2 PINOYS WIN TOP FILM AWARDS IN ITALY
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VOL. XXX • NO. 212 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph
9/11 memorial museum: Task completed NEW YORK―For six years, Amy Passiak oversaw the distribution of hundreds of objects from the World Trade Center in New York, a task she finished days before the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. There was only a knot of people on July 27, in a corner of the cargo area at New York’s Kennedy airport, to help with the end of the adventure. Next page
IN HONOR OF THE 9/11 VICTIMS. People walk among US national flags erected by students and staff from Pepperdine University as they pay their respects to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York at their campus in Malibu, California, on Sept 10, 2016. AFP
‘Traffic crisis persists’ But Alvarez junks blanket authority for Tugade
Drug war: Body count nearing 3,000 By Sandy Araneta THE Palace claimed success in its bloody war on illegal drugs as the body count of suspected pushers and users climbed to nearly 3,000, including the sister of an actress who was found dead in Quezon City with gunshot wounds to the chest. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar insisted Sunday that many of those slain have been killed in “gang wars” and not by shadowy vigilantes encouraged by the President, as
critics have alleged. Duterte, who took office in June after winning election on a promise to kill tens of thousands of criminals, has vowed to press his campaign, despite growing international criticism. “The police operations are a success. But there have also been gang wars or internecine [conflicts] where they eliminate each other,” Andanar said. He said such killings were under investigation by the police. Andanar was reacting to police
reports showing that more than 41 people were being killed each day under the Duterte administration’s anti-crime campaign. By the end of last week, at least 1,466 people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations since Duterte took office, police spokesman Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said. Another 1,490 are classified as “deaths under investigation” referring to people murdered in suspicious circumstances, many of them shot by suspected vigilantes or found dead with crude
signs labelling them drug-pushers or criminals. The government has insisted that those killed by police died because they resisted arrest. However, human rights groups charge that Duterte has been actively encouraging extrajudicial killings, telling police that he will protect them from punishment while urging civilians to kill drug pushers in their community. The issue of the extrajudicial killings led to a spectacular falling out with US President Barack Next page
Bangladesh 2 Pinoys leave Italy with top awards assured of money back THE Justice department has assured the Bangladeshi government of the speedy return of $15 million of the funds stolen from it and which was turned over by Chinese casino junket operator Kim Wong, an official said Monday. Chief State Counsel Ricardo Paras III said a petition was filed on Aug. 26 before a Manila Regional Trial Court seeking to have the $15 million forfeited in favor of Bangladesh. He said the RTC ruled on Aug. 30 that the petition was sufficient in form and substance, and that it was now awaiting a comment from the Office of the Next page
WEATHER TROPICAL storm “Ferdie” entered the Philippine area of responsibility on Sunday morning and is expected to dump rain over Northern Luzon by Wednesday or Thursday. The weather bureau said Ferdie―international name Meranti―was packing maximum sustained winds of 105 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 135 kph. Next page
DIAZ
VENICE―The Philippine film The Woman Who Left, a revenge tale shot in black and white by director Lav Diaz, won the top Golden Lion prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. “I want to dedicate this film to the Filipino people and their struggle, and humanity’s struggle,” Diaz said as he received the award. Holding his Lion aloft, the man behind Melancholia (2008) and Century of Birthing (2011) thanked the jury, led this year by British director Sam Mendes, who said the 20 films in competition had proved to be of “a wonderful, astonishing variety”. Next page
DIZON
By Christine F. Herrera
H
OUSE Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has rejected the granting of “blanket emergency powers” being sought by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade after expressing disappointment over the agency’s failure to concretely address traffic problems during the first 100 days.
ALVAREZ
TUGADE
“To be honest, I am not satisfied with the agency’s performance. The concrete reforms should have been put in place Next page
Kidnap site snags 3 more victims KUALA LUMPUR—Three crew members on a Malaysian fishing trawler have been kidnapped in waters where militants from the Abu Sayyaf group have previously taken hostages, a security official said on Sunday. The incident is believed to have occurred late Saturday off Pom Pom Island, a popular scuba diving location in the eastern state of Sabah. “The boat is Malaysian registered,” Wan Abdul Bari Abdul Khalid, head of Malaysia’s Eastern Sabah Security Command, said without specifying the nationality of the crew. Authorities did not comment on whether they believed Abu Sayyaf were involved. In May, the Abu Sayyaf released 14 Indonesian sailors who had been kidnapped in Next page
Spokesman owns up to Palace PR boo-boo By Sandy Araneta COMMUNICATIONS Secretary Martin Andanar on Sunday admitted that he made a mistake in releasing wrong information that President Rodrigo Duterte would be seated between US President Barack Obama and United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon during the gala dinner at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit last week. Andanar, speaking on radio dzBB, said he would take full responsibility for releasing the wrong information in the official press release, and that he regretted the mistake. Andanar said “there was a small twitter.com/ MlaStandard
problem” with the Presidential News Desk, which released information about the seating arrangements without checking the facts. “I take full responsibility for that boo-boo. But I’d like to assure the Malacañang Press Corps that I’ve already ordered an investigation on... why this kind of information went out without my approval. It’s not a matter to laugh about,” Andanar said. “I regret what happened. It was an unintentional. We’re looking into the problem,” Andanar said. Andanar said that last Wednesday, when the dinner was scheduled, he remembered the press asking him about the seating arrangements. Next page
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FEAST OF SACRIFICE. Artists perform a traditional Muslim dance at a fair in Pasay City in celebration of ‘Eid ul Adha ‘or Feast of Sacrifice. Ey Acasio
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