News Roundup 03 December 2021
Dec 03, 2021 • 4 min Read
Appeals court OKs Ressa’s travel plea to receive Nobel | PHILSTAR.COM – The Court of Appeals has granted Rappler CEO Maria Ressa’s request to be allowed to travel to Norway to personally receive her Nobel Peace Prize. The CA Special Seventh Division granted Ressa’s Urgent Motion to Travel and leave for Oslo, Norway from December 8 to 13, “only for the purpose of attending the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony.” The CA held that Ressa’s travel to Norway is “necessary and urgent,” and that she is “not a flight risk.” Ressa, however, must first return to the Philippines on December 2 from the United States, where she was previously allowed to attend a series of lectures at the Harvard University and visit her family. Ressa is currently on post-conviction bail and is seeking the reversal of the Manila court’s conviction before the CA. Ressa, Rappler CEO, won the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, for being “representatives of all journalists who stand up for [freedom of expression] in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.”
Petitioners: Court certification says Marcos has not complied to conviction on tax case | PHILSTAR.COM – Petitioners against Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s election bid said they secured a certification from the trial court that the presidential aspirant “has not satisfied” the judgment in the ruling that convicted him for non-filing of Income Tax Returns. In a statement, counsels for petitioners seeking the cancellation of Marcos’ COC said lawyer Theodore Te wrote to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 105 and was able to secure material documents in the case against Marcos. “Among these documents is a Certification issued by the Acting Presiding Judge that Mr. Marcos Jr. has not satisfied the judgment of the court in these cases (decided July 27, 1995), as modified by the Court of Appeals in its decision on appeal (decided October 31, 1997),” the lawyers said. The July 1995 decision refers to the QC RTC Branch 105 decision where it found Marcos guilty for violation Sections 45 and 50 of the National Internal Revenue Code. He was sentenced to at least nine years of imprisonment and to pay fine for failure to file ITRs and pay taxes for the years of 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Upon appeal, the CA in 1997 upheld the conviction but modified the decision of the local court. As quoted by the petitioners in the plea before the Commission on Elections, Marcos had been ordered to pay the Bureau of Internal Revenue the deficiency income taxes with interest, and pay a fine of P2,000 for each charge of failing to file ITRs o 1982, 1983 and 194; and a separate P30,000-fine for the ITR for 1985. The copy of the certificate, which Te had verified, states that the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 105 has no record on file of “compliance of payment or satisfaction of the Decision of the Regional Trial Court dated July 27, 1997 or the Court of Appeals dated October 31, 1997; [and] entry in the criminal docket of the RTC decision dated July 27, 1995 as affirmed/modified by the Court of Appeals’ Decision.”
Gordon: ‘How dare you ask for Filipinos’ vote when you failed them?’ | INQUIRER.NET – “How dare you again ask for the vote of the Filipino people when you failed them?” Senator Richard Gordon posed this question to President Rodrigo Duterte as he called out the chief executive over sweeping campaign promises that he made to the Filipino people. “Kaya kayo nanalo sa presidente kayo ay isang huwad na nagpapanggap na isang bayani at binola niyo ang tao at ngayon ay napaptunayan na kayo ay talagang kapatid ang magnanakaw. Sinungaling kayo,” Gordon said. (You won the presidency solely because you pretended to be a hero and you buttered up the public, but you are a brother of a thief. You’re a liar.) The senator issued these accusations against the President as the Senate blue ribbon panel resumed its inquiry into the government’s pandemic-related purchases in 2020. “Nakakaawa kayo sapagkat talagang pinapakita niyo na hindi kayo karapatdapat maging pangulo ng Pilipinas,” Gordon added. (I pity you because you’re proving that you’re not deserving of being the Philippine president.) As he admonished Duterte once again for allegedly siding with personalities being investigated by the Senate, Gordon recalled the President’s campaign promises in 2016. Duterte is running for the Senate in 2022.
PH still sees below 1K COVID-19 cases for 10th straight day | Manila Bulletin – The Philippines confirmed 544 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Friday, Dec. 3 –the tenth day in a row that daily infections remain fewer than 1,000. The country’s cumulative tally stood at 2,833,878 — with 0.5 percent or 14,977 active cases or people still receiving treatment. Of the active cases, 7,166 have mild symptoms, 3,801 were in moderate condition, 2,433 have severe symptoms, 688 have no symptoms, and 889 were in critical condition. The death toll climbed to 48,987 with 235 new fatalities, the DOH said. Meanwhile, the recovery tally soared to 2,769,914 after 734 new survivors were confirmed.
