Manila Standard - 2016 September 22 - Thursday

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DU30 EXPANDS LIST: 40 JUDGES, MORE DRUG LORDS

VOL. XXX • NO. 222 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he had a one-page list containing the names of Chinese drug lords, adding it was his “thickest-ever” third list of the drug lords operating in the country. He said there were 40 judges in the list. “With regard to our Chinese friends, there’s one page here … judges there are about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 … 40, distributed all around,” Duterte said in a speech in Camp Elias Angeles in Pili, Camarines Sur.

He also said there was no need to impose Martial Law to fight illegal drugs in the country. But he said if he were already President when the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary was discovered, he would have declared Martial Law. Duterte made his statement even as National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Wednesday defended Duterte’s push for federalism in the Next page

‘Leila nixed drug plan’ Witnesses: Cronus shelved in favor of an NBP inmate By Christine F. Herrera

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ALACE executives and then Justice Secretary Leila de Lima preempted a police operation to enable a favored drug lord to raise enough money to bankroll De Lima’s senatorial bid, witnesses told a congressional hearing Wednesday.

The deputy chief for operations of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Dir. Benjamin Magalong, said Oplan Cronus, put together by the CIDG and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, was supposed to isolate drug lords operating in the New Bilibid Prison.

The original plan was squashed, with De Lima, Bureau of Corrections chief Franklin Bucayo; Chief Supt. Reginald Villasanta, then executive director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission; and Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo Jr. of the Next page

Sebastian: De Lima’s fair-haired inmate? By Maricel V. Cruz

ACCUSING FINGER. Convicted kidnapper Froilan Trestiza, commander of the Batang City Jail group inside the New Bilibid Prison, accuses former Bureau of Corrections chief Rafael Ragos and a ‘consultant’ of Senator Leila de Lima of extorting money from him so he would not be thrown to a faraway prison complex during a hearing at the House of Representatives. In the same hearing, PNP deputy chief for operations Director Benjamin Magalong and high-profile inmate Noel Martinez also testify regarding the proliferation of drug syndicates inside the NBP. Manny Palmero/Ey Acasio

UN tapped Solons urge De Lima: Face the music to look into drug slays By Macon RamosAraneta and Rey E. Requejo SENATOR Leila de Lima on Wednesday urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to invite United Nations Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard to look into the rising number of extrajudicial killings in the country. Official figures show that as of Sept. 14, 3,173 suspected drug pushers or users were killed Next page

SENATOR Leila de Lima should face her accusers “for her own good” at congressional hearings where she is being accused of taking millions of pesos from drug lords operating inside the national penitentiary, President Rodrigo Duterte’s chief legal counsel said Wednesday. “Senator Leila de Lima should appear before the House investigation,” Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo told the Manila Standard in an interview. On the second day of marathon hearings at the House on Wednesday, high-profile inmates linked De Lima, a former Justice secretary, to the illegal drug trade inside the national penitentiary, which was used to raise money for her

campaign to become senator. Asked about the possible charges that may be filed against De LIma, Panelo said that possible graft raps can be filed but he left the final determination to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III, who is leading the presentation of evidence at the House. “If she does not attend to the House probe, she already admits by her silence all the charges against her,” Panelo said. Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus on Wednesday said De Lima faces criminal charges if she is found liable for the proliferation of drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison. At a Quezon City news conference, De Jesus said those responsible for the proliferation of drugs

inside the national penitentiary must be held accountable. “No one is above the law, not even De Lima,” she said. The women’s party-list representative welcomed the congressional inquiry in aid of legislation into De Lima’s supposed link to the drug trade at the NBP, she said. “As long as there’s a comprehensive investigation to ensure the authenticity and genuineness of evidence, and that there is no violation of the process, we will appreciate it [probe], especially if the objective is to ferry out the truth,” she told the Manila Standard. Congress must not only single out the drug proliferation at the national penitentiary only at the Next page

Task force saves trader from ASG A BUSINESSWOMAN who was abducted by armed men in Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte, on Monday had been rescued in Sulu, the Joint Task Force Sulu said Wednesday. “Troops of the 35th Infantry Battalion rescued kidnap victim Martina Yee in Sulu this morning,” the task force said. Major Felimon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, confirmed the rescue. Meanwhile, Armed Forces Chief Ricardo Visaya, who was confirmed by the powerful Commission on Appointments on Next page

WHEN she was still Justice secretary, Senator Leila de Lima frequented the New Bilibid Prison compound several times since January 2013 to visit bigtime drug dealer Jaybee Sebastian, an inmate told lawmakers Wednesday. During the second day of the House inquiry on the proliferation of drugs at the national penitentiary, witness Noel Martinez said Sebastian, a fellow inmate, sought his assistance to raise funds for the senatorial bid of the former Justice chief. Martinez described Sebastian as the Sigue-

Sigue Commando commander and chairman of the NBP’s Presidyo Side maximum security compound. Martinez said it was January 2013 when De Lima started to see Sebastian at his office in the NBP. Next page

WHO IS HE? In this file photo snapped on July 20, inmate Jaybee Sebastian, convicted of carnapping and sentenced to up to 20 years imprisonment, is taken out from a PNP bus during an inspection of the Bureau of Corrections in Muntinlupa City by Director General Ronald dela Rosa. Danny Pata

Arms deal with Russia eyed THE Philippines may acquire military equipment and technology from Russia to boost its campaign against terrorism, transnational crimes and the threats to it in the disputed South China Sea, Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. The department said officials from the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation briefed the Philippine officials who visited Moscow on the different aspects of possible military cooperation between the

Philippines and Russia, including the acquisition of Russian military equipment and technology. The FSMTC is a federal agency under the Office of the President of the Russian Federation. It is responsible for control and oversight in the military-technical cooperation between the Russian Federation and foreign countries. Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said the acquisition of modern military equipment Next page

Plans for extra powers sought By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

MARTIAL LAW REMEMBERED. Thousands of students walk out of their classes in Metro Manila and

troop to Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang to mark the 44th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by then President Ferdinand Marcos and urge President Rodrigo Duterte to bring his promised ‘change’ to the education sector by taking quick action against tuition increases. Danny Pata

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BOTH chambers of Congress are separately asking transport authorities to submit details of their plans and projects to be covered by the emergency powers sought by the executive department. “We have to make sure their plans are detailed, the scope well-

defined, time-bound, transparent and, more importantly, will have direct impact to address the traffic emergency,” Senator Grace Poe, chairman of the Senate committee on public services, said during a hearing Wednesday. In the House of Representatives, leaders demanded the Department of Transportation Next page

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