Barangay Chairman of Dapitan City Beheaded

Suspected Abu Sayyaf men have beheaded a barangay captain of Dapitan City whom they abducted along with two personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) three months ago.

Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, commander of the Joint Task Group Sulu, said the cadaver could be Rodolfo Buligao, the barangay chairman of Barangay Aliguay Island in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte. “A written note was found on top of the cadaver with that name,” said Arrojado.

The body was discovered on a road intersection in Barangay Lunggang in Maimbung town of Sulu at around 10 p.m. on Tuesday night.

“Accordingly, the beheading was executed by the captors of the victim when the negotiator did not meet the amount of ransom demanded by the captors,” said Arrojado.
Buligao and the two Coast Guard personnel, identified as Rod Allain Pagaling and Gringo Villaruz were seized while they were monitoring the arrival of vessels off Dapitan City on May 4.

In June, a video showing the three pleading for help had gone viral in social media, with the masked gunmen threatening to behead them. Original Post: Abu Sayyaf Men Behead Dapitan City Barangay Chief. Manila Bulletin

Barangay Treasurer in Negros Occidental Gets Life for Fraud

Prosecutors from the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Visayas have secured the conviction of Charlene Cabusas, former treasurer of Barangay Rizal, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, for 30 counts of malversation through falsification of commercial documents that resulted in P780,000 in cash shortage.
 
The joint ruling issued by the San Carlos City Regional Trial Court (RTC), Negros Occidental Branch 57 sentenced Cabusas to suffer imprisonment of reclusion perpetua for each of 15 cases.
 
Meanwhile, for 14 other cases, she was sentenced to suffer imprisonment of 13 years, 1 month, and 11 days of reclusion temporal as minimum to 20 years of reclusion temporal as maximum.
 
For one other case, she was sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of 8 years, 8 months, and one day of prision mayor as minimum to 14 years and 8 months of reclusion temporal as maximum.
 
During trial, the Ombudsman prosecutors established that from March 2008 to March 2009, Cabusas falsified 30 checks by altering their details.
 
The audit investigation conducted by the Commission on Audit (COA) found the 30 checks issued from the barangay’s Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) account were in excess of the stated amounts in their corresponding disbursement vouchers.
 
The COA determined that of the 30 checks, 16 of these were falsified with respect to the name of the payee and the amount, while the remaining 14 checks were falsified as to amount, resulting in a cash shortage of P780,000.

Cabusas admitted the cash shortage to the COA auditors.
A demand to produce the fund shortage was unheeded.




The San Carlos City RTC ruled that Cabusas was the payee, endorser, and recipient of the cash proceeds of all the 30 checks.


It said "the glaring discrepancy in the amount authorized vis-à-vis the amount reflected on the checks as encashed, coupled by the frequency by which the subject checks were drawn, readily reveal a deceitful hand at work. No other inference can be made except that the felonious acts of the accused were carefully calculated to illegally amass hundreds of thousands of pesos to the detriment of Barangay Rizal."
 
Aside from imprisonment, the RTC also ordered Cabusas to pay a fine of P780,000 equivalent to the amount malversed and another P780,000 for civil liability to Barangay Rizal with the accessory penalty of perpetual special disqualification for public office. Original Post: Woman barangay treasurer gets life imprisonment for P780,000 check fraud. InterAksyion.

17 Barangays in Negros Oriental Get Solar Energy

Bayawan Mayor Ismael Martinez and recipients of solar home system units.            Photo Credits:  Roy Bustillo

The Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the Bayawan City government and Silliman University, distributed solar home system (SHS) units in the city during the ceremonial switch-on on Wednesday (August 5).

Bayawan Mayor Ismael Martinez thanked the DOE for choosing his city as a site for its House Electrification Program (HEP), which would greatly help 17 barangays that don't have power.

Martinez said children in these barangays could now study better and people would become more productive. Electric lighting, he added, could also help deter crimes.

According to DOE-Visayas Director Antonio Labios, this is the second time the DOE had this project in the Visayas, with this one having the largest number of beneficiaries of HEP at 2,989.

