Let's Adventure to Mindoro!

THE Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has ordered Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr. suspended for 90 days over a graft charge filed against him in 2004 claiming that he illegally released a P2.5-million loan to a private shipowner.

The court’s Fourth Division rejected Umali’s argument that he no longer could influence the investigation because the prosecutors had finished presenting evidence against him.

The court said suspension was mandatory in such cases, and it was meant to prevent public officials accused of corruption “from committing further acts of malfeasance while in office.

“The presumption is that, unless the accused is suspended, he may frustrate his prosecution or commit further acts of malfeasance or do both,” the court said.

Umali was accused of disbursing the loan when he was the provincial administrator. His co-accused were Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rodolfo Valencia, who was governor at the time, and then provincial board members Jose Leynes and Jose Enriquez and former Vice Gov. Pedrito Reyes.

Alfredo Atienza, the owner of the passenger vessel MV Ace, and who received the loan, was included in the suit.

The anti-graft court suspended all the accused on Sept. 9, 2008, after it rejected their arguments. It sentenced each of them to six to 10 years in jail and barred them from holding public office.

The court sustained the prosecution’s findings that the accused had acted in bad faith in lending Atienza P2.5 million from provincial funds to finance the repair, operation and maintenance of his ship.

Valencia had admitted he released the loan to help Atienza repair and maintain his roll-on, roll-off vessel, which he said the province had used in its recovery efforts in the aftermath of four strong typhoons that hit the province in 1993.

The defendants have appealed the decision.


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MEMBER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES of OCCIDENTAL MINDORO - LONE LEGDIST
1 GARILLO, Josefino A. 1,173
2 PIMENTEL, Samloen, Sr. S. 777
3 SAMALA, Clarita J. 3,648
4 TRIA, Benjamin N. 60,447
5 VILLAROSA, Ma. Amelita C. 75,359

Governor
1 DIMAYACYAC, Regalado M. 1,854
2 OMANIO, Ronilo M. 43,897
3 SATO, Josephine R. 97,575

Vice-Governor
1 BARRERA, Marleo R. 38,628
2 MENDIOLA, Mario Gene J. 87,577


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SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro— Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidates vying for national posts led by presidential bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. and his running mate, Edu Manzano, intensified their campaign activities in this city and other remote towns of Mindoro island that were rarely visited by political candidates in past elections because of threat of insurgency.

Unfazed by the reported presence of New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, Teodoro and Manzano – on two separate teams – campaigned in this city and Mamburao town to drum up their platform of government as they vowed to prioritize giving more support to local government units to allow them to pursue development programs to benefit the people of Mindoro.

Speaking before a crowd of about 9,000 people at the Occidental Mindoro State College here, Teodoro said the national leadership should be capable of understanding the needs of every community so it can effectively address the particular needs of these localities.

Last Saturday, the 45-year-old Teodoro landed at the San Jose City airport at 3 p.m. while Manzano touched down at Mamburao Airport 10:30 a.m., tagging with them their senatorial candidates that included former justice secretary Silvestre “Bebot” Bello III, incumbent Binalonan (Pangasinan) Ramon “GetsKo” Guico, lawyer Raul Lambino and veteran broadcaster Rey Langit. “Dapat ang leader natin should be capable of understanding the needs of communities to effectively address their respective problems and then give the best solutions,” Teodoro said.

Among the local leaders present at the state college were Deputy Speaker Amelita Villarosa; her husband, former Gov. Jose Villarosa; Mayor Voltaire Villarosa of Mamburao; Vice Mayor Nestor Perez of Rizal; and mayoral bets Renato Paulino in Calintaan and Eleonor Fajardo in Magsaysay.

Former Gov. Villarosa said some 9,000 people listened to Teodoro as he tackle the issue of greater support for LGUs at the college, where the Lakas presidential bet, his running mate Manzano, and three of the ruling party’s six senatorial bets proceeded to in the afternoon following a motorcade from the airport. These senatorial bets are Bello, Lambino and Langit.

The other Lakas-Kampi-CMD senatorial aspirants are reelectionist Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. and Lito Lapid, and Guico


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The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) en banc has released the calendar of activities and periods of prohibited acts in connection with the conduct of the May 10, 2010 national and local elections.

The COMELEC, in Resolution No. 8646, promulgated July 14, 2009; said the election period will run from January 10, 2010 until June 9, 2010. Prohibited during this period, the COMELEC added are the alteration of territory of a precinct or establishment of a new precinct; the bearing, carrying and transporting of firearms and other deadly weapons in public places; suspension of local elective officials; and transfer of officers and employees in the civil service, etc.

