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APRIL 19 -25, 2019 Volume 12 - No. 26 • 16 Pages
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DATELINE
USA
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Duterte renews attacks vs Catholic Church on Holy Week THE SOLEMNITY of Holy Week did not prevent President Rodrigo Duterte from renewing his attacks against the Catholic Church over its alleged criticism during its masses of his war against illegal drugs. “Alam mo p***** i** may giyera
Philippine Exercise Director for Balikatan 2019, Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay (left), shakes hands with U.S. Commanding General III Marine Expeditionary Force, Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, during the closing ceremony of this year’s PH-U.S. Balikatan Exercises, held in Camp Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Friday, April 12. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon
US to fly, sail, operate anywhere int’l laws allow despite China warning
THE United States on Friday, April 12, maintained it will continue its operations in the South China Sea (SCS) despite China’s protest about American forces stirring trouble in the waters. “The U.S. will fly, sail and operate everywhere international law allows. That’s it. Wish we had a longer statement for you, but that’s the simple truth,” said Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, commander of the Japan-based U.S. 3rd Marine Expeditionary Forces, during a post-Balikatan media interview at Camp Aguinaldo along with Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay,
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(You son of b*tch, there is war). I have declared war. ’Pag hindi, matalo ang bayan ko (If I don’t declare, the people will lose),” Duterte said in his speech during a campaign rally in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. “Kayong mga pari wala man kayong
gawin. Mag-ano kayo forgiveness, forgiveness. Madala ba ’yan ng forgiveness (You priests, you can do nothing. You want to invoke forgiveness. That won’t help),” he said. The president then made fun of the Catholic sacrament of confession, say-
ing attending Mass and seeking forgiveness from God were “useless” as he would tend to repeat his sins everyday. “Kaya ako hindi nagsisimba. Kasi ’pag magsimba ako (That’s why I nev-
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$13.75-M transferred to Marcos victims’ fund by JANVIC
MATEO Philstar.com
MANILA — A New York court has released the $13.75 million that will be used for the upcoming fund distribution to victims of human rights violations during the martial law period. American human rights lawyer Robert Swift, in an email to The Star, said the money for the distribution has been transferred to the settlement fund created after the successful $2-billion class action suit filed against the Marcos family in 1995. The fund was transferred days after New York district court Judge Katherine Polk Failla affirmed the settlement agreement that will divide some $20 million worth of illgotten assets recovered in the United States. The money came from the sale of the properties seized from Vilma Bautista, an aide of former first lady and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos. Among those recovered from her were valuable paintings believed to have been purchased using government funds during the Marcos dictatorship. A previous court filing showed that the properties seized from Bautista were deposited with the New York clerk of court pending resolution of the different claims
DUTERTE AND HIS CANDIDATES IN CAGAYN. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech during the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) campaign rally at the Cagayan Sports Coliseum in Tuguegarao City on Monday, April 16. Malacañang photo by Robinson Niñal
PH doubts US list of high kidnap risk countries ‘US could have stopped China in sea dispute’ u PAGE 2
THE Philippines’ Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) questioned the United States State Department list of countries with high kidnapping list as it included the country among the 35 countries in the travel advisory. DILG Secretary Eduardo Año doubted the accuracy of the list as he emphasized that the kidnapping cases decreased significantly in recent years. He noted that he would seek the explanation of the U.S. embassy as to how they arrived with the said list. “A list is just a list. What we have are factual data pointing to the decreasing number of kidnapping cases in the Philippines. That’s what we are banking on,” Año said in a statement as reported by The Philippine Star.
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by NESTOR
CORRALES Inquirer.net
MALACAÑANG lamented on Wednesday, April 17, the United States’ inaction on Beijing’s massive reclamation in the disputed South China Sea. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement following reports of China’s continued aggression in the disputed waters, including poaching giant clams in Scarborough Shoal and deploying Chinese maritime militia near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island. “Well, like America is there, they could have stopped China from the inception, but they did not,” Panelo said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel on
Wednesday. In July 2016, the Philippines won its arbitration case against China before the United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal in The Hague, which invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims to almost all of the South China Sea. China, however, has repeatedly refused to recognize the ruling. Since he assumed the presidency in June 2016, Duterte said he would set aside the ruling in the meantime and chose to engage China through bilateral talks. “I think the realization is: how do you enforce an arbitral ruling from an international tribunal that does not have the President Duterte, assisted by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, shows the P3.8-trillion mechanism of enforcement? It does not budget for 2019 that he signed on Monday, April 15, after vetoing P95.3 billion in unprogrammed
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items, including postratification changes made by the House of Representatives. Malacañang photo
PH press freest in Southeast Asia, says DOJ chief Palace: Unconstitutional House by TETCH
TORRES-TUPAS Inquirer.net
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra
Malacañang photo
MANILA — The Philippine press “is the freest in the region,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Wednesday, April 17, as he dared visiting foreign journalists to prove their allegations that press freedom in the country is diminishing. “Contrary to the opinion of the visiting foreign journalists, I believe that the Philippine press is the freest in the region. Anyone can criticize or say anything against the government without fear of retaliation,” Guevarra said in reaction to reports by representatives of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) from the
U.S. and Alliance for Journalists Freedom (AJF) from Australia. CPJ and AJF took note of the “increasing levels of intimidation” against Filipino journalists and “shrinking space for the free press in the country.” Guevarra said the foreign journalists made a hasty generalization after a two-day fact-finding probe. The CPJ and AJF cited the 11 criminal cases filed against journalist Maria Ressa and her online news outfit Rappler as basis for their findings. The groups claimed that the cases against Ressa and Rappler were a form of “formal and informal pressure on journalists…
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insertions among vetoed items by JULIE
M. AURELIO Inquirer.net
MANILA — The P95.3 billion worth of appropriations in the P3.8-trillion budget for 2019 vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte included the “unconstitutional” changes to the spending bill made by the House of Representatives, Malacañang said on Tuesday, April 16. Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said late on Monday, April 15, that the vetoed appropriations were not found to be unconstitutional but were just not part of President Duterte’s programmed priorities.
But asked on Tuesday if the vetoed items included the postratification realignments by the House, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo replied: “Correct. It is.” Violated the Constitution Panelo said the rejected provisions were “the so-called insertions or riders” that were not part of the Department of Public Works and Highways’ program and therefore violated the Constitution. “Those vetoed provisions are in violation of the Constitution or it is against certain statutes. That was also the statement made by
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