Solaire Resort North is thrilled to announce the soft opening of its world-class Kids Club, a key feature of the newly launched integrated resort located in the bustling heart of Quezon City. Designed as a vibrant family-friendly destination, Solaire Resort North aims to blend luxury and entertainment, offering unique experiences for both children and adults. […]
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The House Quad Committee (Quadcom), which has uncovered gruesome information, in its investigation of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), is now into tracing the money trail that financed former president Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs.
Quadcom co-chairs Reps. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. and Dan Fernandez said that the mega-panel composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts, will seek the assistance of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in tracing the illicit transactions.
Former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office General Manager Royina Garma, who also played a major role in Duterte’s bloody program, had given information on the rewards system which was patterned to Davao drug war template that she helped implement when she was a Station Commander in one of the police stations in Davao.
It would also be helpful for the Quadcom to retrieve the interviews given by self-confessed Duterte Death Squad leader Arturo Lascañas and member Edgar Matobato.
Lascañas and Matobato’s affidavits on their role in Duterte’s drug war have already been submitted to the International Criminal Court currently investigating the former president’s crimes against humanity.
In VERA Files interview with Lascañas in April 2017, he said he was collecting P68,000 every month from the Davao City government as DDS member.
Needless to say, there is no such item as DDS in the city government’s payroll. They were “ghost” employees.
What they did was come up with 10 to 12 names that were listed as employees with salaries ranging from P5,000 to P7,000 a month.
Lascañas said only two or three names on the list were real people. “The rest is imbento na lang namin na pangalan (We invented the names of the rest). They got some of the names from the telephone directory yellow pages.
Matobato, a former member of the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit in Davao said that he was on the city’s payroll as a member of the Civil Security Unit but only worked to kill individuals who he was told were “criminals.”
Aside from what he got as “ghost employee,” Lascañas said, he also received P50,000 every month from Duterte through Sonny Buenaventura, bringing his collection to P118,000. This was over and above his P38,000 monthly salary as an SPO3, he said.
The ghost employees practice was a regular feature during both father and daughter terms as Davao city mayor. Rodrigo Duterte terms covered from 2001 to 2010, then 2013 to 2016. Sara’s years were 2010 to 2013, and 2016 to 2022.
Flagged by COA
VERA Files had reported that the Commission on Audit (COA) has noticed the unusually large number of contractual workers of the Davao City government.
The COA had discovered that the salaries of some contractual or job-order employees in Davao City were being received by persons “other than those authorized payees” because the signatures in the receipts were different from those in the payroll.
This is the reason why Duterte hates COA. He lambasted COA in several of his speeches when he was president calling it “pure bullshit.”
The hiring of ghost employees was one of the charges in the impeachment complaint filed against the President by Magdalo Partylist Rep. Gary Alejano on March 16,2017 which did not prosper in the Duterte-controlled House of Representatives.
The failure of the impeachment complaint was cited by Alejano and former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV as reason why they had to go to the ICC(they were the first to do so) to make Duterte accountable for his crimes against humanity.
The audit report also formed the basis for the plunder case Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV filed against Duterte on May 5, 2016. It is still there doing a Mona Lisa (They just lie there, and they die there) under a Duterte-appointed Ombudsman.
This column was also carried by VERA Files and Canadian-Filipino.net
Watsons recently hosted the first-ever “Move with PowHER” forum—an inspiring and transformative event dedicated to women’s wellness, leadership, and advocacy. Bringing together women from diverse walks of life, including professionals, entrepreneurs, athletes, and community leaders, the forum celebrated women’s strength and achievements, while encouraging them to embrace their authenticity and thrive in every aspect of […]
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As the festive holiday season draws near, many Filipinos are gearing up for memorable celebrations—whether it’s planning a grand feast, reuniting with loved ones, or organizing a dream vacation. To make these moments even more special, Grab and Maya, one of the country’s top digital banks, have partnered to launch a convenient solution that allows […]
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It has been over a month since James Jazmines disappeared. It will be a month on Saturday in the case of Felix Salaveria, Jr.
