News Roundup 19 September 2024
Sep 19, 2024 • 6 min Read
Here’s why ex-mayor Mabilog left the Philippines in 2017 | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog said on Thursday, September 19, that he did not return to the Philippines in 2017 due to a warning from a police general not to come home.
After Mabilog returned to the country on September 10, he attended the sixth public hearing of the House’s quadcom on Thursday in hopes that he would be given due process.
Here’s what happened based on Mabilog’s sworn statement.
The president’s drug list. On Aug. 7, 2016, former President Rodrigo Duterte accused Mabilog on live television of being a “major drug protector” and included him in his list of public officials allegedly involved in the country’s illegal drug trade, despite the absence of any drug-related charges against him.
Since then, Duterte would occasionally mention Mabilog during broadcasted events or interviews related to the former president’s war on drugs, even saying once in Filipino to “get rid” of him.
Law enforcement agencies, however, confirmed that Mabilog was not included in the original list submitted to the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
When the former mayor was informed of the list, a police chief requested that he surrender his firearms and have all his security personnel removed from his detail as mayor.
Mabilog asked him why he was included in the list without validation and the police chief only answered, “Nanggaling sa taas ang lista (The list came from higher-ups),” referring to Duterte.
Mabilog also told lawmakers that he made several attempts to meet with Duterte to ask why he was included in the list, but to no avail.
The only reasons he could think of are that he was not supportive of the former president during the national elections in 2016 and that Iloilo City was often compared to Davao City, which Duterte was a former mayor of.
He added that most of Iloilo City’s residents also voted for Duterte’s opponent in the presidential elections, former Sen. Mar Roxas.
When other public officials included in the list had died, Mabilog feared for his life even more.
Full Story at: Here’s why ex-mayor Mabilog left the Philippines in 2017 | Philstar.com
How a US-China nuclear showdown threatens the Philippines | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — A nuclear conflict between the United States and China in the South China Sea could spill over to the Philippines, even if it is not a direct target, an analyst warns.
The Philippines’ proximity to Taiwan and the South China Sea as well as the US troops’ access to the Philippine military bases raise the risk of the country being drawn into a conflict between the two superpowers, said Elizabeth Suh, research associate at the German Institute for Foreign and Security Affairs.
“There is a scenario of nuclear escalation within the South China Sea, not because the US would use nuclear weapons to defend the Philippines, but rather because direct conflict between China and the United States about their strategic interests and their nuclear forces could happen,” Suh said, during a public lecture on Wednesday, September 18.
“The Philippines would not be a target, but the use of nuclear weapons targets indiscriminately,” the researcher added. She explained that the “humanitarian consequences” of a nuclear exchange in the region would affect the country.
China has expanded its nuclear arsenal faster than any other country. In July, it said it had abandoned its nuclear arms control talks with the US to protest Washington’s arms sales to Taiwan.
Full Story at: How a US-China nuclear showdown threatens the Philippines | Philstar.com
Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte is facing a new round of questions about confidential and intelligence fund (CIF) expenditures with lawmakers noting a pattern of alleged mismanagement of her office’s secret appropriation.
This developed as the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) utilization of its CIF in 2023.
In an interview on Wednesday, 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez said that while it is unfortunate that Duterte and the rest of the OVP left the hearing before hard questions could be asked, they were still able to confirm with COA that there were other concerns about her office’s CIF.
“It’s unfortunate that we did not have the proper resource persons from the [OVP], however, we were still able to ask the proper questions with COA. Although this is just an initial hearing, it’s very telling because there is an indication, we had questions about the [CIF] during the budget hearings of OVP, but it seems that we have the same issues here,” Gutierrez said.
“Most telling, aside from the notice of disallowance […] it was confirmed earlier that we have issues with the second batch, ‘yong P500 million confidential funds. So that’s something that we’re going to look into. Apparently, after the P500 (million), if we recall the P125 (million) po doon, hindi natuloy for the last quarter. So we have P375 million na meron ding audit observation memorandum,” he added.
Full Story at: Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts (inquirer.net)
Davao police probe alleged deaths tied to Quiboloy’s ‘angels of death’ | INQUIRER.NET – DAVAO CITY — Police are looking into the testimonies of former pastorals of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) which revealed that there were already deaths that happened allegedly involving the sect’s “angels of death,” Colonel Hansel Marantan, chief of the Davao City police, said on Thursday.
But Marantan refused to reveal more details except to say that the stories about the deaths came out during the testimony of the five victims who sought the police’s help to seek justice for what happened to them in Quiboloy’s hands when they were still minors serving as pastorals of the KJC.
Marantan said they were preparing to lodge more complaints against Quiboloy in court following the new testimonies.
Quiboloy, who is facing charges of sexual abuse, child abuse, and human trafficking before the Quezon City and Pasig City courts, was forced to surface on Sunday, September 8, as police prepared an assault on the Bible school building where he was hiding inside the KJC compound here. His surfacing and eventual arrest ended the police’s 16-day operation inside the compound.
Marantan said the victims were still 13 to 15 years old when they were allegedly abused by Quiboloy. Most of them came from broken families and in their desire to continue their education, sought the help of the Children’s Joy Foundation, which offered free education for children.
Full Story at: Police probe alleged deaths tied to Quiboloy’s ‘angels of death’ (inquirer.net)
