Mayor earns ire of village leaders on ‘job orders’ issue

A village official recently spoke up against the uninformed inclusion of his relative in the list of job order appointments of the City Government.

Councilmen’s League of Angeles City (CLAC) Executive Vice President and Barangay Cutcut official Roy Ogurida, in a radio interview, said the inclusion of his sister’s name in the list of the City Government’s job order employees, along with the names of the relatives of other barangay officials, was done without their knowledge.

“Ito ang tunay na mga ‘ghost employees’ ng City Hall. Nakalista ang mga pangalan nila sa payroll pero kung hahanapin mo sila ay hindi naman talaga nagtatrabaho dahil ni hindi nila alam na nakalista pala sila bilang mga job order,” Ogurida said.
 
Ogurida said that during the CLAC emergency meeting held in November 27, the barangay officials refuted all 40 names listed as job order appointments in the PhilHealth Program under the Office of the Mayor.

He said these people are not actually working for City Hall and are not even aware that they are listed as job order employees and they have not been the ones collecting their supposed salary.
 
Ogurida also said that they made a computation of the supposed salaries of these JOs, which is listed as P500 per day or P11,000 a month and they discovered that within the appointment period from July to October 2012, the salary allotted for the 40 people in the PhilHealth Program amounts to P1.7 million.
 
Asked about where the names of their relatives could have been taken from, Ogurida surmised that the list must have been taken from the Personal Data Sheets (PDS) submitted by barangay officials.
 
Earlier, David expressed resentment over the situation after learning that the name of his wife, Irene David, was also included in the list of job orders without their knowledge.

David said his wife does not work at the city hall and collect her supposed salary.
 
On October 19, 2012, graft and corruption charges were filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against Pamintuan, City Accountant Wilfredo Tiotuico, City Budget Officer Fe Corpuz, City Treasurer Juliet Quinsaat and and other department heads by local newsman Robledo Sanchez in relation to the 2,506 job order employees of the City Government.
 
Sanchez also called Pamintuan out for having several relatives of barangay officials listed as JOs under the City Government.

Pacquiao updates

His pretty face was battered and bruised as Pacquiao, with blinding hand-speed and remarkable movement cut De La Hoya to ribbons, nailing him with punches from all angles and darting in and out with such dexterity that De La Hoya couldn't catch him, laying to waste his boast that he would knock Pacquiao out because the battle was "personal."

During a courtesy call at the Philippine Consulate in Chicago prior to Manny Pacquiao's showdown with "The Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya, astute Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said "speed kills."

While Pacquiao's speed didn't take the life of De La Hoya, the Filipino southpaw pulverized one of the biggest names and certainly one of the most glamorous fighters in the history of the sport, forcing him to quit seated on his stool at the end of the 7th round.

It obviously had to do with Pacquiao accepting $250,000 following a dinner with De La Hoya in Los Angeles and then signing a promotional contract without realizing that under the terms of an existing contract with Top Rank's Bob Arum, he couldn't break away.

In the end Pacquiao light-heartedly blamed his lawyer, Atty. Franklin "Jeng" Gacal for the ill-advised decision, returned De La Hoya's money and signed a new contract with Arum.

That contract, for the record, was recently extended to December 2014 with reports that Pacquiao got a $1 million signing bonus.

The 2014 deadline provides an insight into Pacquiao's career path. By then Pacquiao would be 35 years old and would wish to concentrate on his political career. It also leaves enough time for him to entice undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr to step into the ring against him in a fight the world has clamored for but is unlikely to do so, for much longer.

Pacquiao has bent backwards to accommodate Mayweather's demands including taking a smaller purse and agreeing to random drugs tests. As one boxing columnist pointed out, the only thing Pacquiao didn't offer to do was to drive Mayweather to the venue of their fight.

With the possibility of a rematch or even a trilogy provided they are able to agree on the first fight, then the 2014 contract extension fits nicely into Pacquiao's plans.

Right now however, his plans are centered on shutting up Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez who has continued to irritatingly claim that he won their three previous fights and was robbed of the decision by the judges.

If at all, Marquez could make a case for a truly controversial split decision victory by Pacquiao in their third encounter but there is no way he won the first after being dropped three times in the opening round which ended in a draw after judge Burt Clements admitted he made a mistake scoring the first round 10-7 instead of 10-6 which the two other judges did based on the three knockdowns.

In their rematch Pacquiao dropped Marquez once again with a perfectly-timed left hook to win a majority decision.

