Syrian rebels. AFP/AFP-PAO The Philippine military is seeking an investigation against the commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) for allegedly endangering the safety of the Filipino peacekeepers who figured in the Golan Heights standoff. According to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, Lt. Gen. Iqbal Singh Singha, an Indian national, ordered the Filipino peacekeepers to lay down their firearms to ensure the safety of the Fijian peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels. “Under the Terms of Reference, it wasn’t mentioned there that we can be ordered to surrender our firearms,” Catapang said. “The UNDOF commander wanted to save the Fijians at the expense of the Filipinos.” He said aside from laying down their firearms, the Filipino troops were also ordered by Singha to “raise the white flag.” “He (Singha) said that if we were attacked, we should raise the white flag. I said no way. That means our soldiers will also be held hostage,” Catapang said. The Fijian peacekeepers — at least 44 of them — had been seized Read More …

The opposition in the Senate is feeling the absence of Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and his expertise in finance as the chamber examines the P2.6-trillion proposed national budget for 2015. Enrile is detained at the Philippine National Police General Hospital on charges of plunder and graft in connection with the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam.  The Senate leadership yesterday implemented the Sandiganbayan’s order suspending him for 90 days in connection with the plunder rap. “We are trying our best to do it.  Pinipilit naman namin na magampanan pa rin pero talagang medyo may kahirapan dahil dalawa sa amin ang wala and the knowledge of Manong Johnny (Enrile’s nickname) when it comes to the budget e kelangang kelangan para maging  maganda yung pagbasa namin sa mga policy,” Acting Senate Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III.said. Another member of the Senate minority, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, is also detained on similar plunder and graft charges also in connection with the alleged misuse of allocations under the Priority Development Assistance Fund.   Estrada is detained at the PNP Custodial Center.  The Senate has yet to receive the order from the Sandiganbayan as regards his own 90-day suspension. Sotto said the minority bloc was trying to make do with the situation as Enrile and Estrada’s detention has left the group with even less with only for members—Senators Gringo Honasan, Joseph Victor Ejercito, and Nancy Binay.    He said the bloc was  now devising a strategy on how it could effectively cover all the budget hearings. Read More …

Adolf Azcuna. The Supreme Court congratulates retired Justice Adolf Azcuna for his appointment to the International Commission on Jurists (ICJ). Philippine Judicial Academy file photo The Supreme Court on Sunday congratulated former Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna for his selection to the International Commission on Jurists. Malacañang on Saturday announced Azcuna’s election as one of the five new commissioners of the ICJ. Azcuna is first Filipino to be appointed to the ICJ, and will serve a five-year term as Commissioner, though he will continue to work from Manila. “Congratulations to Retired SC AJ and Philja Chancellor for his selection to the International Commission on Jurists (ICJ),” the high court said in a tweet. ICJ is composed of 60 eminent judges and lawyers from all regions of the world. A Palace statement said the ICJ “promotes and protects human rights through the Rule of Law, by using its unique legal expertise to develop and strengthen national and international justice systems.” Before his election, Azcuna had served as Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy since 2009. From 2002-2009, he was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. “He brings his wealth of experience and wisdom to the ICJ. We are confident that ICJ will benefit from his long years as a jurist and as a trainor of judges,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News