News Roundup 05 September 2024
Sep 05, 2024 • 5 min Read
Appeals court voids TPO issued by Davao court for KJC | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The temporary protection order (TPO) issued by a Davao court in favor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ or KJC was declared null and void by the Court of Appeals-Cagayan De Oro City.
“The Court finds that the public respondent, RTC, Branch 15, Davao City, has acted without authority in taking cognizance of the Amparo Case. It follows that the issuance of the TPO has no basis,” the resolution read.
“Wherefore, premises considered, the Temporary Protection Order (TPO) dated August 27, 2024, is hereby declared null and void,” it added.
The TPO was issued by RTC Branch 15 following a raid by around 2,000 members of the Philippine National Police on the 30-hectare KJC compound to serve arrest warrants on fugitive televangelist Apollo Quiboloy and others.
It ordered the police to stop any act that “threatens the life, liberty or security” of the religious group’s members.
Full Story at: Appeals court voids TPO issued by Davao court for KJC (inquirer.net)
DepEd working on COA report amid more calls for VP to explain | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education (DepEd), now under Secretary Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, on Wednesday, clarified that the report of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the agency was still subject to compliance and efforts are underway to do so at the soonest possible time.
Dexter Galban, the DepEd assistant secretary for operations, noted that the consolidated annual audit report (CAAR) that was provided to them by state auditors was still “open.”
This means DepEd is still required to submit a “management response” through an accomplished Agency Action Plan and Status of Implementation (AAPSI) on the issues raised by the COA, Galban explained in a statement to reporters.
State auditors have called out DepEd on several deficiencies in its expenditures for 2023, the last full year it was under Vice President Sara Duterte.
They flagged P12.3 billion worth of disallowances and suspensions from its 2023 budget of P710.6 billion.
Of this amount, the COA issued notices of suspension of P10.1 billion; notices of disallowance of P2.2 billion; and notices of charges of P7.38 million due to DepEd’s “noncompliance with existing laws and regulations.”
Action plan
“DepEd is conducting a series of consultations and coordination with its regional offices and respective audit teams to finalize the AAPSI,” Galban said.
The AAPSI, after the consolidation of “all action plans,” will be submitted to the COA on or before the end of October this year, he added.
Full Story at: DepEd working on COA report amid more calls for VP to explain (inquirer.net)
Dismissed official tagged in ‘pastillas’ scam now heading border control unit | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Thursday, September 5 questioned why the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) border control and intelligence unit (BCIU) is headed by an official who was dismissed due to his involvement in the “pastillas” scam.
To recall, the pastillas scam was a scheme discovered in 2020 where BI officials would allow foreign nationals, particularly Chinese nationals, into the country for a bribe amounting to P10,000.
The official in question, Vincent Bryan Allas, was dismissed by the Ombudsman in 2022 due to his involvement in the extortion scheme. Allas is now the acting chief of the BCIO.
“In 2022, the Office of the Ombudsman found Mr. Allas ‘administratively liable for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the service’. He was dismissed from service then in relation to his involvement in the pastillas scam extortion scheme. There are also graft cases filed against him in the Sandiganbayan,” Hontiveros said during the Senate probe into the escape of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
“How did he become the head of BCIU?” the opposition senator asked in Filipino.
Hontiveros wondered if there was a relation between Allas and the case of Guo.
BI Intelligence Division Chief Fortunato Manahan, who represented the bureau at the hearing, was surprised by this revelation, saying that he was not aware of this, as Allas was performing well.
“Bakit yung isang may ganung record pa at ongoing cases ay, siya, sa 120 million Filipinos, siya pa ang linagay sa pagbantay ng borders natin? Is that the best practice sa BI?” asked Hontiveros.
(Why is the person with ongoing cases, why is he the one out of the 120 million Filipinos that was put in control of our borders?)
Manahan said it depended on the order of the BI Commissioner. Immigration
Full Story at: Dismissed official tagged in ‘pastillas’ scam now heading border control unit | Philstar.com
Comelec tells Alice Guo’s lawyers: Prove you did not mislead us | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections warned Alice Guo’s lawyers on Wednesday, September 5, that if the dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor had fled the country without plans to face the misrepresentation case against her, they could face contempt charges.
Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said that Guo’s legal team should clarify whether they filed a petition to extend the deadline for submitting her counter-affidavit after she had already left the country — a move that could be deemed “contemptuous” by the commission and the courts.
“We want to know if, at the time of filing the motion for extension, Guo was no longer in the Philippines. If she wasn’t here, then what exactly were they seeking to extend? Who would respond to the accusations if she isn’t even in the country?” Garcia said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Guo is facing allegations of material misrepresentation in her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the 2022 elections after her fingerprints were found to match Chinese citizen Guo Hua Ping.
The Comelec issued a subpoena against Guo on August 13, but she was not in her residence when poll body officials attempted to serve the subpoena.
The poll body moved the original deadline for her counter-affidavit submission from August 27 to September 1. Inclement weather moved the deadline by another two days, leaving the Comelec still waiting for her response on Wednesday.
Full Story at: Comelec tells Alice Guo’s lawyers: Prove you did not mislead us | Philstar.com
