News Roundup 16 February 2024
Feb 16, 2024 • 4 min Read
Philippines arrests Islamic State terror funding ‘facilitator’ | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government said it arrested a woman on Thursday tagged by the United States as a facilitator for “terror” who gave money and other aid to the Islamic State group.
Myrna Mabanza was arrested near the town of Indanan in the southern Sulu island group, a stronghold of an IS-linked armed militant group called Abu Sayyaf, according to a statement from Manila’s Anti-Terrorism Council.
The US treasury department in 2018 listed Philippines-based Mabanza as a “facilitator for terror”, saying she supported the Philippine branch of ISIS, an alternate name for IS.
It accused her of “assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of” ISIS-Philippines.
The US and Philippine governments both alleged the 32-year-old was involved in two 2016 fund transfers — one of up to $107,000 — to the then leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group and ISIS-Philippines, Isnilon Hapilon.
Mabanza was also alleged to have served as intermediary between Hapilon and IS elements in Syria.
In April that year, Mabanza “helped facilitate” a trip by a representative of the IS-linked group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah from Indonesia to the Philippines, where she took the person to Basilan island to meet Hapilon, the two governments said.
The unnamed representative came to the Philippines to purchase arms for IS-aligned forces in Indonesia and set up training courses for Indonesian recruits on firearms use and bomb-making, they added.
Full Story at: Philippines arrests Islamic State terror funding ‘facilitator’ | Philstar.com
Groups hail SC’s protection orders on abducted activists Tamano, Castro | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Environmental groups applauded the issuance of the Supreme Court (SC) of protection writs on abducted environmental activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro.
The SC on Thursday said that it granted writs of amparo and habeas data, along with a temporary protection order on the environmental activists as there was an “established violation to the life, liberty or security” against them.
In a statement by Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment on Thursday, the group said that the decision of the high court “sets a precedent for safeguarding environmental defenders and ensuring justice for those who threaten their well-being.”
“We will continue to demand justice for all the desaparecidos and call for accountability from those who violate our rights,” the group said in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Rep. France Castro (ACT-Teachers) said that the SC’s decision is a “strong message” that violations against environmental defenders will not be tolerated.
Full Story at: Groups hail SC’s protection orders on abducted activists Tamano, Castro | Philstar.com
Hontiveros on Cha-cha: Foreign ownership didn’t fix PH’s power instabilities | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Senator Risa Hontiveros on Friday rejected claims that permitting foreign ownership through Charter change (Cha-cha) would bolster the Philippine economy.
In a statement, Hontiveros pointed out that the current foreign involvement in public utilities did not solve “power instabilities” plaguing Filipino consumers.
“Kahit na may dayuhang nagmamay-ari sa ating transmission grid, taun-taon na lang, kada papasok ang summer months, nakararanas pa rin tayo ng rotating blackouts sa Luzon at Visayas sa kabila ng mas mataas na presyo ng kuryente sa panahong ito,” she said.
(Even though there is a foreign owner in our transmission grid, every year, every time the summer months begin, we still experience rotating blackouts in Luzon and Visayas despite the higher price of electricity during this time.)
“It’s crucial to question our economic agencies because we’re examining if an economic Charter change is still needed, given significant foreign investment. For example, renewable energy investment alone reportedly totals $13.76 billion,” Hontiveros stressed.
Full Story at: Hontiveros: Foreign ownership didn’t fix PH’s power instabilities (inquirer.net)
Employers: A catastrophe to grant P100 wage hike | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — It would be a catastrophe to increase the daily minimum wage by P100 as it could cause prices of goods to spiral higher or even force small firms struggling to pay higher salaries to lay off workers.
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (Ecop) issued the warning on Thursday as it objected to a Senate bill pushing for a P100 across-the-board hike in the daily minimum pay of private sector employees.
At the televised Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing, Ecop president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said economists were unlikely to support Senate Bill No. 2354, which was passed on second reading on Wednesday. The Senate is expected to approve it on third and final reading next week.
“Even economists have qualms over it. They say P30 or P60 increases are doable. But P100, that’s a catastrophe. You know what companies will do,” Ortiz-Luis noted.
Only 10 percent
He said: “If you increase wages without considering your sales or profit, you can only resort to two things—pass on the cost [to consumers] or reduce your number of workers. Would we want that to happen?”
Ortiz-Luis added that the push for a P100 increase in the daily minimum wage would benefit only 10 percent of the country’s labor force who are employed in stable, medium- to large-sized companies that could afford to pay higher salaries.
Full Story at: Employers: A catastrophe to grant P100 wage hike | Inquirer News
