Category: Crime

Atimonan Quezon checkpoint massacre: police shootout or underworld rubout?

January 10, 2013 benign0 21 Comments

Another plot for a future Filipino action film is unfolding. Thirteen people died in a shootout that occurred in Atimonan, Quezon Province. The thirteen people were allegedly in two vehicles that stopped at a checkpoint manned by a team composed of a mixture of police officers and army personnel led by police Supt. Hansel Marantan….

Crime, Politics

Gwendolyn Garcia could end up living like a cavewoman in the Cebu Capitol building

January 4, 2013January 4, 2013 benign0 54 Comments

The clock is ticking for suspended Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia who is currently besieged in the provincial capitol after she defied a suspension order issued by MalacaÃ±ang mid-December last year. As police mulled over their options short of physically dragging Garcia out of the public building, Acting Governor Agnes Almendras Magpale is considering cutting off…

Crime, Government, Media

PCGG throws in the towel

January 4, 2013January 1, 2014 Virtual Vigilante 60 Comments

My compliments to Andy Bautista for his honest assessment of the PCGG today, in spite of his efforts to revamp the same and revitalize the hunt for the vast remainder of Marcosâ€™ ill-gotten wealth. Like most government agencies in the Philippines, the PCGG has been corrupted to the core and has indeed become the Marcosâ€™…

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Crime, Government

Take it! Take it! President Noynoy Aquino has a clean shot in Cebu

January 2, 2013 benign0 47 Comments

On one hand, I’d say the clock is ticking for MalacaÃ±ang. Presumably with every hour — and day — it dithers in its decision on what to do about rogue Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia who remains ‘holed up for a cause’ at the Cebu Capitol after being slapped with a suspension order on the 19th…

Crime, Government, Politics

George Anikow murder: Violence is a broad and profound cultural condition in Philippine society

November 26, 2012 benign0 216 Comments

Again we encounter another instance of the violent nature of Filipinos — a people expats have for so long warned one shouldn’t cross as they (1) don’t fight fair and (2) hold deadly unshakable grudges. Last night saw the murder of George Anikow, a former US Marine officer and spouse of a US Embassy staff…

Crime, Culture, Society

Is the Maguindanao Massacre being commemorated in memory only of the 32 dead journalists?

November 24, 2012July 18, 2015 benign0 29 Comments

Check out this screen grab from the Inquirer.net website captured at 1000H Australian EDST, 24 Nov 2012: Caption on photo reads as follows: Protesters gather in Mendiola to commemorate the third anniversary of the Maguindanao massacre. Behind them are the 32 coffins representing the journalists who were among the 58 killed in Sharif Aguak on…

Crime, Media, Politics

Filipino viral videos: mere modern symptoms of a very old cultural dysfunction

November 19, 2012 benign0 32 Comments

As my colleague Ilda pointed out, Filipinos seem to be averse to speaking out. This may seem to be a counterintuitive assertion to make, given how Filipinos pride themselves with a tradition of flamboyant political activism, tacky spectacle in the way they practice freedom of speech in their mass media, and voluminous undifferentiated chatter in…

Civics, Crime, Culture, Lifestyle, Media

Grace Padaca’s indebtedness to Noynoy Aquino could compromise Comelec’s independence

November 2, 2012October 23, 2013 Ilda 87 Comments

The new Commissions on Elections Commissioner, Grace Padaca has reportedly asked “the Sandiganbayan to junk the graft and malversation cases filed against her, saying her position in government has vested her with immunity from such suit.” Well, well, well. Who is Padaca trying to fool? It seems she is playing a trick on peoples’ memories….

Crime, Government, Politics