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TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2017
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Sabah deportees assured of aid S
OCIAL Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo on Monday assured the public that her office will exert all efforts to help settle Filipino migrant workers returning to the country from Sabah in Malaysia. She added that President Rodrigo Duterte himself had said last November that the 7,000 undocumented Filipino workers who will be deported from the Malaysian island will be given access to health care and education. Taguiwalo made the assurance following reports that Sabah is set to deport thousands of illegal immigrants
from the Philippines using the assets of the Malaysian Royal Navy starting on February. News reports quoted Malaysian Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman as saying that preparations for the mass deportation are being finalized following the agreement between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and President Duterte last November.
NPA 'harassment raid' kills trooper,wounds 3 A TROOPER from the 30th Infantry Battalion was killed and three others were wounded in what the military described as a New People’s Army (NPA) “harassment attack” in Barangay Mati, Surigao City Monday early morning. The incident took place past 12 a.m., according to Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla in a press briefing held at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Padilla said the soldiers were deployed in Barangay Mati for “peace and development activities” when attacked by 10 members of the NPA’s North Eastern Mindanao Regional Command. The firefight lasted for about 10 minutes. There were no immediate reports of rebel casualties Padilla called the latest NPA attack as “alarming” as this seems to signal the rebels’ withdrawal from the unilateral
ceasefire it has entered with the Philippine government last year. Padilla said they are making public the incident so that the AFP can recommend to the peace panel possible steps which will safeguard the lives of troops in future similar encounters. “But if they so desire that they are backing out of the unilateral ceasefire we will make appropriate recommendations therein to protect our troops. We have a duty to protect our people, we have a duty to keep the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country and we shall not also hesitate to provide the support needed by our local government and police in the area so that we can deliver the services needed by our people in these areas,” he added. “We appeal to our fellow Filipinos who are on the other side to reconsider and let us allow peace again to prevail such as that we had since August,” Padilla said. PNA
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even a lawyer. Sayang, mabiyuda ‘yang asawa mo, pati ‘yung anak mo mawalan ng tatay,” Duterte said. Dumlao, the immediate superior of AIDG operative Santa Isabel, who is accused of masterminding the murder of Jee, left restrictive custody Friday even but was not allowed to. When Dela Rosa was being asked why the President was informed late about Dumlao’s surrender, Duterte interjected, claiming that he only met with Dela Rosa during the early morning press conference. “We only met now... He’s not present there,” Duterte said referring to the command conference which preceded the press briefing. Duterte dodged any blame for Dela Rosa even if the photos sent by the Palace to reporters showed the President tagging along with Dela Rosa as he started to preside over the joint Armed Forces of the Philippines-Philippine National Police Command Conference at the Heroes’ Hall in Malacañang “Maybe he’s with his girlfriend, I don’t know,” the President claimed, referring to Dela Rosa. Dela Rosa said that Dumlao informed Anti-Kidnapping Group chief Glenn Dumlao, whose leading the PNP’s investigation on the kidnap-slay of his knowledge about the whole incident before Sunday’s command conference.
Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. ordered the department to conduct another preliminary investigation on the charges of kidnapping for ransom with homicide against Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Santa Isabel and other police officers tagged in the case. The lower court granted the appeal of Santa Isabel questioning his indictment by the department despite his lack of opportunity to submit his answer to the charges during a preliminary investigation. Said Duterte: “If you do not come out soon, I will offer dead or alive, ikaw mismo Dumlao, P5 million. Dead of alive. You deliver him to me dead, okay ako. Dalhin mo dyan sa gate ng Malacañang patay, buhay, okay sa akin. Dead or alive. “This Dumlao, you better surrender or clear yourself. If you didn’t commit anything wrong, why did you leave Camp Crame? “’Pag hindi ka lumabas, patungan kita ng 5 million. I’m giving you exactly 24 hours pag hindi that reward goes into effect.” Later, Dela Rosa was seen whispering to the President that Dumlao was already in custody. “Latest story. He’s already in our custody. Better, Dumlao. You’re
Solons... From A1 for the Senate to wait and see how the changes in the anti-drug war would work out. “In view of the massive restructuring of the war against drugs to focus on rogue cops as ordered by the President, it is my view that the Senate [should] wait and see how this latest development plays out,” Lacson said. “After all, the President has taken a positive action on the matter and I feel that the committee on public order and dangerous drugs has partially achieved one of the purposes of its legislative inquiry.” The next hearing of Lacson’s committee had initially been scheduled for Feb. 2. At last week’s Senate committee hearing, Lacson had closed-circuit television footage played showing rogue policemen planting drugs in an office that they eventually raided. Lacson said he had the video played to stress the need for internal cleansing in the PNP, the agency he headed from 1999 to 2001. For now, Lacson said, he would focus on the pieces of legislation that may at least minimize the abuses by police personnel in conducting anticrime operations.
