Filipinos as Infamous Cheaters

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Many Filipinos have been scandalized about the cheating bravado of international renowned boxing referee Carlos “Sonny” Padilla on the match of the then unheralded Manny Pacquiao and Australian Nedal Hussein as shown on his video interview. This was a day before his August 2022 induction at the iconic Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame in the United States. The Fame honors those individuals for their efforts, achievements, and contributions to one of the Americans favorite pastimes.

BELEAGUERED retired international boxing referee Carlos "Sonny" Padilla in his recent induction to the renowned Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. Padilla - a former actor - stirred a hornet nest in the world of boxing when he told the interviewer in a social media's Q&A a day before his induction that he cheated twice to see fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao won against Australian Nedal Hussein for the international WBC Super Bantamweight's tilt.

I first saw Padilla in boob tube when he refereed the classic boxing rubber match or third fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier dubbed Thrilla in Manila held in October 1, 1975 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. It was for the heavyweight championship of the world.

The collision between these two mammoth personalities of the heavyweight was death defying. Padilla stopped the brutal fisticuff in the 14^th Round because the still gung-ho Frazier could no longer see in his both swollen eyes due to the punches of Ali.

Louisville Lip’s Ali nearly gave up, too, on that merciless slugfest.

"It was like death. Closest thing to dyin' that I know of," the battle scarred pugilist said later of the hell he and Frazier fought amid the Philippines' scorching daytime 125 degree Celsius aggravated by the heat emitted from the bodies of the sea of humanity in the coliseum that overpowered the air conditioning system.

Padilla's fortune shined on that marquee fight because it was watched by one billion viewers around the world.

When Padilla - the actor-father of actress Zsa Zsa Padilla – met World Boxing Council’s President Jose Sulaimán in a confab held in the U.S, the latter told him he was impressed about his performance in the Thrilla in Manila. From thereon there was no turning back to the fame of the son of Philippines Olympic pug Carlos Padilla, Sr.

He became the third man in the high-profile classic global boxing matches like those of Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Roberto Durán - 1, Thomas Hearns vs. Roberto Durán, Julio César Chávez vs. Ruben Castillo and Salvador Sánchez vs. Wilfredo Gómez. He refereed his final bout on October 14, 2000, between Manny Pacquiao and Nedal Hussein in the Philippines. This fight would haunt him and his family 22 years later.

In his interview uploaded by the WBC last October 6 in YouTube, the animated retired Ref answered the posers of the interviewer’s WBC President José Sulaimán Chagnón - the son of  Jose Sulaimán.

He described Hussein as tall, younger, stronger, and a dirty pug. In the fourth round he knocked down Pacquiao who could not get up immediately as his eyes crossed (naduling in the vernacular).

 The 88 years old Padilla, whose blabber could be at the league of Gen. George “faux pas” Patton, said: “I am Filipino, and everybody watching the fight is Filipino, so I prolonged the count. I know how to do it. When he got up, I told him, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ Still prolonging the fight. ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Okay, fight!” he proudly told the interviewer.

The Ref –  the grand dad of prolific actresses Karylle and Zia Quizon -  ordered a point deducted from Hussein for pushing Pacquiao to the floor since he felt the Pinoy fighter had no chance to brawl until the end of the 12^th Round.

Padilla declared Pacquiao's head butt on Hussein as a legal punch. The mestizo looking Ref initially did not let the doctor take a closer look at the cut because he said it was not serious.

“When the doctor was approaching (Padilla’s moved sideways his left lower lip as signal to stop the fight) hahaha!” he said on the later round.

The doctor sensed what he meant examine the cut to the head of the Aussie and signaled to the public the end of the match on the tenth round.

Hussein, a salesman now, in a statement in the social media called the WBC to take action on the case.

"They should be held accountable for the sport we love," he wrote on Instagram.

With that bombshell that could taint all his feats in boxing, Padilla and the Doctor should be condemned and reprimanded on their chicanery. The Hall of Fame should strip off its conferment with the beleaguered Ref. The offense he committed could not only ruin him and his family but the entire Filipino nation inhabited by miscreants and knaves who were notorious in not only cheating in countless public posts held in an election but in the beauty and baseball tilts  as shown by the Manila Films Festival’s scandal in 1994 where the winners were rigged by celluloid screen personalities like Lolit Solis, Ruffa Gutierrez, and Gabby Concepcion and the cheating by Filipino officials that saw baseball players from Zamboanga won the championship against the athletes from Long Beach, California in the Little League World Series held in Aug. 29, 1992 in the United States. Two of the excerpts from the prestigious Washington Post said:

“It turned out that only six of the 14 team members came from Zamboanga. Philippine Little League officials had substituted eight ineligible players, plus an ineligible manager and coach, from other places across the Philippines to create an all-star national team in violation of Little League tournament rules”.

