VOL. XXXI • NO. 228 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net
UN headquarters in New York City
PH slams 39 UN members Refuses to accept foreign dictation
By Sara Susanne Fabunan and JP Bencito
T
HE Duterte administration underlined Friday its nonacceptance of foreign intervention in its internal affairs, after 39 member-states of the United Nations expressed serious concern over alleged extrajudicial killings in the 14-month-old administration’s war on drugs.
DRUG DRIVE. As police in Manila shift to higher gear the government’s continuing drug war, an alleged drug dealer is captured Thursday by law enforcement agents (top) after what they called a drug buy-bust operation in the capital’s slum district. AFP
SWS poll backs tale on EJKs By John Paolo Bencito, Francisco Tuyay and Jun David THE majority of Filipinos believe there are drug suspects who are still getting killed despite surrendering to the police, the latest Social Weather Stations survey revealed Friday. But Malacañang kept mum on the results of the survey despite the efforts of reporters to ask for comments. Some 63 percent of those polled believe there are suspects in the illegal drug trade who are being killed despite surrendering, with 31 percent saying that they strongly agree and 32 percent who somewhat agree. Those undecided stood at 17 percent. But 11 percent of those polled “somewhat disagreed” and nine percent Next page
‘Barangays must meet on Oct. 8’ AMID deliberations over the postponement of the barangay elections and the possible holdover of incumbent barangay officials, the Department of the Interior and Local Government on Friday reminded the village chiefs to conduct their barangay assembly on Oct. 8 or face sanctions. “Barangay officials who fail to conduct a barangay assembly may face corresponding administrative complaints, which can be filed by any resident of the barangay, concerned citizen, governmental or non-governmental entity before the Sangguniang Panlungsod or Sangguniang Bayan concerned,” DILG Officer-inCharge Catalino S. Cuy said Next page
No to state-backed killings, Palace insists By John Paolo Bencito and Macon RamosAraneta THERE are no state-sponsored killings in the Philippines, the Palace told the Senate Friday after seven pro-administration senators released their own
resolution condemning the spate of deaths of minors in the government’s war on illegal drugs. Reacting to the resolution, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said that several Senate committees themselves had concluded there were no
state-sponsored killings. “The Executive shares the expressed concern of the Senate on the recent spate of drugrelated deaths and similarly condemns extrajudicial killings,” he added. Abella said the Palace welcomes the Senate’s in-
vestigations and inquiries on erring police personnel, “as a manifestation of a freely functioning and democratic state mechanism.” Seven administration senators—Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Next page
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) on Thursday said the member-states urged the Philippines, a founding member of the UN body, to probe the killings and protect human rights defenders through a joint statement issued by Iceland. The member-states urged the Philippines to “cooperate with the international community to pursue appropriate investigations into these incidents, in keeping with the universal principles of democratic accountability and the rule of law.” But Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, responding to the call, insisted there was no culture of impunity in the Philippines amid the government’s crackdown on the illegal drug trade. He said accusations of extrajudicial killings must
be proven in court or they would remain “hearsay.” “Unfortunately, it still appears that some parties refuse to understand certain aspects of our human rights efforts. So let us be clear. There is no culture of impunity in the Philippines,” Abella said in a statement. “The State is investigating all credible allegations of human rights violations by all its agents and will continue to do so, consistent with our constitution and laws, and in compliance with the spirit of our national traditions of liberty and democracy.” Abella also gave assurances the justice system did not tolerate state-sponsored extrajudicial killings, while slamming foreign governments for telling the Philippines how to manage its own affairs. Next page
Sayyaf ties with drug ‘gangsters’ bared CHINESE gangsters are to blame for the proliferation of illegal drugs in the Philippines, and they have even licensed the terrorist Abu Sayyaf to manufacture and distribute the drugs here, President Rodrigo Duterte claimed Thursday. “They cook the substance inside a ship and then they just throw it to the sea,” Duterte said in his speech during his visit to Balangiga town in Eastern Samar. “They are able to manufacture and distribute because they are armed. They
are intentionally doing that.” Duterte made his statement even as Aaron Aquino, director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, said three drug syndicates were behind the proliferation of drugs in the Philippines. He said the syndicates were from Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong, and that they could ship three tons of shabu to the Philippines. Aquino said the open sea was the drop-off point for the illegal drugs, and that divers retrieve them and transport them from smaller boats.
Detailing the operations of two international drug syndicates who had turned the Philippines into their “client state,” Duterte said the members of these drug groups would put the drugs in tin cans and then throw them into the sea. The cans would have Chinese markings and a global positioning system to locate them. While Duterte absolved China of being the new source of illegal drugs in the Philippines, he said there were also Filipino members of the drug triad. Next page
UST not liable for hazing death—dean By Rey Requejo and Bill Casas THE University of Santo Tomas is not liable for the death of freshman law student Horacio Castillo III due to hazing, its law dean Nilo Divina said Friday. “I don’t think UST is liable because the test is ‘Did you measure up to the stan-
dards of a good father of a good family?’” Divina said in a television interview. Divina maintained UST had a “very strict” anti-hazing policy, adding “We have a very strict policy against hazing – so that policy is part of our manual, and then annual orientations are conducted to all students..”Divina said. In related developments:
* Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the family of Castillo could be placed under the coverage of the government’s Witness Protection Program. Aguirre made the statement after learning from a relative of the Castillo family that they were worried about their personal safety Next page
SORRY, BUT... The Office of the Ombudsman says Friday it will continue to investigate the wealth of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family, despite the chief executive’s threat to form a Commission to investigate the Constitutional office for what he called its partiality and corruption.
Trillanes’ stash can topple me—Rody By John Paolo Bencito
SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV’s stash of money from his offshore accounts may be used to destabilize the government, President Rodrigo Duterte claimed Friday as he exposed the former’s supposed bank transactions from a Singapore bank account he claimed as non-existent. “Based on analysis, the funds being laundered by
Trillanes and his group may not be for their personal use, but rather...for their cause and possibly to destabilize government by paying for witnesses and funding for destabilization operations,” the President told state-run television station PTV-4. Duterte said the senator’s associates, whom he claimed were extorting money from some senators and large corporations, were the ones backrolling efforts to throw
him out of office. While claiming previously that he “invented” Trillanes’ supposed Singapore bank account numbers in DBS Bank in Alexandra Road, the President insisted his top critic had closed the Singapore bank accounts even days before he brought members of the media in an effort to debunk his claims. “He terminated it [sic] online on Sept. 8, 2017 past 10 p.m. Next page
Ombudsman: We shall not be intimidated
SYMBOLIC TRIBUTE. Some 19,000 students from the Catholic University of Santo Tomas
in Sampaloc, Manila form a sentence ‘My Teacher Is My Hero’ as a symbolic tribute to teachers round the world and to attempt a new Guinness World Records for a Largest Human Sentence at the campus sprawling athletic field. Norman Cruz
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“SORRY, Mr. President but this office shall not be intimidated.” With these words, the Office of the Ombudsman said Friday it would continue to investigate the wealth of President Rodrigo Duterte and his family despite his threat to launch his own probe of the independent agency.
Duterte had threatened to form a commission to investigate the Office of the Ombudsman for its alleged partiality and corruption, after it announced that it was looking into his bank transactions in joint accounts with his children that came to billions of pesos. “You have to be investigated also. One of these days,
I’m coming after you because of your partiality,” Duterte said, addressing the Office of the Ombudsman in Filipino on state-run PTV-4 “If you don’t investigate yourselves, I will set up a commission to investigate you.” Duterte had earlier accused the Ombudsman of partiality after learning that Next page
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