But after the controversial third fight and Marquez's posturing, celebrated trainer Freddie Roach wants nothing less than a knockout to erase the doubts over their previous battles and to effectively prove who is the better fighter.

Roach has made it clear "It has to be a knockout" which is what they have worked on in the gym, hammering out a strategy that would accomplish the goal.

Legendary Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez, Sr.  told Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza that reflecting over Pacquiao's recent fights "the problem with Manny is he thinks too much and when he does some thing he gives Marquez time. But when Manny loosens up and lets it go, Marquez looks lost. He didn't know what to do at times. That's Manny Pacquiao."

Chavez added: "You don't know what he's doing when he throws so many punches. You don't have time to figure and set up counter punches because it's 'boom, boom, boom and its coming from. everywhere."

Chavez, Sr. believes Pacquao must let his hands go, and go after Marquez because when he does there is nobody who can deal with that. In short, Manny must return to being a street-fighter ready to rip Marquez' head off.

From all accounts after two weeks preparation at the Wild Card Gym following two weeks of solid training in his hometown of General Santos City with childhood friend and Filipino trainer Restituto "Buboy" Fernandez which even drew a surprised look on Roach's face to see Pacquiao in such good shape and commendation from Ariza, Pacquiao appears to be returning to the fiery fighter he once was — the same devastating puncher who mauled De La Hoya, separated Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton from his senses in two rounds and ripped Miguel Cotto to score a 12th round TKO.

As Pacquiao himself has said the challenge is to put on a performance that will "put this fight into history."

In the assessment of Ariza, who normally likes to back off from making the mistake of painting a glowing picture of where Pacquiao is at and how well he's doing, the old fire is back in the belly of Pacquiao.

Six sparring sessions have demonstrated the sharp focus and the relentless pursuit of a goal by Pacquiao which was set for him by Roach. Nothing short of a knockout would suffice when he clashes with Marquez for the fourth time at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 9 (Manila Time).

As he finished his second week under the watchful eye of Roach and wound up on Saturday with eight rounds of sparring, Ariza couldn't help but sound elated in a conversation with Yahoo! Philippines. "He was simply amazing," said Ariza after eight rounds of sparring.

To him it's clear that Manny wants to be the old Manny Pacquiao who, when he hurt an opponent he would pursue him and when he threw punches it was with the intention of hurting the man in front of him.

The resiliency is there and he's relentless throwing flurries of punches and putting them together effectively.

To the strength and conditioning coach who began his association with Roach and took over Pacquiao's conditioning from former heavyweight contender Justin Fortune, "It's a different Manny Pacquiao, just like the old times."

The normally conservative Ariza didn't back off when asked what he thought of Pacquiao with four weeks to go before fight night He conceded that "on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give him a 10!"

But he quickly threw in a conditionality stating that he hated making such assessments "because I don't want to set myself up since I don't know what's going to happen over the next two weeks."

If all goes as planned then Freddie Roach may well  get his wish as well as Pacquiao's mother, Dionisia Pacquiao, who has made it clear she wants her son to finish Marquez "in one or two rounds."

Still no definite opponent for Manny Pacquiao

The question in the minds of most of the fans of "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao is what' s taking him so long to decide on the opponent for his planned December 8 fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Initially, there was some confusion on when the fight would take place, if at all.

Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley's gimmick in holding up a large replica of a fight ticket for November 10 which Bradley picked as the  date of a rematch has apparently backfired on him.

In fact, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told us the US pay-per-view networks are not interested in a Pacquiao-Bradley rematch since their first meeting produced a mere 700,000 PPV buys which were basically regarded as people who wanted to watch Pacquiao, not Bradley.

The hugely controversial split decision in which Bradley grabbed the WBO welterweight title of Pacquiao didn't sit well with many who condemned the decision as a robbery perpetrated, in the words of Arum, by three blind mice.

The other aspect of the Bradley equation is that he, as champion in the books, would ask for more than the $5 million he got the first time around and Arum isn't prepared to fork out any extra dollars unless it comes out of Pacquiao's purse. And for all Manny's charitable disposition he is unlikely to take a cut in his purse merely to have an opportunity to avenge his defeat which, in the eyes of the whole wide world, was no defeat at all.

Pacquiao, according to Arum who actually deals with him through Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser who is also a good friend of Arum, will "definitely fight on December 8."

The venue will be the MGM Grand Garden Arena. But, as of this moment, Pacquiao hasn't decided on an opponent although his options, based on the proposals laid out by Arum, have been narrowed down to Bradley and Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez after Pacquiao's initial choice Miguel Cotto dropped out, refusing to come down to 150 pounds and preferring to face champion Austin Trout.