“There were also allegations -- so far unproved -- that some of the players were over the age limit for Little League. The tournament requires players to be under 13 on Aug. 1”.

  These rigging brouhahas were widely covered by international media at the expense of the reputation of us Flips, er, Filipinos. And now here comes Sonny Padilla shooting himself on the foot with his big mouth, salamabit!

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

The Lethal, Costly Weapons of a Cobra

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

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I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials's idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.

Mayor Denies He Shamed VM in Public

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BINMALEY, Pangasinan – The Mayor here denied he humiliated his predecessor who walked out in a public assembly the former hosted.

Mayor Pedro Merrera said Vice Mayor Simplicio Rosario misunderstood him when he compared the expenses during the stints of the latter when he was the mayor of the coastal town for nine years and his (Merrera) nascent administration.

THE LOGGERHEAD Mayor and Vice Mayor of Binmaley, Pangasinan. Mayor Pete Merrera (left, photo) and Vice Mayor Sam Rosario.

“Hindi pinahiya iyon. I’m just trying to evaluate iyong pag-gastos. Evaluation naman iyon, e. I have the right to report to the people so the public may know. Na misunderstood niya. Bakit siya lang ba masasaktan iyong sinasabi ko naman noon at pagastos ngayon? Kung nakatipid so much the better”.

Affronted by the remarks of the incumbent mayor that some of the projects done during his stint as nine years’ mayor like the P11 million overpriced mobile clinic and gasoline consumption, Rosario stormed out from the Ulat ng Bayan attended by town officials and their constituents.

“Nag walked out ako, sumigaw ako. Sabi ko: “magdemanda ka na lang!” kaysa sasabihin mo pa sa mga tao. Ano ang gusto niyang e proved doon parang may ginawa ako? Hindi ako mag – rereact sasabihin niyang may ginawa?” a livid Rosario said in a radio interview.

Merrera said that his predecessor should be happy about the belt tightening measures he undergoes amid the yearly amortization of the local government unit to the bank on the loan contracted by Rosario when he was the chief executive.

“Dapat sinabi niya tama iyang ginagawa mo Mayor at least makakatipid may pambayad tayo ng utang. Hindi ba iniisip na maraming utang? Iyon ang inaano ko. Wala naman akong pinapatamaan e. Ang sinasabi ko based on the report based on the actual. Ano ang kailangan kung sabihin doon? E actual iyon na pangyayari,” Merrera told Northern Watch Newspaper.

Merrera proposed budget of P306 million for next year is still pending in the legislature controlled by the mostly majority allies of Rosario.

It was a reduced annual budget from the present year’s P360 million due to the preceding three years or 2021 as the basis for the allocation of the national taxes to local government units in the Philippines.  2020 was the year the country reeled financially on the scourged of the pandemic.

Merrera said this town saves a lot financially under his leadership compared to the time of Rosario.

“At least malalaki ang natitipid ko. Kung sila ang gumagastos ng 900 ako gumagastos ng 200. Dapat matuwa sila”.

He shrugged off when asked if this first class town will suffer the fate of nearby Dagupan City when the majority opposition councilors there are up in arms to Mayor Belen T. Fernandez by stonewalling her proposed programs.

When former Mayor Brian Lim - the patron of the Magic 7 - was the chief executive of the second class city, majority of the councilors allied with Fernandez procrastinated in approving the 2022 budget.

The inaction prejudiced the Lim Administration to meet its responsibility to his constituents.

“Kung iyan ang gusto nila. Wala akong ano doon pero I will tell the people ano ba ang ginagawa ninyo (Sangguniang Bayan)? Ano ba ang ano natin?” Merrera told how he would deal in case the law making body headed by Rosario would paralyze his government.

To solve soil and infrastructure problems here, the Mayor, a Civil Engineer, reached out to his contractor-friends to lend him their heavy equipment gratis. The actuation saves the public coffer by P6,000 and P7,000 per hour for the loader and grader, respectively.

Bantag could Suffer the Fate of Mafia’s Boss Al Capone

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Former Bureau of Corrections Director General Gerald Bantag was caught lying through his teeth when exposed by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla that he ordered the excavation through a deep hole and a tunnel at the compound of the BuCors to foray for the fabled Yamashita Treasure.
The beleaguered Bantag told the media in November 11 he ordered the excavation to build a swimming pool because he is a “master scuba diver.”

A horseshit we learned later.

BELEAGUERED suspended former Bureau of Corrections Chief Gerald Bantag (left, photo) and Chicago's Mafia Boss Al Capone. 

