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Big-time hike in fuel prices expected next week — DOE By Alena Mae S. Flores
Department of Energy director Rodela Romero said that based on the first four CONSUMERS will have to brace for an days of trading in Mean of Platts Singaoil price hike next week by as much as pore, the benchmark of oil importers, doP1.10 per liter to reflect the movement of mestic pump prices will likely go up on Tuesday. prices in the world oil market. Next page
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 183• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 2024 •
Rep. Duterte linked to P11-b shabu • Rody's son-in-law, adviser also tagged by ex-Customs agent • Barbers: Chinese syndicate bought land to launder drug money
QUAD HEARING. Dangerous Drugs and Quad Committee Lead Chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers presides over the Joint House Committee hearing with the Committees on Public Accounts of Chairman Rep. Joseph Stephen ‘Caraps’ Paduano, Public Order and Safety of Chairman Dan Fernandez, and Human Rights Chairman Bienvenido Abante Jr., during the first joint public hearing held yesterday at Villa De Bacolor Convention Center Bacolor, Pampanga Friday morning. Also in photo is Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio ‘Dong’ Gonzales Jr. Ver Noveno By Maricel V. Cruz
ORMER Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban on Friday implicated three people related to former President Rodrigo Duterte – his son Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, his son-in-law, Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio, and his former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang – in the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters discovered at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.
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Guban revealed this information in his affidavit and testimony before the House of Representatives quad committee investigating alleged links between Philippine Offshore
JIMMY GUBAN
Gaming Operators (POGOs), the illegal drug trade and extrajudicial killings (EJKs) tied to the Duterte administration’s “war on drugs.” Next page
Journalist, PTFoMS director also named by House witness By Maricel V. Cruz TWO former media personalities who served under the Duterte and Marcos administrations were named by a disgraced Customs official, who is currently incarcerated for his role in a drug-trafficking case, as having warned him not to drag certain people into a controversial shabu shipment case. On Friday, former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban accused former National Press Club president and current Presidential Task Force on Media Security executive director Paul Gutierrez, as well as
then-Department of Environment and Natural Resources Undersecretary Benny Antiporda of involvement in a botched drug-smuggling attempt. Guban made this revelation through an affidavit and testimony during a House of Representatives probe where he also tagged Vice President Sara Duterte’s husband Manases Carpio, her brother Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang in the smuggling of P11 billion worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters discovered at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) in 2018. Next page
VP backs drug tests for gov’t officials, offers to go first By Rachelle Tonelada VICE President Sara Duterte backed a bill that would require mandatory drug tests for government officials filed by her brother, Davao 1st District Representative, Paolo Duterte. The Vice President said she is even willing to be the first public official to undergo a hair follicle drug test. If enacted, House Bill No. 10744 would mandate all elected and ap-
pointed government officials, including the President, to undergo random hair follicle drug tests every six months. Additionally, the bill proposes voluntary random drug testing for candidates running for electoral posts within 90 days before Election Day. Officials who test positive may face suspension or termination from office under this proposed legislation. Next page
ASF CHECKPOINT. A member of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture (at left) sprays a Peroxygen-based disinfectant to the wheels of a truck carrying pigs as part of measures to control the spread of African Swine Fever (ASF) at a DA checkpoint along the Tagaytay-Nasugbu highway in Tagaytay City. Danny Pata
Court finds three guilty in hazing death of PMA cadet
Sandiganbayan clears Verzosa, Negros Occ. solon named new TESDA head 10 other officers in chopper case By Maricel V. Cruz
By Charles Dantes
A BAGUIO court has found two cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) guilty of murder, while another one was convicted of hazing in connection to the September 2019 death of Darwin Dormitorio, his family said on Friday. A segment of the decision shared by Darwin's brother, Dexter
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has named Negros Occidental Rep. Jose Francisco “Kiko” Bantug Benitez as the new Director General of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). Benitez will replace Suharto Mangudadatu, who recently tendered his resignation. The Office of the President thanked Mangudadatu for his service, with Benitez assuming his new role immediately.
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By Rex Espiritu
REP. KIKO BENITEZ
THE Sandiganbayan has acquitted former Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Jesus Verzosa and 10 other police officers of graft charges in connection with the purchase of used overpriced helicopters in 2009. The anti-graft court, however, convicted five others, four of them retired generals . The anti-graft court's seventh division also ordered the lifting of the hold departure order against Verzosa and the rest of those cleared in the case. Aside from Verzosa, also acquitted were Police Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano, Police Superintendent
Roman Loreto, Police Director George Piano, Pol. Supt. Luis Saligumba, Pol. Supt. Job Nolan Antonio, Police Superintendent Edgar Paatan, Police Chief Inspector Maria Josefina Recometa, Police Superintendent Claudio Gaspar Jr., SPO3 Ma. Linda Padojinog, PO3 Avensuel Go Dy, and Ruben Gongona. The anti-graft court however found "guilty of graft beyond reasonable doubt" P/Dir. Luizo Ticman; P/Dir. Ronald Roderos; P/Dir. Romeo Hilomen; P/Dir. Leocadio Santiago Jr.; and Hilaro de Vera. They were sentenced to six to eight years imprisonment with perpetual disqualification to hold public office. Next page