News Roundup 20 November 2023
Nov 20, 2023 • 4 min Read
Comelec probing Smartmatic’s alleged meeting with a candidate’s team in 2022 | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections is currently investigating allegations that the president of Smartmatic met with allies of a presidential candidate during the campaign season of the 2022 national elections — a breach of electoral rules.
During the Senate’s plenary deliberations of the Comelec’s budget, the Comelec relayed through Sen. Imee Marcos, their budget sponsor, that a 12-person investigative panel is set to release its findings on the allegation and other cases related to Smartmatic before the end of the year.
This came after Sen. Koko Pimentel asked the Comelec whether it had been informed of the alleged incident between Smartmatic and the unnamed electoral candidate.
According to a Politiko report on September 13, lawyer Glenn Chong accused Smartmatic President Roger Piñate of meeting with First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and other members of Marcos’ campaign team before election day in 2022.
Pimentel asked: “There are allegations that a certain camp of a certain candidate met with the owner of Smartmatic during the election period of 2022. Has this report reached the Comelec and has the Comelec investigated this report?”
Marcos, who was speaking for the Comelec, answered in the affirmative: “Yes.”
Full Story at: Comelec probing Smartmatic’s alleged meeting with a candidate’s team in 2022 | Philstar.com
Philippines vows not to surrender ‘square inch’ of territory | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos insisted his country would not give up “a single square inch of our territory”, as Manila seeks to counter Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
The remarks were made at a forum in Hawaii on Sunday, and came days after Marcos met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco where the pair discussed their countries’ maritime territorial disputes.
Marcos said the situation in the South China Sea had become “more dire than it was before”, warning that China’s military had “started to show interest” in building bases on reefs that were “closer and closer to the Philippine coastline”.
“As I have said before and I will say again, the Philippines will not give up a single square inch of our territory to any foreign power,” Marcos said.
“We will insist on the preservation of the sovereignty and integrity of the country while working closely with international partners.”
Full Story at: Philippines vows not to surrender ‘square inch’ of territory | Philstar.com
Remulla to recommend VFS for Chinese visa issuance citing security concerns | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said they would recommend to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to tap the Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) when issuing visas for foreigners entering the Philippines from China.
“Sinisikap namin pag-aralan muli yung visa issuing system natin at itutulak muli sa ating Pangulo na wag na DFA ang maghandle ng visas papasok dito galing China,” Remulla said.
(We are striving to reexamine our visa issuing system and will once again push for our President to consider having the DFA no longer handle visas for those entering from China.)
Remulla said fake companies, travel agencies and Immigration personnel have been helping foreigners from China facilitate their visas to be able to enter the Philippines.
Full Story at: Remulla to recommend VFS for Chinese visa issuance (inquirer.net)
DOTr reiterates willingness to meet transport groups on modernization plan | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Monday reiterated its willingness to meet with transportation groups regarding the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), adding that it is actively “fine-tuning” the contentious program.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista made the pronouncement after the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (Piston) conducted a three-day nationwide transport strike in protest of the December 31 deadline for the consolidation of traditional public utility jeepneys.
“I still believe we can resolve the issues through honest communication. We have been fine-tuning the program according to the voices of transport groups,” Bautista said in a statement.
“In the PUV Modernization Program, we ensure no one gets left behind,” he added.
Full Story at: DOTr willing to meet transport groups to tackle PUV modernization (inquirer.net)