Those include bills on the training of police personnel as well as the strengthening of the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service. Meanwhile, Lacson reiterated the need for systemic measures to prevent abuses by law enforcers. He said crime may not be eradicated but could be minimized. “I have said before that it is impossible to eradicate crime, but quite doable to greatly minimize it. As such, there should be systemic moves to deter, if not prevent, abuses by those tasked to stop criminality,” Lacson said. Senators Grace Poe and Bam Aquino supported his decision to temporarily stop the Senate hearings on kidnappings for ransom. Aquino praised Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa’s order to stop all antiillegal drug operations nationwide to focus on “internal cleansing,” saying it will help restore the public’s trust in the police. “This is a step in the right direction for the PNP as it works on regaining the public trust after several controversial incidents involving bad elements within the organization,” he said. Aquino earlier said that rogue policemen were capitalizing on the government’s war against illegal drugs for their personal gain.
The president has agreed to give his full cooperation to Malaysia, even as Malaysian authorities has committed to lend their naval ships in deporting undocumented Filipinos. According to Malaysian reports, the deportation centers in Sabah have already exceeded their capacity with more than 7,000 undocumented migrants. The reports added that the deportation procedure will be made using the Sandakan Port en route to Zamboanga. “President Duterte has said that our ‘kababayans’ [compatriots] in Malaysia who stand to be deported will not be encouraged to seek clemency. Instead,
they will be assisted during the process of deportation to ensure that their return to the Philippines will be as smooth as possible. The Department of Social Welfare and Development [DSWD] is one of the agencies that will work to help ensure this,” Taguiwalo said. President Duterte also said that he will appeal to neutral agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), to help build a hospital for Filipino migrants, and that Filipino medical personnel will be deployed to these health facilities to assist in the provision of services. “For our part, our Protective Services Bureau (PSB), DSWD-
Field Office 9 (in Zamboanga) and the DSWD-Field Office in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) are already in the process of putting together a plan of action to help our ‘kababayans.’ We will provide them with assistance that is within the means of the department to ensure that their immediate economic needs are met,” she said. The social welfare chief also said that the returning Filipinos will be given food and medical assistance, as well as information on other DSWD services they can utilize as they begin their new lives in the Philippines. PNA
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policemen. “This a momentary defeat on our part because we stop [the anti-drugs campaign] but we will continue the war later, once we have retooled our troops [and] cleansed our ranks,” Dela Rosa said. “Everything will be ready to fight again another day,” Dela Rosa said. “As for the drug lords, you have your day. This is your day. You may achieve your victory right now or this day maybe but as I have said, this is momentary victory on your part. You enjoy. There is always a time for reckoning,” Dela Rosa said. With the PNP-AIDG dissolved, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency will assume the responsibility of waging the war on illegal drugs, but the police would still cooperate with the agency and local government units, Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa said the morale of the entire PNP has been rocked by the Jee scandal. “As directed by the President, we agree to dissolve all anti-drug units at all levels, including [the] Anti-Illegal Drugs Group,” Dela Rosa said. “We will cleanse our ranks … then maybe after that, we can resume our war on drugs. The President told us to clean the organization first.” “I don’t know how long it will take to cleanse the PNP. But with each and every one of us cooperating, helping each other, maybe in a month, we can do it,” he said. The President also said a PNP oversight committee will be created to look into the policemen who have been dismissed but found their way back to duty. Duterte said policemen who had extortion cases against them would be sent to Mindanao to deal with terrorist groups as punishment. “This cleansing is easy. All we have to do is look at the records of how many policemen have had cases, mostly involving extortion, and if they are reinstated—it’s over with... I’ll just gather them, bring them new uniforms, new combat boots. I have to have a strong presence in Basilan and Lanao, they’ll be the first I send there,” the President said. Duterte added he would asked Congress to revisit the Philippine National Police law to simplify the police titles and units. In his midnight news conference, Duterte reiterated that Dela Rosa would stay on as PNP chief despite calls for him to resign. “What good will it do the police to remove Bato?” he said, referring to Dela Rosa by his nickname. “If there are still scalawags and criminals inside Crame, they will continue with or without Bato.” The New York-based Human Rights Watch called the pause in the anti-drug war in favor of internal cleansing as
