News Roundup 24 January 2024
Jan 24, 2024 • 4 min Read
After being ‘unbothered,’ Tokhang chief Dela Rosa admits fear of going to jail | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, former Philippine National Police chief, said that he is afraid of being imprisoned following rumors that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently conducting a probe into the alleged human rights violations in the Philippines.
During an interview with ANC on Wednesday, Dela Rosa, who is the chief implementer of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, said he is scared that he might not see his grandchildren if he were to be arrested and incarcerated.
“Hindi ka ba matatakot mapasok sa kulungan?” Dela Rosa said.
(Aren’t you afraid of getting incarcerated?)
“Bakit, lahat ba ng nakakulong ngayon ay talagang may kasalanan? Hindi naman. Hindi ako takot na sabihin mo na meron akong na-commit na kasalanan,” he added.
(Is everyone in prison truly guilty of a crime? Not necessarily. I’m not afraid to acknowledge that I’ve made a mistake.)
On January 22, Dela Rosa asked Malacañang about the “real score” regarding the true state of affairs with the ICC in the Philippines, after former Sen. Antonio Trillanes revealed on Sunday that the international tribunal plans to issue an arrest warrant for Dela Rosa and the former president.
Full Story at: After being ‘unbothered,’ Tokhang chief Dela Rosa admits fear of going to jail | Philstar.com
‘3 months’: Marcos extends PUV consolidation deadline to April 31 | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday approved the Department of Transportation’s recommendation to extend the consolidation deadline for jeepneys and UV Express units in lieu of the government’s modernization program.
Because of this, drivers and operators will be given three additional months until April 30, 2024 to consolidate into cooperatives and corporations.
“This extension is to give an opportunity to those who expressed intention to consolidate but did not make the previous cut-off,” said Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil this Wednesday.
Marcos’ latest move came after the House Committee on Transportation approved a resolution encouraging Marcos to reconsider the former December 31 deadline.
Prior to this latest development, unconsolidated jeepney and UV Express units were only given until January 31 to operate.
Full Story at: ‘3 months’: Marcos extends PUV consolidation deadline to April 31 | Philstar.com
Legal fight brewing between PCSO, STL operator over canceled license | INQUIRER.NET –CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A local operator of small-town lottery (STL) outlets in this city and Misamis Oriental province has fought back against the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) which cancelled its license last year.
PCSO general manager Melquiades Robles cancelled the authority to operate of Diamond Millenium Corporation (DMC) in July 13 last year saying the company failed to inform it about a change of its stockholders.
Two weeks after the cancellation, PCSO began accepting applicants for STL operator in the city and Misamis Oriental, and awarded Hexaprime, Inc. as its sole authorized agent by Oct. 2023.
DMC legal counsel Katrina Mordeno denied that the company kept the PCSO in the dark about having a new stockholder as this change was communicated back in 2019. Hence it launched a legal challenge against the PCSO.
Last Jan. 8, DMC secured a status quo ante order from the Supreme Court which, according to Mordeno, sets back the legal situation prior to Robles’ July 13, 2023 cancellation order.
The high court’s order reverses the PCSO’s termination of DMC’s authority to operate STL outlets, explained Mordeno.
It also enjoined Robles and other PCSO officials from implementing the termination letter.
On the basis of the Jan. 8 court order, DMC reopened its 40 outlets. However, its tellers were being arrested starting on Jan. 18 by police for supposedly operating an illegal numbers game.
Full Story at: Legal fight brewing between PCSO, STL operator (inquirer.net)
Why Sara Duterte is ‘secondary respondent’ in ICC case | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The testimony of a confessed hit man for the Davao Death Squad (DDS) served as the main basis for the inclusion of Vice President Sara Duterte as a “secondary” respondent in the crimes against humanity case pending before the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
Speaking to the Inquirer over the phone on Tuesday, Trillanes said that Arturo Lascañas, a retired police officer in Davao City, implicated Sara as having had a role in the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) when she took over the mayoral duties in 2010 from her father, Rodrigo Duterte, and “agreed to continue” the “tokhang” approach.
However, Sara, in a statement on Tuesday, said that not once during her term as Davao City mayor and vice mayor was she linked with the DDS.
“But after I won as Vice President, all of a sudden, there was a witness against me and now, I am one of the accused in the [ICC],” she said in Filipino. “I don’t need a death squad for the things I am capable of doing.”
Addressing queries for the first time on her inclusion in the list of respondents in the ICC case, Sara maintained that she would face any charges only before judges and courts in the Philippines, denouncing any foreign intervention in dealing with the cases surrounding the deaths recorded during her father’s war on drugs.
Full Story at: Why Sara Duterte is ‘secondary respondent’ in ICC case | Inquirer News
