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Volume 11 – Issue 37 • 16 Pages
JULY 6-12, 2018
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Drug war helped cut crime rate in Metro Manila - Police by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJPress
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said that the country’s peace and order situation has improved. It added that while there are incidents of killings, it would also be proper for the public to determine how far peace and order situation in the country has improved by looking at objective data. Philstar.com photo
ONE of the main factors for the 25 percent decline in Metro Manila’s crime rate in the first half of 2018 is the government’s war on drugs, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) cited. Metro crime incidence has been reduced under the government’s Oplan Tokhang, an anti-illegal drugs campaign spearheaded by the Philippine National Police (PNP), as stated by NCRPO. The campaign has seen 48,886 suspected drug users and pushers arrested; 1,590 neutralized; and 233,896 surrendered.
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OSG ANNIVERSARY. President Rodrigo R. Duterte witnesses the program proper during the 117th anniversary of the Office of the Solicitor General at Le Pavillon in Metropolitan Park, Pasay City. Joining the President on stage are Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Secretary Bong Go of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President, and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. Malacañang photo by Karl Norman Alonzo
ConCom approves draft constitution
USA
by BERNADETTE
TAMAYO ManilaTimes.net
DATELINE Amid immigration debate, several Filipinos arrested by ICE
be no term extension for the president and the vice president. In fact, we are not even sure whether he will accept the position of a transitory president or the person who will preside in the transition to the federal government,” he said. The draft charter seeks to carve at least 18 federated regions corresponding to the 17 existing regions plus the Negros Island region. Puno said a plebiscite should be held next year, to give the public time to understand the new constitution. It should be a standalone plebiscite and not held simultaneously with the 2019 mid-term elections, “so that the people can focus on the merit of the proposed constitution,” he said.
THE 22-man Consultative Committee (ConCom) tasked to craft a new charter unanimously approved on Tuesday, July 3, the draft constitution of the proposed Federal Republic of the Philippines. The ConCom chairman, retired chief justice Reynato Puno, said the panel would present the draft charter shifting to a federal form of government to President Rodrigo Duterte on July 9 in Malacañang, ahead of the State of the Filipino green card holder Nation Address. detained for decade-old conviction Under the proposed new charter, the President’s term will end in 2022. “That’s it. It’s not MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Members of the Constitutional Committee who drafted the proposed WITH the current administration’s efforts open-ended,” Puno said. to tighten immigration enforcement in the federal constitution pose for a photo after voting on the draft charter at the Philippine “We specifically stated there that there will International Convention Center. ManilaTimes.net photo by DJ Diosina u PAGE A2 United States, several reports are emerging that Filipinos have been part of recent sweeps conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). One such case is that of Cloyd Edralin, a Filipino green card holder and U.S. resident of 30 years, who was arrested by ICE earlier this month for a prior conviction he served by MOMAR G. VISAYA over a decade ago. AJPress As of this writing, the 47-year-old remains in detention and faces deportation. AMBASSADOR Claro Suarez u PAGE A3 Cristobal, a career diplomat with the rank of Chief of Mission I, took his post as Consul General of the Philippines in New York on June 30, 2018. His first official event was a meeting with the local media covering the community. At a free wheeling discussion that lasted for The liberal newspaper in an analysis of State Department data said the most affected were almost two hours, Consul General Muslim-majority countries, but the number of immigrant visas granted to people from the Philippines, Mexico, China, India, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Consul General Claro Cristobal (center) stresses a point during his first Cristobal shared his story, along Pakistan and Afghanistan has also declined. Philstar.com photo meeting with the Fil-Am community media. Vice Consul Khrys Corpuz (left) with his hopes to engage the community at large. and Deputy Consul General Kerwin Tate also joined the meeting. FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
New Consul General Claro Cristobal meets the Fil-Am community media
US immigrant visas Palace: No culture of impunity in Philippines for Filipinos decline AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya
PH Sen. Grace Poe spoke with Fil-Ams in Los Angeles about experiences living in the U.S. AJPress photo by Rae Ann Varona
Sen. Grace Poe speaks of ‘Global Filipinos’ during Los Angeles visit
PHILIPPINE Senator Grace Poe shared her experiences and thoughts on what it means to be a Filipino abroad during a recent visit to Los Angeles, California on Friday, June 30. “What we all went through is universal,” said Poe in Filipino, after warming up attendees with a few Filipino jokes in honor of late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago who like Poe was a 2016 Philippine presidential candidate and was known for her humor.
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by ALEXIS
ROMERO Philstar.com
MANILA — Despite the assassination of two mayors in a span of hours, Malacañang insisted on Wednesday, July 4, there is no culture of impunity in the country and instead blamed the killings on groups out to discredit President Duterte. “There is no culture of impunity in the Philippines as we do not condone any state-sponsored killing,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement. He said the Duterte administration upholds the rule of law and remains focused on “securing and restoring order in the community.” Some lawmakers, especially from the opposition, decried the killings, saying they reflected the breakdown of the rule of law. Tanauan City mayor Antonio Halili was shot dead Monday by an unidentified assassin
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from a grassy knoll more than 100 meters away from city hall grounds where he was leading a flag ceremony. The next day, mayor Ferdinand Bote of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija was also gunned down as he was leaving the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) office in Cabanatuan in his sport utility vehicle. Halili, who gained notoriety for parading lawbreakers as part of his shame campaign, was on the drug list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Bote was not on the list. “We continue to adhere to the rule of law and consider the recent killings of high-profile figures as an attempt to erode confidence in the President, whose main platform of governance rests on fighting
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by JOSE
KATIGBAK Philstar.com
WASHINGTON – The number of visas granted to people from countries that typically receive the largest number of immigrant visas from the U.S., including the Philippines, has declined and is on pace to drop 12 percent in U.S. President Donald Trump’s first two years in office, The Washington Post said. The liberal newspaper in an analysis of State Department data said the most affected were Muslim-majority countries, but the number of immigrant visas granted to people from the Philippines, Mexico, China, India,
Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Pakistan and Afghanistan has also declined. The flow of legal immigrants from Europe, however, has increased slightly. The analysis does not include temporary visas such as H-1B visas for skilled workers and H2B visas for seasonal workers or student visas. The Post report published last Tuesday comes on the heels of a public outcry against Trump’s efforts to discourage illegal immigration at the U.S.Mexico border, separating chil-
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