“nothing less than an empty public relations gesture,” due to the lack of interest in a probe of the police killings of 2,546 suspected drug users and drug dealers since July 1.” “If Duterte and Dela Rosa continue to spurn their sworn obligation to protect the public and respect rule of law, many more Filipinos are at risk of unlawful killing,” HRW deputy director for Asia Phelim Kine said. “De la Rosa has made clear that he has no interest in accountability for those deaths—his stated priority is to purge police ranks. Critics questioned the sincerity of Duterte’s outrage against corrupt police, and asked why the police had been given such a free hand to kill in the name of the drug war if he knew so many were corrupt. “How can a corrupt and fascist police force, where impunity is the norm, successfully stamp out criminal activities such as the illegal drug trade,” said Renato Reyes, secretary general of Bayan, a coalition of leftist activist groups. “The body count will continue to rise and more criminals in uniform will wreck havoc on the people.” Duterte repeatedly told police during the election campaign and after assuming the presidency that he would shield them from prosecution if they killed people as part of the crime war. He also told police at Dela Rosa’s birthday party this month he would tolerate them engaging in illegal activities to earn “sideline” money, as long as that did not involve drugs. “Go into smuggling, just don’t do drugs,” Duterte said. Duterte said at the party he sympathized with the police for getting such low salaries, and he understood that they needed to get more income from other ways. “I mean I’m not saying that we have to do illegal things. What I’m saying is that until such time that we [the government] can give you more and somebody offers to help, take it,” he said. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on the Laity on Monday welcomed the government’s suspension of war against drugs. “It’s a good development. I hope they really push through with it,” said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the commission. The Manila Auxiliary bishop noted if such operation will be stopped, it would also mean that the unexplained killings in the country will stop. “Knowing that they’ve stopped the war on drugs, it means they should stop the extrajudicial killings,” the CBCP-ECL official added. With Sandy Araneta, Sara Susanne D. Fabunan, Maricel V. Cruz and AFP
Miss Colombia appeared to allude to Trump when asked why violence was prevalent in the world. “Although there are presidents who don’t get along with others, we work together to unite. Campaigns, respect and inclusivity to be able to have a social transformation that would educate our children,” said Andrea Tovar, 23. Monday’s show was headlined by US performers including Grammy award-winning rhythm and blues group Boyz II Men and rapper and Grammy award nominee Flo Rida. Pia Wurtzbach of the Philippines won last year following a major blunder in which the host—Emmy Award winner Steve Harvey—mistakenly awarded the title to Miss Colombia. Harvey corrected the error minutes later, apologizing on air to Wurtzbach and Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez. The mistake featured prominently on Monday’s show, with candidates and the home audience often ribbing Harvey about it. “Steve, I never got to thank you but thank you for making me the most popular Miss Universe,” Wurtzbach told Harvey at the opening of show. Harvey this year got through the closing moments of the ceremony smoothly. The Philippines agreed to host the pageant as part of efforts to draw tourists and investors. Beauty pageants are also hugely
popular in the Philippines, particularly among the tens of millions of poor who see the contests as a chance for their beautiful compatriots to live a life of fame and luxury. But allowing the Philippines to host has proved controversial, with critics claiming the pageant would whitewash Duterte’s brutal drug war, which has left more than 6,000 people dead. Environmentalists also hit out at pageant organizers for letting the bikini-clad contestants swim last month with endangered whale sharks. Mittenaere, who turned 24 five days before the grand coronation, was born in the north of France in Lille and represented Nord-Pas-de-Calais during the Miss France national pageant. She is a model and currently pursuing a degree in dental surgery. The 5-foot-7 stunner is the first European winner since 1990 and the second woman from her country to win the crown after Christiane Martel won in Miss Universe 1953 breaking France’s 63-year title drought. It’s also the third time that France made it to the top six since the pageant’s inception in 1952. Philippine bet Maxine Medina had a top six finish along with Miss Thailand and Miss Kenya. Rounding up the top 13 were Miss USA, Miss Canada, Miss Peru, Miss Brazil, Miss Indonesia, Miss Panama and Miss Mexico. With AFP, PNA