Those who vigorously believed - like his fellow Cordillerans - that Bantag was an upright man and did not mastermind the murder of acerbic tongue Percy Lapid and Cristito Palaña would have a second thought about his credibility after his rebuffed from Remulla.

 Can you still remember the legal Latin maxim: Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (False in one thing, false in everything)?

With and without his credibility, Bantag for me, however, can still weather the storm on the double murder cases he faces.

The criminal charges filed by the law enforcers and consolidated by the prosecutors at the DOJ have holes.

 Bantag could be exonerated by the Supreme Court if ever he would be convicted by the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals.

Without his alleged butcher (berdugo) Superintendent Ricardo Zulueta – absconded because he was accused to order the three gang leaders to kill Palana who ordered the murder of Lapid – exposing Bantag as the master mind, the Court of Appeals (CA) or the Supreme Court – after five to seven years of litigation will absolve Bantag in case the judge of the Regional Trial Court ordered his arrest and eventually convicted him.

The C.A or the Supreme Court will acquit Bantag due to the cardinal principle of “Proof beyond reasonable doubt”. It means the evidence presented by the prosecution must produce in the mind of the Court a moral certainty of the accused's guilt against any cloud of doubt.

Without Zulueta who had the personal knowledge that Bantag allegedly ordered him to do those dastardly acts I mentioned above, the case will not stand on the cold neutrality of a competent judge.

***

Mafia’s Boss Al Capone

Even if he would not be convicted eventually, he could still suffer the fate of U.S Mafia’s Boss Al Capone.
Known too as "Scarface", Capone attained notoriety during the Prohibition era (illegal selling of alcoholic beverages) as the co-founder and honcho of the mafia’s Chicago Outfit. His seven-year reign as a crime boss ended when he went to prison at the age of 33.
When Capone replaced syndicate’s godfather Johnny Torrio – after he was almost killed in a rival gang’s ambush -- the former expanded the bootlegging business through violence against his nemesis.
He was responsible for the killing of more or less 100 persons that interfere with his vice and gambling houses in Chicago.

One of the milestones of his infamy, Capone helped the victories of Republican mayoral candidate William Hale Thompson in the 1927 electoral derby. Thompson supported the reopening of illegal saloons that made him a recipient of the mafia's boss $250, 000 election contribution. Thompson beat William Emmett Dever.
The mafia chief backed up to the hilt the mayoralty bet through his bomber James Belcastro. The factotum bombed to death 15 of Thompson's opponents. Belcastro was accused too of murdering lawyer Octavius Granady, an African American who challenged Thompson for the African American votes.
Capone was accused too of the 1926 murder of Assistant State Attorney William H. McSwiggin, the 1928 murders of chief investigator Ben Newmark and former mentor Frankie Yale.
The end of his infamous career started when he was suspected for ordering the massacre of seven rival gang’s members dubbed as the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.
In the wake of the carnage, Walter A. Strong, publisher of the Chicago Daily News, asked his friend President Herbert Hoover for federal intervention to mitigate Chicago's lawlessness that went haywire.
The federal authorities became intent on jailing Capone and charged him with 22 counts of tax evasion. He was convicted of five counts in 1931.
The Scarface – whose life story became a model of mafia flicks like his snazzy coat and tie dressing - was jailed in May 1932 at Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary and in August 1934 at the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary off the coast of San Francisco, California.

***

Now! Where’s Gerald Bantag on this Al Capone’s equation? Not on the number of killings in the slammer because the mafia boss’ 100 people killed would be a child’s play on Bantag's 3,002 dead con men - many mysteriously - from his 2019 to 2021 stints at the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa.

Incase Bantag escapes conviction in the murders of Lapid and Palaña, he can be convicted and be jailed – through direct witnesses like Remulla – that he ordered the illegal digging at the expense of the government.

Here are some of the law provisions that can be used against him:

- Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, treasure hunting in government properties or portions of the public domain shall not be allowed, except upon prior authority of the President of the Philippines, according to the Marcosian Law in the 1980s (Presidential Decree No. 1726-A – Providing Guidelines on Treasure Hunting).

- The Anti-Graft & Corrupt Practices Act provides:
 (a) Persuading, inducing or influencing another public officer to perform an act constituting a violation of rules and regulations duly promulgated by competent authority… (Section 3).

Causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government (paragraph e, Section 3)

h) Directly or indirectly having financial or pecuniary interest in any business, contract or transaction in connection with which he intervenes or takes part in his official capacity, or in which he is prohibited by the Constitution or by any law from having any interest (Section3).

Section 9. Penalties for violations. — (a) Any public officer or private person committing any of the unlawful acts or omissions enumerated in Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Act shall be punished with imprisonment for not less than six years and one month nor more than fifteen years, perpetual disqualification from public office, and confiscation or forfeiture in favor of the Government of any prohibited interest and unexplained wealth manifestly out of proportion to his salary and other lawful income.