Labios said that most of the sitios are only accessible by foot or by habal-habal when the weather permits. The areas are also 5 kilometers away from the last pole of the local electric cooperative.

The solar home system units are composed of solar panels with a 10-kilowatt peak capacity and 30-kilowatt peak capacity batteries.  Original post by CNN:  DOE Gives Solar Energy Units to Negros Oriental Barangays.

Bacolod Lawmaker Files Barangay Legal Office Bill

A lawmaker has filed a bill creating the Office of Barangay Legal Officer to help resolve the legal issues in the barangay level.

Rep. Evelio R. Leonardia

Rep. Evelio R. Leonardia (Lone District, Bacolod City) said problems confronting the local government units most especially the Punong Barangays are intermingled with legal issues.

 “The complication and intricacies of legal issues that Punong Barangays have to address necessitate the presence of a legal mind,” Leonardia said.
House Bill 5917 seeks to amend Section 396 of Republic Act 7160, otherwise known as The Local Government Code of 1991, by adding a subsection, a provision creating an Office of the Barangay Legal Officer.

Under the bill, no person shall be appointed barangay legal officer unless he is a citizen of the Philippines and a resident of the local government concerned, with good moral character and a member of the Philippine Bar.

Likewise, the applicant must have practiced his profession for at least one year to qualify for the position of barangay legal officer.

The measure further provides that the term of the barangay legal officer shall be coterminous with that of his appointing authority.

The barangay legal officer is also mandated under the bill to take charge of the office of legal services and do the function of the legal officer.

The bill mandates a barangay legal officer to formulate measures for the consideration of the Sanggunian and provide legal assistance and support to the governor or mayor.

Likewise, a legal officer shall develop plans and strategies particularly those, which have to do with programs and projects related to legal services upon the approval of the governor or mayor.

The measure states that the appointment of legal officer shall be optional to the barangay. Original Post: Bill to Create the Office of the Barangay Legal Officer.

Endangered Turtle 'Maltreated' in Samar Barangay - DENR

A man sits on a leatherback sea turtle tied to a bamboo pole in Barangay Marabut in Samar in an undated photo, one of several that elicited outrage among netizens. The turtle has been released back to the sea.

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines  – Photos of a still unidentified man sitting on a leatherback sea turtle, locally known as pawikan, recently went viral on social media.

The pawikan, which measures six feet long and three feet wide, was tied to a bamboo post and has since been released back to the sea – but not without first inciting outrage from netizens.

Six photos were uploaded by Jose Lastimado on his Facebook account last Aug. 6 at past 9 a.m. Lastimado was reportedly the former village chief of Pinamitinan and Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president of Marabut town in Samar.

The photos were captioned “Big catch pawikan in Brgy Sta Rita Marabut Samar (sic).”

In his spot report, lawyer Danilo Suarez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) community environment and natural resources office in Samar said the pawikan was caught in the fish net of a certain Jessy Amora, about one kilometer away from the shoreline of the village, on Aug. 5 around 1:30 a.m.

Corazon Horca Makabenta, officer-in-charge of the DENR’s conservation and development division here, said the pawikan was released “after the DENR took photodocs and measurements at 11 a.m. in the morning that same day.”

Makabenta, through her Facebook account, also thanked the public for their “expression of concern and support.”

She said the person who “maltreated” the pawikan would be charged with violation of Republic Act 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

Some reports said the man atop the pawikan was Lastimado although this information has yet to be verified.
As of press time, Lastimado has deactivated his Facebook account.

The leatherback sea turtle (Dermocheleys coriacea) is considered an endangered species here and elsewhere in the world.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) describes it as the “largest of all living sea turtles and the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians.”

Adult leatherback sea turtles can reportedly grow to as long as nine feet and weigh an average of 300 to 500 kilos.

Data show that the largest leatherback sea turtle ever recorded had a length of about 10 feet and weighed 916 kilos. Original Post:  Sea Turtle Caught in Samar Philstar Headline Aug. 10, 2015.