CIDG, with a mandate to undertake monitoring, investigation and prosecution of all crimes of such magnitude and extent as to indicate their commission by highly placed or professional syndicates and organization, has lost its subpoena powers,” Lacson said in his sponsorship speech. Lacson, a former PNP chief, said it would be difficult for the PNP’s investigative arm to complete a thorough investigation with the removal of its subpoena powers. Without the subpoena powers, he
pointed out, investigations would be incomplete and government resources would be wasted. Senate President Pro Tempore Franklin Drilon said there was “every reason to grant such authority to the PNP chief who has control and supervision over lower-ranked officials, like the director and the deputy director of the CIDG.” Lacson and Drilon agreed that the subpoena powers should be limited to the PNP Chief, the CIDG director and deputy director and that those powers may not be delegated to other officers.
“When I said I’ll protect the police, I’ll protect the police. But I won’t protect lying,” Duterte said. “This killing a Korean...They could have killed, strangled him anywhere but… it had to happen inside Camp Crame. [This] is really bad, we admit that. Something has to be corrected severely.” “Because of this sordid incident, let me reorganize the system. My enemies here are the police who are criminals,” Duterte said, referring to them several times as sons of bitches. His comments came seven months after he took office and immediately tasked police with being the frontline troops in his plans to wipe out the illegal drug trade that he said was threatening to turn the Philippines into a narco state. Since then, police have reported shooting dead more than 2,500 people they have accused of being drug suspects, alleging on every occasion they had to open fire in self-defense. Human rights groups and relatives of some of the victims have alleged police frequently shoot dead defenseless people, and often plant drugs and a gun on the bullet-riddled corpse. Nearly 4,000 other people have died in unexplained circumstances in the crackdown, according to official figures. Many of those victims have had signs placed on them labeling them drug traffickers or users. On Monday, Dela Rosa said he would create a Counter Intelligence Task Force composed of 100 policemen headed by an official “with integrity and good morals” to go after scalawags inside the police force. “This unit will police the police. We will ensure that the leader is beyond question, beyond doubt and with good moral character, and more importantly brave against bad policemen,” he said. The new task force would concentrate on Metro Manila and Central Luzon, two regions that are supposed to be the most corrupt. “For a start it will composed of 100 policemen composed of good men tasked to operate against scalawags in a syndicate,” Dela Rosa said, noting that the group will report directly to his office. Dela Rosa said the involvement of rogue policemen in legitimate operations has tainted the government’s anti-illegal drugs war, with policemen planting evidence then extorting money from their victims. He expressed regret that Duterte’s war on drugs would lose momentum as a result of the “stupidity” of some
France... From A1 she said, adding she would advocate for good hygiene and educating children. In the final question round, the six remaining contestants were each asked questions relating to various political issues in their own countries or abroad. When asked about the global refugee crisis, Mittenaere said France had the right to close its borders to refugees if it wanted but she also spoke about the benefits of migration. “In France we want to have the most globalization that we can. We want to have the biggest exchange of people that we can. Maybe someday that will change but now we have open borders,” Mittenaere said, with her comments translated into English for the audience. “Having open borders allows us to travel more through the world and to find out more about what’s out there in the world.” Miss Kenya, another finalist, said Donald Trump’s presidency “may not have been the choice of many people” in the United States. “So many people oppose his position. But I feel that once [Trump] took up his position, he was able to unify the entire nation,” said Mary Esther Were, 27.
