News Roundup 25 July 2023
Jul 25, 2023 • 5 min Read
Bongbong Marcos accepts resignation of 18 police officials linked to illegal drugs | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday announced that he accepted the courtesy resignations of 18 officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP), who are “allegedly involved in illegal drug activities.”
This information was disclosed a day after Marcos said in his second State of the Nation Address on Monday that he would accept the resignation of “unscrupulous law enforcers and others involved in the highly nefarious drug trade.”
“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Tuesday that he has accepted the resignation of eighteen (18) Third-Level Officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) allegedly involved in illegal drugs activities, upon the recommendation of the National Police Commission Ad Hoc Advisory Group that investigated the matter,” the Palace in a statement.
Although Department of Interior and the Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. previously said that there will be no disclosure of the names of the resigned police officials, the Palace statement included the list of the 18 PNP generals and colonels.
The PNP is under the DILG.
The Palace said President Marcos allowed the resignations of the following:
1. PBGEN Remus Balingasa Medina
2. PBGEN Randy Quines Peralta
3. PBGEN Pablo Gacayan Labra II
4. PCOL Rogarth Bulalacao Campo
5. PCOL Rommel Javier Ochave
6. PCOL Rommel Allaga Velasco
7. PCOL Robin King Sarmiento
8. PCOL Fernando Reyes Ortega
9. PCOL Rex Ordoño Derilo
10. PCOL Julian Tesorero Olonan
11. PCOL Rolando Tapon Portera
12. PCOL Lawrence Bonifacio Cajipe
13. PCOL Dario Milagrosa Menor
14. PCOL Joel Kagayed Tampis
15. PCOL Michael Arcillas David
16. PCOL Igmedio Belonio Bernaldez
17. PCOL Rodolfo Calope Albotra Jr.
18. PCOL Marvin Barba Sanchez
Full Story at: Bongbong Marcos accepts resignation of 18 police officials linked to illegal drugs | Inquirer News
2nd show cause order issued vs PAO chief over ‘belligerent’ directive | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines —The Supreme Court has issued another show cause order to Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Persida Rueda-Acosta to explain why she should not be administratively sanctioned for issuing Office Order No. 096 requiring public defenders to comply with Section 22 Canon III of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) or the “Conflict of Interest” provision.
PAO, in Office Order No. 096, told its lawyers to follow Section 22 of the new code. In following the conflict of interest provision, PAO reminded its lawyers of Art. 209 of the Revised Penal Code, which punishes betrayal of trust by an attorney or solicitor.
The provision imposes a penalty of between 6 months and one day to 2 years and four months and/or a fine of between P40,000 and P200,000 on a lawyer or his/her representative for a “malicious breach of professional duty or of inexcusable negligence or ignorance” that prejudices the client, or for revealing a client’s secrets which a lawyer obtained in his/her professional capacity.
The provision also requires the consent of the first client if the lawyer later defends the opposing party.
But the SC, in a unanimous vote, deemed the Office Order as “belligerent and disrespectful as she effectively accused the Court of directly exposing the Public Attorneys not only to criminal and administrative liability but also physical danger.”
Full Story at: 2nd show cause order issued vs PAO chief over ‘belligerent’ directive | Inquirer News
Fact check: Marcos falsely claims 52 Philippine HEIs included in world university rankings | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. erroneously claimed that there are 52 Philippine higher education institutions (HEIs) that made “world-class status” in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
All known world university ranking systems such as that of the Times Higher Education (THE), Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Center for World University Rankings (CWRU) only included ten, five and three universities from the country, respectively.
CLAIM: Marcos said 52 HEIs reached the World University Rankings in 2023. He claimed this is 37 HEIs more than in 2022.
RATING: This is false.
FACTS:
What Marcos said in his second SONA
The president lauded in his report on the country’s education the greater number of Philippine HEIs attaining “world-class status.”
Marcos claimed: “More and more of our higher education institutions (HEIs) have reached world-class status. This year, 52 Philippine HEIs have been included in the World Universities Rankings, compared to just 15 last year.”
What Marcos left out
THE found ten Philippine HEIs qualified for the World University Rankings in 2023, while only three of them in 2022. This is far from 15 universities that Marcos mentioned.
Full Story at: Fact check: Marcos falsely claims 52 Philippine HEIs included in world university rankings | Philstar.com
Marcos trumpets Maharlika but skips mention of gov’t’s zero surplus funds — economist | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — While President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. made sure to trumpet the “strategic financing” power of the recently signed Maharlika Investment Fund Act on Monday, the government has to address whether it has any idle funds that can be channeled into the wealth fund, an economist said.
In a message to Philstar.com, Enrico Patiga Villanueva, an economics lecturer at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, said that the government essentially has no surplus funds sitting idly that can prop up Maharlika, contrary to what Marcos said in his second State of the Nation Address.
“The existence of idle funds in (Government Financial Institutions) is a myth created to justify the diversion of bank funds to (the Maharlika Investment Corporation). If there are indeed idle surplus funds in the GFIs, then their leadership is not doing their job in maximizing use of funds,” Villanueva said.
Similarly, Sonny Africa of IBON Foundation, an economic state think tank, pointed out that the “so-called underutilization” of funds from state-owned banks and other GFIs “was never established.”
“This is a feeble belated attempt to fend off well-founded criticism that resources are unjustifiably being diverted to the Maharlika fund,” Africa said.
Full Story at: Marcos trumpets Maharlika but skips mention of gov’t’s zero surplus funds — economist | Philstar.com
