News Roundup 13 April 2022
Apr 13, 2022 • 4 min Read
Responding to ‘deception’ accusation, Robredo camp says Marcos team in ‘full attack mode’ | PHILSTAR.COM – The campaign of presidential bet Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. accused Vice President Leni Robredo of spreading lies in its response to the circulation of fake video links against her daughter. For Robredo’s campaign, however, the allegation of “deception” when a crime has been committed bares its rival’s campaign scheme. In a statement on Wednesday, Barry Gutierrez said they did not expect sympathy or concern from Marcos’ campaign. “But it reveals a lot about who they are that barely 24 hours after a crime was committed against VP Leni’s family, here they are, in full attack mode, adding insult upon insult on what is already the most unjust of injuries,” he continued. Robredo pointed to the Marcos camp as the source of the fake video links of her eldest daughter Aika that surfaced earlier this week. She insisted she knows this because she has been at the bitter end of such a smear campaign for the last six years. “Before, I’m the only focus, but now, they are moving against my children, even they have become victims. We were expecting it, but we want to show that this is not the kind of leadership and campaign that we want,” she said in an ambush interview in La Union on Tuesday. “Maybe they resort to fake news because they have nothing good to say about themselves,” she also said, adding that Marcos is surrounded by the same influencers since they started spreading false information against her in 2016.
DOJ: ‘Drug war’ case review includes missing, falsified death certificates | PHILSTAR.COM – Irregularities in death certificates also came up in the government’s review of “war on drugs” cases, the justice secretary said Wednesday after forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun presented findings that causes of death in some cases she studied had been falsified. “The alleged falsification of death certificates as a possible cover-up is part of the DOJ drug war review,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra told reporters when asked about Dr. Fortun’s findings. He said they initially learned that copies of the death certificates were missing in some records or files they reviewed. While he does not have exact figures of how many cases had that problem, he said “[t]he certificates may have been issued alright, but some of them were not found in the police or [National Prosecution Service] files.” Guevarra said the National Bureau of Investigation will look into this issue, and this will be part of their periodic progress reports. “We’ll give special attention to the death certificates, though,” he added. This comes after Fortun, as quoted in a Reuters report, presented her findings after looking into 46 case files of persons killed in the Duterte administration’s “war on drugs.” Of the 46 that Fortun reviewed, one had a missing death certificate while the certificates in some cases were incomplete. Seven showed that the person died of natural causes like pneumonia, sepsis and hypertension while 32 among the 46 whose remains were exhumed died of gunshot wounds, At least 24 had been shot in the head. Time is running out for the Guevarra-led “war on drugs” review panel. With less than two months left in his stint as President Rodrigo Duterte’s justice secretary, the panel that started its work in 2020 has so far released only two reports.
Robredo gains converts, Marcos is Cebu party’s pick | INQUIRER.NET – Major breakups and alliances marked the political landscape on Tuesday, less than a month before the presidential election. Ikaw Muna (IM) Pilipinas, one of the earliest groups to push for Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso’s run for No. 1, declared its switch in allegiance to Vice President Leni Robredo. Led by former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Tim Orbos, the former overall coordinator of the volunteer groups backing Domagoso, some key leaders of the group hosted a press conference to announce its rebrand as “IM Leni,” as shown on tarps in the background. But in another press conference, IM Pilipinas secretary general Philip Piccio insisted that the organization remained “solid and firm” in pushing for Domagoso’s victory on May 9. In Cebu, the biggest political party in the province formally endorsed the presidential candidacy of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., suggesting disunity in the powerful Garcia family. Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who heads One Cebu, issued a statement announcing the party’s positioning. At the same time, her brother, Cebu Rep. (3rd district) Pablo John Garcia, said he was stepping down as party secretary general to continue campaigning for Domagoso.
Diokno wants probe of fake lewd video of Aika Robredo | INQUIRER.NET – Someone must be held responsible for the alleged fake lewd video of the eldest daughter of presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo, a senatorial bet said here on Wednesday. Robredo’s ally, Atty. Chel Diokno, said such things have no place in an electoral campaign. “Dapat talaga may pananagutan ‘yan dahil hindi maganda at hindi nangyayari ‘yan sa isang kampanya,” Diokno said when asked on the sidelines of his talk to youths at the Robredo People’s Council headquarters here. Robredo has directly accused the camp of her political nemesis, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., of spreading the alleged lewd video of Aika. Diokno called on concerned government agencies to conduct a full investigation into the controversy.