Senate... From A1 Lacson said that when the Philippine Constabulary and the Integrated National Police were merged to establish the PNP under Republic Act 6975, otherwise known as the “DILG Act of 1990,” most of the powers due the agency were carried over except for the subpoena powers. “It seems absurd that the Criminal Investigation Unit, now known as the
Bomb... From A1 treatment. We’re praying for their safety,” Alano said in a phone interview. The commander of the Western Mindanao Command, Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. vowed to hunt down the perpetrators. “This savagery and killing innocent civilians, including children is unacceptable,” Galvez said. He said the ASG is killing civilians with their bombs especially “those who are not sympathetic to them” and refused sanctuary to them. Alano said that last year, a similar attack was staged on Dec. 2 in Barangay Bohe, where two children perished. On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte said Isnilon Hapilon, the number two man in the Abu Sayyaf, is not the head of the terror group representing the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Philippines, which granted him the title of “Emir of Southeast Asia.” “The greatest danger now that mankind is facing is really extremism,” Duterte said in a midnight press briefing. “And [Hapilon] was already given the blessing to be the leader of ISIS. I don’t know if it covers Malaysia and Indonesia. But he is now the top honcho of the ISIS here. He is somewhere in Lanao and we have a full time military operation there,” he added. Earlier, the military said Hapilon was gravely wounded and in need of a blood transfusion. On Friday, Duterte threatened to call off the ongoing peace talks with Moro rebel groups should they provide refuge to ISIS terrorists in their territories. Hapilon has been the figurehead of a handful of ISIS followers from different groups such as the Abu Sayyaf based in Basilan and Sulu, the Maute Group based in Butig, Lanao del Sur; the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters based in Central Mindanao, and Ansar al-Khilafa Philippines. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who was with Duterte in the joint command conference of the AFP and PNP, said Hapilon serves as the conduit to the ISIS “to find out if Central Mindanao is conducive to the establishment of an organization [provincial caliphate].” Duterte said that he will engage in an all-out war against these terrorist groups, as he worked to contain the threat in Lanao del Sur, the stronghold of the Maute group. “I have ordered a full-press military operation. I said to the military and the police, you embargo the place, you contain them in that area alone, Lanao,” the President said. “I have also asked the Armed Forces to use all available assets and all the weaponry that’s at our disposal.” With PNA
US... From A1 will not allow it,” Duterte said in a late Sunday night news conference. “Provisions of the Visiting Forces [Agreement], there shall be no permanent facilities. A depot is by any other name a depot. It’s a permanent structure to house arms. I do not even know if there is a nuclear tip now that they are unloading.” “There was no confirmed incident of this nature,” AFP spokesman Brig. General Restituto Padilla said in a press briefing on Monday. “This may have been a report on the previous joint exercises of the past years” when the US was allowed to bring tanks and other military hardware, Padilla said. As of the moment, Padilla said, the Americans are only building facilities that may be used for disaster response. “You place us all in danger. You do that and I will be there when you start building―even before you build the first post,” Duterte said after midnight of Sunday and Monday. “You are egging us ... egging us [on] to force the issue of arbitral judgment.” He made his statement even as the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan supported his opposition to the US plan. “We support President Duterte’s opposition to the construction of any US weapons depot in the country under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement,” the group said in a statement. Bayan said Duterte was correct in pointing out that the US wished to preposition weapons in the Philippines, which would raise tensions in the region. Duterte warned that should the American military presence in the country continue under the Edca, China might launch missiles against Philippine installations bearing American weaponry. “Now, the missiles of China are pointed at the American expeditions. The depots would serve as a supply line. Now, that will be the first thing to get hit by their missiles,” Duterte said. “They will hit Cagayan, Palawan, Basa. So am I a fool? I won’t let it happen.” Amid his continuing anti-American tirades, Duterte likewise sought an “urgent” appeal to his patron Beijing to provide precision-guided missiles to combat extremism in Mindanao. “I have an urgent message to China to help us. If they have precision guided arms, a gun, give as a loan,” Duterte said. “Certainly, I have to confront them... But now investments are coming in. They have answered projects that Congress won’t give Tugade,” he said referring to Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade. He said the depots that the US would be building were “permanent facilities” and that would be unconstitutional. John Paolo Bencito, Sandy Araneta and Florante S. Solmerin