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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARY 13-19, 2017
Dateline PhiliPPines
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VP Robredo denies involvement in leaked emails by Dana
SioSon AJPress
PhiliPPine Vice leni Robredo has dismissed the allegations that she was involved in the alleged leaked emails about a plan to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte. This comes after reports revealed that a Yahoo! group contained emails of Robredo’s supporters plotting to oust the president. “hindi ko alam kung ano ang participation ko. nami-mention daw ang pangalan ko, pero hindi ako kabahagi nu’ng grupong iyon (I don’t know what is my participation there. I was told that my name was mentioned but I’m not part of that group),” Robredo said in an interview in Marinduque on Monday, January 9. Pro-Duterte blogger “The Thinking Pinoy” posted the socalled ‘#lenileaks’ on its page, citing emails and information from a Yahoo group named “Global Filipino Diaspora Council.” One of the emails in the thread suggested that Duterte resign. “The only way to fight this evil plot to unseat VP leni is to ask Duterte to resign. After all, he promised to resign in six months if he has not solved the drug epidemic in the Philippines,” the email said. it further read, “he (Duterte) asked for an extension of another six months. extension denied! Join Duterte Resign Movement.” in response, the vice president said, “Wala, hindi rin ako kabahagi doon (No, I’m also not part of it).”
Vice President Leni Robredo
Robredo went on to remark that she has been on the receiving end of fake news. The vice president said she’d rather focus on her job instead of the ‘ridiculous’ allegations against her. “Pero sa akin, as much as possible, gusto ko sanang magconcentrate sa trabaho, kasi ang tingin ko lang, ang daming viciousness ngayon sa internet (For me, as much as possible, I want to concentrate on my job, because I think there is a lot of viciousness now on the internet),” Rodredo said. Robredo also denied being in contact with Filipino-American philanthropist loida nicolaslewis, a known supporter of the liberal Party, who was part of the controversial thread. “ni personal meeting, ni tawag sa telepono, hindi po kami nagtawagan o nag-meet sa Amerika. Kaya ‘yung kumakalat na balita hindi po iyon totoo (Not a personal meeting nor a phone call.
We didn’t even met in America. The circulating news was fake),” Robredo said. The vice president traveled to the United States with her children last month to spend the holidays. in response to the allegations, Malacañang said it is conducting an investigation regarding the matter. “it’s a serious matter sapagkat may nakasulat doon kung paano nila papag-resign-in si President Duterte (It is a serious matter because it is written there how they will make President Duterte resign)... Siyempre, that does not sit well with us in the government because any move to oust the President is not good and it is definitely illegal,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar told radio DZMM. he also acknowledged that Robredo may not be part of the rumored ouster plot. “it’s possible she didn’t know,” Andanar said. n
Bong Revilla’s plunder trial moved to February by Vince
F. nonato
Inquirer.net
MAnilA — “Parang magtatagal pa (Seems like it will take longer),” lamented former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr., as the Sandiganbayan postponed the start of his plunder trial until February 9. Revilla and his former chief of staff Richard Cambe, both detained at the Philippine national Police custodial center pending trial for the P224.5-million case, were present for the scheduled hearing on Thursday. The politician’s camp even brought in a new collaborator: a legal heavyweight in the person of 87-year-old former SolicitorGeneral estelito Mendoza. But, the trial did not push through since the court has yet to finalize the pre-trial order—a draft of which is currently 830 pages long—which would govern the weekly proceedings. What was supposed to be day-long hearing lasted 30 minutes. The court found that the pretrial brief of the prosecuting panel needs to be corrected first when it comes to the marking of certain pieces of evidence. in view of this, it ordered the trial dates for January be cancelled to make way for two more preliminary conferences for the parties to clarify matters. lead prosecutor Joefferson
Toribio, however, said they were only informed of this concern in the morning of the trial. he said prosecutors would submit an amended pre-trial brief if needed. Cambe, who represents himself as his lawyer, said he would submit a soft copy of his brief if he were allowed access to a computer. he cited “financial difficulty” for his inability to hire a legal counsel. Revilla’s lawyer, Ramon esguerra, said they would have been fine had the court proceeded with the presentation of witnesses, even without the pre-trial order. he reasoned out that “the good senator has been in detention for more than two years already.” But, Justice efren dela Cruz, who chairs the First Division, said “we cannot (proceed) without a pre-trial order,” citing the need to avoid ambiguities down the road. Making his first appearance before the court for the Revilla case, Mendoza noted that with the large number of prosecution witnesses, “this will probably take forever.” Toribio earlier disclosed that the prosecution would present a total of 119 witnesses, including 10 new witnesses and 77 supposed beneficiaries for the alleged ghost projects funded by Revilla’s pork barrel funds. he assured Mendoza that to expedite the trial, prosecutors
Duterte to mayors... PAGE A2 t
problem. i will really kill you.’” “As long as i’m President, these big shabu dealers will die and the next batch would really be these mayors. i will call them and lock them up,” he said. Those whose names are on his narcolist would have a problem, he said. Three mayors from Quezon province, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the President did not link anyone in the group, mostly from luzon, to the drug trade. “he was cool. But he was in his natural self … cursing and all,” one mayor said in a telephone interview. “At least in our batch, the President did not call out any name. he just kept on talking. he asked for our support in the drug war and in solving the country’s problems,” the mayor said. The inquirer sources said they were asked to leave their mobile phones with security personnel before they proceeded to a hall where the President met them. Of the 39 municipal mayors and two city mayors of Quezon, only four were not able to attend the meeting, the third source said. “Duterte was jovial. he was even joking during his 30- to 40-minute speech in our batch. But he did his usual cursing,” said another mayor, also from Quezon. But in a meeting with another group, also from luzon, the President was described as in “a very bad mood.”
