News Roundup 25 September 2022
Sep 25, 2022 • 5 min Read
‘Attack on rule of law, judiciary’: Judges’ group backs red-tagged colleague | PHILSTAR.COM – Threats against a judge made by a former Palace official who disagrees with a Manila court’s dismissal of a government petition to declare communist rebels as terrorists could cause “lasting damage” to the institution, an organization of judges said Saturday night. In a statement, trial court judges’ group Hukom called out vocal anti-communist Lorraine Badoy-Partosa for a post red-tagging Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar for ruling that incidents that the government cited in its petition did not fit the definition of rebellion in the Human Security Act, a law already repealed by passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act. Badoy-Partosa, who now denies putting the post up, accused the judge of “lawyering” for the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army and called for lenience “if I kill this judge”, saying she believes that the communists and their alleged allies should all be killed. “We are painfully aware that prior to this incident, judges had been vilified with labels such as hoodlums in robes, protectors of drug pushers and drug lords, and some have even been killed,” Hukom said in a statement sent to media. The group said that while judges usually prefer to let their decisions speak for them, even online attacks like Badoy-Partosa’s are “attacks on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary” that should not be accepted as normal. Hukom said these have to be called out because of their “chilling effect on the exercise of our judicial functions and the lasting damage they cause to our institution.” Badoy-Partosa is a former spokesperson of the Naational Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a multi-agency body that has repeatedly claimed that activist groups are fronts of the communist rebels. During the Duterte administration, official social media accounts of police and military units regularly shared posts equating activism with terrorism. Badoy-Partosa has herself labelled sitting lawmakers, members of the National Union of People’s lawyers, organizers of community pantries distributing food during the pandemic lockdowns, and a Catholic nun as being affiliated with the CPP-NPA. Part of Magdoza-Malagar’s decision stressed that members of activist groups and national democratic mass organizations “espouse valid societal change, without necessarily giving through to ‘armed struggle’ or ‘violence’ aimed at overthrowing the government, as a means to achieve the same.”
P1.9 billion refund in Russian helicopter deal? Government unsure | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippine government remains unsure if it can get a refund for some P1.9 billion in advance payment for the scrapped deal to procure 17 military choppers from Russia. This surfaced in the questioning of House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan during the plenary deliberation of the House of Representatives on the proposed budget of the Department of National Defense (DND) for 2023 on Friday night. Libanan asked the DND for updates on the aborted procurement of 17 Mi-17 helicopters for P12.9 billion from Russia. The deal was signed during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte but was ordered terminated by President Marcos in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The DND, through its budget sponsor Negros Occidental (6th District) Rep. Mercedes Alvarez, had informed the lower chamber that the Philippine government had already given P1.9 billion in advance payment. The department said the payment was made in January this year, a month before Russia started attacking Ukraine. This prompted Libanan to ask why the Philippines’ military attachés in Russia and the US had failed to inform the government about Moscow’s plan. The country has no military attaché in Ukraine. “We do have this intelligence already in our hands that something is going to happen a month before. That’s why we have military attachés abroad. Why did they not relay this information and informed our government to delay the payment because a war was going to happen?” Libanan asked. According to Alvarez, the “notice to proceed” was issued on Jan. 26, 2021, so the advance payment pushed through. “The department recognizes the difficulty to refund the advanced payment as the supplier has already invested resources for the project,” she said. Alvarez noted the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are now exerting efforts to get the refund through a “diplomatic channel.” She added this is considering that the project was implemented through a “government to government procurement” between Russia and the Philippines.
CA rejects Vhong Navarro’s plea to stop filing of rape, acts of lasciviousness charges | INQUIRER.NET –The Court of Appeals (CA) has rejected the appeal of actor and TV host Vhong Navarro to stop the filing of rape and acts of lasciviousness charges against him over two incidents involving model Deniece Milinette Cornejo. In a seven-page ruling promulgated on September 20 but furnished to the media on Sunday, the appellate court rejected Navarro’s motion for reconsideration and for the issuance of a status quo ante order. “The instant motions for reconsideration and for the issuance of a status quo ante order are DENIED for lack of merit,” CA Associate Justice Florencio Mamauag, Jr. said. In filing for a motion for reconsideration, Navarro raised issues on the complainant’s credibility, the truthfulness of the claims and the strength of evidence. However, Mamauag said these matters are “best left to the determination of the trial court after a full-blown trial on the merits.” The CA also denied the petition for the issuance of status quo ante order, saying Navarro’s case does not fall under the exceptions required for the granting of the measure. Navarro is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation following his surrender after warrants were issued for his arrest. Navarro is facing rape and acts of lasciviousness charges for allegedly molesting Cornejo initially on January 22, 2014, but eventually, the model said there was also a prior incident which was happened on January 14, 2014. The CA has ordered the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office to file charges of rape and acts of lasciviousness against Navarro as it granted Cornejo’s petition for certiorari when it ruled to reverse and set aside the Department of Justice (DOJ) resolutions that denied her petitions for review. The appellate court found that it was erroneous for the DOJ to deny Cornejo’s petition for review on the ground that her statements in the complaint-affidavits are inconsistent and incredible.
