Lacson-Sotto Region 10 and Province of MIsamis Oriental Supporters installation of tarpaulin

 Lacson-Sotto Region 10 and Province of MIsamis Oriental Supporters installation of tarpaulin

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Lacson files graft, economic sabotage complaint vs Faeldon

 Lacson files graft, economic sabotage complaint vs Faeldon

Senator Panfilo Lacson says former customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon should face life imprisonment for alleged 'large-scale' smuggling of rice

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Panfilo Lacson filed a complaint for graft and economic sabotage against former Bureau of Customs (BOC) commissioner Nicanor Faeldon over alleged involvement in rice smuggling.

Lacson lodged the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday, September 28.

Aside from Faeldon, the senator also implicated 9 others for "conspiring to smuggle" 40,000 bags of rice, in two waves, to Cebu Lite Trading, Incorporated (CLTI) without payment of customs taxes and duties and without the required import permit, as they supposedly used "fake" permits.

These include:

Lacson also filed an administrative complaint against Aquino, Alcid, and Lagmay for grave misconduct for their "flagrant disregard of the established rules of procedure of the BOC in allowing the smuggling of rice shipments."

Pending the investigation, Lacson also asked the Ombudsman to order the preventive suspension of the 3 officials. (READ: Lacson on smuggling charge: When I make an exposé, I make sure I'm clean)

2 shipments of rice smuggled?

According to the senator, two shipments of rice entered the country through the Port of Cagayan de Oro without necessary permits. The first shipment was on March 9 this year, containing 21,800 bags of Vietnamese long grain white rice, valued at $370,600.

The following day, Lacson said another shipment came in, with 18,200 bags of the same rice, valued at $309,400.

On April 26, the shipments were declared "abandoned and forfeited" in favor of the government and were ordered to be disposed of.

But Lacson said Aquino disregarded this and issued a certification and confirmation for the shipments on May 17. Aquino supposedly ordered that these "import permits would retroact to cover the actual date of arrival."

"Administrator Aquino gave undue favor to CLTI... It must be emphasized that there is no law or NFA rule and regulation granting the Administrator the authority to issue permits with retroactive effect, much more issue permits without the requisite payment of taxes and duties being made. This shows that the issuance of Import Permits by Administrator Aquino in favor of CLTI was highly irregular, illegal, and ultra vires (beyond his powers)," Lacson said.

Faeldon heeded Aquino's advice and ordered the release of the two rice shipments to CLTI.

"In other words, in this case, the government was deprived of the use and benefit of the abandoned shipments valued at $680,000.00, or P34,043,520.00, computed based on the prevailing exchange rate of P50.064 to $1," Lacson said in his complaint.

Life imprisonment

Lacson said life imprisonment should be imposed on Faeldon and the others for the "large-scale" smuggling they committed. (READ: 'Special stop orders' under Faeldon used for 'doble tara' – Lacson)

"Since the crime of large-scale agricultural smuggling was facilitated through the participation of government officials and employees, namely, Administrator Aquino, Atty Lagmay, Collector Alcid and Commissioner Faeldon, it follows that the penalty imposable upon them shall be the maximum, which is life imprisonment as mentioned in [the law]," the senator said.

Lacson claimed there was a "conspiracy" between the BOC officials and the company. (READ: FULL TEXT: 'Kita kita sa Customs')

"It is clear that there was a conspiracy between and among the respondents to facilitate the unlawful release of the said rice shipments. When several customs personnel noticed the irregularities, desperate and highly irregular acts were committed by Administrator Aquino, Atty Lagmay, Collector Alcid and Commissioner Faeldon to make it appear that the applicable rules and regulations were followed to justify and facilitate the unlawful release of CLTI's rice shipments," the senator said.

Faeldon has yet to comment on the complaint against him. He earlier denied Lacson's allegations of corruption and filed an ethics complaint against the senator.

Since Faeldon deliberately skipped Senate hearings, however, the ethics panel decided to put his complaint on hold.

