News Roundup 16 January 2023
Jan 16, 2023 • 4 min Read
PNP top cops urged: Set example, turn in courtesy resignation to prove innocence | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines –Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has challenged all high-ranking police officers in the country: to prove their innocence and show they are untainted by the illegal drug trade, they should set an example.
With Azurin’s rallying call on Monday, 24 of the 953 PNP generals and colonels are still holding off their courtesy resignations to support government efforts to get rid of drug-dealing cops.
“If they are innocent, the more that they should come out. They should set an example. Innocent ka pala eh (You claim you’re innocent), so you should submit yourself to an assessment and evaluation. Because you’re confident that you are innocent,” he said in a news briefing.
Azurin also believed that top police officers who assert their innocence but won’t tender their courtesy resignations are merely driven by “pride.”
“Napakahirap na bawat sa pag-angat mo, laging may isyu na ibinabato at ibinabalik sa’yo. This time, once you’re evaluated about sa involvement sa illegal drugs, dapat wala nang isyu na ibabato sa iyo,” Azurin said.
(It’s hard always to have the same issues thrown at you, haunting you as you rise in the ranks. This time, once you’re evaluated about involvement in illegal drugs, it should no longer be used against you.)
Full Story at: PNP top cops urged: Set example, turn in courtesy resignation to prove innocence | Inquirer News
Maharlika fund ‘soft launch’ at WEF ‘premature,’ can make Marcos look ‘amateur’ – Hontiveros | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — It is “premature” to present the Maharlika Wealth Fund at the World Economic Forum (WEF), according to Senator Risa Hontiveros, who also asserted that doing so would only make President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appear amateur.
Hontiveros stressed that the measure that would create the Maharlika Wealth Fund is yet to be passed by Congress, with the Senate still unable to hold deliberations on the bill.
“A soft launch is premature. There is nothing to present. The bill establishing such a sovereign wealth fund has not yet been deliberated at the Senate — isn’t it jumping the gun to be talking about it in front of world economic leaders? Hilaw ang diskusyon at maraming butas ang konsepto, magmumukhang amateur ang Presidente,” she said in a statement.
(The discussion is not yet ripe, and the concept has many loopholes. The President will look like an amateur.)
Full Story at: Maharlika fund ‘soft launch’ at WEF ‘premature,’ can make Marcos look ‘amateur’ – Hontiveros | Inquirer News
ILO urged to look into apparent abduction of Cebu development workers | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Two Cebu activists who had been reported missing for days have been found and allies and supporters are calling for an investigation into their apparent abduction.
Social media posts raising concern regarding the whereabouts of Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha circulated last week as the two were supposed to return to Cebu on January 10 after a vacation with family. A text message from Gumanao indicated that the ferry they were on had already docked in Cebu City and that they were waiting to disembark.
Karapatan – Central Visayas noted that the two were unreachable for three days and that their families only recently confirmed they were found on Monday.
“[With] the families, friends, colleagues of union organizers Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dahoya, we feel relief in the news that they have been rescued from the clutches of their captors,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a Twitter post on Monday.
The two were abducted in broad daylight while at Pier 6 in Cebu Port, video shared by an anonymous contributor suggests. The two were taken into a vehicle at around 9 a.m. on January 10 just as passengers were disembarking from MV 2Go Maligaya.
Full Story at: ILO urged to look into apparent abduction of Cebu development workers | Philstar.com
Red-tagged anew, Baguio’s Magalong warns of legal action | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines (Updated 11:37 a.m.) — Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong issued Monday a thinly-veiled threat of legal action against red-taggers as he was once again baselessly accused of being part of the armed underground communist insurgency.
Magalong directed his warning to controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy, former anti-communist task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy-Partosa and self-proclaimed former communist rebel Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz who red-tagged him on programs on Quiboloy’s SMNI network.
“In relation to the above-mentioned personalities who have acquired the habit of incessantly defaming people without an iota of evidence, be reminded that no one is above the law,” Magalong said in a statement.
Full Story at: Red-tagged anew, Baguio’s Magalong warns of legal action | Philstar.com