No one disappears in the normal scheme of things in this world. Life’s cycle consists of birth, childhood, adulthood, old age, death. Some get to complete all the stages, some are not so lucky and skip some stages. But nowhere is there a stage when one simply disappears. Unless something drastic happened to disrupt that cycle as in the case of Jazmines and Salaveria.
The families of the two point to government agents as behind the dastardly act. Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said “The tell-tale signs of state involvement in the abductions of Jazmines and Salaveria are there.”
In their demand for the authorities to surface the two, they narrated that James attended Felix’s 66th birthday dinner with friends at a restaurant in Tabaco City, Albay, on August 23.
“After the celebration, James left on his bicycle and has not been seen since. Five days later, and after he had reported that James had gone missing, Felix was abducted. According to eyewitnesses, he was shoved into a silver van by men in plain clothes and later a group of uniformed policemen entered his home and removed personal belongings, including his cell phone and laptop. “
Karapatan has released CCTV footages obtained during a search mission last September 11-13, 2024 in Albay that showed the abduction by men in plain clothes of Salaveria Jr. near his home in Barangay Cobo, Tabaco City, Albay on the morning of August 28.
“An operation like this is highly organized and it was done in broad daylight, indicating the brazen character of the crime. The abduction of Jazmines and Salaveria bears these indicators which are similar to previous cases of such abductions committed by State forces. Several questions remain as the two remain missing, and this includes questions on State actors’ duty to investigate such incidents. So far, no government official has publicly spoken on their abduction,” Palabay said.
The families have launched a campaign to demand the authorities to investigate the abductions, return the two safely to their families and bring those responsible for their disappearances to justice.
Who are James Jazmines and Felix Salaveria Jr?
James is a 1978 graduate of the Philippine Science High School and a former BS Psychology student of the University of the Philippines in Diliman. He served as information officer of the League of Filipino Students from 1977 to the early 1980s. He later became the executive director of the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, a cultural institution, from 1984 to 1988. From 1988 to 1992, he served as information officer of the Kilusang Mayo Uno labor center.
Up to the mid-2000s, he was the information technology (IT) consultant of a development NGO and has been working freelance in the IT sector since then. He was known in his community as quiet and unassuming, but also a frequent biker.
Salaveria, a 1976 graduate of San Beda High School and a former sociology major at the University of the East in Manila, is a founding member and former president of Cycling Advocates (CYCAD), a group that promotes biking as a low-cost, healthy and non-polluting form of transportation. He is also a founding member of Tunay na Alyansa ng Bayan Alay sa mga Katutubo (Tabak) and Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (Katribu), groups advocating for indigenous people’s rights. He was likewise a member of the staff of the now defunct Ethnic Studies and Development Center’s Minority Rights Advocacy Program.
In Bgy. Cobo, Tabaco City, Salaveria became known as an avid eco-waste management advocate who encouraged the proper disposal of waste. He coordinated with other groups based in Tabaco for alternative ways of transporting waste for conversion to compost for permaculture, and even donated a bike for this purpose. In addition to his waste disposal advocacy, he also maintained a small community garden in his residence. He was well-liked in his community both for his advocacies and for being a kind and helpful neighbor.
Palaybay said the state’s silence on the disappearance of the two contravenes Republic Act No. 10353, or the law against enforced disappearance that has been in existence since 2012.
Under RA 10353, state security forces are required to issue certifications on the whereabouts of a missing person. They are also required to disclose the location of all detention facilities and allow inspection by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). State authorities responsible for enforced disappearance can be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The families said they are targeting 1,000.00 signatures in five days for their petition, which they will present to the president, Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos, Philippine National Police Chief Rommel Francisco Marbil and Armed Forces Chief Romeo Brawner Jr.
This column also appeared in VERA Files, Malaya Business Insight and Canadian-Fil.net
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