News Roundup 02 June 2022
Jun 02, 2022 • 6 min Read
Witness vs Espinosa, De Lima retracts: I was forced to sign affidavit linking them | INQUIRER.NET – A witness against Kerwin Espinosa recanted his allegations against the self-confessed drug lord, as well as his testimonies linking detained Senator Leila de Lima to the drug trade, claiming he was threatened and coerced to sign the affidavit against the two. “Wala pong katotohanan ang lahat ng aking alegasyon sa nasabi kong Affidavit kung saan umamin ako na ako ay sangkot sa kalakaran ng illegal na droga at isinangkot ko si Kerwin Espinosa at iba pang tao,” said Marcelo Adorco in a four-page counter-affidavit submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 24. (There is no truth to all my allegations in the Affidavit in which I admitted that I was involved in the illegal drug trade and that I implicated Kerwin Espinosa and other people.) “Ang totoo niyan, napilitan lamang akong pirmahan ang nasabing Affidavit dahil sa pangamba sa aking buhay at kaligtasan,” he added. (The truth is, I was only forced to sign the said Affidavit out of fear for my life and safety.) According to Adorco, a police officer wrote his affidavits while he was detained at the Albuera Police Station in Leyte after just being arrested in a buy-bust operation on July 28, 2016. Meanwhile, in a 26-page counter-affidavit he submitted on August 28, 2020, Adorco claimed he was threatened by former Albuera Police chief Jovie Espenido and forced him to sign his affidavits in 2016 and 2017 – where he alleged Espinosa met up with De Lima in Baguio City to hand her drug money. Espinosa himself had already retracted this claim as well. “Sinabi sa akin ni Sir Espenido na nanganganib ang aking buhay at ang tanging paraan na makaiwas ako sa kapahamakan ay ang pagtestigo laban kay Kerwin at iba pa dahil ipapasok daw ako ni Sir Espenido sa Witness Protection Program,” Adorco said. (Sir Espenido told me that my life was in danger and the only way I could avoid disaster was to testify against Kerwin and others because Sir Espenido would put me in the Witness Protection Program.) He said Espenido also promised him financial help – but none arrived until he was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment. Adorco in the same 2020 counter-affidavit also denied being Espinosa’s bodyguard, as well as knowing some of the personalities he tagged in alleged drug operations. “Hindi ko po kilala sina Lovely Impal, Peter Co, Peter Lim, at Secretary Leila De Lima. Hindi ko po sila nakita at nakausap kahit minsan,” he said. (I don’t know Lovely Impal, Peter Co, Peter Lim, and Secretary Leila De Lima. I have never seen or talked to them.) “‘Yong picture po ni Kerwin Espinosa at ni Hazel Mago kasama si Secretary Leila De Lima ay nakuha po ‘yon galing sa Facebook at ibinigay lamang sa akin ng isang pulis noong ginawa ang aking affidavit,” he continued. (The picture of Kerwin Espinosa and Hazel Mago with Secretary Leila De Lima was taken from Facebook and was only given to me by a police officer when I made my affidavit.) “Wala po akong personal na kaalaman tungkol sa sinasabing pagkikita raw ni Kerwin at ni Secretary De Lima sa Baguio City,” he added. (I have no personal knowledge about the alleged meeting between Kerwin and Secretary De Lima in Baguio City.) Adorco also explained that he was actually in no position to know about the supposed illegal drug operations.
China dismisses Philippines’ fishing ban protest, calls it an ‘unwarranted accusation’ | PHILSTAR.COM – China is rejecting the Philippines’ diplomatic protest against Beijing’s unilateral fishing moratorium, saying Manila has aired an “unwarranted accusation.” The annual fishing moratorium began on the first of May and is expected to be in place until August 16. The Philippines said the ban “has no basis in law” and underpins the two countries’ bilateral relations. “We hope the Philippine side can view it in an objective and correct perspective, and earnestly fulfill the obligations as a littoral state of the South China Sea to jointly promote sustainable development of fishery in the South China Sea,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a statement sent to reporters on Thursday. The ban covers some areas of the South China Sea up to north of the 12 degrees north latitude. Manila says this extends up to some parts of the West Philippine Sea that the South China Sea is within. Every year, the Philippines protests against the ban and has urged China to comply with its international law, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 arbitral ruling that awarded the Philippines the right over its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea. However, China maintains that the annual fishing moratorium is a “normal measure of protecting marine biological resources in waters under China’s jurisdiction.” It added that it is also a “manifestation” of its compliance with its international obligations, namely the UNCLOS. Beijing failed to mention the Hague arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea.
Former execs call for manual, citizen-led audit of ballots from 2022 polls | PHILSTAR.COM – Former officials are calling for a citizen-initiated random manual audit of votes amid speculations on the conduct and results of the recently concluded May 9 polls. In a Pandesal Forum held at the Kamuning Bakery Cafe on Wednesday, former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) officer-in-charge secretary Eliseo Rio Jr., National Citizens Movement for Free Elections National Chairman Augusto Lagman, and former Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines president Franklin Ysaac said this would help clear the air on the doubts clouding over the recent polls. “Wala kaming inaakusahan, sinasabi namin na mayroong lumabas na mahirap i-explain kung hindi natin talaga suriin,” said Rio, who is also a retired Armed Forces general. (We are not pointing fingers, what we’re saying is there were anomalies noted that are difficult to explain if we don’t really investigate it.) “Itong lumabas ay it is a ‘smoking gun’ to a possible dayaan, pero kung hindi talaga tayo makasuri sa balota na randomly pipiliin ng taumbayan, hindi natin masasagot ‘yan,” he added. (What we found is a “smoking gun” that could possibly lead to proof of cheating, but if we don’t have citizens randomly check the ballots, we can’t really answer these questions.) They presented what they saw as alleged irregularities that occurred during the conduct of the national and local elections, which included the possible hacking or tampering of the system used for the automated election system. Also noted was what was seen as a pattern in the vote ratio reported through the Commission on Elections’ transparency server. Over 20,000 attempts to hack this year’s polls were reported, but the country’s National Security Adviser earlier said all of these failed “because our automated election system is efficient.” Meanwhile, the Comelec’s citizens’ arm Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) noted these concerns, but said it does not reflect any irregularities. The PPCRV does its own manual audit of the election returns printed pre-transmission. While the group believes that all these incidents are merely “circumstantial,” it would be best if a manual audit was conducted and led by citizens to put everyone’s minds to ease. They also said the ballot boxes should be protected in case someone would file an election protest.
