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FEBRUARY 14-20, 2019 Volume 30 - No. 7 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages
T H E F I L I P I N O –A M E R I C A N C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R
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Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
Global press group tells Duterte: Stop weaponizing law to silence Rappler THE World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum on Wednesday, February 13 wrote to President Rodrigo Duterte expressing alarm on the arrest of Rappler CEO Maria Ressa over cyberlibel charges, saying such a move was “politically motivated.” Rappler news editor Miriam Go said that NBI agents entered their building at past 5 p.m. to serve an
arrest warrant on Ressa. Government office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. although warrants can be served at any time. State prosecutors on January 10 indicted Rappler, Ressa and former reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr. on cyberlibel over an article about businessman Wilfredo Keng that was published in 2012. “We are seriously concerned that the charges are politically
USA
DATELINE Fil-Am federal workers reflect on longest gov’t shutdown ahead of a possible second closure FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Trump ‘extremely unhappy’ with current deal
FILIPINO-American Ted Aquino has been an air traffic controller at John Wayne Airport in Irvine, California for more than 20 years. After emigrating from Manila, Philippines to Tustin, California, a lengthy job search got him this gig, which he said he enjoys. “I’ve always loved airplanes, and wanted to be a pilot originally, but I figured air traffic controllers also have an important job, so I got it and have been happy for the last 20 or so years,” Aquino told the Asian Journal in a recent phone interview. He’s been happy with it, that is, until recently. Aquino was one of the thousands of “nonessential” federal workers who worked without pay during President Donald Trump’s 5-week government shutdown, the longest shutdown in American history.
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Pacquiao’s plan A: Mayweather in May UNLESS it’s the rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao will have to set aside his plans of returning to the ring in May. “At this moment, it appears that way,” international matchmaker Sean Gibbons, always close by Pacquiao these days, recently told The STAR. “We’ll see what the next week brings,” added Gibbons. Obviously, Pacquiao is waiting to hear from Mayweather, and hear it straight from the retired superstar that he is ready to do the anticipated rematch. “Manny is just waiting for Floyd. Manny has already done everything plus more to rejuvenate interest in that rematch,” said Gibbons. “But Floyd has to want the fight. That’s where we’re at right now. Something has to happen,” added Gibbons, 51, who once fought at light-heavyweight.
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motivated and form part of a systematic campaign by the government to use the law as a weapon to silence Rappler’s reporting, which has often been critical of your presidency,” WAN-IFRA and World Editors Forum said in a letter to Duterte, noting the numerous legal proceedings that the news site is facing. “We would also like to remind you that bringing charges for a
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Palace: Duterte allowed to endorse election bets by AJPRESS AS the 90-day campaign period for senatorial and party-list candidates started on Tuesday, February 12, Malacañang informed the public that it is lawful for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to engage in partisan activities. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that while the Article XXII Section 261 (i) known as the Prohibited Acts of the President Rodrigo Duterte Omnibus Election Code Malacañang photo by Albert Alcain prohibits public officers and employees from endorsing, the provision simply excludes the president. “The president even asked – called upon the members of the cabinet to strictly follow the rules on the prohibition on government employees, officials not to campaign for or against any political candidate, exempting himself, because the provision says he is exempted from it,” Panelo said as reported by The Philippine Star. The Code, otherwise known as the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Resolution No. 9115, stated that “the following shall be guilty of an election offense.” Under the “intervention of public officers and employees,” the provision exempts those “holding political offices” from
YOU’VE BEEN SERVED. Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Rappler CEO Maria Ressa by virtue of a warrant issued by Branch 46 of the Manila Regional Trial Court. The warrant of arrest is for the cyberlibel case against her and a reporter over an article published in 2012. Inquirer.net photo by Edwin Bacasmas
Rappler CEO Maria Ressa arrested for ‘cyber libel’ by KLARIZE
MEDENILLA AJPress
RENOWNED Filipina photojournalist Maria Ressa of Rappler was arrested at the paper’s headquarters on suspicion of “cyber libel” by the Philippine Department of Justice on Wednesday, February 13. Ressa, a former CNN bureau chief and current CEO of Rappler, claimed her stake as a lead critic against President Rodrigo Duterte and his administration, providing damning coverage of the controversial war on drugs that claimed thousands of lives through extrajudicial killings. “These legal acrobatics show how far the government will go to silence journalists, including the pettiness of forcing me to spend a night in jail,” Ressa, 55, said in a statement following her arrest. The charges stem from a story published to Rappler involving businessman Wilfredo Keng from
May 2012, months before the Philippines adopted a cybercrime prevention law. In 2014, Keng claimed that the piece linked him to human and drug trafficking, which prompted the paper to update the article that same year. Keng argued that the article’s change in 2014 was under the purview of the cybercrime prevention law. Since her arrest, Rappler continues to defend its CEO and urge the government to drop the charges, which they call “absurd and baseless.” “Maria Ressa, along with her colleagues at Rappler, has fearlessly exposed the abuses of the Duterte government, even in the face of relentless harassment,” the online news outlet said in a statement. “By arresting her on these absurd and baseless charges, concerning an article published 7 years ago and prior to the enactment of the very law
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Historian: ‘Maharlika’ does not mean ‘noble’ by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
A FILIPINO historian on Wednesday, February 13, said that the understanding of “Maharlika” as nobility is a common misconception due to mistranslated historical texts. This was after President Rodrigo Duterte proposed the idea of replacing the name of the Philippines with this term. “Actually, tama si Marcos. Panahon ni Marcos, tama talaga si Marcos. Gusto niya palitan [ng] Maharlika, the Republic of Maharlika because Maharlika is a Malay word and it means more of a concept of serenity and peace (Actually, Marcos is right. This was during the time of Marcos, he is really right. He wanted to change the name to Maharlika, the Republic of Maharlika because Maharlika is a Malay u PAGE A2 word and it means more of a concept of serenity and
peace),” said Duterte in front of an audience of mostly Muslim Filipinos in Maguindanao. But according to Dr. Rolando Borrinaga, a historian from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, “Maharlika” actually means “free man.” He told radio DZMM that the members of the maharlika do not participate in politics, unlike the datu class of rulers. He also added that maharlikas are different from the Visayas’ timawa, or free people. The Philippines was named after Spain’s King Philip II in the 16th century when the country was still colonized by the Spanish. Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, a Spanish explorer, coined the name “Las Islas Filipinas” for the archipelago. In 1978, then-Batasang Pambansa member Eddie Ilarde proposed the Philippines’ name be changed
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AFP chief welcomes US support by AJPRESS THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday, February 12, welcomed the United States’ quarterly report that showed $61.9 million in support of the intelligence operations of the Philippine military. “Talks on the matter (of U.S. intelligence aid) are still on the higher level and the AFP is yet to be directly involved,” AFP chief Benjamin Madrigal Jr. told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo. “Of course any assistance, most especially in terms of technology or added training is a welcome activity,” he added. According to Glenn Fine, principal deputy inspector general of the U.S. State Department, the Philippine military still needs “extensive support” when it comes to intelligence, Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the commitment reflected the “very strong” surveillance, and reconnaissance because of alliance between the Philippines and its defense treaty partner, the U.S. Released photo by Jason W. Fudge/U.S. Marine Corps its “limited capability” to gather information
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on a target. “ T h i s quarter, the Department of Defense (DoD) continued to provide assistance to the AFP in its fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Philip- AFP Chief Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. Philstar.com photo pines (ISISPH) and other violent extremist organizations,” Fine said. The ISIS-PH might remain fragmented and degraded, but it still poses a security
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