DT_20190713

Saturday, 13 July 2019
Daily Tribune
Obstruction of justice mulled
METRO
A7
Albayalde slams Metrobank’s delay in allowing probers in after heist
By Pat C. Santos
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General
Oscar Albayalde warned yesterday that executives
of the Metrobank branch that was robbed in
Binondo on Thursday may face obstruction of
justice charges.
Albayalde issued the statement as he noted
complaints by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko
Moreno” Domagoso and Manila Police District chief
Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao that police investigators
were only allowed to enter the bank two hours
after the heist.
“This is one of the problems we are
encountering, whether banks, malls or
hotels. They take a while before allowing our
investigators to go inside (crime scenes),”
Albayalde said in Filipino.
“With that delay, that may have been the reason
why we were not able to catch or to identify fast
the perpetrators,” he added of the robbery at the
Sto. Cristo Street branch of the bank.
Mayor Zamora tagged a ‘dictator’
#Strong8 councilors deny walking out
By Neil Alcober
Eight members of San Juan’s City Council
accused Mayor Francis Zamora of being
a dictator for allegedly meddling in the
selection of committee chairs.
Calling themselves the #Strong8, the
council members claimed Zamora wanted the
post chairman of Appropriation Committee
to go to his ally.
The eight councilors were Jana Ejercito,
Mary Joy Ibuna Leoy, Cris Mathay, Raissa
Laurel, Chesco Velasco, Arthur Aquino,
Vincent Rainier Pacheco and Vic Reyes.
They said they did not walk out of the
council session as claimed by the mayor.
“There’s no walk out because the special
session has not yet started. We decided to
leave the session hall because we cannot
stomach what the mayor wants to happen,”
they said.
They said the main agenda of the special
session was to ratify and give Mayor Francis
Zamora the power to sign the check that
would allow the payment of salaries of
job order personnel.
“This is an obligation that was
already settled by former mayor Guia
Gomez and former vice mayor Janella
Ejercito Estrada, but we are just
wondering that he chose to
take the councilors under
his control and dictated
Don’t lie,
waiter
tells
solon
By Elmer Manuel
The waiter in Legazpi
City who was punched
in the face by Ang
Probinsyano partylist Rep.
Alfred de los Santos is
demanding a public apology.
In a radio interview,
Christian Kent Alejo said that
while the lawmaker had already
apologized to him, the lawmaker should
go on record about his misdeed and also to tell
the truth.
De los Santos issued an apology after a video
of the incident had gone viral on social media.
“He approached me and apologized, but I said
that if he will apologize, then he should do it
publicly and tell the truth,” said Alejo.
Alejo: I was walking away when he
accosted me.
De los Santos claimed he lost his temper
because the waiter allegedly uttered unpleasant
words to him and his friends, an assertion the
waiter had flatly denied.
“It’s clear from the CCTV that I was walking
away already when he called me and accosted
me,” said Alejo. “I answered him politely.”
Alejo also clarified social media speculation
that he was extorting money from the House
member and stressed that he has already filed
a blotter report on the incident.
The Ang Probinsyano Partylist has yet to say
if the incident would affect the status of De los
Santos as its representative in Congress. De
los Santos is set to assume his seat in the 18th
Congress on 22 July.
In a separate interview, De los Santos on
Thursday insisted that he was neither a “bully”
nor a “troublemaker.
“I am not a bully or a troublemaker. The
people who know me well can attest to that,”
he said. “This single incident does not represent
me or my values, and I will prove it by working
hard to deliver our party platform and campaign
promises to fellow probinsyanos.”
“From hereon, I will conduct myself as an
exemplary public servant worthy of the trust
and confidence our people placed on us last
election.”
“Upon reflection on what had happened, I
am really sorry that I have reacted the way I
did. I should have known better, for that I am
truly sorry. My emotions got the best of me,”
he added.
“I have no excuse, only regret and the promise
that it will not happen again,” said De los Santos.
in choosing the committee chairmanship
instead of prioritizing the welfare of job
order personnel who are still waiting for
their salaries.”
They said most councilors have agreed to
have a special session on that day as they
want to fast-track the release of salaries of
job order personnel.
“It’s sad that Mayor Zamora did not
respect the guarantee of the Constitution
separating the legislative and executive of
the local government,” they said.
For his part, Zamora said
he called for
a special
session to
discuss some
important
matters
with the City
Council.
“Only Vice
Mayor Warren
Villa and
six of the
By Alvin Murcia
Seven men wearing mostly guard uniforms, with
helmets on and other face coverings, robbed the
bank which opened a few minutes before operating
hours, prompting suspicions of an inside job.
In a press conference, Domagoso said he will ban
the wearing of any face coverings inside financial
establishments like banks.
Danao had said that at least one of the
suspects caught on closed circuit television may be
identifiable as his cap failed to hide his face.
Domagoso has offered
a P1-million reward for any
information leading to the
suspects’ arrest.
Councilors were present.
And because of this, the
special session did not
push through, and I was
not given the authority
to sign the checks of
the city government,”
Zamora said in a
statement.
“And because of this, the salaries of the
employees of the city hall and San Juan
Medical Center will be delayed. They have
not yet received their salaries since June.
And on Monday if I’m still not given the
authority to sign the checks,
the salaries for 15 July will
also be delayed,” the mayor
added.
Zamora said he is
hoping that the councilors
would finally allow him
to sign the checks on
Monday.
“Let’s set aside
politics for now and
think first what is
good for the City of
San Juan,” he said.
