News Roundup 28 October 2024
Oct 28, 2024 • 6 min Read
Hontiveros calls out Duterte’s profanity at Senate probe | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros called out former President Rodrigo Duterte for spewing profanity during the Senate hearing on the drug war on Monday.
Duterte repeatedly hurled expletives while explaining his ironclad stance against illegal drugs, specially when police are involved.
“That’s my stand. If you don’t agree with me I’m sorry but I’m dealing with the serious problem of my country. Hindi mo madala sa pakiusap yan (It cannot be addressed through a request),” he said during the hearing of the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee.
“Lalo na ang pulis, p*tang*na itong mga pulis, pag pumasok yan sa pulis sa droga, hindi mo masabi, ‘hoy pulis huminto ka’,” he added.
(Especially when the police get involved in illegal drugs, you can’t tell them to stop)
Duterte was responding to Hontiveros, who called him out for saying during the hearing that drug suspects should be killed. This remark, according to her, was unacceptable.
“Forgive me for interrupting. Speaking of lengwahe, sorry sir, baka maaaring ang resource person tumigil magmura kasi bahay natin itong Senado e,” Hontiveros said.
(Forgive me for interrupting. Speaking of language, I’m sorry, sir, but perhaps the resource person could stop cursing because the Senate is our house.)
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who was presiding over the panel’s probe into the Philippine war on illegal drugs, then advised Duterte to refrain from uttering foul language even when just relating a story.
Full Story at: Hontiveros calls out Duterte’s profanity at Senate probe
Duterte disputes Garma’s claims on drug task force directive: ‘Liar’ | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte has disputed retired police colonel Royina Garma’s claims that he called her in 2016 about the creation of a task force that would implement the drug war on a national level.
At the hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on Monday, Duterte was quizzed by Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada about Garma’s claims that Duterte wanted the “Davao template,” or a system of rewards given to cops who kill drug suspects, implemented on a national scale.
“She said she received a call from you sometime in May 2016. Can you confirm this, Mr. President?” Estrada asked.
“Di ako tumatawag ng pulis sa bahay. ‘Yong sabi niya doon sa bahay? ‘Di naman kami nagpupunta do’n (I don’t call police when they are at home. Was she referring to when I was home? I don’t go there),” Duterte said.
“Before you assumed the presidency, you were still president-elect at that time, ang sabi niya (she said it was) May 2016, so I presume you were still president-elect, Mr. President,” Estrada said.
“I do not remember calling her, and for what? ‘Yong presidente ako andyan na ‘yong lahat, nasa akin na (When I was president everything was available to me),” Duterte replied.
Full Story at: Duterte disputes Garma’s claims on drug task force directive
‘A platform for the accused’: Groups question Senate’s drug war probe | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — As the Senate opened its probe into former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs on Monday, October 28, two organizations representing victims of extrajudicial killings questioned the hearing’s impartiality.
Rise Up for Life and for Rights and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), represented by human rights lawyers Neri Colmenares and Kristina Conti, said the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee includes members facing allegations alongside Duterte.
“Today, as an investigation into the ‘war on drugs’ by the Senate opens, we are aghast that it has become a platform for those involved and accused,” the statement read.
They were referring to Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s former special assistant when he was president, and Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, his police chief and the drug war architect.
The House Quad Committee, which was the first to conduct a congressional probe into the EJKs, revealed through testimonies from police lieutenants appointed by Duterte that Go and Dela Rosa are allegedly involved in the bloody war on drugs and the reward system for every killed drug suspect.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s first hearing on Monday, Go devoted over 15 minutes in his opening speech to defend himself and Duterte against the allegations.
This is contradictory to Go’s statement in an interview on Sept. 24, 2019, where he said that a reward would be given to those who kill “ninja cops,” referring to police officers involved in the illegal drug trade.
“I think he will personally announce to the public kung sino po yung sangkot na ito. At importante po na si pangulo ang magsasabi. Sabi niya, karapatan po ng Pilipino malaman kung sino po ang ninja cops. Nabanggit din po niya, nandyan pa rin po ‘yung reward na kanyang sinabi noon. P1 million sa mga ninja cops patay. ‘Pag buhay, kalahating milyon lang po. ‘Pag lumaban, P2 million,” Go said.
(I think he will personally announce to the public who is involved in this. It is important for the president to make this statement. He said that it is the right of the Filipino people to know who the ninja cops are. He also mentioned that the reward he spoke of before is still in place: P1 million for dead ninja cops, half a million if they are alive, and P2 million if they fight back.)
Full Story at: ‘A platform for the accused’: Groups question Senate’s drug war probe | Philstar.com
Peace talks on ‘brink of collapse’ with government arrest of consultants, says NDFP | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Law enforcement authorities’ consecutive arrests of three peace consultants this month has triggered a fresh crisis in peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
In a statement on Monday, October 28, Julie de Lima, chairperson of the NDFP’s negotiating panel, said authorities have detained Porferio Tuna, Simeon Naogsan and Wigberto Villarico in violation of a standing agreement protecting peace consultants from arrest.
The government, through a statement from National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya over the weekend, declared the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee (JASIG) void after the Duterte administration terminated the deal when it canceled peace talks in 2017.
De Lima countered this by saying the 1995 agreement requires formal procedures for termination and cannot be removed through media statements alone.
“Such agreements are the product of formal negotiations and mutual commitment, rooted in both national and international legal principles, and cannot be undone unilaterally or casually,” De Lima said.
The JASIG refers to the agreement between then-President Fidel Ramos and the NDF signed in 1995 that shields all persons involved in peace talks from harassment, arrest and detention.
Dispute over whether JASIG remains in effect dates back to 2017, when then-President Rodrigo Duterte announced its termination alongside the canceled peace talks. This move allowed authorities to re-arrest NDFP consultants who had been temporarily released for the negotiations.
However, the NDFP has always maintained that a unilateral termination cannot void the immunity guarantees, which they say require formal procedures and mutual agreement to terminate.
“By repeatedly violating these protections, the GRP has disregarded its own commitments and continues to push the ongoing talks to the brink of collapse,” De Lima said.
“We wish to reiterate the NDFP’s policy of openness to resume peace negotiations, but how can we possibly engage in meaningful negotiations when our negotiators and consultants are subjected to arrests, killings, and torture?” she said.
Full Story at: Peace talks on ‘brink of collapse’ with government arrest of consultants, says NDFP | Philstar.com
