News Roundup 20 May 2022
May 20, 2022 • 5 min Read
SEA Games: Hidilyn Diaz wins weightlifting gold anew | INQUIRER.NET – Weightlifting queen Hidilyn Diaz continued her dominance, ruling the women’s 55 kilogram event in Vietnam and winning the gold medal anew in the Southeast Asian Games on Friday. The Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist made a total lift of 206kgs–92kgs in snatch and 114kgs in clean and jerk–to get her second straight SEA Games gold after winning the same event in 2019 in Manila. Diaz bested Thailand’s Sanikun Tanasan, who settled for a silver with a SEA Games-record snatch of 93kgs but only managed 110kgs in clean and jerk for a total of 203kgs. Indonesia’s Natasya Beteyob wound up third with a lift of 188kgs. Tanasan is also an Olympic champion who won the gold in the 2016 Rio Games in a lighter weight category. This the first gold medal for the Philippine weightlifting team in Hanoi, with more expected before the biennial meet closes on Monday.
Senior senators get dibs on major panel chairmanships — Drilon | INQUIRER.NET – Senate tradition dictates that seniority be given a “heavier” consideration in selecting the chairman of a major committee rather than being just a “topnotcher” in the elections, outgoing Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Friday. While “everybody” is qualified to chair a major Senate panel, Drilon said the “senior ones would be given priority” as a matter of tradition. “The tradition in the Senate is that seniority is given weight and recognition…Of course, everything is a matter of compromise but certainly being a topnotcher is a factor in your favor, but as far as I recall, seniority is a determining factor or is a weighty consideration or a heavier consideration rather than your rank in the election,” Drilon told reporters in an online interview. Among the major committees in the upper chamber is the finance committee, which handles the national budget, according to Drilon. The Senate finance committee is currently being chaired by Senator Sonny Angara. Other major committees include the blue ribbon panel, chaired by outgoing Senator Richard Gordon, and the ways and means committee currently led by Senator Pia Cayetano. “I don’t remember or I don’t recall any neophyte senator getting the Committee on Finance or the Committee on Ways and Means or the blue ribbon committee,” Drilon added. He recalled getting the blue ribbon committee chairmanship when he first entered the Senate in 1995, saying he was “criticized” for accepting it despite being a neophyte lawmaker.
US warship named after Filipino sailor Telesforo Trinidad | PHILSTAR.COM – The United States named a warship in honor of Panay-born sailor Telesforo De La Cruz Trinidad, the first Filipino to be awarded the medal of honor for his bravery in the American navy. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said in a statement Friday that their new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer will be named “USS Telesforo Trinidad (DDG 139).” Trinidad held the rank Fireman Second Class. This comes as the US celebrates Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month. “My first time learning about Petty Officer Trinidad’s story was as a midshipman at the Naval Academy and since being sworn in as Secretary, I have wanted to honor his heroic actions by naming a ship after him,” Del Toro said. “Having a ship named after such a significant figure highlights our diverse culture and that our people will always be our strategic advantage against any adversary,” he added. Del Toro believes the new ship and crew will help in enhancing the US’ maritime superiority. Trinidad was born in Aklan province, Panay on Nov. 25, 1890. Twenty five years later, he rescued two injured shipmates while they were abroad the USS San Diego, where an obstructed tube in one of the ship’s boilers caused other boilers to explode. One of the explosions burned Trinidad in the face, but he continued rescuing his shipmate. Because of his heroism, the US Navy awarded him the medal of honor in 1915.
Drilon wants next Congress to wrap up Pharmally probe, scrap DBM procurement service | PHILSTAR.COM – Minority Floor Leader Sen. Franklin Drilon said that those who will be part of the 19th Congress should wrap up the investigations related to the multi-billion peso deal between Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. with the Philippine government. He also pushed for the abolition of the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). “Sa akin po, dapat tapusin ‘yung Pharmally. Iyon po ay nakabitin. Unless magkaroon na committee report na may papasa ng kasalukuyang senado ay iyan po ay nakabukas at nakabinbin sa susunod na Senado po iyan. Dapat ituloy po iyan,” he said in a Thursday interview with Cignal TV’s One PH in response to a question on what should the 19th Congress focus on. (“For me, they should finish the Pharmally probe which is left hanging right now. Unless the current Senate releases its committee report, this will be carried over and will be pending in the next Senate.”) Earlier this year, the Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon, released a 113-page partial committee report which detailed the findings on the probe on the Pharmally probe. The partial report recommended that charges may be filed against President Rodrigo Duterte for the “betrayal of public trust”, after he appointed foreign national Michael Yang— earlier identified as a Pharmally’s financier and guarantor to Chinese suppliers— as an economic adviser to the president in 2018, discredited the Commission on Audit and Senate, and barred his officials from attending the Senate hearings, among others. Duterte is immune from suit as president. The report also suggested to file several criminal and administrative charges against two former officials of the DBM’s procurement service, namely Christopher Lao and Warren Rex Liong. On Thursday, Drilon said that the PS-DBM should be scrapped, adding that it is not an example for other government offices to follow.
