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Filipino Times
25-05-2025
- Business
- Filipino Times
DMW disputes Arnell Ignacio's claim OWWA land deal was aboveboard
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has challenged former OWWA administrator Arnell Ignacio's claim that a P1.4-billion land deal followed legal procedures, calling the transaction 'anomalous.' DMW Secretary Hans Cacdac said any property-related decisions involving the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration must first be presented to the OWWA Board of Trustees, where the DMW sits as a member. But the land purchase and key changes to the deed of sale were made without board approval, he said. 'We flagged it as irregular and demanded the return of the funds. Only then was the money refunded,' Cacdac told GMA Integrated News. Cacdac pointed out that in September 2024, Ignacio altered the deed of absolute sale to shift the local transfer tax obligation, amounting to P36 million, without consulting the board. The original version of the deed made OWWA responsible for the tax. The DMW also revealed that the presence of a tenant on the property was never disclosed. As a result, OWWA unknowingly became a 'landlord' and was not receiving rent until the matter was investigated. 'I asked him, 'Where's the rent?' He said, 'We're asking the rent collector.' I asked, 'Who?' He said, 'The former landowner.' Why was the former landowner authorized to collect rent on OWWA's behalf, without board approval?' Cacdac said. He added that the same person who received the P36 million was also given P1.4 million in rent collections. 'And if we hadn't demanded it, the money wouldn't have been returned,' he said. The DMW emphasized that these actions violated financial protocols and transparency standards. In his defense, Ignacio earlier said that the board was informed and that the Land Bank of the Philippines had appraised the property. 'The price OWWA paid reflects LandBank's assessment,' Ignacio said.
GMA Network
24-05-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
DMW insists OWWA land deal 'anomalous'
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has refuted former Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) chief Arnell Ignacio's claim that the P1.4-billion land acquisition deal went through proper legal channels. Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac, along with other DMW officials, said that critical steps—most notably, obtaining approval from the OWWA Board of Trustees—were entirely bypassed. According to Cacdac, under established law, any transaction and subsequent modifications involving OWWA properties must be presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees—which includes DMW representatives. However, the decision to purchase the property and alter key provisions in the Deed of Absolute Sale was never disclosed to the board. 'What we observed was an anomalous process. The money, which was refunded following our intervention, should have been produced as proof immediately,' Cacdac stated during an interview with GMA Integrated News. DMW officials detailed that in September 2024, Ignacio amended the deed to shift the responsibility for the local transfer tax. The original document clearly held OWWA accountable for the tax, but a later version redirected this obligation to involve a P36 million payment—a significant change that was made without notifying the board. The investigation uncovered that Ignacio failed to disclose the presence of a leasing tenant occupying the property. The board later discovered that OWWA had, in effect, assumed the role of 'landlord' without formal approval. In a pointed exchange, Cacdac questioned Ignacio's account of the transaction. 'I asked, 'Where is the rent?' and learned that it was still being collected by the previous landowner—someone who, without board approval, was authorized to act as a private rent collector for an amount reportedly around P1.4 million,' Cacdac explained. He added that such practices run counter to standard procedures and exacerbate concerns over financial transparency. Ignacio had earlier defended his actions by insisting that all transactions were reported to the board and that the property's valuation was properly assessed by the Land Bank of the Philippines—the designated government financial institution. 'It is the LandBank that determined the value, and the amount paid by OWWA reflects that assessment,' Ignacio said. However, Cacdac argued that the LandBank's reliance on the Right of Way Law was misplaced. 'That law is not applicable to this purchase, especially when there's no approved national infrastructure project and no board sanction to invoke it,' he said. DMW officials have already expanded their inquiry to the tax aspects of the deal. They are currently consulting with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to determine whether the proper tax—possibly value-added tax rather than capital gains tax—was applied, given that the seller is a realty corporation. As the investigation continues, DMW remains committed to demanding full transparency and adherence to protocol in all transactions involving public funds. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
22-05-2025
- GMA Network
Online seller of fake driver's licenses, PWD IDs nabbed in Valenzuela City — ACG
The Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) of the Philippine National Police arrested an individual in Valenzuela City for selling fake driver's licenses and person with disability (PWD) IDs. At a press conference on Thursday, ACG chief Police Brigadier General Bernard Yang said an entrapment operation was launched against the suspect last week. 'Last week po, tayo ay nagsagawa ng entrapment operation laban sa isang babae doon sa Valenzuela City kung saan ito ay nagbebenta online ng driver's license, at hindi lang driver's license, kundi yung ID ng PWD,' Yang said. (Last week, we conducted an entrapment operation against a woman in Valenzuela City who was selling not only driver's licenses but also PWD IDs.) 'Ito ay dahil sa patuloy ang aming pagsasagawa ng cyber-patrolling at nakikita po natin kung ano-ano ang binibenta roon, mga panloloko ng ating kababayan sa ating kapwa kababayan din,' he added. (This is because we continue to conduct cyber-patrolling and we see what is being sold there, frauds committed by our countrymen to our fellow countrymen.) Yang said the suspect is facing a complaint for 10 counts of falsification by private individuals and use of falsified documents under Revised Penal Code in relation to Cybercrime Prevention Act. The bail is set at P36,000 for each count, according to Yang. Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the 'fixer' system in obtaining driver's licenses has reached the online space. 'Isa sa mga, sasabihin ko na, kabulukan ng sistema, itong nag-evolve na sistema ng mga fixer,' Dizon said. (One of the, I would say, corruptions of the system, this evolved system of fixers.) 'Yung fixer dati nasa tabi ng LTO, nag-offer ng services ika nga, hihingi ng pampadulas para makalusot sa requirements ng lisensya, rehistro, etc. Pero dahil sa internet, Facebook, naging online na yan,' he added. (Fixers used to be beside the LTO, offering services, asking for bribes to get around the requirements of the license, registration, etc. But because of the internet, Facebook, that has become online.) Dizon vowed that authorities will go after these fixers as the government aims to improve road safety. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
Scoop
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
NTF-ELCAC 'Victory' Claim Negated By Its Demands For More Extensive Repression
Eight days before the Mid-Term Elections, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) claimed that an 'insurgency-free Philippines' was in sight, and at the same time warned against any complacency allowing a 'resurgence of insurgency in electoral disguise'. It called for greater repression of civil society and young people in particular and endless war. 'NTF-ELCAC can't have it both ways, claiming victory and calling for greater repression,' said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP). 'This organisation of military and police generals are shameless war mongers, demanding a bigger budget and more powers, plus less oversight. ICHRP fully supports the calls from United Nations Special Rapporteurs for NTF-ELCAC to be abolished, and we ourselves have called for this since it was established in December 2018,' said Murphy. The NTF-ELCAC called for: thorough vetting of foreign financial grants to Filipino development agencies, alleging that these fund the New People's Army rebellion. more intensive red-tagging of 'legal democratic forces' whom it accuses of 'ideological insurgency'. multi-year funding without oversight of its Barangay Development Program, used to pay local government units which declare themselves 'insurgency-free'. Since 2018 this fund has paid out P36 billion (US$720 million). forcing university administrations to crack down on student activism to channel 'critical thought and youthful idealism' to support government strategies. Government support for a national federation of rebel surrenderees (former rebels). More intensive local community control through permanent local peace councils, barangay task forces and grassroots monitoring systems to repress any critical discussions and organizing. In the Mid-Term Elections, the progressive party-lists and the Makabayan Senate candidates won 5 percent or more of the votes, despite the intense denunciation as 'communist terrorists' which they endured from NTF-ELCAC. The 3.5 to 4.5 million Filipinos who voted for these candidates are the target of the NTF-ELCAC under the criterion of 'legal democratic forces'. Looked at this way, the NTF-ELCAC is the greatest threat to democratic rights in the Philippines. Its claim that former rebels are its greatest asset in the fight against insurgency is undermined by extensive data that unarmed peasant farmers and indigenous people are routinely ordered to 'surrender', then paid a small compensation, and then continually pressed to denounce other members of their communities. Of course, the Barangay Development Program and funds for surrenderees are a great slush fund for military and police commanders. Meanwhile, the rhetoric of the NTF-ELCAC empowers the AFP to further cause terror in rural communities, including employing tactics of hameletting – surrounding communities with military presence – and aerial strafing and bombing. Development workers who server rural communities face ongoing attacks under false pretenses of 'financing terrorism.' The grand boast that the communist insurgency is almost over, and that 89 guerilla fronts have been dismantled since 2018, is not borne out on the ground.1 Fighting is reported in many provinces, and the social conditions that give rise to the armed conflict – especially poverty and landlessness – remain unchanged. 'ICHRP amplifies the long-standing demands of Filipino people for genuine land reform, an end to stultifying poverty and genuine respect for democratic rights. If there is to be peace, then NTF-ELCAC should be abolished and the government of the Philippines return to the peace talks agenda still outstanding with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines,' said Murphy. 'Top of the agenda right now is a draft Comprehensive Agreement on Economic and Social Reforms, which already includes free distribution of land to the landless.'