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

The Lethal, Costly Weapons of a Cobra

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

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I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials's idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.

Pro-Espino’s BMs Capitulate to Guico

 NO MORE MAJORITY-MINORITY  - BM

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Despite dominating more seats in the provincial legislature by allies of former Governor Amado Espino, III, a member of the minority identified with Governor Ramon Guico, III said that his allies did not experience lawmaking gridlock as the majority capitulated with the new dispensation.

 Board Member Vici Ventanilla told Northern Watch Newspaper that there is no more majority and minority among the members because of the leadership of newly elected Pangasinan Governor Ramon Guico, III who persuaded the supposed majority to support him.

 BOARD MEMBER Vice Ventanilla (left photo and clockwise), Board Members Jerry Agerico Rosario and Arthur Celeste, Jr.

“Actually kasi iyong unang una na nag samasama sa (provincial) board. So kaya lang wala na ang majority –minority. So iisa na lang kami. Naniniwala kami sa administrasyon ni Governor Ramon Guico, III at least masasabi natin na merong direction ang Pangasinan basi doon sa mga nilatag na mga plano,” he explained.

After the May 9, 2022 election, the equation in the lawmaking body was 12 board members – that included the two ex-oficios from the League of Barangays and Samahang Kabataan - identified with former Governor Amado Espino, III and five BMs – including the ex-oficio from the Philippines Councilors’ League-Pangasinan - with Guico.

Newly elected Board Member Jerry Agerico Rosario cited that all the members of the august chamber cooperate in the legislative works.

“Wala namang issue nagkaroon ng friction. Parang okay naman iyong mga sinasabi ni Gob mga treatment. So far smooth sailing lahat”.

Board Member Arthur Celeste, Jr. – the ex-oficio representative of the PCL – Pangasinan - said there is no political color that dichotomize the members of the SP despite the majority hailed under the ticket of former Governor Espino who lost by 187,465 votes to Guico in the May 9, 2022 gubernatorial derby.

“Tapos maganda naman ang nakikita ko parang wala talaga if they are asked question… as in there is no more political color”.

Because of the cooperation showed by the members of the lawmaking body, they expeditiously approved the P5.3 billion budget for year 2023.

BM Ventanilla said it is 14 percent less of the P6 billion budget for this year.

This ensued because of the law in the Local Government Code that the national allocation of taxes for every local government unit would come three years before the appropriation for the present year. The basis was 2020 the year the country reeled financially on the scourged of the pandemic.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, due to the drop in tax revenues collected by the government in 2020 at the onset of the Corona Virus Disease - 19 pandemic local governments’ share in the proposed 2023 national budget will be reduced to P820.3 billion,

“Malaki iyong sa personnel services and aside from that may existing loan ang past (Espino) administration, so maliit na lang kung baga,” Ventanilla disclosed on the status of the next year’s minuscule provincial budget.

To spike the collection of the local taxes, Guico requested the provincial board to approve the new tax revenue code with new schedules of increases on real properties to buttress its administration appropriations.

The members of the provincial legislature visited the Sanggunian Panlalawigan of Pampanga to adapt its best practices like how to raise the local revenues.

“Iyong mga ginagawa nilang legislative measures iyong mga paraan kung paano sila nakapag raise ng P2.2 billion from 2019 to 2022. So considering Pampanga mayaman sa buhangin sa lahar pero mas mayaman tayo”.

Despite its being smaller in size than Pangasinan province, it has the same budget of P6 billion this year with the LGU of Pangasinan.

By regulating the sand and gravel enterprises, the provincial government could set-off the decrease on its share of the national taxes.

The Local Government Code (Republic Act RA No. 7160) provides that LGUs shall have a forty percent (40%) share in the national internal revenue taxes (NIRT) based on the collection of the third fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year.

Court will Absolve Bantag unless Zulueta Rats on Him

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Many were impressed about the speed of the sleuthing, the surrender of the gunman, and the filing of cases against the death of scathing tongued radioman Percieval Mabasa AKA Percy Lapid and the middleman Cristito Villamor Palaña -- who instructed the gunman about his prey.

From the October 3 assassination of Lapid, the October 18 death through suffocation of Villamor – Palana, and the November 7 filing of three consolidated complaint affidavits at the national prosecutor’s office by the law enforcers. That’s a staggering 27 days only! It’s a milestone concerning the 197 murders of members of the fourth estate since 1986 to present whose killers until now remain unknown to the authorities.

