News Roundup 05 May 2023
May 05, 2023 • 3 min Read
Sandiganbayan denies Imelda Marcos’ bid to recover sequestered properties anew | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The bid of former first lady Imelda Marcos and Irene Marcos-Araneta to recover over 20 properties and assets sequestered from their family has been denied again, as the Sandiganbayan said their motion for reconsideration lacks merit.
In a resolution dated May 4 from its Fourth Division, the Sandiganbayan denied the motion for reconsideration filed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s mother and sister regarding Civil Case No. 002, or the P200-billion civil forfeiture case.
The Marcoses tried to recover the assets obtained by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) following the end of rule of the family patriarch, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., as Sandiganbayan previously dismissed the civil case last December 2019.
However, Sandiganbayan last January 25 denied the Marcoses’ bid to recover 23 assets, and now, declined again their motion for reconsideration for lack of merit.
Full Story at: Sandiganbayan denies Imelda Marcos’ bid to recover sequestered properties anew | Inquirer News
Teves lawyer mocks DOJ: Where are the charges? | INQUIRER.NET –The lawyer of suspended Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., Ferdinand Topacio, mocked the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday for prosecuting Teves via publicity without filing charges against him.
Teves, whose whereabouts remain unknown, has been abroad on a medical leave since Feb. 28 even after being accused of being the mastermind in the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo on March 4.
Marcos: ‘There were abuses’ in Duterte’s ‘drug war’ | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. acknowledged that “abuses” did happen during the course of the “war on drugs” waged by his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Marcos said Thursday in Washington that these abuses happened because of the Duterte administration’s focus on law enforcement in combating illegal drugs, which the incumbent president said has been taken “as far as we can.”
“What had happened in the previous administration is that we focused very much on enforcement. And because of that, it could be said there were abuses by certain elements of the government that has caused some concern in many quarters about the human rights situation in the Philippines,” Marcos said at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Domestic processes on ‘drug war’ cases
While this is the farthest that Marcos has come in acknowledging the reported abuses in Duterte’s “war on drugs,” his administration still refuses to cooperate with the International Criminal Court that is investigating crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the anti-drug campaign.
The Marcos administration, however, has sent communications with the ICC including appeals against decisions it deems unfavorable to the Philippines and requests to suspend and scrap its investigation altogether.
Full Story at: Marcos: ‘There were abuses’ in Duterte’s ‘drug war’ | Philstar.com
HRW raises alarm over red-tagging of journalists in SMNI show | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Human Rights Watch aired “deep concern” on Friday over the red-tagging of several journalists on an episode of a show aired over SMNI last World Press Freedom Day.
HRW senior researcher Carlos Conde said that while the red-tagging of the SMNI show’s hosts was “nothing new,” they were still “alarmed by the recklessness” of the broadcast.
“As we all know, red-tagging is not just simple harassment – it is meant to put the red-tagged in harm’s way. Many red-tagged activists have been victims of extrajudicial executions,” Conde said in a statement.
Among the journalists that were red-tagged in the show was Jonathan de Santos, news section head of Philstar.com and national chairperson of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.
On Twitter, De Santos dismissed the accusations as having come from “jokers.”
Full Story at: HRW raises alarm over red-tagging of journalists in SMNI show | Philstar.com
