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LOS ANGELES
M I D W E E K M I D W E E K
EDITION
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E May D I 24-26, T I O2017 N
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Volume 27 - No. 42 ⢠3 Sections - 20 Pages
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PH, Russia embark on ânew chapterâ of partnership Duterte cuts Moscow trip short amid Marawi clash by DANA
SIOSON AJPress
MILITARY HONORS. President Rodrigo Duterte is given military honors upon his arrival in Moscow for his ofďŹcial visit to Russia on Tuesday, May 23. Duterte headed back to Manila on Wednesday, May 24, cutting his four-day ofďŹcial visit to Moscow short after declaring martial law in Mindanao in the wake of a confrontation between government troops and local militants in Marawi City. MalacaĂąang photo
USA
DATELINE Fugitive Filipino ex-car dealer gets 10 years, $30-M fine for huge 1980s bank fraud FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
LOS ANGELES - A Filipino who ran one of the largest automobile dealerships in the United States before fleeing the country 29 years ago was sentenced May 17 to 120 months in federal prison in a bank fraud scheme that caused more than $64 million in losses to banks, one of which col- Eminiano âJunâ Reodica Jr. once lapsed as a result ran the third largest car dealership of the losses suf- in the United States. fered in the scam. United States District Judge S. James Otero sentenced , 72, saying the Reodicaâs scheme
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Tab for single-payer proposal in California could run $400-B A PROPOSED single-payer health system in California would cost about $400 billion annually, with up to half of that money coming from a new payroll tax on workers and employers, according to a state analysis. The report by the state Senate Appropriations Committee, issued Monday, put a price tag for the first time on legislation that would make the state responsible for providing health coverage to all 39 million Californians. The state-run system would supplant existing employer health insurance in California, as well as coverage
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PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte headed back to Manila on Wednesday, May 24, cutting his four-day official visit to Moscow short after declaring martial law in Mindanao in the wake of a confrontation between government troops and local militants in Marawi City. In a press conference on Tuesday night, May 23 in Moscow, Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Russian officials understood the situation and Duterteâs need to oversee the government operations against the Islamic State (IS)-linked Maute group. âI have spoken to my counterpart here in Moscow and have explained the situation and they understand that the security of the Filipino people, especially in Marawi and the whole of Mindanao is a priority,â Cayetano said.
Armored personnel carriers are deployed in a ďŹreďŹght with Maute and Abu Sayyaf bandits in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur on Tuesday, May 23. Photo by Mohammad Manshawi
Despite Duterteâs unexpected absence, Cayetano confirmed that bilateral agreements scheduled to be signed will still push through.
Cayetano said he will stay behind in Moscow to witness the signing of deals, most of which are related to defense, security,
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IPU members in PH to check detained De Lima Senate body junks
hit menâs testimonies
by AJPRESS MEMBERS of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) have arrived in the Philippines this week to examine the condition of Senator Leila De Lima, who is currently being detained over drug-related charges. The IPU Committee on Human Rights met with Philippine Senate President Aquilino âKokoâ Pimentel III on Monday, May 22, and is scheduled to visit De Lima on Wednesday, May 24. âWe are here on behalf of the IPU, the Inter-Parliamentary Union human rights committee, to see and assess the situation of detention of Senator Leila de Members of the House of Representativesâ minority bloc dubbed as Lima,â Fawzia Koofi, president of IPU human rights, the âMagniďŹcent 7â wave at reporters and cameramen after visiting
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basis. In a recent speech, Duterte recalled telling Xi during their meeting in Beijing: âWe intend to drill oil there, if itâs yours, well, thatâs your view, but my view is, I can drill the oil, if there is some inside the bowels of the earth because it is ours.â âHis response to me, âweâre friends, we donât want to quarrel with you, we want to maintain the presence of warm relationship,
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Senator Leila de Lima at the PNP Custodial Center. Inquirer.net photo by Julliane Love De Jesus
by DANA
THE Duterte administration should immediately prepare for a so-called âdual responseâ to counter Chinaâs supposed recent war threat, former Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario said on Monday, May 22. Last week, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte bared that Chinese President Xi Jinping had threatened war if Manila insists on its plan to conduct a Reed Bank oil exploration and âforces the issueâ of last yearâs arbitral
Former Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario
ruling. The Reed Bank, also called âRecto Bank,â is internationally recognized as part of the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is located in the South China Sea. China, however, claims it as part of its territory. Last July, an arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, finding that Chinaâs historic nine-dash line, which claimed almost all the South China Sea, has no historic and legal
O. AVENDAĂO
Inquirer.net
CONFESSED assassin Arturo LascaĂąas, a retired Davao City police officer, is not the person who can prove the existence of the so-called Davao Death Squad (DDS) because his testimony is inconsistent and lacks evidence. So declared the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, in a report that summed up its findings and recommendations on LascaĂąasâ confession that he and other Davao policemen were hired to kill on orders of former Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. The committee came up with the report after holding just one hearing on March 6. It invited LascaĂąas to testify on his allegation that Mayor Duterte was behind the DDS and that the latter had paid policemen and rebel returnees to kill not only criminals and drug suspects but also his political enemies. LascaĂąas previously testified in a Senate inquiry into alleged extrajudicial killings under the Duterte administration in which he dismissed as lies the testimony of Edgar Matobato, who claimed to be a hit man for Mr. Duterte who he said had formed the DDS. Lack of credibility âThe lack of credibility of both witnesses results in the lack of evidentiary value of their testimonies. Aside from the extrajudicial confession, no other piece of evidence was presented to prove the conspiracy. Therefore, their confession has no probative value,â the committee report said. âOne thing is for sure, Arturo LascaĂąas is not the person to prove [the DDSâs] actual existence and finally bring to justice the perpetrators of numerous unresolved crimes in Davao City or elsewhere if proven so,â it said.
Ex-DFA chief urges filing of protest, US joint patrols to counter China war threat SIOSON AJPress
by CHRISTINE
PNP seeks security coordination with Ariana Grandeâs Manila concert organizers 22 killed, over 50 injured at pop singerâs show in Manchester, UK by AJPRESS THE Philippine National Police (PNP) is urging âearly coordinationâ with the organizers of the upcoming Manila concert of American singer-actress Ariana Grande in August. The PNPâs call came in the
wake of a deadly explosion during Grandeâs concert on Monday night, May 22 in Manchester, United Kingdom that reportedly killed 22 people, including children, and injured more than 50. In a statement on Tuesday, May 23, PNP spokesperson Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos
stressed the importance of coordination between the local police and event organizers to secure the safety of the event. âThe organizer/s of the Ariana Grande concert must involve the local PNP unit so that appropriate Ariana Grande performs during the Manila leg of âThe Honeymoon Tourâ security arrangements and assis- held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Sunday, August 23, 2015.
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Philstar.com photo by EďŹgenio Christopher Toledo IV