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Ping Lacson visits Cebu, meets with Gov. Gwen Garcia

 Ping Lacson visits Cebu, meets with Gov. Gwen Garcia

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson (right) poses for a photo with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez at the Cebu capitol on Friday, Sept.17.

CEBU CITY—Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Friday visited Cebu province, barely a week after declaring his intent to run for president in 2022.

Lacson, accompanied by former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, met with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia at the Capitol to “exchange pleasantries.”

Lacson’s running mate, Senate President Tito Sotto, was not around during the meeting around 12:30 p.m. Friday.

After the meeting with Garcia, Lacson declined an interview with the local media, saying he was in “a hurry to attend the Blue Ribbon Committee meeting.”

Garcia, in an interview, said they did not talk about politics with Lacson, who served as chief of the Cebu police several years ago.

The governor said Lacson did not specifically ask for support for the 2022 polls since it was not “his nature” to immediately ask for support.

Garcia said her local party, One Cebu, had already announced that they are not yet aligning with national candidates as of this time.

She said they were still focusing on the strengthening of their local lineups for the One Cebu party.

“Right now, the situation seems very fluid in the national scene, and we will only decide well after Nov. 15. Even though the deadline for the filing for the Certificates of Candidacies is on the 8th of October, you have until the 15th of November for substitution,” Garcia explained.

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Lacson Throws Full Support Behind Continued Probe into Overpriced Medical Supplies

 Lacson Throws Full Support Behind Continued Probe into Overpriced Medical Supplies

September 18, 2021

Lacson Throws Full Support Behind Continued Probe into Overpriced Medical Supplies

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson on Saturday reaffirmed his full support behind the Senate continuing its investigation into irregularities in the government's procurement of medical supplies to address the COVID-19 pandemic - even as he expects one hearing is not enough to complete the probe.

Lacson said the investigation is not targeting President Rodrigo Duterte or any other personality, but aims to get to the bottom of the corruption hounding the P42-billion transfer of funds from the Department of Health to the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service.

"Ang concern namin ay ang issues na lumalabas. Kaya sabi ko basta tungkol sa inquiry, sinusuportahan namin nang lubos ang chairman ng Blue Ribbon Committee (Our concern revolves around the issue of corruption. That is why I said that as far as the inquiry looking into irregularities, we support the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee)," he said in an interview on DWIZ radio.

"May lumalabas, in spite of resource persons’ refusal to cooperate, unti-unti naliliwanagan natin ang story behind paglipat ng P42 bilyon ng DOH sa PS-DBM (In spite of the resource persons' refusal to cooperate, the facts are slowly emerging on the transfer of P42 billion from the DOH to the PS-DBM)," he added.

He said some of the most recent findings, including the purchase by Pharmally executives of expensive vehicles after bagging contracts with the government, may be considered circumstantial evidence.

"Agad-agad parang napakaraming pera. That would buttress suspicions ang laki ng kinita nila (It seemed they got so much instant money to spend. That would buttress suspicions that they made a windfall)," he said.

"Yan pag pinagtagpi-tagpi mo may overprice. Kung wala, wala silang pambili ng sasakyan agad-agad (If you piece together the circumstances, there are signs of overprice. Otherwise, they would not have money to buy such expensive vehicles)," he added.

On the other hand, Lacson said one more hearing may not be enough to finish the investigation. The Blue Ribbon panel has scheduled another hearing for Tuesday, Sept. 21.

"I don't think one more hearing will be sufficient para makita ang ibang issues na kalakip nito... Maraming lumalabas na information. Hindi pa nakatanong karamihan na senador. Marami pang gusto tanungin (I don't think one more hearing will be enough to thresh out the issues. There is so much information coming out. And not all senators have had their turn to ask questions)," he said.

Lacson also debunked insinuations that politics is behind the investigation, saying the Senate has already been investigating irregularities in various issues in aid of legislation.

