28 SEPTEMBER 2018

6 NEWS
Friday, 28 September 2018
Daily Tribune
From page 1
disrespecting the panels.
However, the House would only
take custody of Guban once the Senate
releases him from custody as the Senate
Blue Ribbon Committee had earlier
ordered his detention also for contempt.
Acop requested the panel to notify
the Senate blue ribbon committee
chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon that
the chamber will have jurisdiction
over the BoC officer.
Members of the House committees on
dangerous drugs and good governance
suspected Guban of lying after noting
inconsistencies in his answers to the
questions raised in connection with the
alleged smuggling into the country of
P6.8 billion worth of shabu.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop
moved to cite Guban in contempt for
“not telling the truth.”
Rep. Ace Barbers, chairman of
the dangerous drugs committee, said
Guban violated House rules through his
“disrespectful acts” towards the panels
by refusing to reply to questions fielded
by the members.
Acop said the House must notify the
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired
by Sen. Richard Gordon that the two
committees will assume jurisdiction over
Guban only after the Senate inquiry is
finished.
To save time and cover more ground,
Barbers said the House panels will adopt
the testimonies in the Senate probe.
The House investigation, according to
Barbers, will focus on the drug syndicate
and the extent of its influence in the
BoC, Philippine Drug Enforcement
From page 1
Chief Executive is suffering from some form of
serious illness.
In fact, Avanceña gave out a generous tip to
enable anybody to tell if Duterte is not feeling
okay.
“If you see me always on his side, that means
there’s something wrong. But if I can leave him
by himself, that means he’s okay, there’s no
problem,” she said in a TV interview.
“Nothing is wrong with him,” she stressed.
And unlike other guys who project a “macho”
image yet horrified by the thought of having
a medical checkup, Avanceña said Duterte
undergoes regular medical examination.
“He’s really a health buff. You know we have
friends afraid of seeing a doctor. He’s not,” she said.
Avanceña said Duterte often sees a doctor
Urban oasis An island along a road in Balintawak, Cloverleaf becomes a place for congregation among street
dwellers who seek a reprieve from the concrete jungle.
ROMAN PROSPERO
From page 1
Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday as he
vowed to unmask those involved in the
anomaly.
The irregularity had implicated high officials
of the previous administration.
Last March, the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) filed plunder and graft
complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman
against former Public Works Secretary Rogelio
Singson and former Budget Secretary Florencio
Abad and 29 other former officials for their
alleged involvement in the scam.
In an inquiry into the lucrative operation
yesterday, Gordon said the syndicate had five
operators but one of them, a mayor, has been
killed.
There are other syndicates
operating in the Visayas and
Luzon.
The Senate panel identified the syndicate
as cornering P8.7 billion worth of RRoW
compensations in General Santos City alone.
“The other four, I cannot tell you right now
because they might escape,” said Gordon in an
interview after the hearing.
Gordon added he is now working closely
with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and
the NBI to address the problem plaguing the
country’s Torrense system that the syndicate
exploits for the scam.
House orders detention of BoC officer
Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine
National Police (PNP).
Linkages established
The hearing uncovered links between
personalities tied to the alleged shabu
smuggling. Guban admitted he and
PDEA Deputy Director General for
Administration Ismael Fajardo were
classmates at the Philippine College
of Criminology and that they were
frequently meeting each other.
Fajardo and Guban also admitted
meeting with dismissed Senior Supt.
Eduardo Acierto to discuss
the intelligence reports
regarding the smuggled
shabu.
Guban added that
Acierto gave him money
to pay somebody to act as
consignee who will receive
the delivery.
Customs Commissioner
Isidro Lapeña said looking
for a consignee was not part
of Guban’s duties and that
for doing so he could be
criminally liable.
PDEA chief Director
General Aaron Aquino noted
that Guban, Acierto and
Fajardo have knowledge of
the alleged drug shipments.
Earlier, Sen. Richard
Gordon had said there
was evidence to suggest
that shabu weighing 1,000
kilograms found in General
Mariano Alvarez, Cavite
slipped past BoC and that
PDEA was right to suspect
the presence of shabu
Watch and learn
inside gigantic lifters.
Aquino stood pat on his claim there
was shabu inside the lifters
as shown by the reactions of
trained dogs despite the BoC
insistence that swab tests
proved negative for the
presence of shabu.
Gordon also
Welcome salute Navy personnel rest after firing salvos from several 40 millimeter cannons along the breakwater of Manila Bay near
the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex to welcome a visiting dignitary at the nearby Philippine Navy headquarters on Roxas
Boulevard.
ROY PELOVELLO
because of his gastro-intestinal problem.
Last week, Duterte told the media that he has
undergone routine colonoscopy and endoscopy
because of his condition known as Barrett’s
esophagus. It is a condition where the normal
tissue lining the esophagus -- the tube that carries
food from the mouth to the stomach -- changes to
tissue that resembles the lining of the intestine.
Duterte, however, said the checkups were no
cause for alarm.
Last month, exiled communist leader Jose
Maria Sison suffered embarrassment after he
announced that Duterte had gone into a coma.
To debunk such allegation, Duterte appeared
on a Facebook live video. He also spoke lengthily
before the League of Municipalities of the
Philippines Visayas Island Cluster Conference
in Cebu City.
They should listen to Honeylet. She knows better.
Gordon said the panel will have a final
hearing on the anomaly on 10 October before
coming up with a committee report.
“This is a big racket throughout the country,
the Torrense system is far too important for us
just to finish it in one episode,” Gordon said.
“There are other syndicates operating in
the Visayas and Luzon who we’re trying to
find. That’s why we’re working closely with the
NBI to arrest all those involved in faking land
titles,” he added.
