News Roundup 14 August 2023
Aug 14, 2023 • 5 min Read
No way to collect more than P2 billion owed by POGO firm to gov’t — PAGCOR | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation will no longer be able to retrieve more than P2 billion in receivables owed by a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations firm to the government, the PAGCOR chief said on Monday.
PAGCOR chief Alejandro Tengco said during the House appropriations committee’s budget deliberations that the POGO firm has since “closed shop” with its officers already outside the Philippines.
Tengco was referring to the Commission on Audit’s finding in 2022 that the state-run gaming regulator has yet to collect at least P2.3 billion in receivables from offshore gaming operations.
“The said amount during the past administration was not collected. This was a P2.2B receivable from a POGO that was licensed during the last administration and during the pandemic eh nawala nalang na parang bula yung POGO (the POGO suddenly disappeared). They closed shop and ran away,” Tengco said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Tengco said that he told state auditors in an exit conference a month ago that there is “no way” PAGCOR can collect the amount as all of the officers of the POGO licensee have since left the country.
There are also no local incorporators in the licensee, which only operated for eight months, Tengco said.
“In fact during the last exit conference, I requested COA to strike off the receivable because there is nothing left to do, we can no longer go after them,” the PAGCOR chief added.
Tengco added that while the officials have been blacklisted and their license canceled, the individuals are reportedly foreign nationals who are out of the country already.
Full Story at: No way to collect more than P2 billion owed by POGO firm to gov’t — PAGCOR | Philstar.com
Police camera turned off during killing of Navotas teen | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The camera worn by a cop involved in the shooting of Jerhode “Jemboy” Baltazar was turned off, the chief of Navotas City police said Monday.
Body-worn cameras help ensure transparency and accountability in police operations, especially when the conduct of raids and arrests is under scrutiny.
“The one wearing a body cam did not turn it on during the operation. That’s why I’m also suing him. I’m having him investigated,” PCol. Allan Umipig, chief of Navotas City police, told Radyo5 in Filipino.
Navotas cops killed 17-year-old Baltazar while they were pursuing a suspect in a shooting incident on August 2 in what the Philippine National Police described as a case of “mistaken identity.”
According to Umipig, instances of body-worn cameras being turned off during police operations had happened before, with cops saying the devices had run out of batteries.
The police officer said they frequently told cops that body-worn cameras should be fully-charged and turned on during operations.
In a separate interview over radio DWPM, Umipig said that the cop with a body-worn camera initially said the device’s battery had run out.
Full Story at: Police camera turned off during killing of Navotas teen | Philstar.com
Taiwan will not back down to threats, Taiwan VP says on US trip | INQUIRER.NET – TAIPEI — Taiwan will not be afraid nor back down in the face of authoritarian threats, the island’s vice president told supporters on a U.S. visit that Beijing has condemned, while reiterating a willingness to talk to China.
William Lai, also frontrunner to be Taiwan’s next president at January elections, is in the United States on what is officially a transit stop on his way to Paraguay for the inauguration of its new president. Paraguay is one of only 13 countries to maintain formal ties with the Chinese-claimed island.
Taiwan and the United States both say the stopovers, including one in San Francisco on the way back, are routine, but China has denounced them and called Lai a separatist “troublemaker”.
Lai told a supporters lunch in New York on Sunday that “if Taiwan is safe, the world is safe, if the Taiwan Strait is peaceful, then the world is peaceful”, according to Taiwan’s presidential office.
“No matter how great the threat of authoritarianism is to Taiwan, we absolutely will not be scared nor cower, we will uphold the values of democracy and freedom,” he said.
Full Story at: Taiwan will not back down to threats, Taiwan VP says on US trip | Inquirer News
Makati: Taguig rejected free school supplies for students in disputed areas; offer still stands | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The city government of Makati on Monday said that Taguig City rejected its offer to provide free school supplies to 14 public schools caught up in a territorial dispute between the two cities, which the Supreme Court (SC) resolved in favor of Taguig.
Makati City Administrator Claro Certeza said Taguig City officials rejected the offer in a meeting in July 2023 with both Makati Mayor Abby Binay and Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano, as well as officials of the Department of Education present in the gathering.
He said 30,000 public school students could have benefited from the free uniforms, shoes, supplies, and other school needs.
“We have offered an arrangement that would benefit the students. But Taguig rejected it,” Certeza said in a statement released by the Makati government.
Certeza explained that Binay proposed a status quo where Makati will continue its services in the affected schools to avoid disruption in school operations, but Taguig officials rejected the proposal and instead told Makati to stop distributing the students’ school needs starting this school year.
Full Story at: Makati: Taguig rejected free school supplies for students in disputed areas; offer still stands | Inquirer News
