Manila Standard - 2016 August 22 - Monday

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RODY THREATENS TO PULL PHILIPPINES OUT OF UN By Funny Pearl A. Gajunera PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte threatened on Sunday to pull out of the United Nations, as he launched another profanity-laced tirade against the organization for criticizing his bloody war on crime.

More than 1,500 people have been killed since Duterte took office and immediately began his law-and-order crackdown, according to police statistics, triggering fierce criticism from the UN and rights groups. Duterte, a lawyer famous for an acid

tongue who has repeatedly told the UN not to interfere, on Sunday stepped up his rhetoric. “Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations. If you are that disrespectful, son of a whore, then I will just leave you,” Duterte said

in a press conference in his home city of Davao that started about 1:00 a.m. Duterte said he would pull out of the UN only if it returned all of the country’s

contributions to the organization since it joined in 1945, but said he might even look at setting up a rival international organization. “I would invite everybody. I would invite maybe China, the African [nations],” he said. Next page

VOL. XXX • NO. 191 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2016 • WWW.THESTANDARD.COM.PH • EDITORIAL@THESTANDARD.COM.PH

ACID TONGUE. An angry President Duterte fires a series of profanity-laden tirades against the United Nations and Senator Leila de Lima during a press conference held at the Presidential Guest House in Davao City. Malacañang Photo

Du30 appointees told: Vacate posts 2 transport execs quit; Cabinet spared

Leila’s love ‘gave rise to Bilibid corruption’

By Sandy Araneta

By Sandy Araneta and Macon Ramos-Araneta PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday accused Senator Leila de Lima of giving her driver—whom he said was also her lover—the authority to grant special privileges to inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa when she was still the Justice secretary. In an early morning press conference in Davao, Duterte also defended his exposé of De Lima’s alleged affair with her driver, a married man. “Some of my relatives, the women, were asking me, why did you have to include the relationship between De Lima and her driver,” Duterte said. “The crux of the matter is if I do not talk about that relationship… there is no topic to talk about. Because what is really very crucial there is that… the relationship… gave rise to the Next page

P BIKERS FOR PEACE. The leader of bike enthusiasts flashes the peace sign to show his support for the declaration of truce between the government and the communist rebels ahead of the peace talks to be held in Oslo. Manny Palmero

Truce: Troopers in ‘passive defense’ By Florante S. Solmerin COMBAT operations have been stopped since midnight Saturday but troops will stay put in their areas of operation and have strict orders not to launch offensives against the New People’s Army in view of the truce declared by

the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines, which begin formal peace talks Monday in Oslo, Norway, Army spokesman Col. Benjamin Hao said Sunday. “All combat operations have been already canceled. Just like the last time after the Sona [State

of the Nation Address] announcement, we are now going back to barracks,” Hao said. But Hao said law enforcement operations against criminal groups including the campaign against illegal drugs will continue. “There is no instruction for our Next page

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday declared all positions for presidential appointees vacant to address corruption in government offices which he said persists despite his warnings.

In an early morning press conference in Davao aired live over government television network PTV 4, Duterte said that the revocation is applicable nationwide. “If you are there because of a presidential appointment, I will declare all your positions throughout the country vacant,” Duterte said. Duterte expressed disappointment Next page

3 ISIS terrorists killed in Sarangani skirmish THREE members of a jihadist group calling itself Ansar alKhilafah Philippines or AKP, a group that has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, were killed Saturday in an encounter with policemen and soldiers in Maasim, Sarangani, the military said Sunday. AKP leader Mohammad Jaafar Sabiwang Maguid alias Com-

mander Tokboy was not with the group of terrorists who served as rear guards when the encountered happened, said Major General Rafael Valencia, commander of the 10th Infantry Division. During his rounds of military camps, President Rodrigo Duterte had warned not only of the menace from the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Next page

3 ‘narco generals’ facing raps By Sandy Araneta and Francisco Tuyay THE Palace said Sunday it is expecting that formal charges will be filed against some of the police generals that President Rodrigo Duterte had identified as protectors of the illegal drug trade. “We must file charges first against the narco-generals,” said Communications Secretary Martin Andanar over state-run radio dzRB. “The narco-generals will be first. Charges against two or three [narco-generals] will be filed tomorrow. But I don’t want to preempt the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government, since this is his job,” said Andanar. Andanar said next to be charged will be local government officials. Duterte earlier named five police generals that he said were protecting drug lords, relieved three Next page

Telecom firms summoned to House probe THE telecommunications duopoly will be summoned by Congress to explain why their legislative franchises should not be revoked due to poor service, an official says in a House resolution. “The House of Representatives requests the major telecommunication providers, Smart Telecommunications and Globe Telecommunications, to explain why the Filipino people are not receiving the quality of service that they deserve, and to show cause why they should have the privilege to keep their franchises despite the same,” Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque says in House Resolution 238 that he has filed. He invoked Section 20 of Republic Act 7925, which gives all telecommunications users the right to reliable services and demands that all telecoms providers comply with the standards set by the National Telecommunications Commission. Next page

Budget move clears way for ‘unli’ pork

GIGANTIC FUN. Children frolic at Plaza Ferguson’s fountain area inside gigantic bowl-shaped objects after an early morning rain in Manila. Ey Acasio twitter.com/ MlaStandard

facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

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SENATORS and congressmen now have “unlimited pork” after Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno removed the cap on project allocations―such as the P70 million for congressmen and P200 million for senators. Now up for grabs is a total of

thestandard.com.ph

P860.7 billion for infrastructure projects. And today, Monday, the country’s economic managers led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and Diokno will be in Congress as the House begins its deliberations on President Duterte’s P3.35-tril-

lion national budget for 2017. Diokno said there was “no pork” in the national budget in compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Allocation Next page

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