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Fertilizer Fund Scam
The Fertilizer Fund scam is a Philippine political controversy involving accusations that Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante diverted ₱728 million in fertilizer funds to the 2004 election campaign of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Background When Operation Big Bird concluded in late 1986, the Philippine government was able to identify and recover US$356 million from the Swiss Bank deposits of Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda Marcos. While the money sat in a Philippine government account in Switzerland, successive administration debated what to do with the funds. By 1998 the funds had grown to $570 million with interest, and were transferred to an escrow account in Philippine National Bank. In July 2003, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled with finality that the funds were ill-gotten and thus are considered public funds. Pres. Arroyo announced that the money in accordance with the law on recovered ill-gotten wealth from the Marcos family will be used for the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department Of Agriculture (Philippines)
The Department of Agriculture (DA; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the promotion of agricultural and fisheries development and growth. It has its headquarters at Elliptical Road corner Visayas Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. The department is currently led by the secretary of agriculture, nominated by the president of the Philippines and confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet. The current secretary is Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., who assumed office on November 3, 2023. History The Department of Agriculture had its spiritual beginnings when President Emilio Aguinaldo of the Revolutionary Government of the Philippines established the Department of Agriculture and Manufacturing on June 23, 1898. Jose Alejandrino was appointed the first secretary. American colonial government In 1901, under the American colonial government, priority was given to the development of other agricultural pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pork Barrel Scam
The Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam or the pork barrel scam, was a political scandal involving the alleged misuse by several members of the Congress of the Philippines of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF, popularly called "pork barrel"), a lump-sum discretionary fund granted to each member of Congress for spending on priority development projects of the Philippine government, mostly on the national level. The scam was first exposed in the ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' by Nancy C. Carvajal on July 12, 2013, with the six-part exposé of Carvajal pointing to businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles as the scam's mastermind after Benhur K. Luy, her second cousin and former personal assistant, was rescued by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on March 22, 2013, four months after he was detained by Napoles at her unit at the Pacific Plaza Towers in Bonifacio Global City. Initially centering on Napoles' involvement in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marlene Garcia-Esperat
Marlene Garcia Esperat (August 29, 1959 – March 24, 2005, in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines) was a Filipina whistleblower and investigative journalist who wrote a weekly anti-graft column for local newspapers. As a result of her anti-corruption work, she was murdered in her own home. Biography Garcia-Esperat's career in journalism began accidentally: in the early 1990s, she was an analytical chemist for the Department of Agriculture, when she discovered that her laboratory was not receiving the funding it had been allocated. Inspired by the example of her first husband, Severino Arcones, a journalist who was murdered in 1989, Garcia-Esperat began her public activities. She also spent two years in the witness protection program due to her ombudsman discoveries. Her case is significant, as it is the first of the 56 murders of Filipino journalists since 1986 for which the people ultimately responsible were identified, in addition to the people directly involved. Es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Impeachment Of Merceditas Gutierrez
The Philippine Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of the office's alleged underperformance and failure to act on several cases during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. She became the second official after President Joseph Estrada in 2000 to be impeached. While the first impeachment complaint against her was filed in 2009, it was dismissed later in that year in a 14th Congress dominated by Arroyo's Lakas Kampi CMD party. In 2010, with the election of Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party as president and the concurrent elections to the House of Representatives and the subsequent political realignment, two impeachment cases against her were voted as sufficient in form, substance and grounds, and the House of Representatives Committee on Justice had found probable cause on alleged betrayal of public trust as based on the two complaints. On March 22, 2011, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Gutierrez, sen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corruption In The Philippines
Corruption in the Philippines is a widespread problem its citizens endure, which developed during the Spanish colonial period. According to GAN Integrity's ''Philippines Corruption Report'' updated May 2020, the Philippines suffers from many incidents of corruption and crime in many aspects of civic life and in various sectors. Such corruption risks are rampant throughout the state's judicial system, police service, public services, land administration, and natural resources. The 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index scored the Philippines at 33 out of 100 points. When ranked by score, the Philippines ranked 114th among the 180 countries in the 2024 Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. The Philippines's score was significantly worse than the regional average of 44 and the worldwide average score of 43. Examples of corruption in the Philippines include graft, bribery, cronyism, nepotism, impunity, embezzlement, extortion, r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Constantino Jaraula