Photo credit: GMA-7

Despite there was no witness to directly link suspended Bureau of Corrections Chief Gerard Bantag to the killing of Lapid and Palaña, Justice Secretary Boying Remulla was gung-ho to include him and subordinate’s Superintendent Ricardo Zulueta, the convicted prisoners in the national penitentiary, and Denver Mayores - one in the slammer in Iwahig, Palawan.

Remulla relied on the totality test so the Mt. Province born fellow particularly will be convicted and suffer the life sentence inside the brig.

The test is a method of analysis where decisions are based on all available information rather than the bright-line rule. Bright-line rule – which for me is similar to the principle of “proof beyond reasonable doubt - means a clearly defined rule or standard, composed of objective factors, which leaves little or no room for varying interpretation.

The charges of the government against Bantag were not airtight and I see the government losing the case in either the Regional Trial Court, the Court of Appeals, or the Supreme Court.

***

The NBI, which under Remulla, cited the vitriols of Lapid against Bantag in his radio program as the powder keg that snapped out his life.

"Bantag had a clear motive to effect the murders. For Percy Lapid, it was the continued expose’ by the latter of the issues against the latter on his show Lapid Fire," NBI special action unit investigator Eugene Javier said. 

There were 160 individuals the police have listed as person of interest on their investigation whom Lapid castigated in the four winds at his popular radio program.

Some of them were former President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte whom the radio babbler called with regularity as “Digongyo” as play of word on   the name of the devil’s Demonyo, hahaha! Former President Gloria “Makapakal ang Mukha” Arroyo from her maiden’s surname “Macapagal. He fiercely attacked too President Bongbong Marcos, Senators Bong Go and Robin Padilla.

Photo credit: Twitter

Bantag turned the table lately against new BuCor Chief Gregorio Catapang and Justice Secretary Remulla to have the motive to set him up because of Catapang’s ambition to get the plum post from him and Remulla’s ambition to be a senator in the 2025 election.

He dished out that Remulla was a marijuana user and the mastermind to his son’s apprehension because of the imported high grade dope from the United States.

 According to Bantag, as early as August this year, certain people wanted Catapang, now acting BuCor chief, to replace him. The former Armed Forces of the Philippines’ chief took the post of Bantag at the height of the Lapid probe.

“Gusto nila akong palitan nitong Catapang way back August. Alam na pala niya iyan. Binibigyan ko siya sana ng resignation ko, ayaw naman niya,” Bantag said on his supposed courtesy resignation to Remulla.

 The justice department’s honcho said Bantag should man up and avoid all his histrionics.

“Parang gusto kong magmura eh. Sinungaling ka, SOJ (Secretary of Justice)! Mag-step down ka na, ‘yan ang challenge ko. Wala ka na raw credibility, wala ka nang moral ascendancy sa puwesto mo,” Bantag said on November 11 during an interview with SMNI - owned by U.S fugitive Apollo Quiboloy.

Bantag, a member of the police academy class of 1996, said that Remulla wanted to control over the narco bigwigs inside the calaboose that’s why he wanted to yank him out.

***

Without SJ02 Zulueta – who is now at large but ordered the three gang leaders to kill through suffocation Palana – exposing Bantag as the master mind, the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court – after five to seven years of litigation will absolve Bantag in case the judge of the Regional Trial Court ordered his arrest and eventually convicted him - the most popular decision to do to avoid the wrath of public opinion despite the weakness of the case against him.

The Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court will exonerate Bantag due to the principle of “Proof beyond reasonable doubt”. It means the evidence presented by the prosecution must produce in the mind of the Court a moral certainty of the accused's guilt when there is a scintilla of doubt. (People of the Philippines-Plaintiff-Appellee, Vs. PO1 Dennis Jess Esteban Lumikid, Accused-Appellant)

This will happen because of the absence if not the non-cooperation of Zulueta to rat against Bantag. Without his deputy security chief siding with the “People” there is no personal knowledge for the court to hear that Bantag ordered the murder of the duo.

 Bantag will be likened to the fate of Police Officer 1 Dennis Jess Lumikid.

Jailed for the death of broadcaster Desiderio "Jessie" Camangyan at Manay town, Davao Oriental in June 14, 2010, PO1 Lumikid was detained from November 3, 2010 to June 23, 2020 or almost ten years after his nonbailable detention and where the Supreme Court reversed the decisions of the RTC and the C.A through the lack of proof of beyond reasonable doubt based on the inconsistency of the lone – witness the common law wife of Camangayan who allegedly saw the killer glance at her after peppering with bullets the radioman.

After the high court saw the transcripts of her police interview hours after the killing where she did not know and see the assailant (Revised Rules of Evidence called that as Res Gestae (statement made by a person while a starting occurrence is taking place or immediately prior or subsequent thereto thus giving it a legal significance by the court) and her later sworn statements that she saw Lumikid twice before and after the killing, the SC reversed the decisions of the lower courts and set the cop for free.

