longcuts archives

Collateral damage in the BDRC raid

The death of an inmate in the Bohol Detention and Rehabilitation Center (BDRC) was, yes, “collateral damage.”
But we don’t just snuff life like that.
Whether Nilo Corbita was a convict or an accused waiting for his judgment of conviction, he does not deserve to die.
And his heirs deserve to be heard – what really happened and why was he shot?

Initially, we were told that Corbita was shot twice at close range to the head after an alleged attempt to resist the operatives by drawing a caliber 38 kuno.
But the pictures taken on the scene of the incident appeared to portray a different story.
Corbita’s body was photographed covered with blanket up to his shoulders with only a portion of his arm exposed. If there was an attempt to remove a gun, critics say, the blanket would have skirted down his body, exposing his arms and body in the process.
But there was none of that.
Is it possible that the blanket was deliberately placed over his body to hide a ghastly scenario from the eyes of the viewing public?
Possible, yes.
But the blanket still wrapped his body – meaning, the blanket was placed there prior to the shooting. If it was placed after the shooting, the blanket would only cover, not wrap, Corbita’s body.
So if the pictures were any indication, the story that Corbita tried to draw his gun against the SWAT raiders would appear to be out of synch.


The shooting at close range is also another thing. And twice at that, with the slug hitting parts of the head.
The shooter must have been able to come close to Corbita.
Again, this is very ticklish because under normal circumstances, when a person tries to grab a weapon, the shooter doesn’t have to get close to shoot. He fires his gun when in range.
When one is shot at close range, then somebody must have been caught in surprise.
Anyway, we hope there will be a probe on the incident.
We do not wish to preempt the police authorities, especially PNP provincial director Edgardo Ingking. We know we can rely on his integrity and discretion.


I also hope somebody will come up with a reasonable explanation on why the slugs embedded in the head of Corbita were so mangled that probers find it difficult to determine the type of bullet and kind of weapon fired.
Unless it can be determined, any attempt to ascertain the shooter would be in jeopardy.
Nobody will know with certainty who fired the shot or shots that killed inmate Corbita.
A great injustice to Corbita and his family.


In yesterday’s consultation in Cebu City with presidents and heads of public and private colleges and universities in Central Visayas, CHED Commissioner Nona Ricafort mentioned about the 1 billion pesos released by GMA to CHED.
She said half of the P1 billion would be used for a scholarship fund while the other half would be for emergency student loans.
The program would benefit more than 60,000 students in their third and fourth years in college, she said.
Ricafort said the scholarship and student loan fund would be available to students of 44 selected state universities and colleges and private higher education institutions.
Ricafort said the CHED has simplified the qualifications for a student to avail himself of a “no-interest” loan, needing only to show that he or she had a passing average in the previous school year, and that he or she is not a beneficiary of other government scholarship programs.
The scholarship will also be given to third, fourth and fifth year college students.
She said this will be a big help to students especially those who have already finished their first two years of college and need some assistance to finish the remaining two or three years.
There are two categories used by CHED in implementing the program – the poorest provinces and the food-poor provinces.
And these are the provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Norte, Maguindanao, Kalinga Apayao, Abra, Dinagat, Lanao del Sur, Northern Samar, Masbate and Misamis Occidental
The 1 billion fund is intended, she said, to ensure that “our young Filipinos will graduate and get a degree that will help them be employed and be productive citizens of our country.”


Is this good news?
Do we have good reason to sing hallelujiah to the high heavens for the president’s “generosity”?
Well, of course this is good news.
But think of the number of families nowadays that are no longer thinking of college education because they could hardly eat.
The prices of gasoline are regularly increasing on a weekly basis. The prices of basic commodities are also increasing.
Well actually, another round of fuel increase took effect yesterday. Petron and Total implemented another increase of P1.50 per liter in pump prices of their petroleum products. Nobody knows the other oil players will increase but for sure, they will follow suit.
So, the number 1 problem among Filipino families is food on the table.
Nowadays, the affairs of the stomach prevail over the affairs of the mind.
At best, this 1 billion carrot doleout is just that, a palliative measure.