“Mayors engaging in illegal drug trade and corruption were cursed and threatened,” a mayor in that group said in a text message in Filipino. The source said Mr. Duterte again mentioned Vicente loot, a former police officer and now mayor of Daanbantayan in Cebu, as among those involved. “he was really angry at loot,” the source said, adding that the President also named nine judges on his narcolist. Shoot-to-kill orders Mayor Anida Dimaukom, of Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, did not attend the meeting, according to her brother-in-law, Councilor Zayton Dimaukom. Anida is formerly the town’s vice mayor. She replaced her husband, Samsudin Dimaukom, who was killed in an alleged shootout with police in north Cotabato in October. The President had linked the couple to illegal drugs. During a meeting with one group from the Visayas, the President said he had directed the chiefs of police of towns and cities to shoot mayors involved in drugs. “he said he will protect the policemen and even grant them pardon if they will be convicted,” a participant said. “We were silent when the President said this while we were at the Rizal hall. But many of us felt that we were threatened.” “he said the list was validated but we were not shown the list and we do not know how we can check if we were mistakenly included.
would present the beneficiaries in batches. Toribio later told reporters in an interview that it was not the prosecution’s fault that the case has taken years already as Revilla remained in the slammer. “i already stated in front of the court that we are committed to finishing the case as soon as possible. ‘Di naman kami nagde-delay eh (We are not the ones delaying this),” he said. Revilla, who was initially wary of reporters, later admitted in a chance interview that he was excited at first before his hopes for speedy proceedings were dashed. “i’m okay, pero mahaba-haba pa ‘tong laban na ‘to. Prayers na lang (i’m okay, but this fight is going to be a long one. i’ll just leave it to prayers),” he told reporters. “excited sana, hoping na mapabilis (i was excited, hoping it would be quicker).” his wife, Bacoor City, Cavite, Mayor lani Mercado, also expressed sadness about the number of prosecution witnesses. “Mas lalong tatagal (it will go on longer),” she lamented. For now, she said the family would heed the advice of President Rodrigo Duterte, who promised during his campaign on Jan. 21 last year that “i will see to it that they are also afforded the
u PAGE A5 We might be shot by our police chief,” the mayor said. The President also cited slain Albuera Mayor Rolando espinosa Sr. in leyte and iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog who, he said, was close to a slain alleged drug lord, Melvin Odicta. Mabilog, who was at the meeting, kept shaking his head, according to the mayor seated near him. Cooperate or else “We have to be cooperative or else we will be included in the list,” Mayor Therese Sitoy-Cho of Cordova town in Cebu said, referring to a thick folder Mr. Duterte showed. Mr. Duterte told the mayors that he would look into how each of them spent their intelligence funds and expected that it would go to the police. “he wants our areas cleared of illegal drugs within the year,” Cho said. The President reportedly told the mayors that the folder contained a “complete and verified list” of all local government officials, “from mayors down to barangay officials,” involved in illegal drugs. According to Cho, there were a few mayors absent during the meeting, though she did not know who. Referring to mayors who failed to attend the meeting, the President reportedly said: “noted mo” (you are noted). “This is not an order, this is a plea. Cooperate lang gyud mo para way sabod (Just cooperate to avoid trouble),” Cho quoted the President as saying. (With reports from Inquirer.net Bureaus, Leila Salaverria) n
THE PLAN. Advocates of awareness programs for HIV and AIDS display condoms during the launch of the National HIV Strategic Plan for the MSM and Transgender Population in a news conference in Quezon City. ManilaTimes.net photo by Mike De Juan
Defense chief: Agreement for PH-Russia deal almost done by Dana
SioSon AJPress
The Philippines’ Department of national Defense (DnD) on Monday, January 9, said that the country is already wrapping up the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for its planned military defense cooperation with Russia. Defense Secretary Delfin lorenzana said that the memorandum was first drafted in 2014 during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino iii, but was not completed. “hindi umurong (it didn’t move forward) so we are going to finish this. halos tapos na ‘yung draft (The draft is almost done) and it will be one of the documents that will be signed kung matatapos ‘yung mga nitty-gritty (after fixing the nitty-gritty),” lorenzana said. he said that the MOU is aimed to be signed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s upcoming visit in Russia in April or May this year. According to him, the proposed agreement will pave way to the exchange of military personnels between the two countries and
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
participation in war exercises. “The Russians said that they would like to have exercises with us, especially maritime, pero ‘yung ilalagay natin acceptable kasi dadaan pa ‘yan sa DFA (we’ll include what is acceptable because it will still pass through the Department of Foreign Affairs),” lorenzana added. lorenzana also took note that the MOU with Russia will be
Inquirer File photo/Lyn Rillon
different from the Philippines’ Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States. “hindi naman ‘yung katulad sa US na treaty, Mutual Defense Treaty na pagka-aatakihin tayo tulungan tayo. Wala tayong ganun sa Russia (It’s not the same with our Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. which is a treaty, Mutual Defence Treaty, which
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