I don’t know if the doctrine enounced in 1769 by William Blackstone was in the mind of the Ponencia that penned the sorry plight of Dennis Jess Lumikid.

 Blackstone ascribed that “the law holds that it is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer (the conviction)”.

In case Bantag allows himself to be arrested by the peace officer through the order of RTC that could be a month or two from now –the time frame is due to the preliminary investigation’s complaint affidavit, counter affidavit, reply affidavit, and rejoinder affidavit -- Bantag will be detained at the slammer in the Bureau of Jail, Management, & Penology (BJMP) in Paranaque as mandated by law because it was the situs of the death of Lapid.

He declared however this morning (November 11) at CNN-Philippines television that he would not allow himself to be arrested because he knows Remulla has the sway for his arrest.

Bantag used to be the warden in Paranaque where he awed President Duterte when ten mostly narco big time suspects died in a grenade explosion in his office. The RTC there absolved him as perpetrator to those deaths while President Duterte appointed him as BuCor Chief as secondment in September 2019. Duterte made him full time chief in March 2022. 

Full time means that if he would be exonerated by the court – RTC, C.A, or SC - he would be back in the BuCors. What will happen, salamabit, to those persons deprived of liberty there who incriminated him?

Did I hear somebody shout “Put*ng Ina, nasaan na ang plastic bag”? Hahaha!

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

The Lethal, Costly Weapons of a Cobra

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

Follow

I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials's idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.

 

 

 

 

Ex-Mayor Camacho Denies His Arrest

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan – A former mayor of this central Pangasinan’s town vehemently denied in an official statement that he was arrested by the police because of the warrant issued by the Sandiganbayan. He said it was conjured by his political adversaries to destroy his name and reputation.

“Upon knowledge of the charges filed against me, I surrendered myself before (the) law enforcement and posted bail on November 2, 2022, in accordance with due process of law”.

He said that his posting of the bail bond in the court was the start of his legal battle.

BAIL. Former Bayambang Mayor Ricardo Camacho (extreme right, photo) filled up a document in the Regional Trial Court as part of his mugshot and bail bond so that he could not be detained in a government jail. Camacho and his Chinese accomplice’s Chinese businessman Willy L. Chua (center) have been charged in the Sandiganbayan for violating the Anti-Graft & Corrupt Practices Act due to the unlawful transfer of the Bayambang Central School (BCS) after it was gutted by fire. The local government of the town exhausted all legal remedies to re-acquire the BCS that was conveyed to Chua by then mayor in exchange of his (Chua) property in Bical village. (Photo Credit: Janice Hidalgo)

 “I will face this legal battle with courage, knowing that justice will prevail. I believe in due process and the legitimacy of our courts. In time, I will be acquitted of all charges,” he disclosed on his official statement posted at the social media.

According to the November 7 post in the official Facebook page of this town’s Mayor Mary Clare Phyllis “Niña” Jose-Quiambao, former mayor Camacho and his Chinese’s accomplice’s Willy L. Chua have been nabbed by the police due to the warrant of arrest issued by the Sixth Division of the Sandiganbayan.

 Camacho and Chua underwent police booking last November 2, 2022.  In another photo that proliferate in the social media’s Facebook, the mugshot of Camacho had a heading’s Bugallon Police Station. It was not explained why they were in that police station – an hour rides to this town.

Both were criminally charged with the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act on their participation in the unlawful transfer of the Bayambang Central School (BCS).

Chua owns the chains of 168 stores  that sell cheap Chinese products in various towns and cities in Pangasinan.

He owns other commercial ventures.

Camacho warned those who share his and Chua’s blurred photo in Facebook that they are libelous.

“I remind everyone to exercise caution as they read the clearly libelous post made against me. These allegations are not gospel truth; they are fabricated and misleading information deliberately reported to deceive each and every Bayambagueno”.

The BCS located in the poblacion area was suspiciously gutted by fire in the wee hour of June 2012. It included a 1912 American era building dubbed as Gabaldon which is protected against human destruction under the Heritage Law of the Philippines.

Former Parents Teacher Association President Filipinas Alcantara told Northern Watch Newspaper in January 30, 2016 that when she met former Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro, the latter told her that the Gabaldon was either demolished or burned.

Upon assumption into office in June 30, 2016, then Mayor Cezar Quiambao – the spouse of the present Mayor Mary Clare Phyllis “Niña” Jose-Quiambao – had exhausted all legal remedies to re-acquire the BCS which was disadvantageously conveyed with swiftness to Chua by his predecessor then Mayor Camacho in exchange of his (Chua) property in Bical village.

