Nokor H-bomb test successful, says state TV VOL. XXXI • NO. 202 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@thestandard.com.ph
PERFECT SUCCESS?
This undated picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Sept. 3, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (center) looking at a metal casing with two bulges at an undisclosed location. North Korea has developed a hydrogen bomb which can be loaded into the country’s new intercontinental ballistic missile, the official Korean Central News Agency claimed on Sept. 3. Questions remain over whether nuclear-armed Pyongyang has successfully miniaturized its weapons, and whether it has a working H-bomb, but KCNA said that leader Kim Jong-Un had inspected such a device at the Nuclear Weapons Institute. AFP
Rody: Paolo won’t be of help in Senate probe By John Paolo Bencito DAVAO CITY—President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday night he would advise his son, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his son-in-law, Manases Carpio, to appear before the Senate if they are invited to hearings on corruption at the Bureau of Customs. Both members of his family were linked to corruption at the bureau by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who has urged the Senate Blue Ribbon committee headed by Senator Richard Gordon to summon them to a hearing.
But the President said their presence would not help Trillanes prove his case because they can always invoke their right to remain silent. “My advice to Pulong [his son’s nickname]? Go there, if you’re there and he [Trillanes] questions you, just say, I will not answer you. I’m invoking my right to remain silent because since the election, before my father became president, you were already hitting us,” Duterte said in Filipino. “My answer to you is, I will refuse to answer your questions because they will intend to Next page
2 Sayyaf men nabbed in KL for terror links By Francisco Tuyay TWO Filipino terrorists who were involved in a series of kidnappings in Malaysia were recently arrested by Malaysian authorities, a military official said Sunday. The two terrorists, one of whom was the trusted lieutenant of Basilan Abu Sayyaf chieftain Furuji Indama, were in the company of six wanted Malaysian nationals when they were arrested for their alleged
involvement in terrorist activities in Malaysia. Col. Edgard Arevalo, head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office said the two Filipinos were arrested by the Royal Malaysian Police in Taman Desa Baiduri, Cheras in Kuala Lumpur. They were identified as Hajar Abdul Mubin, alias Mheraiz and Abrahan Bin Ebong. Mubin is the right-hand man of Abu Sayyaf Group sub-leader Next page
SEOUL—North Korea declared itself a thermonuclear power on Sunday, after carrying out a sixth nuclear test more powerful than any it has previously detonated, presenting President Donald Trump with a potent challenge. The North has tested a hydrogen bomb with “perfect success,” a jubilant newsreader announced on state television, adding the device could be mounted on a missile. The test was of a bomb with “unprecedently large power,” she said, and “marked a very significant occasion in attaining the final goal of completing the state nuclear force.” The broadcaster showed an image of leader Kim Jong-Un’s handwritten order for the test to be carried out at noon on Sept. 3. The announcement came after monitors measured a 6.3-magnitude tremor near the North’s main testing site, which South Korean experts said was five to six times stronger than that from the 10-kiloton test carried out a year ago. Hours earlier, the North released images of Kim inspecting what it said was a miniaturized H-bomb that could be fitted onto an ICBM, at the Nuclear Weapons Institute. Hydrogen bombs or H-bombs—also known as thermonuclear devices—are far more powerful than the relatively simple atomic weapons the North was believed to have tested so far. Whatever the final figure for test’s yield turned out to be, said Jeffrey Lewis of the Next page
Du30 twits Trillanes, Magdalo: Political ISIS By Bill Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta
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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday likened Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to the Islamic State terrorist group for constantly attacking him without the proper basis or evidence. “Trillanes is a political ISIS. He does not know anything, he only likes to hit. He thinks he is right. It’s funny when he talks, it’s as if he really knows the law,” said Duterte in a mix of English and Filipino Saturday night. “The problem is, he is the same with [Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary] Alejano. They file cases without really knowing the law,” Duterte said. “With Trillanes, it’s... B says that C told him. That’s not evidence, passing on information,” Duterte added. “But they persist because either they’re dedicated to their ignorance… This [Trillanes] is a political ISIS. He has no talent... Actually he lacks knowledge in life,” Duterte said. Duterte also chided Trillanes for picking a fight with Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, which is investigating the smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu through Customs.
Trillanes, citing the testimony of Customs fixer Mark Taguba, has accused Duterte’s son, Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and presidential son-inlaw Manases Carpio, of taking bribes to smooth shipments through the Bureau of Customs. Taguba, however, said he had no firsthand knowledge of Duterte’s son or his son-in-law being involved in any smug- Senator Antonior Trillanes gling syndicate, saying they were linked only by rumors and hearsay. Last week, Trillanes and Gordon argued over whether Paolo Duterte or Carpio should be summoned to the SenCHIEF Insp. Jovie Espeniate hearings. do, whose last two assignOn Saturday, the Palace said it might ments involved the death not be necessary to summon the youngof mayors tagged as narcoer Duterte and Carpio to the Senate after politicians, said Sunday they were cleared by Taguba in a statehe needs to take care of ment issued Friday. “unfinished business” in Earlier, Alejano, who had filed an Ozamiz City before he can unsuccessful impeachment complaint take on his next mission in Next page
Davao Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte
Espenido has ‘unfinished business’ Iloilo City. In an interview on the ANC news channel, Espenido said he is coordinating with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the community to capture Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog, a member
Sereno scraps bullet-proof work on SUV, says accuser By Rio N. Araja A LAWYER who wants Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno impeached said Sunday Sereno had canceled four-million-pesos worth of bullet-proof work on her 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser van worth P5.1 million. Larry Gadon, who filed a 54page verified complaint before Congress’ secretary general
Cesar Pareja against Sereno, said his impeachment rap could have triggered Sereno to cancel the bullet-proofing of her highend car. “The effect of what I did was good. She canceled the bulletproofing of her vehicle,” Gadon told dzBB radio. “Yes, it was already in the process. I had documents to prove about her plan to have Next page
SC: Ban on implants final By Rey E. Requejo
HAPPY KIDS. Unicef Country Representative Lotta Sylwander and movie-TV actress Anne Curtis, Unicef ambassador of goodwill, are swarmed by children-participants in the ‘Happiest 5k in the Planet’ Color Run presented by Curtis’ passion project, the Dream Machine.
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THE Supreme Court has stood by its decision prohibiting the distribution of contraceptive implants, including Implanon and Implanon NXT, that President
Rodrigo Duterte wants lifted. Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said the high court’s latest decision made the ruling final. “There’s nothing left to be Next page
of the Parojinog clan. “One of the Parojinog brothers with the name of alias ‘Ardot’ is still at large. We know already that this person is notorious because he is the one, in public knowledge, who Next page
Marcos deal requires law, Rody declares CONGRESS should pass a law determining the fate of the billions of pesos in public funds stashed away by the Marcos family, President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday as he confirmed talking with the late dictator’s eldest daughter, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, about a deal to return the ill-gotten wealth to the government. “Congress must pass a law then provide the steps of how to recover [the money],” Duterte said in an early morning interview Sunday. “The President cannot [do it]… it has to be a law. And the law must come from Congress, not from me.” “Congress must authorize it because that is money to be Next page
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