News Roundup 20 September 2022
Sep 20, 2022 • 6 min Read
‘The truth’ to hit Rodriguez; sugar import mess probe still going – Hontiveros | INQUIRER.NET – The search for truth on the alleged sugar importation fiasco will never stop with the resignation of Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, according to opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros. While Rodriguez may have stepped down as Executive Secretary, he has opted to stay as a member of the Cabinet of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – but anywhere in the government he goes, he will find the truth staring him in the face, the senator assured the public. “Hindi matatakasan ni Atty. Vic Rodriguez ang katotohanan, kahit saan pang posisyon ng gobyerno sya pumunta. Wag nyang gawing Trip to Jerusalem ang government service dahil lang tinutugis siya ng kanyang konsensya,” Hontiveros said in a statement on Tuesday. (Atty. Rodriguez can’t escape the truth whichever way he goes in the government. He should not make government service like the game of Trip to Jerusalem just because his conscience is bothering him.) The senator reminded Rodriguez of his obligations to the Senate blue ribbon committee, citing, in particular, the minutes of a meeting where the possible importation of the 600,00 metric tons of sugar was supposedly mentioned by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. himself. “Kaya hindi matatapos sa pagbibitiw ni Atty. Rodriguez ang ating paninindigan na mabunyag ang katotohanan dito sa sugar importation fiasco,” she then said. (Our pursuit for truth on this sugar importation fiasco will not end with the resignation of Atty. Rodriguez) “We vow to continue our efforts to find the truth despite all the misdirection, misinformation, and other efforts to bury this issue,” she added. The committee’s investigation stemmed from the alleged unauthorized and illegal issuance of Sugar Order No. 4, which would have allowed the importation of 300, 000 metric tons of sugar in the country. In one of the committee hearings, resigned Sugar Regulatory Administration chief Hermenegildo Serafica claimed that Marcos himself mentioned importing 600,000 MT in one of their meetings. Rodriguez denied the allegation during the same hearing. For Hontiveros, questions still need to be answered even after the committee has already concluded its probe. “If this is all just a big conspiracy to create an artificial shortage para makapag-import at makapag-tongpats, magsasara ba ang Coke ng planta? Mapapababa ba ang presyo ng asukal sa pagpaparusa sa mga career officials in the sugar industry?” she asked. Hontiveros then renewed her call for the President to finally appoint an Agriculture Secretary who would focus on addressing the crisis in the agricultural sector. Marcos concurrently sits as Agriculture Secretary.
Rescued Pogo workers entered PH as tourists, now facing deportation — BI | INQUIRER.NET – The 43 employees of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo) who were rescued in Angeles City, Pampanga, are now facing deportation after declaring themselves as mere tourists when they entered the country, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Tuesday. During the Laging Handa briefing, BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval said that when the foreign nationals arrived in the country, they had complete documents, but these were for people visiting the country as tourists. Sandoval said that this is part of why law enforcement agencies arrested the Pogo workers, as they are in the country for a different reason, which is work. “No’ng dumating po sila dito is they had complete documents saying they are tourists, turista lamang po sila, ‘yon ang kanilang presentation but pagdating po nila dito, ‘yong intent nila was different from what they have presented so that’s why dito po papasok ang ating local law enforcement agencies as well as our intelligence division para hulihin po sila for violation of the condition of their stay,” Sandoval said. (When they arrived here, they had complete documents saying they were mere tourists, it was how they presented themselves. But upon arrival, their intent was different from what they had presented, so that’s why law enforcement would enter here, as well as our intelligence division, to arrest them for violating the conditions of their stay.) “Ngayon po ito pong mga ito ay nahaharap sa deportation dahil bukod po doon sa criminal aspect na kanilang ginawa or may criminal aspect na ginawa, meron din pong immigration aspect yan,” she added. (Now, these individuals are facing deportation because there is also an immigration aspect involved besides the criminal aspect of their actions.) On September 16, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said that authorities had managed to arrest a human resource officer of a Pogo company during an operation along the Fil-Am Friendship Highway in Angeles City, Pampanga. A kidnapped Chinese and 42 other foreign nationals who were connected with the Pogo industry were rescued.
Misinformation shrouds Philippine martial law era horrors | PHILSTAR.COM – American lawyer Thomas Jones still remembers the scars of Philippine torture victims he interviewed for Amnesty International inside the country’s detention centers in 1975 during the rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. But Marcos, who presided over widespread abuses and corruption during his 20 years in power, denied the lawyer’s visit to the Philippines ever happened. Decades later the dictator’s claim — debunked by AFP and others — has resurfaced on social media sites popular among Filipinos. Amnesty estimates thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands tortured and imprisoned after Marcos imposed martial law on September 21, 1972. Under legislation signed in 2013 by former president Benigno Aquino, 11,103 victims of torture, killings, enforced disappearances and other abuses have been officially recognized and compensated. In the run-up to Wednesday’s 50th anniversary of the start of martial law, pro-Marcos posts have flooded Facebook and TikTok with false and misleading claims that cast doubt on Amnesty’s findings and downplay the abuses. AFP has fact-checked multiple posts that carried footage of Marcos addressing US media in 1982. Marcos — father of current Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who has defended martial law — accused Amnesty of relying on “hearsay” for their findings. And he falsely claimed the rights group “never” visited the country. The clip resurfaced on TikTok in March after an anti-Marcos Senate candidate running in May 9 elections cited Amnesty for figures showing the horrors of martial law. “Amnesty International (said) 3,257 were killed during Marcos’s time, 35,000 were tortured… 70,000 were imprisoned. It’s a matter of record,” Luke Espiritu said in a debate. Within hours of that livestreamed event, the Marcos footage had been stitched with the Espiritu video and circulated on TikTok and Facebook. It received more than 900,000 views, according to analysis by AFP’s Fact Check team. One post drew more than 3,000 comments that questioned Amnesty’s numbers and described the dictator as “a great leader destroyed by black propaganda.” Jones said Marcos lied about the Amnesty visit and martial law abuses, and decades later Filipinos were being deceived by his son. “People of the Philippines, they still don’t know the facts,” the 81-year-old told AFP from his home in Wisconsin. Jones and a colleague interviewed Marcos, members of his cabinet and 107 detainees during their visit. Marcos admitted about 50,000 people had been arrested in the first few years of martial law, while 71 detainees told them they had been tortured, Jones said. Amnesty published their findings in 1976, with their conclusion that “torture was used freely and with extreme cruelty, often over long periods.”
