Assault weapons seized in C de Oro By Francisco Tuyay and Lance Baconguis A SHIPMENT of about 6,700 rounds of ammunition for high-caliber arms and assault rifles from Metro Manila to Mindanao was intercepted by police and military agents at a port in Cagayan de Oro Thursday, law enforcement officials Next page said Friday.
Cabinet quarrels irk Du30 PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday told the members of his Cabinet to stop squabbling over politics even as a source said they were beginning to quarrel. In a speech before calamity victims in Batanes province, Duterte said he will not allow politics to overpower his Cabinet over the issues surrounding the country. Next page
VOL. XXX • NO. 245 • 4 SECTIONS 20 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2016 • www.thestandard.com.ph • editorial@thestandard.com.ph
EFFECTIVE RESPONSE. Members of the Manila Fire Department conduct a disquieting fire drill at the bayside Luneta Grandstand in the capital in preparation for the National Capital Region Fire Olympics on Nov. 4, suggesting the importance of fire drills in whatever situation. Lino Santos
Killings alarm ICC World court flaunts its power to prosecute; Palace unfazed By John Paolo Bencito
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HE International Criminal Court in The Hague on Friday said that it is closely following President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs to see if the spate of deaths in the last three months may be considered extrajudicial killings that may warrant prosecution.
GIANT STEPS. President Rodrigo Duterte joins leaders of the 42nd Philippine Business Conference & Expo of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Thursday, the country’s largest business organization, at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City after receiving recommendations of the community for economic policies. Malacañang Photo
In response, the Palace said the drug-related deaths, including vigilante killings, were not state-sanctioned. “My office is aware of worrying reported extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers and users in the Philippines, which may have led to over 3,000 deaths in the past three months,” Fatou Bensouda, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said. “I am deeply concerned about these alleged killings and the fact that public statements of high officials of the Republic of the Philip-
pines seem to condone such killings and further seem to encourage state forces and civilians alike to continue targeting these individuals with lethal force,” she added. Since July, Duterte has overseen a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs that has left more than 3,300 people dead, both at the hands of police as well as in unexplained circumstances, according to official data. In his speeches, Duterte specifically stressed that he sees nothing wrong with his threats to kill drug lords and pushers, citing the gravity of the country’s drug problem calls for it.
“It is never wrong, I repeat, it is never wrong to threaten criminals. Whatever is the endgame of a particular incident or an event. What… It does not really matter. It is perfectly all right,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, as your President and a lawyer, that I have every right to threaten criminals. How it develops to the endgame is another problem,” Duterte added. During the campaign season for the 2016 polls, the then-Davao City mayor threatened to dump dead criminals’ bodies into Manila Bay to fatten the fish there. Next page
P200-m shabu found War on illegal drugs takes Du30 to China By John Paolo Bencito in abandoned car and Vito Barcelo
CAMP OLIVAS―Police seized P200million worth of suspected shabu from an abandoned car in Apalit, Pampanga, on Friday, prompting an official to say that inmates of the Bureau of Corrections were continuing to produce and sell illegal drugs. Pampanga Police Chief Rodolfo Recomono Jr. said the shabu was found at 1:24 p.m. inside a parked Nissan car along the highway.
He made his statement even as the Philippine National Police said Friday a total of 1,578 drug suspects had been killed in its campaign against illegal drugs. PNP data also showed that 28,410 drug personalities were arrested during 29,389 drug operations. A total of 751,933 drug personalities had surrendered of whom 698,082 were drug users and 53,851 Next page were drug pushers.
WHILE attracting new investments will be the primary focus of his first state visit to China next week, there will be no letup in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, as he seeks to find out how the Chinese are dealing with the problem, the Foreign Affairs Department said Friday. “As part of his official program, the President may visit some law enforcement and drug rehabilitation centers,” Foreign Affairs
Leila snipes at ‘sexist’ Rody By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Leila de Lima, under chronic criticism from the administration, pounced on President Rodrigo Duterte Friday and called the 71-year-old chief executive a “self-confessed, unfaithful
DE LIMA
Zika PH strain probed after 3rd case THE number of locally transmitted Zika cases in Metro Manila rose to three after two more cases―one each in Makati and Mandaluyong―were reported, the Department of Health said Friday. The new cases brought the total
number of Zika cases nationwide to 17, Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial said. She said the patients were both female. The one from Makati was a 42 and the one from Mandaluyong 27. twitter.com/ MlaStandard
Jose said that the Philippines and China are working to resolve issues on the drug problem of the country. “I am sure there are ongoing efforts between our PDEA and their Chinese counterparts on how to address this very serious problem of ours,” he added. In the same press briefing, Jose said President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to oversee the signing of a number of memoranda of understanding and agreements, as trade deals will top the agenda of the President’s trip to China.
Jose said there will also be many private contracts signed in areas such as energy, infrastructure and tourism. In his trip, Duterte is expected to meet also with National People’s Congress Chairman Zhang Dejiang and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to agree on “various fields of cooperation between the two countries,” Jose said. “A joint statement will likewise be issued which will stress areas of cooperation,” he added. As part of his visit, Duterte will also meet with the Filipino comNext page munity in China.
‘Karen’ gaining strength
and proud womanizer.” “If that is not sexism, what is? If socalled journalists cannot follow the logic, how can we expect the general public?” De Lima, a former secretary of Justice and chairman of the Commission on Human Rights, told students of the
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Assistant Secretary Charles Jose said in a Palace press briefing. “I think the purpose is for the President to see for himself how China is also addressing this drug problem and also the fact that China is also assisting us as far as rehabilitation and law enforcement is concerned,” he added. Duterte, in his Chinese drug triad matrix, earlier revealed that China is the source of all illegal drugs entering the Philippines. First on the drug hierarchy were three Chinese drug lords, who supervise the illegal drug trade in the country.
Both exhibited the usual Zika symptoms like rashes and fever, red eyes, but they were not brought to hospital and had since recovered. The World Health Organization
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TROPICAL storm “Karen” could intensify into a typhoon this weekend and would likely make landfall in Quezon or Aurora on Sunday morning, the weather bureau said Friday. “That storm can intensify into a typhoon in 24 to 48 hours,” weather forecaster Dennison Estareja said. “Communities in Luzon must prepare for such possibility.” “Karen”―international name Sarika”―was 260 kilometers east
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HIGH ALERT. Metro Manila is placed under cyclone alert as the entire island of Luzon braces for the approach of Tropical Storm ‘Karen’ (international name: Sarika), the 12th weather disturbance this year, is expected to strengthen into a typhoon and cut across Central Luzon this weekend. Manny Palmero
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