Pacman goes for KO
Sen. Manny Pacquiao also tasked the NBI
to issue a show cause order to other resource
persons, particularly Nelson Ti, for their failure
to attend the hearing.
Ti was identified as one of the financiers of
the scam. Pacquiao said the syndicate is still
after P2.5 billion that it wanted to pilfer from
the government.
During the hearing, Gordon again grilled
Ser John Pastrana, chief of the Micrographics
and Computer Division of the Land Registration
Authority (LRA) in General Santos City, over a
letter sent to him by Singson who was present
at the hearing.
Pastrana continued to deny receiving the
letter which sought to clarify the authenticity of
documents concerning lots subjected to RRoW
within his area of responsibility.
But Pastrana’s denial was countered
by lawyer Estrella Decena-Zaldivar, of the
Duterte shelves
Fed shift bid
From page 1
“the least among the concerns” of
President Rodrigo Duterte.
“The foremost priority of the
President is fighting inflation, even
the administration acknowledges
that what is more pressing right
now is to address problems closer
to the stomach,” Roque said at a
news conference.
“Urgent issues concerning
hunger are of utmost importance,
although we are not abandoning any
talks about Federalism,” he added.
The survey showed a big
percentage of those polled believes
the shift to another form of
government is not an urgent concern
as only three percent ranked it as
a priority which has been a static
figure for four straight quarters.
Out of 1,800 participants,
the biggest percentage said the
government must control rising
food prices while 59 percent wanted
more focus on increasing the pay
and benefits of workers.
Roque said with both chambers
of Congress deep in deliberations
for the proposed P3.575-trillion
budget for 2019, the push for
Federalism is temporarily placed in
the backburner.
“We’ll get there. But we need
more discussions, studies and
information dissemination regarding
Federalism. Once the budget is
approved, then we can go back to
urged the BoC to improve
its capabilities as it faces
new challenges
from drug
smugglers.
During the
Senate probe,
‘Big 4’ runs RRoW scam
DPWH-Legal Division, who maintained the
DPWH personnel delivered the letter to
Pastrana’s office with the receiving copy.
Pastrana was identified by Roberto
Catapang Jr., a self-confessed member of
the syndicate involved in claiming payments
for RRoW in Mindanao, as the person he
transacted with at the LRA.
Network of corruption
Apart from Pastrana, Catapang also
admitted transacting business with the Registry
of Deeds, DPWH and City Assessors Office in
General Santos City.
Currently covered by the Department of
Justice’s Witness Protection Program, Catapang
lamented the non-filing of formal charges
against the people he accused of involvement
in the scam.
Gordon said the hearing clearly established
the liability of Pastrana.
“He will be liable because he is totally
negligent…with what is happening…I will catch
him eventually…the scam is really syndicated,”
Gordon said.
The modus of the syndicate involved the
manufacture of land titles for lots that are
already part of the highway and then claim for
just compensation.
Through the use of special power of attorney
and deed of assignment, the syndicates then
make a claim for compensation.
Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel said the
talking about Federalism,” Roque
said.
Controlling inflation was the top
concern for Filipinos as it garnered
63 percent out of the 1,800 Filipino
adults polled by Pulse Asia last 1 to
7 September, a 12-point increase on
the issue from last June’s 51 percent.
Improving the pay of workers,
meanwhile, remains a concern of 50
percent of the respondents, adding
the figure remains unchanged for
three straight quarters, according
to the poll.
“Amidst the soaring prices of
basic goods, a sizable majority
of Filipinos (63 percent) say
inflation is an issue that the Duterte
administration must immediately
address,” the pollster said.
The poll has a plus and negative
two percent margin of error for
national estimates, plus and negative
six percent for Metro Manila, plus
and negative three percent for the
rest of Luzon and plus and negative
five percent each for the Visayas and
Mindanao.
Also among the biggest national
concerns were reducing poverty,
creating more jobs and fighting
graft and corruption in government,
and fighting criminality, the survey
showed.
Record spike in Aug.
Pulse Asia noted the survey was
done after the Philippine Statistics
Authority announced that inflation
syndicates can’t make false claims without
the help of contacts inside the City Assessor’s
Office, local and regional offices of the
Department of Public Works and Highways,
the Cavite warehouse caretaker
testified that the seven Chinese,
including two who rented the
property, stayed locked inside
the warehouse for four hours
before leaving on board a
black vehicle.
He added that he saw
one of the Chinese
holding a grinder
approach one of the
lifters although he
refrained from trying
to find out more
for fear of
being caught.
hit a nine-year high at 6.4 percent
in August.
The pollster also noted other
circumstances like the weak peso and
rising prices of basic commodities,
particularly rice, during the survey
period.
Mr. Duterte’s economic team had
taken immediate measures to tame
inflation, including the “immediate
release” of 4.6 million sacks of rice
at state-subsidized prices.
The concern about unabated
price increases is common across
all income classes of ABC, D and E.
Inflation was the primary concern of
65 percent in Class D and 60 percent
in Class E.
The foremost priority of the
President is fighting inflation.
More than half of the richest
segment in Class ABC, or 52 percent,
were also bothered the most by
inflation.
Rounding up the top 10 urgent
concerns are fighting crime (23
percent), peace (14 percent),
stopping the destruction and
abuse of environment (13 percent),
reducing the amount of taxes paid
(12 percent) and enforcing the law
regardless of influence (11 percent).
The government has stepped up
its rice importation while President
Duterte has issued an administrative
order removing non-tariff barriers
from agricultural products to address
inflation.
LRA and the Commission on Audit.
In an inquiry conducted in General Santos
City, some 6,000 fake land titles were identified
to be in circulation.
Hot favorite Freshly cooked vegetables in coconut milk, a favorite delicacy, are readied
for serving in a sidestreet store.
ROMAN PROSPERO