On May 27, 2016, Chua filed a case against the municipal government demanding for the immediate conveyance of the old site of the school or writ of specific performance before the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Hermogenes Fernandez.
On June 27, a month after the filing of the case, Judge Fernandez handed down the decision in favor of Chua who immediately filed for a writ of execution on July 20.
On August 9, the writ of execution was granted to Chua, citing a Deed of Exchange signed by him and Camacho on August 13, 2013.
On August 30, 2016 , Mayor Quiambao filed a Petition for Relief from Judgment citing that the swapping of land was a “lopsided deal between former Mayor Ricardo Camacho and Mr. Willy Chua and that the land swap did not observe the legal procedures as mandated by law.”
“We want the local government to regain the property. Chua lied to the court and we want the judge to know what happened – that there was fraud in the case filed,” he said.

It will be recalled that sometime in August 2013, under the administration of former Mayor Ricardo Camacho and with the help of the Provincial Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued, the 3.1 hectare old campus – a prime real estate property which was conservatively estimated at the time to be worth P465 million– was ‘swapped’ with a 2.2 hectare property in Bical village worth P16 million with a 60-classroom building valued at around P62 million, or a total of around P76 million only, which is owned by Chua.
The 3.1 hectare campus was abandoned when the court ordered the school officials to transfer to the new campus in October 2013 citing the cases of dengue at the time and the perennial flooding in the area during the rainy season.
In November 2014, Bayambang PTA President Alcantara filed a case to invalidate the land swap at the Office of the Ombudsman but lost because Chua said that there was no deed of exchange between Chua and the LGU represented by then mayor Ricardo Camacho.

Quiambao, however, said that there was a signed contract between Chua and Camacho dated August 13, 2013.
“The signed contract for the land swap did not go through the acceptable public bidding process and approval by the Sangguniang Bayan. We even discovered at least three fraudulent signatures. Moreover, the timing between the purported Sanggunian approval and signing of contract raises a lot of suspicion. In other words, the whole thing was done in bad faith. Former Mayor Camacho lied to the people of Bayambang,” Quiambao said.

Quiambao further said that the town lost to Chua and company because Bayambang’s local government unit lawyer Provincial Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued, “surrendered the ball to the other side.”
“She did not even inform me of the legal developments on the case, so the window of opportunity for the municipality under my administration to make a legal response lapsed. The result was we woke up one day to this totally unpleasant surprise just when we were about to get more hopeful for an eventual takeover,” he said.

Mayor Jose-Quiambao in her October 14, 2022 First 100 Days Report held at the event center here said that former provincial legal officer Baniqued was fined with her three months’ salaries because of her negligence to defend the LGU on the issue of the BCS.

“It is the earnest hope that the court process will go on accordingly and that the truth, which has been long overdue, will soon come out and finally prevail,” excerpt of the message posted at the Facebook by the Balon Bayambang – the official page of Bayambang Mayor Jose-Quiambao – where the photos of the mugshots of Camacho and Chua were integrated.

The Ombudsman had indicted Mayor Camacho and Chua on July 27, 2022 because of their conspiracy to violate the Anti-Graft and Corrupt and Practices Act, excerpt in the vernacular of the First 100 Days Report of Mayor Jose-Quiambao in October 14 held at the event center of the local government unit.

“Asahan ng bawat Bayambangueños na ilalaban ng administrasyon ang paaralang nabibilang sa bawat isa sa atin,” the young mayor added.

Ex-Mayor, Chinese Accomplice Nab by Cops

Camacho However Denies He was Arrested 

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BAYAMBANG, Pangasinan – A former mayor of this central Pangasinan town and his Chinese’s accomplice have been nabbed by the police due to the warrant of arrest issued by the Sixth Division of the Sandiganbayan, according to the Facebook's page Balon Bayambang..

Former Mayor Ricardo M. Camacho and Willy L. Chua were arrested and underwent police booking last November 2, 2022.  In another photo that proliferate in the social media’s Facebook, the mugshot of Camacho had a heading’s Bugallon Police Station. It was not explained why they were in that police station – an hour rides to this town.

MUG SHOTS of former Bayambang, Pangasinan Mayor Ricardo M. Camacho (right collage) and his Chinese accomplice's Willy L. Chua  who were arrested recently by the police because of the illegal transfer of the Bayambang Central School. The BCS was mysteriously gutted by fire in June 2012. (Photo credit: Balon Bayambang)

Both were criminally charged with the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act on their participation in the unlawful transfer of the Bayambang Central School (BCS).

The BCS located in the poblacion area was suspiciously gutted by fire in the wee hour of June 2012. It included a 1912 American era building dubbed as Gabaldon which is protected against human destruction under the Heritage Law of the Philippines.