The COMELEC pegged the campaign period for candidates for President, Vice-President, Senators and Party-List groups to February 9, 2010 until May 8, 2010.

Meanwhile, the campaign period for candidates for members of the House of Representatives and elective provincial, city and municipal officials will start March 26, 2010 and will end May 8, 2010.

The COMELEC has also set August 17, 2009 as the last day for filing of petitions for registration of political parties and for parties, organizations and coalitions under the Party-List system of representation.

The filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for all elective positions will run from November 20, 2009 until November 30, 2009. During the same period, registered party-list groups may also file manifestations of intent to participate in the party-list elections.

Casting of votes by overseas absentee voters (OAV) will start April 10, 2010 (Host country time) and will run until 3:00 PM of May 10, 2010 (Philippine Time).

Meanwhile, the country's voters have from 7:00 AM until 6:00 PM to cast their votes on Election Day, May 10, 2010.

This is an open letter written by Dino Carnay (originally published on June 18, 2009), in response to the amount of complaints regarding the lack of progress in San Jose, as told by the members of the DWCSJOM e-group. It is re-published here with only minimal edits.

The sentiments of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro residents are hard to ignore. Day in, day out… they are deprived of a better service.

Genuine Interest

We do not believe that the present public officials cannot do something about the roads, public amenities, roads and public services. We believe that in order for San Jose, Occidental Mindoro to progress, there should be a genuine interest for public officials to spend the taxpayers' money to projects that are essential and useful to the citizens.

We know you could agree with us, we understand the hardships of raising funds and everybody are aware that at the end of the public officials' term. They have not done so much (we're not saying public officials are not doing anything or have not done any contribution for a progressive San Jose). Are the residents requesting for real progress? Yes.

see more bout this open letter here

Matapos ang halos anin na buwang pagtatago sa batas, sumuko sa mga awtoridad kahapon ng umaga Pebrero 16, 2009 ganap na alas 8:00 ng umaga sila Board Member Randolph "Randy" Ignacio, dating bokal at ngayon ay Provincial Asst. Agriculturist Peter Alfaro at Gaspar Bandoy Sr. close in security ni Former Mayor Joel "big J" Panaligan ng Mamburao.

Sa bisa ng warrant of arrest na inisyu ni Judge Ulysses Delgado RTC branch 44 Mamburao noong Setyembre 2008 sa kasong "Serious Illegal Detention" na isinampa sa kanila ng mga kaanak ni Romulo De Jesus Jr., isang public school teacher sa nabanggit na bayan.

Matatandaang sinampahan ng kasong Serious Illegal Detention sila Ignacio, Alfaro, Bandoy at Atty. Judy Lorenzo ng COMELEC sa ginawa nilang illegal na pag kulong kay De Jesus, kasagsagan ng bilangan noong 2007 local election. May mga hawak di umanong pekeng balota si De Jesus at involved sa ballot switching kaya nila ito ikinulong.
Ang tatlo ay sinamahan ni PNP PD P/Supt. Caessar Daniel T. Miranda sa kanilang pagsuko sa RTC branch 44 sa bayan ng Mamburao.

Nakakulong na sa Mamburao Provincial Jail sila Ignacio, Alfaro at Bandoy habang nakakalaya pa si Atty. Judy Lorenzo ng COMELEC. Walang inirekomendang bail ang korte sa kanila dahil heinous crime ang Serious Illegal Detention. Mariboy Ysibido

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s naming of controversial retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan as an official of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) is dangerous to the agency, but she was just being consistent.

This observation was from the militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), which lamented on Saturday that Palparan’s appointment came at a time when farmers were commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre.

Thirteen militant farmers were killed and over a hundred others were injured when government troops fired live bullets on protesters trying to march to Malacaňang Palace 22 years ago to demand genuine land reform.

"Major Gen. Jovito Palparan is yet to pay for his crimes and now Mrs. Gloria Arroyo considers him to the drugs board post. Their teamup, as Arroyo self-proclaimed herself as an anti-drug czarina, is still bonding, as how they dealt with the legal-democratic movement, attempting to wipe-out activists that call for genuine land reform and Arroyo's ouster," said Danilo Ramos, KMP secretary-general, in a press statement.

Palparan has been blamed by activist and human rights group for the disappearances and summary executions of a number of leftist activists in the central and northern Philippines when he was in the active military service.