Meanwhile, effective this school year, those who plan to take up Nursing will have to brace for more expenses.
To finish a Nursing degree, the student must cope with the latest program of CHED to increase the Nursing units from 193 to 212 units.
Of the 212 units, only 87 units are general education subjects, the rest are major or professional subjects.
If the student decides to shift to another course in his second or third year, either because the course is too much for his brains or because he could no longer afford the bill, he will be credited with less general education subjects in his new course.
How does this defer from the present curriculum?
The present curriculum includes a total of 115 units of general education subjects. This allows the student more subjects to be credited in case he decides to shift to another course.


There is another problem, this time on the part of nursing schools.
The reduction of general education subjects for first and second year students necessarily requires an overhaul of faculty.
Nursing schools will have to drop some of their teachers handling general education subjects like English, Pilipino and Social Sciences and hire more teachers to handle major or professional subjects.
A bit expensive, I tell you.
Of course, the increase is passed on to the students and eventually, to the parents who foot the bill.
In the final analysis, this new curriculum is more burdensome to the students and the parents.
Getting a Nursing degree nowadays has become terribly difficult. The “passport to better living” is now almost beyond the reach of the people.


How many public officials regularly visit the casino?
Plenty, in fact, some public officials do it on regular basis. Mayors, vice mayors, kagawads, governors, vice governors, yes, they go to casino in droves. Many are under the impression that playing cards or slot machines are mere recreations and are allowable.
Not so.
Actually, there is a law that prohibits government officials from entering or playing in the casino.
CSC Memorandum Circular No. 8 bans all public officials from entering or playing at gambling casinos.
Also prohibited under the circular are members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including the Army, Navy and Air Force.
So if you see your friendly mayor or governor or kagawad or even your chief of police inside the casino, try reporting it to the Civil Service Commission. CSC officials say they will gladly file administrative charges against the erring public officials.


Meanwhile, I got confirmation about the reported quarry activities in Candijay.
Vice Mayor Ann Piquero Dy told Longcuts yesterday there was an inspection conducted in the morning of May 27 in sitio Green Valley in barangay Poblacion. She was there with kag. Jessie Sales, chair of the committee on environment and some DENR officials. They wanted to monitor reports about the so-called quarry activities.
While in sitio Green Valley, Mayor Boboy Amora arrived and reportedly remonstrated kuno and asked why they included the sitio in their inspection.
The mayor said the notice of Sales to all SB members mentioned only of sitio Ilaya.
The DENR people answered that the resolution of the barangay council of Poblacion that asked for DENR monitoring mentioned of all areas of barangay Poblacion, it was not limited only to sitio Ilaya.
Anyway, what did they see in sitio Green Valley?
Big stones were removed at the Cambani and Abejelan Rivers, a Backhoe and a 10-wheeler truck were parked in the area. There was no activity when they arrived but they noticed that there was a road built leading to the river.
Definitely, the quarrying was illegal because there is no ECC, though the sanggunian is still waiting for the final report from kagawad Sales.
She also confirmed reports that Mayor Boboy Amora got “wild” during that incident.
He was mad when they inspected sitio Green Valley.
They could not understand why the mayor should get mad when they were only checking about the reported quarrying.
So what did the mayor do, aside from spewing acid?
He reportedly removed the spark plug holders of the 3 motorcycles hired by Sales and took them away.
Sales could no longer use the motorcycles and he was left without transport.
Later, a group of policemen arrived kuno and took the motorcycles away for some traffic violations.
He, he, he, suddenly, there was traffic violation. And suddenly too, the policemen knew of the violation, another he, he for that.
So the question again, what got the goat of the mayor?
Why did he resent the checking on sitio Green Valley? Does he have any business activity in sitio Green Valley?
Is it true that he was behind the removal of big boulders from the Abejelan river bank in sitio Green Valley and brought to Ubay for some construction project?
I hope somebody can answer this.
We tried calling the mayor last week but there was no reply. Nobody was also brave enough to come up with answers.
But definitely, there is only one quarry permit issued in Candijay, BEMO’s Rene Villaber said. This is issued in favor of a mining company owned by the Chua Family.
Which means that there is no quarry permit issued for the removal of those big boulders in sitio Green Valley.
More when we return, stay tuned for more. Comments, suggestions, write to salvadiputado@yahoo.com