June 30-July 3, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 53 • 4 Sections – 30 Pages
Malacañang disputes destabilization plot by AUDREY
MORALLO Philstar.com
MANILA — Malacañang on Thursday, June 28 distanced itself from comments by Boy Saycon, a member of the panel appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to dialogue with the Catholic Church, that it could be behind efforts to destabilize the government and oust the chief executive. In a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that there were not such desMalacañang disputes destabilization plottabilization efforts being planned by the Catholic
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In this file photo, President Rodrigo Duterte was seen with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines President Romulo Valles. Valles is also the archbishop of Davao. Malacañang photo
PH MAYOR’S LEAGUE. President Rodrigo Duterte strikes his signature pose with the members of the Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines (VMLP) during their 25th Annual National Convention held at The Bellevue Hotel Resort in Panglao Island, Bohol on Thursday, June 28. Joining the president are Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Francis Tolentino, VMLP National President and Magsaysay, Davao del Sur Vice Mayor Donnabel Mejia, Bohol Province Governor Edgar Chatto, and Sec. Bong Go of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President. Malacañang photo by Alfred Frias
USA
DATELINE House rejects GOP compromise immigration bill
Church not being used in destabilization – CBCP
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
WITH the ongoing immigration debate in the United States, another bill seeking to address several immigration issues failed to push through this week. Despite President Donald Trump’s lastminute call to pass a compromise on immigration, the House of Representatives on Wednesday, June 27, rejected a GOP-led massive overhaul of the American immigration system. The bill failed with only 121 members voting for it and 301 members — including 112 Republicans — voting against it, highlighting the ongoing inefficacy of both chambers of Congress to resolve the problem with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump arbitrarily terminated last year. The Border Security and Immigration Act was a collaboration among a tight-knit group of conservatives as a solution for the country’s long list of immigration problems. The measure applied many of Trump’s requests: create a new, merit-based visa program, allocate $25 billion for border security and the
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Under pressure, Calif. lawmakers ban soda taxes for 12 years
CALIFORNIA’S cities and counties will be barred from adopting soda taxes for the next 12 years under a legislative deal that marks a big victory for the influential beverage industry — one that state lawmakers said holds Californians “hostage.” On Thursday, June 28 the state legislature rushed to approve the last-minute, quid pro quo deal between one of the state’s largest labor unions and the American Beverage Association. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed the measure shortly after the vote. The bill gives the industry a reprieve in California from any future local soda taxes until Jan. 1, 2031. In return, cities and counties will avoid a costly fight at the ballot box on a broader proposal that could have made it more difficult for them to raise general taxes and fees. It was a vote that several frustrated lawmak-
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by EVELYN
MACAIRAN Philstar.com
Marina Sula told the Sandiganbayan First Division that it was Luy who forged the signatures of former Sen. Ramon Revilla in various endorsement letters, which paved way for the release of the latter’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel to several bogus foundations supposedly owned by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains behind the pork scam. Philstar.com photo by Edd Gumban
Witness clears Bong Revilla in ‘pork barrel’ scam by ELIZABETH
MARCELO Philstar.com
MANILA — Marina Sula, who is under the Department of Justice’s witness protection program (WPP), has cleared former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla of involvement in the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam by disputing the testimony of the government’s star witness Benhur Luy. During her testimony at the continuation of the trial of the plunder case against Revilla on Thursday, June 28 Sula told the magistrates of the Sandiganbayan First Division that it was Luy who forged the signatures of Revilla in various endorsement letters, which paved
MANILA — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has denied that the Church is being used to destabilize the Duterte administration. “That is not true… definitely there is nothing like that. It is just a fabrication that came out of somewhere. Definitely, it did not come from the Church. I can assure you of that,” Cavite Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, chair of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said on Thursday, June 28. Evangelista made the statement after political operator Pastor Boy Saycon said that the Catholic Church might be used to destabilize the Duterte administration. President Duterte appointed Saycon to the EDSA People Power Commission last January and as a member of the special team formed
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“That is not true… definitely there is nothing like that. It is just a fabrication that came out of somewhere. Definitely, it did not come from the Church. I can assure you of that,” Cavite Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, chair of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said on Thursday, June 28. Philstar.com photo by Miguel de Guzman
Amid immigration debate, several Filipinos arrested by ICE Filipino green card holder detained for decade-old conviction by RAE
ANN VARONA AJPress
WITH the current administration’s efforts to tighten immigration enforcement in the United States, several reports are emerging that Filipinos have been part of recent sweeps conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One such case is that of Cloyd Edralin, a Filipino green card holder and U.S. resident of 30 years, who was arrested by ICE earlier this month for a prior conviction he served over a decade ago. As of this writing, the 47-year-old remains in detention and faces deportation. His 12-year-old daughter sobbed as she spoke to u PAGE A2
ralliers while standing on the Supreme Court steps in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, June 26. “My father loved his family. He appreciated the little things, even if it didn’t matter that much, “ said Michelle, the youngest child of Edralin. She said that she didn’t get to see her dad much due to his complicated work schedule. Edralin had reportedly recently started his new job as a machinist. “But the day I was gonna be able to see him when he got home from work, after I hadn’t seen him for two days, he got picked up by ICE and I couldn’t see him at all,” added the 12-year-old. Edralin, a resident of Highland Park, New Jersey, was
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Filipinas behind #BabaeAko campaign make it to TIME’s list of most influential people online by GAEA
Women activists hold a #BabaeAko march during the Independence Day celebration last June 12 at Manila’s Rizal Park to protest President Rodrigo Inquirer.net photo by Grig Montegrande Duterte’s patriarchal rule.
KATREENA Philstar.com
CABICO
MANILA — The Filipino women who launched the #BabaeAko movement landed in TIME magazine’s roundup of most influential people on the internet. TIME recognized the women for calling out President Rodrigo Duterte’s sexist and misogynistic
pronouncements and behavior. “With every misogynistic statement, he is saying ‘you can do the same because I get away with it,’” Inday Espina-Varona, a journalist and one of the cofounders of the movement, was quoted by TIME as saying. The movement was launched last month following the controversial remark of Duterte that he
does not want the next ombudsman to be a woman. Filipinas, including former Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and activist Mae Paner, took to social media their outrage against the president’s pronouncement through videos and vowed to fight back against sexism.
www.TravelTradeConsumer.com Asian Journal’s series of annual events showcasing tourism, trade, and business opportunities in the USA and Philippines.
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