MANILA -The Philippine National Police (PNP) has recorded 53 cases of election-related incidents across the country since the start of the election period on January 9. PNP Directorate for Operations director, Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, on Wednesday said that of the number, 10 have been validated as election-related incidents (ERIs). De Leon added that based on the Election Related Incidents Monitoring of the PNP from January 9 to May 2, 2022, there were 84 victims of the said ERIs. Among them include candidates themselves, government officials, and election officers. A total of 145 suspects including threat groups, civilians, uniformed personnel, and incumbent candidates were identified. On the other hand, 29 were confirmed as non-election-related incidents, while 14 are still subject to validation. Among the areas where the confirmed election-related violence occurred are from the Ilocos Region with four incidents, three from Zamboanga, while Central Luzon, Northern Mindanao, and C
(Photo courtesy of Pasay City Police) MANILA - Police investigators are now conducting a backtracking investigation on the shooting of a lawyer of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) who was hurt in a shooting incident along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City on April 4. In a statement on Wednesday evening, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos, said the investigation aims to identify the route where lawyer Joseph Samuel Zapata, 30, deputy chief of the BOC's Internal Inquiry Division, passed by for possible identification of the suspects and their getaway motorcycle. Interviewed relatives of the lawyer said they have no idea who could be behind the crime because they do not know anyone who has ill feelings towards the victim. Two still unidentified suspects opened fire on the victim's vehicle and fled the scene afterward. "It may be difficult to establish the motive if there is no concrete evidence directing to a possible suspect. The victim's te
(PNA photo by Lloyd Caliwan) MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte has not given any order to help any candidate, particularly those running for president in the May 9 elections, the country's interior chief said on Thursday. "For your alluding that somebody higher up will tell the uniformed troops to give favor to this or to that or provide assistance to this, if you are referring to the President or somebody in Malacanang, I will say to you frankly, there is no such order. The President has said over and over that he is not going to endorse any presidential candidate," Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Ano said in a joint presser with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the forthcoming polls in Camp Crame. Ano also said Duterte's main order is to ensure that the people are able to safely cast their votes in the polls. "We had a joint AFP-PNP command conference presided by the Pre
President Rodrigo Duterte MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he might be forced to order the suspension of e-sabong (online cockfighting) operations if the situation gets out of hand. Duterte made the statement in a speech delivered in Lapu-Lapu City, as he took note of more Filipinos getting addicted to online cockfighting. He said he would not hesitate to halt the operations of e-sabong, if the issues concerning the betting game become "very serious." "Just study if it is true or not. It's getting to be a very serious problem for the Filipino," Duterte said. "Pag-aralan muna natin then kung totoo 'yan, hintuin ko 'tan kung ang problema ibigay lang (if it would only give us trouble)." This, as he lamented that online cockfighting lure many Filipino families, as well as police officers and minors. Duterte, however, said the possible suspension of e-sabong operations could not be done in haste because the government is earning m
(Photo courtesy of PNP) MANILA - A police officer assigned at the Police Regional Office (PRO)-4A (Calabarzon) is now facing administrative and criminal cases for acts due to his addiction to e-sabong (online cockfighting). Based on the reports reaching Camp Crame on Thursday, the police officer was identified as Lt. John Kevin Menes, 24, assigned at PNP Drug Enforcement Group - Special Operations Unit - 4 (DEG- SOU4), PRO-4A, who is facing raps for estafa and illegal gambling. Menes, a graduate of the PNP Academy, was first restricted at the headquarters of the PRO-4A in Laguna over the disappearance of some PHP500,000 in cash allocated to the DEG in Calabaron, which is being used as show money in buy-bust operations and other expenses of the local police anti-drug units. However, Menes escaped on March 27 and left the camp using a car that he borrowed from his subordinate, Pat. Melvin Bojocan Barbo. Menes refused to return the car, triggering a search and recovery operation. Two days