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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2018
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Trillanes on bail sets foreign trips By Macon Ramos-Araneta
S
ENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV filed Monday before a Pasay court P96,000 bail bond for his temporary liberty over a libel case filed by former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte.
filed by former Davao City vice mayor and presidential son Paolo Duterte and presidential son-in-law Manases Carpio in September. Trillanes earlier said he was to turn himself in to authorities but decided to post bail on Monday. The senator also argued that under the 1987 Constitution he was immune from arrest for offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment while Congress is in session. Trillanes also denounced the warrant of arrest as another attempt to silence him as one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s critics. The presidential son filed a libel case against Trillanes after the opposition senator accused him of corruption. Trillanes, in 2017, claimed the younger Duterte and brother-in-law Manases Carpio were involved in a scheme to
extort money from ride-hailing firms. In an affidavit, the younger Duterte accused Trillanes of libel after the latter accused him of corruption and extortion involving ride-hailing services, the Road Board and the Department of Public Works and Highways, in a radio interview with dyAB Cebu’s Leo Lastimosa last Sept. 8, 2017. According to Duterte, it was in September 2017 when Carpio showed to him a video of Trillanes’ radio interview. “Watching it, I was aghast to hear the respondent maliciously accusing me and my brother-in-law, Atty. Manases Carpio, of supposed rampant and widespread corruption and extortion. Admittedly, this based on sheer information fed to him, the identity of whom, however, he did not identify nor disclose,” he said in his affidavit. With Joel Zurbano and Rey E. Requejo
Trillanes, accompanied by his legal counsel, posted the bail before the sala of Pasay City Judge Rowena Nieves Tan, three days after the Davao City Regional Court Branch 54 issued four warrants for his arrest, P24,000 for each of four counts of libel. Trillanes was scheduled to fly to The Netherlands, Spain and United Kingdom from Dec. 11, 2018 to Jan. 12, 2019, and the US from Jan. 27 to Feb. 10, 2019 to meet different groups and attend various activities as part of his official duties. In a related development, Justice Sec-
retary Menardo Guevarra ordered the Bureau of Immigration to allow Trillanes to leave the country as long as there is no hold departure order issued by any court against him. Guevarra made the statement after the Davao City Regional Trial Court required Trillanes to comment within five days on the motion of Department of Justice to issue an HDO against him for libel. The DOJ sought the issuance of an HDO after the same branch issued four arrest warrants against the senator on December 7 over four counts of libel
War...
Balangiga bells bound for Samar from Okinawa
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in the government’s “unrelenting… crusade against criminality, corruption, terrorism, insurgency and the proliferation of human drugs.” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, on the other hand, reiterated the government’s stance that there are no officially sanctioned killings. “Human rights, as depicted by the critics, as well as those critics from abroad, do not reflect what is happening on the ground. When they keep on saying that many have been killed, they make it appear as if the killings are state-initiated. But we have repeatedly said that the fact alone that policemen are killed during operation will already rebut the theory that this is state-initiated,” Panelo said in a press briefing Monday. He said those killed in the drug war had fought back against the police, or had been killed by drug lords who wanted to silence them. According to the latest data of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, almost 5,000 deaths were recorded in police anti-drug operations since the Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016. At least two opposition senators accused President Rodrigo Duterte of being the single biggest threat to human rights in the Philippines. Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said the President has singlehandedly rolled back human rights safeguards and made the country a haven for human rights violators. By unleashing a bloody and abusive war on drugs, Hontiveros said the President has set into motion the killing of thousands, most of whom are poor people; this while big-time drug lords like Peter Lim continue to be free and billions of pesos worth of shabu are smuggled into the country aided by corrupt government officials. “The right to dissent has been denigrated into plots to destabilize the government. The justice system is mostly efficient when legally harassing members of the opposition and the critical media, but grinds to a complete halt when dealing with the likes of Imelda Marcos,” Hontiveros said. “And on the few occasions that justice has actually prevailed, such as our important victory in the Kian delos Santos case, we have owed it to the people’s untiring vigilance, which made the whitewashing of the extrajudicial killing untenable,” she added. With Macon Ramos-Araneta
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Napoles and Revilla’s former chief of staff Richard Cambe were found guilty of plunder and sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison. They were also ordered to return P124 million to the government. In his first public speech following his acquittal, Revilla thanked his wife, Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado, for supporting him throughout his four years in detention, then joked that he was now under “house arrest” with tightened security and no possibility of bail. Napoles asked the Sandiganbayan Monday to allow her to stay in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City until her plunder conviction becomes final, saying there were security threats in the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City. Napoles said the anti-graft court must be able to reconsider her commitment to the women’s correctional since she will exhaust all legal remedies available. “The judgment of conviction against herein accused has not yet attained finality. The judgment may still be modified as there are still remedies which the accused may exhaust and the period to do so has not yet lapsed,” her lawyer said in a motion. Maricel V. Cruz
ALL three Balangiga Bells are now in Japan on the eve of their official return to the Philippines today, Tuesday, the United States Embassy in Manila said Monday. US Air Force airmen prepared the Balangiga Bells for transport to the Philippines at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. US Embassy press attache Molly Koscina said the war artifacts’ return was a clear demonstration of the US commitment to its alliance, partnership and friendship with the Philippines. “The return of the bells is the end of many years of efforts by many, many different people to ensure the bells’
return to the church where they were taken,” she said. “It required negotiations and lots of efforts and even overcoming legal obstacles to make it happen, and there are many people to thank for the return of the bells, including Secretary [James] Mattis and [Defense] Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana.” The three bells were taken by US soldiers from the San Lorenzo de Martir Church in Balangiga town in Eastern Samar. They took the bells in retaliation for the killing of 48 of their comrades and the wounding of 12 others from the Charlie Company of the 9th Infantry Regiment, which happened following an ambush by
Filipino fighters on Sept. 28, 1901 during the Philippine-American war. Then US army commander General Jacob Smith advised his men to turn the Balangiga bells into a “howling wilderness,” and parallel to the killing of all male Filipinos aged 10 and above. The US soldiers then burned the entire Balangiga town. The US soldiers then took the three bells from Balangiga as “war trophies.” One of the bells is in Camp Red Cloud, South Korea, while the other two are being kept at the Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. PNA with Rey E. Requejo and Francisco Tuyay The meeting between Mattis and
SC justice...