Perhaps the delay in Pacquiao's decision stems from the fact that if chances of a massive money-earning showdown with undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr look much better  today after  Mayweather's close friend 50 Cent got into the boxing promotion business, Manny may not wish to gamble on a troublesome opponent like Marquez whose three fights with Pacquiao have all been close with the last one truly controversial.

Of course Marquez keeps blabbering that he won all three fights but that the judges robbed him of victory.

Whether this is a ploy to entice Pacquiao to agree to a fourth fight in a desire to shut him up we'll never know.

But one thing for sure, the influential president of the World Boxing Council Don Jose Sulaiman doesn't want Pacquiao to give Marquez a chance to make a lot more money fighting him after having effectively insulted Pacquiao by his claims and apparently bad-mouthing the eight division champion in Mexico.

Don Jose is one of those who staunchly believes a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight can be made and has offered to lend his good offices to help achieve the goal of staging a fight the whole world wants to see before both fighters begin to fade and the long wait erodes public interest.

Arum himself believes that 50 Cent has shown a good business sense and would be far easier to deal with compared to his arch rivals — or is it enemy — Golden Boy Promotions who Arum claims,  carry a lot of baggage when they enter into negotiations.

Getting back to the December 8 date, Arum told us the other day he has an idea as to who Pacquiao is leaning towards and said he expects a decision to be made within the week which is the same tune that Michael Koncz is singing.

Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran who is also close to Arum says a Marquez fight is 95 percent done while Koncz says a few things need to be resolved.

Both celebrated trainer Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning guru Alex Ariza have openly stated that a fourth fight with Marquez would  be testy. And they are laying down specific suggestions which, hopefully, Manny will respond to, positively.

The common ground is that Pacquiao should train for eight weeks solely at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and scrap the Baguio City training camp where they realize there are far too many distractions, including nightly Bible Study and preaching sessions where a gathering of pastors seem to have replaced the previous group of hangers-on.

While the excesses of the past have happily disappeared, Pacquiao is still forced into long hours and late nights with his new-found evangelical mission telling on him, physically.

Several individuals close to Pacquiao tell us that whenever they bring up the question of who his next opponent will be, Manny shrugs them off with vague and inconclusive answers making them wonder whether indeed he is going to fight on December 8 or linger awhile hoping that a Mayweather fight could be made before next May's congressional elections.

Pacquiao is running for re-election from the lone district of Sarangani province and while he is unlikely to face any credible challenge, a political war chest replenished by a possible $50 million bonanza from a Mayweather fight would certainly make things so much easier.

In the meantime, we are all required to wait, wondering what's taking Manny so long to decide.

WBO panel says Pacquiao won by unanimous decision

Judges convened by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) unanimously scored in favor of Filipino ring icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao after reviewing his controversial split decision loss to American Timothy Bradley, which took place in Las Vegas June 9.

RingTV reported that the five judges, commissioned by WBO President Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, unanimously scored the bout in Pacquiao’s favor, 117-111, 117-111, 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113.

In what was one of the most shocking decisions in boxing this year, Bradley was named the victor in their WBO welterweight clash last June 9, with judges Duane Ford and CJ Ross scoring the bout 115-113 in his favor. Only Jerry Roth scored the bout for Pacquiao, 115-113.

The result was derided by boxing media – most of whom saw Pacquiao winning by a wide margin – and fight fans, who suspected that there was a conspiracy which led to Bradley's victory.

Because of the controversial result, the WBO decided to take action, with Valcarcel saying that they will "take measures in accordance with the rules of procedure."

Despite the panel’s review, the WBO cannot reverse the decision of the judges on fight night.

"The only thing that we can do is authorize a rematch," Valcarcel told RingTV.

Pacquiao and Bradley’s fight contract contains a rematch clause, scheduled for November 10, but Top Rank officials – including chief executive Bob Arum and president Todd DuBoef – have said that they will most likely not push through with it.

Instead, Pacquiao may fight Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time this November.

Arum lauded the WBO's findings as a "Solomon-like conclusion."

"Paco is a good man, he really is. I have great respect for him and what he says. It's appropriate for him to make that final conclusion," the promoter told RingTV.

Arum said he will have to talk to Pacquiao about what he wants to do for his next bout.

"My first stop on any quest to determine what to do next is that I have to talk to the guy who is the money generator, and that's Manny Pacquiao," he said. "And I have to determine after discussions with him what he wants to do next, and we'll go from there."

Pacquiao is currently in the Philippines, where he is attending to his constituents in Sarangani after the province experienced severe floodings due to Typhoon "Butchoy."

