News Roundup 27 May 2023
May 27, 2023 • 4 min Read
US, Japan, PCG hold maritime law enforcement training in Palawan | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) instructors completed yesterday an 11-day training in maritime law enforcement in Puerto Princesa, Palawan together with their counterparts from the United States and Japan.
The US embassy in Manila said experts from the three countries led a Multinational Vessel Boarding Officer Course that aimed to strengthen the maritime law enforcement capabilities of the Southeast Asian countries represented in the course by more than 30 participants.
Jointly conducted by the US Coast Guard (USCG) Mobile Training Branch, the Japan Coast Guard (JCG) Mobile Cooperation Team and the PCG, the training program touched on the basics of boarding vessels in at-sea law enforcement.
The US State Department’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs provided $75,000 for the training program, the US embassy said.
The 33 program participants were from the PCG, the Philippine National Police Maritime Group, Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency, Thailand’s Maritime Enforcement Command Center and Vietnam’s Department of Fisheries.
The US embassy said participants also engaged in practical exercises focused on self-defense tactics and vessel search procedures.
Full Story at: US, Japan, PCG hold maritime law enforcement training in Palawan | Philstar.com
5th suspect in Degamo killing recants | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Another suspect in the assassination of Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo that resulted in the killing of nine other people last March in Pamplona town has retracted his admission of the crime and accused soldiers and police of forcing him to sign his previous affidavit.
Through his lawyer, suspected gunman Joven Calibjo Javier, 44, filed yesterday his sworn statement declaring the withdrawal of his previous affidavit before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC)’s clerk of court.
Lawyer Danny Villanueva recalled that in his client’s previous affidavit, Javier had admitted to being part of the plot to kill Degamo last March 4. That sworn statement also led law enforcers to a safehouse near a property of suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., implicating the lawmaker and Marvin Miranda as the masterminds.
However, in his new sworn statement written in Filipino, Javier claimed he suffered at the hands of officers of the Philippine Army (PA), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Javier is now claiming that he was beaten up by soldiers and policemen after being arrested hours after gunmen attacked Degamo’s residence, killing the governor and nine other people during an aid distribution event.
The dismissed soldier is the fifth suspect to recant his admission of participation in the March 4 attack, known as the Pamplona Massacre.
In the new affidavit, Javier said he could not answer authorities’ questions on who he was with during the shooting of Degamo and where they kept the guns, so police officers allegedly took turns striking his thighs with their rifles.
Javier also swore he was threatened by police and forced to identify Teves and Miranda as the masterminds of the bloody attack.
Full Story at: 5th suspect in Degamo killing recants | Philstar.com
Minority bloc vows to stop Senate passage of Maharlika bill | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Saturday said the minority bloc will do everything to prevent the passage of the Senate bill seeking to establish the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund.
“We will do everything in the minority to prevent its passage,” Pimentel said in a DWIZ radio interview.
Pimentel said he and Senator Risa Hontiveros will interpellate to scrutinize the Maharlika bill, emphasizing that it will cause harm rather than provide benefits.
“Senator Risa Hontiveros and I plan to interpellate, they should grant us that. And my request to the majority is to allow me to summarize, I will summarize all our observations and findings regarding the Maharlika issue so that we can deliver a counter-speech,” he said.
“This Maharlika? It’s truly a very bad idea and it won’t bring any benefits to us, only harm. Harm, not benefits,” he said.
Full Story at: Minority bloc vows to stop Senate passage of Maharlika bill | Inquirer News
Laity groups, clergy rally behind arrested exorcist | INQUIRER.NET – Several Catholic Church groups have offered statements of “support and prayers” for exorcist priest Winston Cabading, who was arrested over the weekend after ex-Sandiganbayan Justice Harriet Demetriou accused him of “offending religious feelings,” a crime under the Revised Penal Code.
The charges stemmed from Cabading’s statement last year on an online program where he expounded on a Vatican decree that nullified as devoid of “any supernatural intervention” the controversial 1948 apparition of Our Lady of Mediatrix before a novice in Lipa, Batangas province.
In a statement on Friday, Fr. Jose Francisco “Jocis” Syquia, secretary general of the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists, said the group “stand[s] with Fr. [C]abading in his obedience and union with the Pope and the Philippine bishops of the Catholic Church with regards to the issue.”
The Archdiocese of Manila Commission on Extraordinary Phenomena and the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism (AMOE) also signified its support for Cabading, a faculty member at the University of Santo Tomas, who was arrested on May 13 at the St. Mary Magdalene House in Nasugbu, Batangas. He has since posted bail.
Full Story at: Laity groups, clergy rally behind arrested exorcist | Inquirer News