Former Parents Teacher Association President Filipinas Alcantara told Northern Watch Newspaper in January 30, 2016 that when she met former Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro, the latter told her that the Gabaldon was either demolished or burned.

Upon assumption into office in June 30, 2016, then Mayor Cezar Quiambao – the spouse of the present Mayor Mary Clare Phyllis “Niña” Jose-Quiambao – had exhausted all legal remedies to re-acquire the BCS which was disadvantageously conveyed with swiftness to Chua by his predecessor then Mayor Camacho in exchange of his (Chua) property in Bical village.

On May 27, 2016, Chua filed a case against the municipal government demanding for the immediate conveyance of the old site of the school or writ of specific performance before the sala of Regional Trial Court Judge Hermogenes Fernandez.
On June 27, a month after the filing of the case, Judge Fernandez handed down the decision in favor of Chua who immediately filed for a writ of execution on July 20.
On August 9, the writ of execution was granted to Chua, citing a Deed of Exchange signed by him and Camacho on August 13, 2013.
On August 30, 2016 , Mayor Quiambao filed a Petition for Relief from Judgment citing that the swapping of land was a “lopsided deal between former Mayor Ricardo Camacho and Mr. Willy Chua and that the land swap did not observe the legal procedures as mandated by law.”
“We want the local government to regain the property. Chua lied to the court and we want the judge to know what happened – that there was fraud in the case filed,” he said.

Part of the gutted by fire Bayambang Central School.

It will be recalled that sometime in August 2013, under the administration of former Mayor Ricardo Camacho and with the help of the Provincial Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued, the 3.1 hectare old campus – a prime real estate property which was conservatively estimated at the time to be worth P465 million– was ‘swapped’ with a 2.2 hectare property in Bical village worth P16 million with a 60-classroom building valued at around P62 million, or a total of around P76 million only, which is owned by Chua.
The 3.1 hectare campus was abandoned when the court ordered the school officials to transfer to the new campus in October 2013 citing the cases of dengue at the time and the perennial flooding in the area during the rainy season.
In November 2014, Bayambang PTA President Alcantara filed a case to invalidate the land swap at the Office of the Ombudsman but lost because Chua said that there was no deed of exchange between Chua and the LGU represented by then mayor Ricardo Camacho.

Quiambao, however, said that there was a signed contract between Chua and Camacho dated August 13, 2013.
“The signed contract for the land swap did not go through the acceptable public bidding process and approval by the Sangguniang Bayan. We even discovered at least three fraudulent signatures. Moreover, the timing between the purported Sanggunian approval and signing of contract raises a lot of suspicion. In other words, the whole thing was done in bad faith. Former Mayor Camacho lied to the people of Bayambang,” Quiambao said.
Quiambao further said that the town lost to Chua and company because Bayambang’s local government unit lawyer Provincial Legal Officer Geraldine Baniqued, “surrendered the ball to the other side.”
“She did not even inform me of the legal developments on the case, so the window of opportunity for the municipality under my administration to make a legal response lapsed. The result was we woke up one day to this totally unpleasant surprise just when we were about to get more hopeful for an eventual takeover,” he said.

Mayor Jose-Quiambao in her October 14, 2022 First 100 Days Report held at the event center here said that former provincial legal officer Baniqued was fined with her three months’ salaries because of her negligence to defend the LGU on the issue of the BCS.

“It is the earnest hope that the court process will go on accordingly and that the truth, which has been long overdue, will soon come out and finally prevail,” excerpt of the message posted at the Facebook by the Balon Bayambang – the official page of Bayambang Mayor Jose-Quiambao – where the photos of the mugshots of Camacho and Chua were integrated.

The Ombudsman had indicted Mayor Camacho and Chua on July 27, 2022 because of their conspiracy to violate the Anti-Graft & Corrupt Practices Act, excerpt in the vernacular of the First 100 Days Report of Mayor Jose-Quiambao in October 14 held at the event center of the local government unit.

“Asahan ng bawat Bayambangueños na ilalaban ng administrasyon ang paaralang nabibilang sa bawat isa sa atin,” the young mayor added.

                           Ex-Mayor Camacho Replies to Raps

In his official statement released to the public, Camacho vehemently denied that he was arrested by the police. He said it was conjured by his political adversaries to destroy his name and reputation.

“Upon knowledge of the charges filed against me, I surrendered myself before (the) law enforcement and posted bail on November 2, 2022, in accordance with due process of law”.

He said that his posting of  the bail bond in the court was the start of his legal battle.

 “I will face this legal battle with courage, knowing that justice will prevail. I believe in due process and the legitimacy of our courts. In time, I will be acquitted of all charges”.