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Volume10 – Issue 21 • 16 Pages
F E BR U A R Y 1 7 - 2 3 , 2 0 1 7
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Senate won’t allow arrest of De Lima by Christine anD
CHAIN OF LOVE. Women leaders led by Karina David, former chief of the Civil Service Commission (left) and Imelda Nicolas, former chairperson of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, trooped to the Senate to express support for Senator Leila De Lima even as they condemned the alleged move to arrest Senate photo by Joseph Vidal her on trumped-up illegal drugs charges.
DATELINE
USA
from the AJPress NEWS TEAM AcroSS AMEricA
USAID programs in PH continue despite anti-US tirades
the United states Agency for International Development (UsAID) is continuing with its assistance programs with the Philippine government this year. this is despite President rodrigo Duterte’s previous pronouncements that the Philippines could survive without any assistance from the U.s. “We continue to have programs with them and no one has asked us to leave or to discontinue. We continue to work together,” Gloria steele, acting assistant administrator for UsAID’s Bureau for Asia, said, as quoted by inquirer. steele noted that the UsAID projects in the Philippines were “not aid per se” but rather, “a partnership.” “We have talked about continuing the partnership for growth but I believe they now call it, ‘Partnership for Growth with equity,’” steele remarked. According to her, the Duterte administration sought to pursue UsAID programs re-
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Duterte should invite Trump to EAS – US exec
WAshINGtoN – President Duterte needs to invite Us President Donald trump to the east Asia summit (eAs) in November to enable both leaders to reboot the relationship between their countries, according to a senior adviser and deputy director of the American think tank Center for strategic and International studies (CsIs). “It’ll be really good if President trump will come for the eAs,” murray hiebert, senior adviser and deputy director for southeast Asia Program at the CsIs, told filipino journalists in a briefing on Philippines-Us relations. secretary of state rex tillerson, he said, should encourage trump to attend the two big summits – the eAs to be held in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam. “President Duterte and President trump have to meet. I don’t know if it’s possible to meet before November just because the new
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avenDañO Gil CabaCunGan Inquirer.net
the senate will not allow sen. Leila de Lima to be arrested inside the session hall and will insist that the rule of law be followed, senate President Pro tempore franklin Drilon said. But Drilon, who is acting senate President in the absence of senate President Aquilino Pimentel III who is abroad, conceded that the senate cannot stop the arrest of De Lima, who is facing possible drug trafficking charges before the Department of Justice (DoJ). “By tradition, we will oppose service of
the warrant of arrest inside the session hall. the sanctity of the session hall must be respected,” Drilon told reporters. he acknowledged that the senate cannot stop the arrest of De Lima outside the session hall as the alleged offense to be filed against his Liberal Party mate had a penalty of beyond six years’ imprisonment. “that is a legal process and the general statement that I can make is that we will see to it the process is followed strictly in accordance with the rule of law,” Drilon said. Asked whether the senate can take custody of De Lima, he said that was up to the court to decide “because at that point, theoretically, she is under the custody of
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If ICE knocks ‘Don’t open the door; SolGen recommends know your rights’– immigrant advocates acquittal of Napoles by anthOny
aDvinCula Inquirer.net
NeW YorK — When ICe officials knock on your door, you don’t have to let them into your home. And in case a law enforcement officer stops you on the road and asks about your immigration status, do not provide any information without your immigration lawyer.
those were the rights that undocumented filipinos and all other immigrants in the United states can exercise to protect themselves, according to immigration and community advocates on Wednesday,february 8, in the wake of executive orders on immigration issued by Pres. Donald trump that have sparked massive raids in recent days across the country.
“Don’t open the door to anyone you don’t know,” sally Kinoshita, deputy director of Immigrant Legal resource Center (ILrC), told the ethnic press. “Don’t sign any document that you don’t understand [because] that may give up some of your rights to a hearing [with an immigration judge] and other benefits.” every immigrant can deny ICe
by Dana
siOsOn AJPress
soLICItor General Jose Calida has recommended the acquittal of alleged multi-billion priority development assistance funds (PDAf) scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, claiming that the regional trial Court wrongly convicted her guilty in her serious illegal detention case. “In the case of Napoles, it is my well-considered opinion, as well as the opinion of my assistant solicitor generals, that the court, the regional trial Court, erred in con- Janet Lim Napoles victing the accused, Janet Napoles, for the crime of serious illegal detention,” Calida said in a press conference on Wednesday, february 15. In 2014, Napoles was sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or an imprisonment term of 21 up to 40 years. Judge elmo Alameda of the makati regional trial Court convicted Napoles guilty of detaining her cousin and principal scam whistleblower, Benhur Luy, from De-
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Hontiveros to Pacquiao: Stop victim-blaming Solons exchange Bible verses over cross-dressing by Dana
siOsOn AJPress
seNAtor risa hontiveros on monday, february 13, called for a stop to the culture of victim-blaming and gender discrimination against the members of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBt) community. hontiveros authored senate Bill No. 1271, also referred to as the Anti-Discrimination Act, which seeks to penalize and stop discrimination and harm against any person based on his or her sexual ori-
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Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Sen Risa Hontiveros.
PH Supreme Court affirms forfeiture of Marcos’ jewelry set by AJPress the Philippine supreme Court (sC) has affirmed an earlier sandiganbayan ruling which orders the forfeiture of the third jewelry collection owned by former first Lady Imelda marcos. Also known as the “malacañang Collection,” the set is assessed to be worth between $110,055 to $153,089, based on the evaluation of auction house Christie, manson and Woods Intl., Inc. in 1991. the high court rejected the petition for certiorari filed by Imelda and her daughter, Irene marcos-Araneta, the 21-page decision authored by Chief Justice ma. Lourdes sereno said. the petition sought to reverse the anti-graft court’s 2014 finding that the jewelry collection was part of the marcos family’s ill-gotten wealth. the sC said that the petitioners “failed to satisfactorily show that the properties were lawfully acquired.” the high court also denied the marcoses’ claim that they were deprived of due process and were not given the opportunity to prove that they acquired the
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Inquirer.net photos
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Filipino designer on ‘Make America Great Again’ Grammys gown: We have to support the president by Christina
M. Oriel
AJPress
WhILe most headlines about the 59th annual Grammy Awards are focusing on Adele’s “Album of the Year” win over Beyoncé, a relatively unknown singer was catapulted into the limelight for her bold red carpet look made by a filipino designer bearing a political message to support rather than resist President Donald trump. on sunday night, february 12, Joy Villa arrived in a white coat and subsequently took it off to reveal her navy blue gown with “make America Great Again” emblazoned on it, while “trUmP” in silver glitter was spelled out on the backside. Behind the statement piece is Andre soriano, a designer based in san
Diego, who appeared on rihanna’s Bravo fashion reality show, “styled to rock” back in 2013. “the gown was more a message of love and moving this country forward,” soriano said during an interview with the Asian Journal on monday, february 13. “I design for all types of human. I don’t really care — there are no races or barriers with creativity when it comes to dressing up women.” soriano, who has been working with Villa for three years, said he had a few outfit sketches prepared for her based their conversations about “static, the sun, peace, and love.” however, the designs ultimately changed after watching coverage of the Women’s march in Washington, D.C. following President Donald trump’s inauguration in January. “someone said they were going to bomb the White house,” he said. “I called Joy immediately and said, ‘I
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