News Roundup 26 May 2023
May 26, 2023 • 4 min Read
Mother gets 42 years for peddling minor daughters to online sex predators | INQUIRER.NET – CEBU CITY—A 40-year-old mother will be spending the next 36 to 42 years in jail for peddling her two minor daughters to online sex predators.
Estela, a pseudonym, pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials (CSAEM) before Judge Tarcelo Sabarre Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in Basey, Samar province.
As part of a plea bargain agreement, Estela will serve a minimum of 36 years to a maximum of 42 years in prison and was fined P900,000 for all three charges.
Estela was arrested by the Women and Children Protection Center-Visayas Field Unit of the Philippine National Police for “producing and distributing” CSAEM involving her 11-year-old and 13-year-old daughters.
The girls were rescued from a town in Samar on March 18, 2023, and are now under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s care.
Estela pleaded guilty to a lesser offense four days later as part of a plea agreement with the prosecutor, resulting in a reduced sentence.
Full Story at: Mother gets 42 years for peddling minor daughters to online sex predators | Inquirer News
Owners urged not to leave pets behind as Super Typhoon Mawar approaches | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) on Friday reminded the public to not leave their pets behind should they need to evacuate because of Super Typhoon Mawar.
Mawar (to be named Betty once it enters the Philippine area of responsibility) is expected to strengthen the southwest monsoon and consequently trigger rain over parts of the country.
“As we brace ourselves for the entry of Super Typhoon Mawar, which is expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility as early as tonight, we hope you can take the extra precaution to secure your pets and allow stray animals to seek temporarily shelter in your property,” said PAWS in a social media post.
PAWS also referred to an older post with tips on how to care for pets during a natural disaster.
Full Story at: Owners urged not to leave pets behind as Super Typhoon Mawar approaches | Inquirer News
Fifth suspect in Degamo slay recants testimony | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Another suspect in the massacre that killed former Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and nine others walked back his testimony saying that — like others implicated in the case — he was forced to confess his supposed participation, his lawyer said Friday.
Joven Javier, one of the alleged gunmen in the carnage at Degamo’s residence in Pamplona town last March, is now denying that he planned and participated in the crime and that he was among those who stayed at properties owned by the family of beleaguered Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental) following the killing.
“He recanted his first statement prepared March 5, 2023 in Negros Oriental before police officers conducting the investigation that he had participated in the gruesome crime, killing 10 people and wounding several others,” Javier’s lawyer Danny Villanueva told ABS-CBN News Channel.
Villanueva alleged that Javier was tortured by members of the Philippine Army and Negros Oriental police to admit that he had a hand in the killings.
Villanueva added that when Javier was turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation, the suspect was “persuaded” to go into the Witness Protection Program as a state witness against other suspects, a certain Marvin Miranda and Rep. Teves, who is accused of masterminding the massacre.
Full Story at: Fifth suspect in Degamo slay recants testimony | Philstar.com
Group sounds alarm on disappearance of activists since start of Marcos-Duterte admin | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — An ecumenical youth group has sounded the alarm on the apparent string of disappearances of rights activists under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., saying that several of those who suffered “utterly disturbing and horrifying” abductions were tortured or killed.
Expressing its “deep concern and disturbance over abductions and disappearances since the start of the Marcos-Duterte administration,” the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) cited two more fresh incidents of student leaders going missing in Cagayan this week.
Based on an alert by rights group Karapatan Cagayan Valley, peasant and youth organizers Cedric Casaño and Patricia Cierva were “captured alive” by the 501st IB on May 18 in Gonzaga, Cagayan. Cierva was previously a student at the University of the Philippines Manila.
This comes less than a month after indigenous peoples’ rights defenders Gene Roz Jamil De Jesus and Dexter Capuyan were reported missing.
Full Story at: Group sounds alarm on disappearance of activists since start of Marcos-Duterte admin | Philstar.com
