News Roundup 18 May 2022
May 18, 2022 • 4 min Read
CA’s Maria Filomena Singh is new Supreme Court justice | INQUIRER.NET – President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Maria Filomena Singh as the new Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. This was confirmed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to reporters on Wednesday. “Yes,” he said in a text message when asked for a confirmation of Singh’s appointment. Singh will take the post vacated by retired SC Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe. She completes the 15-membership high court. The lady magistrate was a metropolitan trial court and regional trial court judge before her promotion to the CA in 2014. She is the last appointee to the SC by Duterte whose term is set to end on June 30. The Duterte-appointed incumbent members of the SC are Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Associate Justices Ramon Paul Hernando, Amy Lazaro Javier, Henri Jean Paul Inting, Rodil Zalameda, Mario Lopez, Samuel Gaerlan, Ricardo Rosario, Jhosep Lopez, Japar Dimaampao, Jose Midas Marquez, and Antonio Kho Jr.
Robredo warns: ‘Angat Buhay New Government’, ‘@NewGovOrgABF’ not connected to OVP | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday warned against social media accounts or groups claiming a connection to her office, particularly its Angat Buhay programs. On Facebook, Robredo specifically said that the Twitter account “Angat Buhay New Government” and handle “@NewGovOrgABF” are not in any way associated with the Office of the Vice President (OVP). “Hindi po konektado sa Office of the Vice President o kay VP Leni Robredo ang Twitter account na ‘Angat Buhay New Government o @NewGovOrgABF’,” she warned. “Wala pong katotohanan ang mga lumalabas sa account na ito, na ang malinaw na layunin ay manlinlang at magpakalat ng maling impormasyon,” she added. Robredo stressed that details of the Angat Buhay NGO (non-government organization) that she plans to launch after her term as vice president ends on June 30 could only be found on her official Facebook page. The Angat Buhay NGO is being established to become the biggest volunteer network in the country. “Para sa mga opisyal na detalye at anunsyo ukol sa Angat Buhay NGO, tutok lamang po dito sa VP Leni Robredo Facebook page,” she said. “Maging mapanuri at huwag basta maniniwala sa mga haka-haka, mga kwento o unverified information na nakikita online. Maraming salamat po!” she also said. During the thanksgiving event of the Leni-Kiko tandem and slate at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City on May 13, Robredo disclosed plans to create the Angat Buhay NGO which will help various sectors across the country.
DQ case vs Marcos reaches Supreme Court | PHILSTAR.COM – Petitioners seeking the disqualification of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., currently presumptive president-elect, have elevated their fight to the Supreme Court. The petitioners led by Martial Law survivor Bonifacio Ilagan, represented by their lawyer Howard Calleja, filed a Petition for Certiorari seeking the reversal of the Commission on Elections resolutions that junked their pleas. If the court does disqualify Marcos as a candidate for president in the 2022 polls, the petitioners said it should “declare the candidate with the most number of valid votes, [Vice President Leni Robredo], as the winner of the recently concluded Presidential Elections.” This came two days after a different set of petitioners who sought the cancellation of Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy filed their own petition before the SC. Like the Buenafe petition that sought the cancellation of Marcos’ COC, they also sought for a temporary restraining order to stop the Senate and the House of Representatives from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos Jr and proclaiming him as president The Ilagan petition also cited the conviction of Marcos on non-filing of Income Tax Returns for four years. Among the grounds they cited is that Marcos was convicted of a crime of moral turpitude which should result in his disqualification. But they lost both at the Comelec division and en banc division, prompting them to run to the SC. “Comelec (En Banc) acted without or in excess of its jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it issued its Resolution denying the Motion for Reconsideration and affirming the Comelec (Former First Division) Resolution,” they said. The petitioners insisted that Marcos’ “failure to pay the fines to the court renders the penalty subsisting and his sentence remains unserved.” This means, they said, Marcos is perpetually disqualified from running for his violation PD 1994, which amended the National Internal Revenue Code, and his “continued evasion of sentence by not paying the fines imposed by both the trial and appellate courts constitute a moral turpitude violation under Section 12 of the Omnibus Electoral Code.” With the leading candidate supposedly perpetually disqualified from running for public office, his votes are “stray and should not be considered and counted.” And since Marcos is ineligible to run, according to petitioners, his certificate of candidacy is void at the time of filing and to valid votes. The petitioners cited the 2013 case of Maquiling v. Comelec where the SC held that “the ballot cannot override the constitutional and statutory requirements for qualifications and disqualifications of candidates.”
