News Roundup 01 March 2022
Mar 01, 2022 • 5 min Read
Robredo supporters challenge Comelec ‘Oplan Baklas’ at SC | PHILSTAR.COM – Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo, who are all private individuals, have asked the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections from enforcing its “Oplan Baklas.” Robredo’s supporters from Capiz, Cagayan, Isabela and Zamboanga City on Tuesday filed an Extremely Urgent Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus and asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order to prohibit the poll body from implementing parts of its Resolution 10730. They also urged the high court to declare Section 21 (o), Section 24 and Section 27 of the same resolution “pursuant to the Comelec’s interpretation that the same shall apply to private citizens or volunteers who are all non-candidates and their private properties.” Section 21 (o) states that no lawful election propaganda materials shall be allowed outside common poster areas They also asked the SC to order the return or restoration of campaign materials that were removed by the Comelec from their private properties. Supporters of presidential aspirants Leni Robredo and Isko Moreno are among the campaign teams that reported the removal of their campaign materials. The petition was heavily anchored on the 2015 case Diocese of Bacolod v. Comelec. Petitioners argued that the assailed parts of the resolution are unconstitutional “for being a direct violation of the people’s constitutional rights to freedom of expression, due process of law, equal protection clause and property.” They told the SC that since the early weeks of February, the Comelec started “trespassing into the private properties of private citizens who, in participation with the Peoples’ Campaign Movement, have independently installed within their own private premises a variety of their billboards, posters, tarpaulins, and murals.” Citing Diocese of Bacolod v. Comelec the petitioners asserted that the poll body “has no legal basis to regulate the posting and the sizes of the election materials” as displayed by private citizens who are non-candidates and within their private properties.
No problem with giving debate topics; just watch out for questions leakage — Ka Leody | INQUIRER.NET – For presidential bet Leody de Guzman, there is no problem in giving the debate topics to candidates. However, the leakage of questions must be avoided. De Guzman’s remark came after former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ camp asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to discuss the poll body’s debate format, including the issues to be tackled. “Wala tayong nakikitang problema kung ibibigay yung general coverage ng topics sa Comelec sponsored debate,” the labor leader said in a statement on Tuesday. (We do not see a problem if the general coverage of topics in the Comelec-sponsored debate would be given.) “Ang babantayan lang ay kung may leakage na magaganap sa actual questions,” De Guzman added. (Let us just be on guard if there would be a leakage of actual questions.) Following Marcos’ request, the Comelec said that it would inform presidential and vice presidential candidates of the general topics. “We will give the candidates a general idea of what the topics to be discussed are, but what we will not give them are specific questions,” the poll body’s spokesperson James Jimenez said Monday.
Military attacks Dawlah Islamiyah, Maute Group’s lair in Lanao del Sur; casualties noted | Manila Bulletin – Government forces launched airstrikes and artillery attacks in an alleged lair of terrorist groups Dawlah Islamiyah (DI), an Islamic State (ISIS)-affiliated group, and Maute Group, the primary force behind the 2017 Marawi City siege, in Maguing, Lanao del Sur before Tuesday dawn, March 1. Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said four units under the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) along with their counterparts from the Philippine National Police (PNP) raided the hideout of DI and Maute in Barangay Ilalag around 2 a.m. In a separate interview, Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., WestMinCom commander, said it was a major combat operation by the Joint Task Force ZamPeLan (Zamboanga Peninsula and Lanao provinces), specifically led by the 103rd Infantry Brigade. “[Our targets] are identified members of the Dawlah Islamiya and Maute Group,” Rosario said. When the troops reached the target location, “close air support” was given to protect the troops from the anti-personnel mines that were allegedly planted by the enemies. Major Andrew Linao, WestMinCom spokesperson, said 12 bombs were dropped by the close air support unit from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) on the location of the targets which houses around 50 enemies. “Confirmed po ‘yun, sir, ‘yung airstrike natin (Our airstrike was confirmed, sir),” Linao said. “Mayroon tayong combat and then nagsupport ‘yung air assets natin, two air assets. Naglaglag ng sampung bomba, and then follow up after doon sa sampo ay dalawa (We had a combat operation and then we have two air assets. They dropped 10 bombs and then as a follow-up, two more were launched),” he added. According to Lt. Col. Maynard Mariano, PAF spokesperson, the aircraft used for this mission were a newly acquired Embraer A-29B Super Tucano and an FA-50 fighter jet. After the airstrikes, a running gunbattle ensued as the troops engaged the shocked enemies in a pursuit operation. “From a purely combat operation, naging pursuit operation na so habulan na doon sa mga terrorists (it became a pursuit operation so they were running after the terrorists),” Linao said. Initial information revealed that two enemies died while a soldier was also killed in action (KIA). Four other soldiers were also wounded in the combat operations. The identities of the casualties were not immediately available as of posting time. The military appealed to the residents to stay calm and refuse to entertain enemies who would ask for shelter.