KMP said that since Mrs. Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001, a total of 933 people became victims of extra-judicial killings, of which 528 were peasants and 109 were KMP leaders.

It said there were also 129 peasant activists and leaders who were victims of enforced disappearances and scores are accused of criminal cases and imprisoned in different jails around the country.

“Of this Arroyo's sickening human rights record, Gen. Palparan served as one of the promoter as he experimented on the activists of Oriental Mindoro in 2003 to 2004," the group said.

Palparan has repeatedly denied the charges, but maintained that his campaign against the communist movement had been very effective.

"The peasants call for punishment for Palparan as even the United Nations Humans Rights Committee concluded that the government and military are responsible to the murders of Eddie Gumanoy and Eden Marcellana in 2003 in Oriental Mindoro," said Ramos.

Eddie Gumanoy was the former chairperson of Kasama-TK (KMP Southern Tagalog chapter), while Eden Marcellana is the Karapatan-Southern Tagalog secretary-general and wife of Kasama-TK secretary-general Orly Marcellana, who is included in the ST 72, framed up with multiple murder case.

"The Arroyo government is really consistent, as those who commit crimes against the people are being promoted or assigned with luxurious posts. We firmly believe that Gen. Palparan is not considering the post to resolve the drug problem but attracted with the level of bribery hounding drug cases, such as the alleged P50 million bribe," Ramos explained.

KMP affirmed opposition to Arroyo's consideration of Palparan to the drugs board post, instead he should be castigated. Also, the group believes that the drug problem would never be solved under the Arroyo regime as Mrs. Arroyo herself is grossly corrupt, as she is involved with the P728 M Fertilizer Scam, P217.8 M Rice Scam and more. The corruption in the Justice department is just an offshoot of her governance.

"Certainly, if Gen. Palparan gets the post, either we all get killed being framed up as pushing drugs, or we get arrested accused of being drug pushers and users," Ramos said. The group believes that the drugs body would also be used against activists who is calling for Arroyo's ouster. - GMANews.TV

A congresswoman allied with President Arroyo said she will not inhibit from the impeachment hearing against President Arroyo at the resumption of the hearing this morning.

Occidental Mindoro Rep. Amelita Villarosa told the members of the committee, chaired by Rep. Matias Defensor, that she will not inhibit herself from the proceedings after Gabriela Partylist Rep. Liza Maza raised the issue.

"Mr. Chairman, dear colleagues, I will not inhibit myself. Thank you," Villarosa said.

Maza earlier said that Villarosa should inhibit herself from the hearings because she is one of the leaders of Kampi which is the party of of the President.

The National police are poised to arrest two Oriental Mindoro cong­ressmen, whom the anti-graft court ordered arrested for failing to appear at their promulgation hearing earlier this week.

Mindoro Representatives Rodolfo Valencia of the First District and Alfonso Umali Jr. of the Second District were convicted in a 14-year-old graft case filed when they were still governor and provincial administrator, respectively.

The Sandiganbayan sentenced Valencia and Umali—along with other provincial officials—to six to 10 years in prison and perpetual disqualification from public office.

The lawmakers could have posted bail for the graft conviction involving the payment of P2.5 million in provincial funds to a private ferry service, but the bench warrant issued for the lawmakers’ non-appearance is non-bailable.

The Sandiganbayan is scheduled to hold a hearing today, when the court is scheduled to take up the bench warrant.

Police Supt. Edwin Diocos of the Detective and Special Ope­ration Division of the Criminal Investi­gation and Detection Group told The Manila Times that the arrest warrants from the Sandi­ganbayan was turned over to the police at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Police referred the warrants to their regional operating units, particularly in Region 4B and in the National Capital Region, based on the addresses of the cong­ress­men, which are in Oriental Min­doro and in Makati City.

“It means arrest for the two congressmen at any opportune time they will be located,” Diocos explained.

Earlier Wednesday, Valencia issued the statement that the graft case is “politically motivated.”

He explained that as the gover­nor, he simply acted to implement a provincial council resolution to extend an emergency loan to Alfredo Atienza, a boat owner, “so that we could utilize his vessel to save lives and properties and implement our rescue and reha­bilitation efforts.”

His province had been struck by three typhoons at the time, and the ferry was a critical link of people in the province to other parts of the Philippines.

“Because of the province’s effective handling of the situation at that time, I was awarded no less than by former President Fidel V. Ramos as ‘Most Outstanding Governor in Calamity Management,’” he added in the statement.
-- Maricel V. Cruz