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Duterte given list of corrupt solons
TALKING POINTS.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte discusses matters with his Cabinet – especially on corruption, drugs, and the COVID-19 vaccine -- in a televised meeting Monday night in Davao City. Presidential Photo
But won't probe, name names due to 'lack of jurisdiction' over members of the House
By Vito Barcelo
P
RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night said he would refer to the Office of the Ombudsman information he received about some members of the House of Representatives who allegedly received kickbacks from project contractors.
In a taped speech, Duterte said he received a list of lawmakers who were allegedly involved in corruption in projects undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). He said the list was given to him by Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Commissioner Greco Belgica. However, he refused to investigate or name the lawmakers, saying he had no jurisdiction over members of a co-equal branch of government. "I have no business investigating congressmen. They belong to a separate organ of government which is co-equal to the President," Duterte said. In the same address, Duterte read aloud a list of Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) personnel who had been dismissed on allegations of corruption. The officials face administrative complaints for grave misconduct, dishonesty, Next page
COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE
Gov’t targets Military tapped in anti-illegal drugs drive 60m Filipinos for vaccine VOL. XXXIV • NO. 263• 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
By Vito Barcelo
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to form their own antidrug squad to help the police in the fight against illegal drugs, saying illegal drugs are flooding the country. “To the military, Armed Forces, help us because we are being flooded with
drugs. Our enemy is the [Sinaloa] and the Bamboo Triad,” Duterte said during his weekly televised cabinet meeting Monday night. The President also took a swipe at the human rights groups for criticizing his anti-drug drive, saying the drug syndicates were not their only enemies, but included human rights.
“And of course, our enemy also includes human rights. Although they do not.. not really an enemy that kills... but they are out to discredit, they are out to put in a — send to prison somebody who is doing his work,” Duterte said. Duterte said he wanted the military to join the anti-drug drive because it was a
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(AS OF 4 PM NOV. 24)
421,722 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES
ACTIVE
8,185
12
386,792
196
DEATHS
RECOVERIES
THE government will borrow P73.2 billion to buy COVID-19 vaccines for 60 million Filipinos, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said Tuesday. Dominguez said he told President Rodrigo Duterte in their weekly meeting Monday night that the fund can come from several sources — P40 billion from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, P20 billion from local
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1,119 26,745 NEW
By Vito Barcelo, Julito G. Rada and Willie Casas
PCA LENDS TRUCKS TO FLOOD CLEANUP
NEW
THE Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) has mobilized its member construction firms, chapters, and affiliates to provide trucks and equipment that are being used to clear streets blocked by debris following heavy flooding in various parts of the country. Next page
NEW
Bello stirs nurses in 5-star private hospitals to strike By Vito Barcelo LABOR Secretary Silvestre Bello III, apparently sympathizing with nurses in the private sector, especially those working in 5-star hospitals amid reports of exploitation, encouraged them Tuesday to go on strike. Bello, who strongly recommended pay increase for private medical workers, in Next page
CONSTRUCTORS’ AID. The Philippine Constructors Association (PCA) has lent around 50 units of equipment, including this back hoe pictured, to help clear the streets blocked by huge piles of debris in Marikina, which suffered roof-high floods due to the heavy rains brought about by Typhoon ‘Ulysses’. Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro and Chief Administrator Manny Sarmiento of Barangay Malanday later walk the streets to inspect the damage to the community (inset). PCA, Marikina PIO
‘Nature, man’s greed Senate asked for quick OK of DDR bill caused flood, not dam’ By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta
By Maricel V. Cruz and Rio N. Araja
FLOOD PROBE. Speaker Lord Allan Velasco is shown on the big screen as he addresses the House Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday, as it began its probe into the cause of unprecedented flooding in the provinces of Cagayan and Isabela during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses. Velasco authored House Resolution 1348, which the committee also tackled, together with Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano. HOR Photo
China blasts US for ‘sowing discord’ sor Robert O’Brien on the South China By Rey E. Requejo and Sea, Hong Kong and Taiwan issues durVito Barcelo ing his visit to the Philippines. In a statement, the Chinese Embassy CHINA on Tuesday deplored what it de- in the Philippines accused O’Brien of scribed as “unreasonable remarks” made sowing discord between Manila and Next page by United States National Security Advi-
THE head of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said Tuesday the release of water from Magat Dam was not a major cause of the recent severe flooding in Cagayan and Isabela provinces. Legislators should investigate instead other causes, including illegal logging, mining, and quarrying on the slopes of Next page
GARIN FACES 100 NEW DENGVAXIA CASES IN QC NEWS / A2
ADB SAYS: MASS-PRODUCE COVID VACCINE IN ASEAN NEWS / A2
A LEADER of the House of Representatives on Tuesday appealed to the Senate to prioritize its approval of the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), warning that Philippines might lose more lives if
it rejected the bill, a priority legislation of the Duterte administration. Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, one of the principal authors of DDR and chair of the House committee on ways and means, recalled that Duterte asked Congress to pass the bill creating the DDR in his four State-of-the-Nation Addresses (SONA)—2016, 2018, 2019, Next page and 2020.