if an extension is granted, it should only be for six months as the present Congress will adjourned in June 2019. “Let the next Congress decide if they need six more months,” he said. Sotto said the senators would discuss the issue among themselves before joining Wednesday’s joint session at the House of Representatives. Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said he is still not convinced that martial law should be extended. “Under our Constitution, there must be rebellion, insurrection, and public safety requirements. Rebellion is defined by law as an actual uprising designed to remove the allegiance from the government,” Drilon said. “What I am saying is that I am not convinced and there has been no showing that there is actual armed uprising…I didn’t hear anything that constitutes [an] actual uprising to remove the allegiance from the government or any part thereof,” he added. Security officials led by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, AFP chief
Gen. Carlito Galvez, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año gave senators a briefing in executive session on Monday. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao shortly after the Islamic State-inspired Maute Group overran Marawi City in May 2017. Martial law was extended twice: First on July 22, 2017 and again on Dec. 31, 2017. The Palace asked Congress for an extension of martial law in a letter addressed to Sotto and Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In the letter, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the third extension of military rule will only last until the end of 2019 and will only cover Mindanao. Arroyo has expressed the House’s readiness to grant the President’s request for an extension. Earlier, House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said the approval of the President’s request was just a matter of formality. With Maricel V. Cruz
Within the index, the Philippines scored 6.50 in the “Personal Freedom” category, 7.34 in “Economic Freedom” and 6.92 in “Human Freedom.” Its aggregate score of 6.92 was 0.13 points below its previous ranking in 2015-16, the study explained. Rank-wise, the Philippines was 100th in Personal Freedom, 49th in Economic Freedom, and 73rd in Human Freedom, putting the country between Paraguay (72nd) and Namibia (74th) in the overall ranking. In South Asia, the Philippines is still considered among the “Most Free” countries. The freest country in the region is Singapore (ranked 25th globally), followed by Cambodia (61st), Bhutan (83), and Indonesia (85). The least free country in the region is Myanmar (149), preceded by Pakistan (140), Brunei Darussalam and Bangladesh (tied for 138), and Vietnam (124). The authors—Ian Vasquez, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, and Tanja Porčnik, a Cato Institute adjunct scholar and president of the Visio Institute based in Slovenia—also measured the rule of law, which they consider “an essential condition of freedom that protects the individual from coercion by others.”
Some 56 countries increased their overall freedom ratings from 2008 to 2016, while 81 countries decreased their freedom ratings, including the Philippines. Around 15 percent of the world’s population lives in the top quartile of nations in the index, while 42 percent lives in the bottom quartile of countries that have the lowest levels of freedom. The authors also find that of the 12 major categories that make up the index, all but three have seen some deterioration. Religion, Movement, and Rule of Law saw the largest decreases since 2008, while Sound Money saw the largest improvement. Countries that have high personal freedom tend to exhibit high economic freedom. The freest countries in the world by quartile enjoy much greater income per person ($39,249) compared to those in the least-free quartile ($12,026). In addition, the authors find a strong correlation between human freedom and democracy, with Hong Kong as an outlier in this regard. “The evidence shows the importance of freedom in all its dimensions and how economic and personal freedom go hand in hand,” noted Vasquez.
