News Roundup 05 April 2022
Apr 05, 2022 • 5 min Read
Isko Moreno party downplays volunteer group’s switch of support for VP Robredo | PHILSTAR.COM – The camp of Manila City Mayor and presidential candidate Isko Moreno belied and played down claims that volunteer groups in the Visayas have switched their support for Vice President Leni Robredo, insisting that supporters in the region remain solidly behind Moreno. At a press briefing Tuesday, campaign strategist Lito Banayo asserted that “various sectoral and volunteer groups remain solid” in their support for Moreno, contrary to claims made by the lead convenor of the Ikaw Muna Pilipinas Visayas chapter supposedly shifting the group’s support to another candidate. “Only one person was speaking for them, it was Nick Malazarte, and there was a statement of the majority of the Visayas for Isko, while there were also groups from Cebu denying the claim of Mr. Malazarte,” Banayo said in Filipino. Banayo pointed out that Moreno and his team will be going to Cebu over the weekend where they will be hosted by volunteer groups based in Cebu and Visayas. “So we don’t actually know how many are switching to Vice President Leni,” he added. To recall, the secretary-general of IM Pilipinas, a major volunteer network launched in June last year to convince Moreno to run for president, said it is considering pulling out to support the candidacy of Vice President Robredo. This comes after the movement’s coordinator in Visayas, Nick Malazarte, announced switching allegiance from Moreno to Robredo. “We respect the decision of some of our members. We are a volunteer organization. No one is being paid. We banded together for a common cause,” Argaño said.
House hearings sought on convict Palparan’s TV interview despite pending case | PHILSTAR.COM – House hearings are being sought over an interview with convicted kidnapper Jovito Palparan Jr. aired on Sonshine Media Network International, which lawmakers said may have violated rules on the activities of inmates. Reps. Eufemia Cullamat, Carlos Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite (Bayan Muna) filed House Resolution No. 2546 on Monday asking the chamber’s human rights panel to investigate the interview with Palparan, who is serving his sentence at the New Bilibid Prison. Hearings into possible irregularities in the Bureau of Corrections allowing the interview are unlikely at the House, where the administration maintains a supermajority. Even if members were inclined to investigate, most lawmakers are focused on the campaign for the May elections. “The SMNI interview with Palparan reveals a clear double standard on the treatment of persons deprived of liberty and presents possible violations of the rules regarding the conduct of interview and other activities of inmates, especially with those convicted of gross human rights violations,” the Bayan Muna lawmakers said. Palparan was interviewed by Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy in a program aired on SMNI and shared by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict on its official Facebook page. Badoy, who is also a spokesperson for the NTF-ELCAC, said the interview was to “vindicate” Palparan, whose conviction she claimed to be founded on “trumped up charges.” The Malolos Regional Trial Court found Palparan guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in the disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño in 2006. The mothers of Cadapan and Empeño condemned the interview, calling it “a cheap, desperate attempt to vindicate criminals and rights violators.”
PH halts talks with Australian firm on additional patrol ships | INQUIRER.NET – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday said the Philippines has canceled its negotiation with an Australian company regarding six more offshore patrol vessels (OAV) for the Philippine Navy due to an increase in pricing. Lorenzana said they have informed Australian company Astral that the country decided not to pursue the deal after the firm asked for an additional price for the patrol vessels. According to Lorenzana, the initial cost for six OAVs is only P30 billion, but Astral had asked for an additional P12 billion. “Sa katagalan nating paghintay na ma-approve yan ay sabi nila tumaas na raw yung cost, pati materials, yung labor and everything, humihingi sila ng dagdag,” Lorenzana said in an ambush interview in Taguig. (Due to the long wait for the approval of the deal, they told us that there was an increase in the cost, because of the increase in labor and everything.) The defense chief said they could also not ask the Department of Budget and Management for additional funds. “Hindi naman tayo makakahingi ng dagdag na pera sa dahil naghirap din tayo sa COVID-19,” he stressed.
CHR lambasts 2 local candidates in Laguna for ‘objectifying’ women during campaign | Manila Bulletin – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has lambasted two local political candidates in Laguna for “objectifying women” and “disregarding” proper health protocols in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Assailed by CHR were the acts of 6cyclemind vocalist and Cabuyao Councilor Tutti Caringal II and Calamba City Mayor Timmy Chipeco who were caught on video gyrating their hips in front of a female supporter. The video is now circulating on social media. To make matters worse, the CHR said the video also showed one of the political candidates removing the face mask of a female supporter. “We condemn this incident as it is not only exploitative of women and demeans their inherent dignity, but it also debases the incumbent office, which the political aspirants hold,” CHR Spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in a statement.