Easy does it Rescuers
of the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority heave a
motorcycle rider injured from an
accident along Libertad Street
in Pasay City. BOB DUNGO JR.
Six robbers, six cops
Six street robbers met more than their
match in six Makati policemen who chanced
upon them robbing a hapless Chinese national
at the crack of dawn Friday.
The stick-up men, including one deadly
serious with his criminal trade being armed
with a .22 magnum revolver, had just robbed
Jonas Wang along Washington Street corner
Buendia Avenue when a Makati police patrol
car arrived.
Seeing the cops, the suspects scampered
in all directions, sparking a street chase that
ultimately resulted to their being arrested
as the young cops proved up to the task of
running them down.
Now behind bars are Dioshua Dellera, 19,
fisherman by day robber by night; Jeffrey
Honradez, 30, jeepney dispatcher, jeepney
barker Lester Honradez, 25,; Hazel Arong, 21;
Ruben Quilana, 30; and Arben Gonzales, 29.
Lester yielded the gun whose .22 caliber
bullets may be small but they pack potentially
lethal magnum power.
Effecting the arrest were P/Cpls. Romulo
Soriano, Jr., Joseph Tingcawa Jr. and Reynard
Matabang; and Patrolmen Joshua Revilles,
Mark Edhyson Arinabo and Arlon Mallari.
The victim, Wang, a resident of Oriental
Garden hotel and residences along Pasong
Tamo Street in Makati, is working in the
country in an information technology
company.
Back you all go Makati City deputy chief of police for operations P/Maj. Gideon Ines (left) admonishes
the six suspects as they are returned to jail following their inquest for robbery.
PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde says commercial establishments should not hinder police
probers from doing their jobs.
Punish the bad,
reward the good
From A7
much-improved image of cops,” he said.
“It’s still a work in progress but we are getting there.
That’s why we are putting in order our recruitment as
part of our internal cleansing process,” Eleazar added.
Culpable
The latest to be dismissed, said Eleazar, was ex-Cpl.
Rocky delos Reyes over three separate incidents in all of
which he was found culpable, including in the shooting
of a boy in Caloocan City.
Aside from dismissal, Delos Reyes is facing murder,
frustrated murder and illegal possession of firearms
charges over the incidents enumerated by Eleazar.
The NCRPO chief said that the PNP has graduated
sanctions but even a one-day suspension results to a
policeman’s forfeiture of his bonuses for the year.
He explained that retraining and other sanctions
await policemen like the one caught in a viral video
in San Juan threatening a man and another who beat
up an eight-year-old boy.
“When I see that the sanction is dismissal, I no
longer read that. I am so happy, that’s already okay.
But when it’s exoneration, that’s when I check. I ask
why is he being cleared?”
“I will not think twice dismissing a few rotten
cops who taint the entire organization the majority
of whose members are good, dedicated cops,”
Eleazar said.
Summary firing
He reasoned that if there’s “summary hiring”
there should also be “summary firing” after the facts
had been established and due process requirements had
been satisfied.
On Friday, Elezar signed for the NCRPO a memorandum
of agreement with the Ayala Foundation Group of
Companies for the Pulis Magiting Program to recognize
exemplary cop who go above and beyond the call of duty
to serve.
The rewards will be given to deserving policemen by
the Ayala Foundation on a regular basis.
“This truly inspiring program tells us policemen that
we are being monitored even by our business community
and that we must be doing something good to merit their
attention, encouragement and care,” he stressed.
Ayala Foundation president Raul Maranan signed the
MoA with Eleazar at the NCRPO headquarters in Camp
Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.
Eleazar said his management policy as head of the
five police districts of Metro Manila came from Albayalde
himself which us to “reward the good, but punish the bad.”
He revealed that he has given thousands of awards to
NCRPO policemen which should dispel the notion that
most policemen are bad.
First to be awarded the Pulis Magiting was P/Cpl. Claro
Fornis of the Makati Police Community Precinct (PCP)
1 for acting as guardian during enrolment to a student
whose parents were in jail.
The student, Angela Perez, 14, told the police that
she wanted to enrol in school but her parents were
in jail, thus could not sign the documents required
for the registration.
Roadworks slated anew
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
announced the resumption of the road improvement works
in Metro Manila starting at 11 p.m. Friday until Monday,
15 July.
In a statement, DPWH-National Capital Region
(DPWH-NCR) director Ador Canlas said that road repairs
will be done at the southbound of EDSA -- from Guzent
Construction Equipment Sales and Rental to Culiat Bridge,
1st lane from sidewalk; from Magallanes to Baclaran Bus
Stop going to Magallanes to Alabang Bus Stop, outer lane
and from Eugenio Lopez Drive to Scout Borromeo and at
the northbound of after Aurora Boulevard Service Road,
second lane from sidewalk.
Canlas addd that road rehabilitation works will be
done at the southbound of Circumferential Road 5 (C-5)
from fronting SM Aura, third lane from median; and at
the northbound from fronting SM Aura, second lane from
median.
In Quezon City, southbound of Katipunan Avenue from
after P. Tuazon, second lane from sidewalk will also have
road repairs, while the westbound of Quirino Highway
from Kingfisher Street to Primerose Street, second lane
from sidewalk; the westbound of General Luis Street from
Pascual Street to before Oriental Tin; and the northbound
of Regalado Avenue from Mindanao Avenue Exit to Quirino
Highway, second lane from sidewalk will also be covered
by the reblocking repairs.
The Public Works department is advising motorists
to expect traffic slowdown in the affected areas and use
possible alternate routes.
Raymart T. Lolo