the Question Hour today, Tuesday, to shed light on the documents that showed that more than 80 percent of the flood control projects in Sorsogon were bid out and awarded to CT Leoncio Construction and Trading, a single proprietorship based in Bulacan. While Diokno insisted there was no “pork insertions” in the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2018, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Monday only those who continued to benefit from the pork barrel system would be happy, but it would be burdensome for the rest of the Filipinos. Presidential Spokesman Salvador
Panelo on Monday expressed confidence that Diokno could explain to the public the alleged pork barrel insertions in the proposed 2019 national budget. He made the remark in connection with House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s large allocation in her district in Pampanga. He said Arroyo sent him a message dismissing the claims that the insertions were pork barrel. “She texted that Congressman Maricar Zamora had explained it already. Their explanation is that contrary to the allegations of pork barrel, they said
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It also rejected the argument of petitioners that the extension should have only been limited to 60 days, saying the Constitution does not set a limit to the number of times Congress can extend a martial law declaration by the President. In both decisions, Carpio dissented from the majority ruling, voting to uphold the legality of martial law declaration but wanting it limited to Marawi only. Senators appeared divided over the issue. Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he believes military and police officials were able to present compelling reasons for the Senate to consider the extension of martial law. “Yes, in my opinion, there is a continuing rebellion, there is actual rebellion going on,” he said. “I cannot go into the details [but] personally, yes, I’m convinced.” Senate Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said
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discrimination against same-sex relationships,” the authors said in a statement. Against South Asian countries on the index, the Philippines ranks third with a 6.92 score behind Singapore (8.16) and Cambodia (7.20), as the HFI ranks the countries based on 79 distinct indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedom, using data from 2008 to 2016, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available. In the foreword to the 400-page report written by Fred McMahon of the Fraser Institute and released Monday, the country was lumped together with rising authoritarian regimes, as it noted: “Freedom seems to be under attack in major nations around the world.” “Aspiring authoritarian rulers in nations such as Poland, Hungary, and the Philippines may have little interest in imposing their despotic vision of ‘good governance’ outside their borders—but the real evangelists of authoritarianism are emerging elsewhere. It’s a bit like cancer—all cancer is bad, but metastasizing cancer can be lethal,” McMahon wrote.
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the House leadership’s invitation for him to attend Tuesday’s Question Hour to explain why the hundreds of billions of underspending for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Andaya said even before the 2019 budget could be approved, multibillion flood-control projects in Sorsogon had already been bid out and awarded to a single proprietorship based in Bulacan. Andaya called on Diokno to attend
Oil companies adjust prices of gas, diesel By Alena Mae S. Flores MORE oil firms are set to implement the P0.40 per liter increase in gasoline today (Dec. 11) and the rollback of P0.45 per liter for kerosene and P0.10 per liter for diesel. “Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will decrease the price of diesel by P0.10 per liter and increase the price of gasoline by P0.40 per liter effective 6 am. of December 2018,” the company said in its advisory. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines and Chevron Philippines also issued separate announcements of the latest price movement. Seaoil Philippines and Petro Gazz were the first to announce the price increase for gasoline and rollback for diesel. The Department of Energy said this week’s oil price movement was influenced by several factors. The DOE said in its latest monitoring report that US oil prices stabilized on Friday, buoyed by a fall in US crude oil inventories. The producer group Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, however, agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day by Jan. 1 in a bid to reverse falls in prices in recent months. DOE said oil producers have been hit by a 30-percent plunge in crude prices since October due to oversupply but demand outlook has weakened amid a global economic slowdown. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said last week that Qatar’s decision to leave OPEC will also have an impact on oil prices globally. “Qatar will be acting more independently and hopefully that would increase their production and increase the supply in the world market. If there will be more supply, then the price would go down,” Cusi said.
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considered by the court in its assailed resolution,” the Sandiganbayan said. The contentions in the case include the stocks of the CIIF companies, the 14 holding companies and the funds, interest and profits involving the more than 753.8 million preferred shares of San Miguel Corp. now being held in a special account in the Bureau of the Treasury. The Presidential Commission on Good Government said the fund had a total of at least P83 billion in assets, including cash worth P75 billion as of 2015. The anti-graft court in a resolution dated Aug. 7 said the proceeds from the forfeited ill-gotten assets would be “used only for the benefit of all coconut farmers and for the development of the coconut industry.” The return of the coco levy funds was among the campaign promises of President Rodrigo Duterte, and he is expected to soon sign into into law the measure providing for the use of the funds.
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“This summer, the 19-year-old from Cebu City, Philippines, won the gold medal in women’s street skateboarding competition at the Asian Games― and became a national hero in the process,” Time said. Didal aside, the other teenagers on the list are actresses Millie Bobby Brown, Storm Reid, Kiernan Shipka, Joey King and Korean boy group NCT Dream. The other athletes on the list are French footballer Kylian Mpabbe and American snowboarder Chloe Kim. Last year, two Filipino teenagers14-year-old Shibby de Guzman and Bretman Rock―made it to Time magazine’s annual list. Time said it compiled its annual list by considering the accolades across many fields, global impact through social media, and overall ability to drive news. that this time there were items and these items were given by different agencies and it was prior to the approval, they had been there,” Panelo said. With 16 votes, no negative votes and abstentions, the Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading a joint resolution extending the validity of the 2018 appropriations for maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays until Dec. 31, 2019. In approving Senate Joint Resolution 17, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said they were just extending until the end of 2019 the unused budget this year. With Nat Mariano