Vincent Lazatin, the executive director of the Transparency and Accountability Network, an anticorruption group, said that high-profile convictions did little to stop the rampant bribery and extortion within Philippine government agencies, including the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the police.
The biggest source was Philippine government agencies, at ₱136 million (US$3.13 million), with the PCASTRD-DOST as the largest contributor.
The Philippine meteorological agency, Pagasa, recently announced the beginning of this year's rainy season and warned that 18 typhoons could hit the country by the end of December.
The account information was permitted to be entered as evidence on Monday because of a provision in the secrecy laws that grants the Anti-Money Laundering Council, a semiautonomous Philippine government agency, access to bank records related to suspicious accounts.
The Philippine weather agency measured winds on the eastern edge of the country at about 150 m.p.h., he said, with some tracking stations recording speeds as low as 100 m.p.h.
Heavy rainfall, destructive winds and battering waves were threatening heavily populated rural and urban regions, where the Philippine weather agency raised typhoon warnings, stranding thousands of people in ports as airlines canceled flights and ferries were prevented from sailing.
Speaking to the Bernama news agency, Philippine police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said there was unlikely to be any truth to the claims.
On Tuesday morning the Philippine weather-forecasting agency ceased its public storm warnings: Hagupit would exit the country as scattered heavy showers.More important was the lesson learned from Haiyan: the Philippines avoided the worst by preparing for it.
Pagasa, the Philippine government's weather agency, said the typhoon had wind speeds of up to 175 km/h (110 mph) and gained strength early on Friday.
In Manila, the Philippine foreign affairs office said Angelito Nayan, a foreign service officer attached to the United Nations electoral body, had been taken captive, Reuters news agency reported.