Constantino "Tinnex" Galagnara Jaraula (born June 20, 1937) is a Filipino politician who served as Mayor of Cagayan de Oro from 2007 to 2010. He served as representative of Cagayan de Oro's at-large congressional district during the 11th, 12th, and 13th congresses. During the 11th Congress, Jaraula's first act was filing a resolution seeking to amend the 1987 Constitution through a constitutional convention. In 2003, during the 12th Congress, he was among the many congressmen that endorsed the unconstitutional impeachment complaint against then- Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. In the 13th Congress, he served as the chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments. The committee during his term approved a charter change bill and was passed by the House of Representatives however it was not taken up by the Senate. Controversy In 2021, Jaraula was convicted by the Sandiganbayan alongside Janet Lim-Napoles for graft and corruption in connection with the Priority Dev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caraga
Caraga, officially the Caraga Administrative Region (or simply known as Caraga region) and designated as Region XIII, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines occupying the northeastern section of Mindanao. The region was created through ''Republic Act No. 7901'' on February 23, 1995. The region comprises five provinces: Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, and Surigao del Sur; six cities: Bayugan, Bislig, Butuan (a highly-urbanized city), Cabadbaran, Surigao City, Surigao and Tandag; 67 municipalities and 1,311 barangays. Butuan, the most urbanized city in Caraga, serves as the regional administrative center. Etymology Caraga is named after the Kalagan people (Spanish language, Spanish "Caragan"), a Mansakan languages, Mansakan group native to the regions of Davao Region, Davao and parts of Caraga who speak the Kalagan languages. The name itself is from ''kalagan'' (literally "[strong] spirited") which means ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surigao Del Norte
Surigao del Norte ( Surigaonon: ''Probinsya nan Surigao del Norte''; ; Tagalog: ''Hilagang Surigao''), officially the Province of Surigao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region of Mindanao. The province was formerly under the jurisdiction of Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) until 1995. Its capital is Surigao City, the most populous in the province. The province comprises two major islands— Siargao and Bucas Grande—in the Philippine Sea, plus a small area at the northeastern tip of mainland Mindanao and other surrounding minor islands and islets. This mainland portion borders Agusan del Norte – between the Municipality of Alegria in Surigao del Norte and the Municipality of Kitcharao in Agusan del Norte; and the province of Surigao del Sur, to the south. Surigao del Norte is the second northernmost of the Mindanao provinces and is an important commerce and transportation hub between Visayas and Mindanao. Numerous ferries cross the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rappler
Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripples") is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and convicted cyberlibelist Maria Ressa along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists as well as technopreneurs. It started as a Facebook page named MovePH in August 2011 and evolved into a website on January 1, 2012. In 2018, agencies under the Government of the Philippines, Philippine government initiated legal proceedings against Rappler. Rappler and its staff alleged it was being targeted for its revelations of corruption by government and elected officials, the usage of bots and trolls favoring Rodrigo Duterte's administration, and documenting the Philippine drug war. In October 2021, Rappler co-founder Ressa, alongside Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for safeguarding freedom of expression in their homelands. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ombudsman Of The Philippines
In the Philippines, the Office of the Ombudsman () is the constitutional body responsible for investigating and prosecuting Philippine government officials accused of crimes, especially graft and corruption. Functions Under the Constitution of the Philippines, 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Ombudsman Act of 1989, the Office of the Ombudsman independently monitors all three branches of the government for political corruption. The Ombudsman "is principally tasked to investigate on its own or upon complaint by any person, in any form or manner, any act or omission of any public officer or employee, including those in government-owned or controlled corporations, which appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient." After an investigation, the Ombudsman files charges at the Sandiganbayan, a special anti-graft court. The Offices of the Ombudsman includes the Ombudsman's own office, along with offices for a team composed of a Sheriff#Philippines, Sheriff, the Ombudsma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janet Lim-Napoles
Janet Lim-Napoles (born Janet Luy Lim; January 15, 1964) is a Filipina businesswoman who is believed to have masterminded the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) Scam. She was convicted of plunder for her involvement in the PDAF Scam and is facing charges for alleged involvement in the misuse of the Malampaya fund for disaster response operations. Early life Janet Luy Lim was born in Malabon, then a municipality of Rizal. She is the fourth of five children of a Chinese Filipino couple: Johnny Co Lim (born Lim King Sing) and Magdalena "Nelly" Lim Luy. The family lived in Binondo, Manila until December 1970, when Johnny Co Lim died, and Luy returned with her children to her hometown of Maluso, Basilan. Napoles, who was six at the time, studied at the Maluso Central Elementary School, and completed her secondary education at a local Claretian school. The family ran the Luys' sari-sari store, and delivered drinks to workers at the local port. However, some residents of M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
