By Leonardo Micua

 

JUST three weeks after the Philippine National Police (PNP) was branded in a congressional hearing as the “biggest crime group in the Philippines”, it was again put in the spotlight following the shocking revelation in the Senate that it was an ex-PNP chief who helped dismissed mayor Alice Guo and her supposed siblings, Shiela and Wesley, escape from the country about mid part of July. The former police boss was reportedly paid a handsome P200 million.

Everybody was caught virtually in suspended animation when retired General Raul Villanueva, Pagcor Senior Vice President for Intelligence and Monitoring Cluster, made the revelation to the Senate committee headed by Senator Risa Hontiveros, although he stopped short of naming names.

Villanueva, now under threat of being charged in court, has been challenged by several retired police chiefs to name the Guos’’ coddlers as his statement left every retired PNP chief a suspect.

The PNP and other law enforcement agencies must do everything to unmask the suspect given that current PNP chief Rommel Francisco Marbel’s marching order to his men is that there will be no sacred cows in the investigation of this case.

Another accusation so damaging to the reputation of the PNP is that this supposed ex-PNP chief is reportedly receiving millions of pesos in monthly payola from POGOs, which shows that the suspect is really a big-time protector of POGO and could be in close association with the one actually running this big scam who continues to remain incognito.

It may not all be for the big money that this ex-PNP chief helped the Guos in their escape. It may possibly be because he wanted to prevent them from spilling the beans on who’s really calling the shots on POGOs in the country.

What we cannot understand is the lack of caution on the part of a retired general in disclosing before the public of what purely is a mere intelligence report that is yet the subject of a lot of validations and verification.

As expected, the mainstream media and the social media had a field day magnifying this report. OMG!

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The consistent refusal of the majority members of the Dagupan City council to pass measures certified as urgent by the city executive, to me, could be taken as enough ground for City Legal Officer Aurora Valle to go to court and file a case or cases for and in behalf of the city against the seven councilors who have been opposed since day one of their term to the administration of Mayor Belen Fernandez. 

It has been the norm in that chamber controlled by the majority seven to put its foot down on every ordinance and resolutions certified as urgent by Mayor Belen Fernandez, among them involving the establishment of the Mother and Child Hospital and Supplemental Budget No. 2.

Incidentally, as I was writing this column, I received a copy of a three-page DILG Opinion, which quoted paragraph (e) of Article 107 of the Local Government Code that states: “Any legislative matter duty certified by the local chief executive as urgent, whether or not it is included in the calendar of business, may be presented and considered by the body at the same meeting without the need of suspending the rules.” 

This provision in the Local Government Code was cited by the DILG in answering the query of Mayor Cecelia J. Carreon of Pinan of Zamboanga del Norte on whether the Sangguniang Bayan could be charged with dereliction of duty for its failure to take into consideration without valid justification legislative matters duly certified as urgent by the local chief executive (LCE). 

In responding to the letter of Mayor Carreon dated 30 August 2019, which remains applicable, the Department cited an earlier DILG Opinion No. 27, s. 2009.

As to the query of Mayor Carreon if the Sanggunian could be charged for dereliction of duty, the DILG said: “If the inaction of the Sanggunian on matters certified as urgent by the LCE is intentional and without valid justifiable grounds, thereby no consideration on the priorities of the administration, the members thereof are considered to have slumbered on their primordial duty, thus can be held administratively liable.” 

Incidentally, fellow Puncher Atty. Gonzalo T. Duque agrees that the law and the people of Dagupan will be behind Atty. Valle if she files a case of dereliction of duty now against the majority seven for their continuous travesty of the law. 

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