News Roundup 06 October 2020
Oct 06, 2020 • 3 min Read
Duterte’s attribution of ‘drug war’ killings to drug syndicates ‘a ruse,’ HRW says | PHILSTAR.COM – A rights watchdog soundly rejected President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent assertion that feuding drug gangs are responsible for the extrajudicial killings linked to his flagship campaign against illegal drugs. “President Duterte’s claim that thousands of extrajudicial killings since 2016 are the result of rivalry between drug syndicates is specious, self-serving, and utterly without basis,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday. “No one should forget that the ‘drug war’ killings [began] immediately after Duterte was elected as president in 2016. Since then, thousands have died and with the exception of the case of Kian de los Santos, there has been no successful prosecution of either police officers or mysterious civilian killers,” he added.
‘Muted’ Atienza says Cayetano ‘violated rules’ during plenary debate | INQUIRER.NET – Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza on Tuesday accused Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano of violating House rules when he was purportedly muted while trying to object the unexpected second-reading approval of the proposed 2021 national budget as well as the suspension of the session until November 16. In photos shared with the media, Atienza can be seen holding a piece of paper with the words “I object” in an apparent bid to register his voice during the House plenary session. He participated in the session via video conferencing. The photo also shows that “the host is not allowing participants to unmute themselves.” This happened after Cayetano delivered a speech before his colleagues where he talked about the national budget and the speakership row between him and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. Cayetano then moved to terminate the period of debates on House Bill No. 7727 or the General Appropriations Bill. Further, a panel was also created to entertain committee and individual amendments, consequently terminating the period of amendments.
Three pro-Velasco solons booted from chairmanships | Manila Bulletin – Three committee chairmen were replaced by the House leadership Tuesday afternoon in what can be described as part of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s continued offensive against rival Marinduque lone district Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. Removed from their posts were AAMBIS-OWA Party-List Rep. Sharon Garin, erstwhile chairperson of the Committee on Economic Affairs; Quezon 4th district Rep. Angelina Tan, of the Committee on Health; and Valenzuela City 2nd district Rep. Eric Martinez, of the Committee on Youth and Sports. All three are identified with Velasco, who was supposed to take over the Speakership from Cayetano on October 14. Replacing the posts vacated by Garin, Tan, and Martinez were Aklan 2nd district Rep. Teodorico Haresco Jr., Guimaras lone district Rep. Lucille Nava, and Manila 3rd district Rep. Yul Servo, respectively.
Whistleblower tags ex-Immigration exec as mastermind in ‘pastillas’ scam | The Manila Times – An Immigration Officer at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) surfaced on Tuesday as another whistleblower at the latest Senate hearing on the so-called “pastillas” scam and tagged a former ranking official as one of the masterminds. Jeffrey Dale Ignacio, an Immigration Officer 2 came before the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, chaired by Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros, to shed light on a centralized scheme where Chinese nationals were allowed unhampered entry into the country for a “service fee” of P10,000 per individual. Ignacio is one of the 19 BI officials charged on Sept. 2, 2020 by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) with graft over the “pastillas” modus, so-called because the bribe money was allegedly wrapped in a bond paper like a “pastillas” or milk candy. In the hearing, Ignacio identified former deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas as one of the masterminds. The whistleblower also revealed that during one of the meetings he attended with other BI officials subpoenaed by the NBI, Mariñas said “may contact sila sa Ombudsman (…they have contact at the Ombudsman),” implying that they may be able to get away with their crime.