Bradley is confident that he defeated Pacquiao, telling his supporters in Palm Springs, California that he won the fight eight rounds to four.

Pacquiao, for his part, has repeatedly asked his fans to accept his loss, as well as to not blame Bradley for the judges' decision.

The bout is also under investigation by the Attorney General of Nevada after a request filed by Arum. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, led by director Keith Kizer, will also review the video along with the three judges.

CHINA BEHIND PACQUIAO DEFEAT

It would be the first loss since 2005 for the ‘People’s Champ’ after losing via split decision to the ‘Desert Storm’, who is now the new WBO World Welterweight champion. Judges CJ Ross and Duane Ford scored it in favor of Bradley while Judge Jerry Roth scored it in favor of Pacquiao. Many believed that Pacquiao won the match.

What would seem like a failure or a flaw of the judging system implemented in boxing matches actually goes deeper, if a confidential report coming from Malacañang is to be believed.

According to our source, the confidential document contains findings by the intelligence community that concludes China as the one who was actually  behind the loss of the country’s prize-fighter. China apparently paid off the judges so that Pacquiao would surely lose the fight when it comes time to judge it. They were confident that the match would go to the scorecards because the gloves that the boxers used were specifically made in a factory in Tianjin, China. Said gloves had special materials that would soften the impact of the punches and minimize the chances of a knockout.  The original plan  was to payoff all the judges so that Pacquiao would lose unanimously, but being stingy that they were, China decided to just go with two judges hence the split decision.

The bribery was all part of the country’s grand scheme to destabilize the Philippines and to demoralize Filipinos, in an operation dubbed “打倒菲律宾人的骄傲 or “Bring Down Pinoy Pride” when translated to English.

This is China’s retaliation against the Philippines due to the ongoing dispute on Scarborough shoal which started a few months back. Authorities believed that China has targeted our weak spot when it decided to attack our pride. “Wala naman kasi tayong military installations or key strategic buildings na puwedeng atakin to speak of (We don’t even have military installations or key strategic building that they can attack to speak of),” said one high-ranking official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Many Filipinos were shocked and upset with the outcome of the boxing match. Even Pacquiao’s mother, Mommy Dionesia, fainted upon hearing the news of her son’s loss. But what is alarming is the fact that China state television network China Central Television (CCTV) featured the fainting incident in a humor inspired segment, similar to that of Marc Logan’s; as propaganda for its people to mock the Philippines.

Recent events that have transpired would lend credence to the findings by Malacañang and would indeed seem like China was behind the following events to demoralize Filipinos:

• Jessica Sanchez losing to Philip Phillips in American Idol
• China suspending importation of Philippine bananas
• Shanghai Sharks cancels goodwill games against Philippine basketball squad
• Controversial BAYO ad that angered netizens

Dr. Ignacio Sanchez, head of Human Behavioral studies at the Universal College of the Philippines; who recently did a study on criminals, believed that China also perpetuated the outcome of the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Corona.

“After masterminding the shocking result of Season 11 of American Idol, China then gave hope to the Filipinos when it orchestrated a 20-3 guilty vote for the impeachment of the Chief Justice,” explains Sanchez. “But it then quickly pulled-out the rug underneath us all by cancelling the basketball game,  launching the ‘racist’ ad to  dishearten the Philippines and the shocking results of the boxing match.”

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The doctor likens this tactic to a man who humiliates another man by pulling down the latter’s pants in front of the public after rescuing him from the brink of death (i.e. speeding truck, psycho mugger, asthma attack). “It’s catching you off-guard when you least expect it, or when you think that you’re on top of the world,” said Dr. Sanchez. “It’s very disheartening indeed. A perfect one-two-three counter-punch combination”

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The confidential report also narrates in detail the final coup de grace of Operation 打倒菲律宾人的骄傲. It describes a strategic pull out of all things Chinese from the Philippines that would ensure total destabilization of the country.

The ‘final push’ would anger, dishearten, bankrupt and depress adults and children alike that would send a chilling effect to the entire archipelago. And when the entire nation is down, that is when China would claim victory and proceed to occupy Scarborough Shoal. “If Filipinos are getting depressed by non-favorable contest results, what more would they feel if something big indeed happen,” said a Chinese diplomat who wishes to be unnamed.

The government is already coming up with contingency plans to provide substitutes for the above mentioned services, in case China indeed pushes through with the final stage of their plan.

