News Round up
Sep 25, 2019 • 3 min Read
House drops P1.5-B ‘pork’ for deputies | INQUIRER – The House of Representatives has abandoned its supposed attempt to allot P1.5 billion “in pork” for each of the 22 deputy speakers and at least P700 million for every district representative, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday. Lacson reported the House setback as leaders of the chamber challenged the senator to name his informants and to stop releasing unverified information concerning pork.
PMA head steps down over death of cadet | PHILIPPINE STAR – Top officials of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) led by its superintendent Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista relinquished their posts following the hazing death of cadet Darwin Dormitorio last week. Commandant of cadets Brig. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro also tendered his resignation after finishing the probe on the death of Dormitorio.
PMA head quits over plebe’s death | MANILA BULLETIN – In an unprecedented move, Lieutenant General Ronnie Evangelista, Philippine Military Academy (PMA) superintendent, resigned his post on Tuesday, citing command responsibility over the death of a plebe. Aside from Evangelista, Brigadier General Bartolome Vicente Bacarro, Commandant of Cadets, also quit his post just as he identified the cadets considered as suspects in the hazing death of Cadet 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio.
Memo (on loan suspension), policy signal | DAILY TRIBUNE – As it was primarily a political statement, President Rodrigo Duterte may reconsider a circular he issued suspending loan and grant agreements with countries which backed the resolution adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) calling for a probe on alleged human rights violations in the country, Malacañang said yesterday. Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he is considering asking the Chief Executive to exempt the DND from the implementation of the directive as this may slow down the ongoing modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Palace to PMA head: Resign | MANILA TIMES – Malacañang on Monday called for the resignation of the head of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) following the death of one of its cadets because of hazing.
Target: Oct. 1 budget relay | MANILA STANDARD – The House of Representatives hopes to transmit its approved version of the 2020 national budget to the Senate by Oct. 1 to give senators enough time to scrutinize the P4.1-trillion spending plan and approve it before the year ends. House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said lawmakers will also seek the passage of a consolidated joint resolution to ensure that funding is available for key national projects under the 2019 General Appropriations Act by extending until Dec. 31, 2020 the validity of the maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays from the 2019 budget.
Senators want ‘ninja’ cops named: Gordon prefers sending list to Duterte | MALAYA – SENATORS yesterday agreed to release the identities of the supposed “ninja cops” allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade who were named by former police chief investigator and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong in an executive session last week. Voting 17-0 and acting on the request of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, senators authorized Sen. Richard Gordon, Chairman of the Senate blue ribbon and justice committees to divulge Magalong’s list of policemen allegedly involved in the “agaw-bato” scheme.
House leaders agree to extend ’19 budget | BUSINESS MIRROR – The leadership of the House of Representatives has agreed to extend until December 2020 the validity of funds for the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay (CO) of agencies in the 2019 national budget. House leaders said the extension is needed due to the delays in the passage of the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the election ban on the implementation of infrastructure projects and social services.