He belied as well claims that the Commission on Audit already clarified there is no corruption in the procurement, saying the COA's mandate is to audit and not investigate possible corruption.

Meanwhile, Lacson reiterated that the Executive Department should be one with the Senate in going after corruption, saying the Senate probe is not after any particular person but is after corruption - which the President himself said he wants to eradicate.

"Hindi ito namumuntirya ng kung sinong tao. Ang pinupuntirya rito misuse ng public funds. After all isa lang sinisigaw natin, lahat tayo ngayon anti-corruption na (The investigation is targeting not personalities but the issue of corruption. After all, we are all after the same thing - to be anti-corruption)," he said.

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SEN PING LACSON LIVE ON DWIZ DATED SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

 SEN PING LACSON LIVE ON DWIZ DATED SEPTEMBER 18, 2021

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LANAO DEL NORTE & REGION-10 SUPPORTS LACSON-SOTTO FOR 2022

 LANAO DEL NORTE & REGION-10 SUPPORTS LACSON-SOTTO FOR 2022

Lanao and Region 10 care of Mayor Rommel Arnado LP of Kauswagan Lanao del Norte

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Lacson, Sotto visit Iloilo; seek local leaders’ support

 Lacson, Sotto visit Iloilo; seek local leaders’ support

Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III along with Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez meets with Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas at the Iloilo City Hall (Photo courtesy of Office of the City Mayor)

ILOILO CITY—Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III on Thursday began wooing Ilonggo leaders and voters two weeks before the filing of candidacy for the May 2022 elections.

Lacson and Sotto who have announced their plan to run for president and vice president, respectively, visited the offices of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. before holding press conferences.

They were accompanied by former House Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez who is supporting their candidacies.

“I have to be frank and honest. We really came here to get the support of Mayor Jerry Treñas for the candidacy of Senator Ping and Senator Sotto…,” Alvarez, who was ousted as Speaker after having a falling out with the President, said.

Alvarez is president of the Partido Reporma, which is fielding Lacson and Sotto for the top two posts in next year’s national and local elections.

“We made a mistake in 2016. We must choose real leaders who can address our country’s problems,” Alvarez, who was one of Duterte’s staunchest allies, said.

Lacson and Sotto also took turns criticizing policies of the Duterte administration including the campaign on illegal drugs and response to the COVID-pandemic.

Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police, cited as a “major flaw” the practice of announcing drug personalities in the drug list or “order of battle” of law enforcement agencies.

“You don’t announce it prematurely,” adding that these should only be used for intelligence-gathering purposes.

Lacson said there is an apparent “disconnect” between the policies of the national government on the pandemic and the needs of local government units.

Sotto stood pat on the Senate’s investigation on alleged irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment by the national government.

The President came in third in Iloilo province in the 2016 presidential elections next to former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Sen. Grace Poe.

After he assumed office, he repeatedly launched tirades against Iloilo City as “most shabulized” and “bedrock” of illegal drugs.

But the news organization Vera Files had cited data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency that Iloilo City ranked 51st in the 2016 list of drug-affected barangays among cities and provinces. Iloilo province was ranked 79th.

Davao City, where the President served as mayor for 22 years, was ranked 20th in the country.

With Gov Toto Defensor in Iloilo

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SEN PING LACSON LIVE ON DZMM TELERADYO

SEN PING LACSON LIVE ON DZMM TELERADYO

 

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SEN PING LACSON ON DZMM "LIVE INTERVIEW"

 SEN PING LACSON ON DZMM "LIVE INTERVIEW"

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SEN PING LACSON LIVE ON RADYO 5

SEN PING LACSON LIVE ON RADYO 5

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LACSON-SOTTO SUPPORTED BY THE FEDERATION OF 17 VILLAGES IN LAS PIÑAS CITY

Mark Valbuena President of the Federation of 17 Villages in Las Piñas City support the LACSON-SOTTO Tandem for 2022!

The man in white Mark Valbuena is the Federation President of 17 villages in Las Piñas City.

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