Controversial split decision victory over Manny Pacquiao

WBO President Francisco ''Paco'' Valcarcel said in a statement Wednesday that the WBO's championship committee will review video of the fight with five ''recognized international judges'' and make a recommendation. He said the WBO does not doubt the ability of the scoring judges.

Most reporters seated ringside and the vast majority of fans inside the MGM Grand arena on Saturday night thought Pacquiao had easily defended his welterweight title against Bradley.

The first surprise came when ring announcer Michael Buffer announced that there was a split decision, and the biggest surprise came in the reading of the scores. Jerry Roth had it 115-113 for Pacquiao, while judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross had it for Bradley by the same score.

The Associated Press scored the fight 117-111 for Pacquiao.

''The public saw the fight and they're outraged, and we need clarity here,'' Arum told The Associated Press on Wednesday. ''We need those responsible to investigate, to see what happened, how the judges could be so off.

''Was there any funny business going on? Or no funny business? Did they have a conversation with each other?'' Arum asked. ''We need to get clarity. The public is demanding it.''

Arum's powerful promotional company, Top Rank, has staged thousands of fights over more than four decades, including some of the most significant in the history of the sport.

He said that the scoring of Saturday night's fight was among the worst he's ever seen.

''It puts boxing in a very horrible light,'' he said. ''I'm looking for the sport to do damage control, and the only way it does damage control is if you do a full and complete investigation.''

Arum submitted a formal request to the Nevada Attorney General's office on Monday asking for an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the fight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the senior senator from  
Nevada, also has asked for an investigation.

Jennifer Lopez, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Attorney General's office, said in an email to the AP that Arum's complaint is currently under review.

''We are treating the complaint like any other complaint our office receives,'' Lopez said. ''We do not confirm or deny if we have an ongoing criminal investigation.''

The Nevada State Athletic Commission's executive director, Keith Kizer, said this week that he has no plans to review the fight, even though he acknowledged having Pacquiao ahead.

Commission chairman Skip Avansino told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was content with the scoring, while Ford defended his scorecard in an interview with the newspaper.

''I thought Bradley gave Pacquiao a boxing lesson,'' Ford said. ''I thought a lot of the rounds were close. Pacquiao missed a lot of punches and I thought he was throwing wildly.''

Arum believes the decision - along with the Nevada commission's reluctance to conduct its own investigation - could provide the impetus for a federal commission to provide oversight for the sport, which has long battled the perception that it is rife with corruption.

''If the commission here in Nevada will be in intransigent, and won't cooperate, we have to have a federal commission,'' Arum said. ''We have to examine who these are on the commission, how they got there, how they operate. Something is broke.''

Stats compiled by Compubox showed Pacquiao landing 253 punches to 159 for Bradley, and having a 190-108 edge in power punches. Pacquiao landed at 38.5 percent to 27.7 percent for Bradley.

The decision ended Pacquiao's 15-fight winning streak, but also sets up a potential rematch later this year.

There has been talk that it could happen in November.

Perhaps by then, Arum will have the clarity he is seeking from their first fight.
''Any other sport - football, baseball - the commissioner's office would investigate,'' he said. ''I'm not saying hang anybody, but let's get clarity here. Let's get a complete report as to what happened. They could say,

'Hey, all three judges had a bad night.' That's possible, too. I'm not leaping to conclusions. I want to know as well as anybody else.''

House bill that would institutionalize the Palarong Pambansa

House Bill 6119 aims to create a policy and coordinating body for the conduct of the 37-year-old Palaro, which shall be headed by the Department of Education (DepEd).

Saying it has lost its prestige and popularity among Filipinos over the years, the House of Representatives recently approved a bill that would institutionalize the Palarong Pambansa as the premier national sporting event of the country.

The Palaro Board members are the DepEd secretary, four DepEd undersecretaries, three DepEd assistant secretaries, chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), president of the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), and the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Among others, the board will be tasked to provide incentives/rewards to participating schools and local government units; formulate and issue policies and guidelines on the accreditation of athletes, coaches and chaperones; approve bids to host the Palarong Pambansa; and identify the sports events to be included.
The measure also requires the organization of the Regional Athletic Associations, which shall supervise the conduct of the regional meets.

To ensure the event’s success, the PSC shall make available its manpower and technical resources, as well as facilities, said Camarines Norte Representative Renato Unico Jr., chair of the House Committee on Youth and Sports Development.

In coordination with the DepEd, the PSC shall formulate and implement a training program for outstanding athletes of the Palarong Pambansa to ensure the continuity of their athletic development and education.
The Senate may adopt the House version of the bill for early transmittal and signature by President Benigno Aquino III.