Manila Standard - 2018 May 18 - Friday

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SERENO DARES DU30: QUIT Ousted chief justice ups the ante, hits out at President’s ‘failures’ By Rey E. Requejo and Vito Barcelo

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USTED chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Thursday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to resign for having a hand in the plot to remove her as the country’s top magistrate, and tore into him on a wide range of issues, from his failure to stem rising prices to his policy toward China. Next page

VOL. XXXII • NO. 92 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY,, MAY 18, 2018 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

Villar, Pacquiao Senate’s richest

DEMOCRACY, FEDERALISM. Ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno participates Thursday, along with retired Chief Justice Hilario Davide as resource speakers in a conference on democracy and federalism at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. The event named ‘Safeguarding Democracy: A forum discernment on Charter Change and Federalis’—hosted by the AdMU—was preceded by a Mass at the Church of Gesu inside the campus and a Solidarity Walk in support for Sereno, removed from her post as the country’s top magistrate via a quo warranto petition granted by the Supreme Court last May 11. Manny Palmero

By Macon RamosAraneta

BASED on their Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth last year, Senator Cynthia Villar is still the richest member of the Senate followed by world boxing champion Senator Manny Pacquiao. Villar’s declared net worth as of Dec. 31, 2017 was listed at P3,611,260,766. Her wealth increased slightly as her net worth was higher than the P3,606,033,556 she declared in 2016. Pacquiao’s net worth was P2,946,315,029.93, lower than his net worth last year, at Next page P3,072,315,030.

VILLAR

6,000 drivers up for Grab(s) RIDESHARING firm Grab Philippines is seeking for the onboarding of about 6,000 drivers into its platform who were displaced due to the halt in the operations of its corporate rival Uber last month following their acquisition. This, as Grab has reiterated its commitment to work with transport regulators on replenishing the supply of drivers in response to increasing demand from its passengers. Next page

Palace bows to Senate on SC review By Vito Barcelo and Macon Ramos-Araneta PRESIDENTIAL Spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday they respect the senators’ move to sign a resolution asking the Supreme Court to review its decision ousting former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno through a quo warranto petition. “They are free to sign the resolution asking the High Court to review its decision.

The resolution of course forms part of their inherent legislative powers,” Roque said in a Palace briefing, after 14 senators signed the document calling for a review. The Palace officials also noted the statement of Senator Panfilo Lacson, that the resolution appeared premature, because no articles of impeachment have been forwarded to the Senate for trial. The Supreme Court, voting 8-6, last week granted the quo warranto petition Next page

Liberals pounce on Villar’s ‘mountain’ By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Cynthia A. Villar came under attack Thursday after report said a mountain on Boracay Island was being leveled without a permit for a resort owned by the senator’s family. Liberal Party vice president Erin Tañada criticized Villar, who was quoted as saying: “There’s no mountain. It’s a titled land. I’ve seen the place, [that report] is exaggerated. You know, if it’s a titled

land, what’s wrong with it if we [develop it as a] joint venture?” But Tañada said the point was not who owned the land. “The point is not whether you own a title for the land or not. The point is that Boracay was closed, purportedly, to reboot the environment in the area,” Tañada said. With the closure of Boracay, he said, many residents lost their livelihood.

PACQUIAO

ANGARA

Senate reso backs Sotto as chief MAJORITY of senators have reportedly signed a resolution to install Senator Vicente Sotto III as the new Senate President, replacing Senator Aquilino Pimentel III. But Pimentel, who will seek a reelection next year, downplayed reports that he will be kicked out by his colleagues on Monday. “It is not true that there will be changes in the Senate leadership come Monday [May 21]. No such thing,” said Pimentel, president of the ruling PDP-Laban party and a key ally of President Rodrigo

By Rey E. Requejo

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Graft probers zero in on 13 govt officials PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday revealed a list of 13 government officials who are under investigation for graft and corruption. In an ambush interview after his bilateral meeting with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill at Malacañang Palace, the President named some of them including two who, the Palace said, were asked by the President to resign or be fired for corruption. They are Department of Justice Assistant Secretary Moslemen T. Macarambon Sr. and Department of Public Works and Highways Assistant Secretary Tingagun A. Umpa. He also named Atty. Ambrosi Basman, Atty. Rohani Basman,

ZUBIRI

Duterte in the Senate. He, however, acknowledged that he will soon have to step down as Senate President when he files his certificate of candidacy in October. Pimentel said there is no need to conduct a loyalty check, noting that politicians “should not be too attached to the position.” “I am very willing to be replaced by someone whose term goes beyond June 30, 2019 so that we will still have a Senate president after that date. Senator Sotto complies with that requirement,” he said. Next page

Gun-toting fiscals get DoJ support By Rey E. Requejo

RISE, PHILIPPINE RISE. Government officials and the crew of BRP Davao del Sur wave Philippine flaglets during the buoy casting and commemoration of the renaming of Benham Rise to Philippine Rise in Casiguran, Aurora on Wednesday. The Rise is a seismically active undersea region and extinct volcanic ridge in the Philippine Sea 250 kilometers east of the northern coastline of Dinapigue, Isabela. PNA

JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra is supporting the decision of the public prosecutors to arm themselves for selfdefense following last Friday’s attack that killed Quezon City Deputy Prosecutor Rogelio Velasco. “Yes, I will support prosecutors getting firearms for self-defense,”

Guevarra said in an interview. Guevarra made the comment when sought for comment on whether arming the prosecutors would somehow discourage such killings, many of which have remained unresolved. But the Justice Secretary noted the Department of Justice had no funds to shoulder the procurement of firearms for prosecutors. Next page


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