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GARMA: DUTERTE'S DRUG WAR MODEL REWARDED COPS FOR EVERY SUSPECT KILLED FIVE LOCAL HOLIDAYS IN OCT.
By Maricel V. Cruz
NEWS / A3
ROYINA GARMA
ISRAEL CONTINUES TO POUND HEZBOLLAH WORLD / A6
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 227• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 •
PNP resurrecting probe PH leads criticisms into PCSO official's slay VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 239• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2024 •
vs. China’s SCS acts
Speaker grateful for PMA Class '83 vote of confidence in Quad Comm
Marcos says ‘more than half’ of ASEAN willing to help
By Rio N. Araja
T T
HE Philippine
By Charles Dantes and National Police Rachelle Tonelada
(PNP) is reopening its investigation into HE Philippines the 2020led murder of the charge Philippine Charity in criticizing Sweepstakes Office Beijing’s illegal and (PCSO) board secretary dangerous actions in the Wesley Barayuga. hotly disputed South China during theChief threeOn Sunday, PNP Police General Rommel and Francisco Marday ASEAN related bil said he ordered the reopening of summits in after Laos, with the the cold case whistleblower Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza regional bloc calling fortold the House Quad Committee that he the immediate conclusion helped carry out the killing at the of a code of conduct to behest of ex-PCSO general manager Royina Garma. address maritime conflicts Mendoza narrated before conin the area. gressmen how Garma allegedly fa-
cilitated the PCSO official’s roadside President Marcos, the assassination on July who 30, raised 2020 by SCS issue the in almost all ASEAN meetproviding necessary information ings and the Leader’s Retreat about his during schedule, details about hisin Vientiane, than half" of the vehicle andsaid the "more funding necessary to members of the bloc offered help to the carry it out. Philippines amid China's acThe whistleblower alsoescalatory implicated tions. incumbent National Police Com“At some point, there are many ofmissioner Edilberto Leonardo in the fers of help. They say if that is the probplanning of the murder. lem, maybe we do this, police maybe Barayuga wascould a retired our country can send vessels, maybe general and lawyer who supposedly we could to have jointcorruption operationswith– all threatened expose could not he come inthese the offers PCSOwhich shortly before wasif we did notinmake our position clear. I shot dead Mandaluyong City. Next page Garma, herself an ex-police Lt. Colonel, allegedly gained the top spot at the PCSO because of her in-
RETIRED police colonel Royina Garma on Friday confirmed that former President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the implementation "on a national scale" of the socalled "Davao template" that rewarded cops for every drug suspect killed. PAGASA Garma, during her testimony at the House Quad Comm, broke down in tears as she read her supplemental affidavit that revealed three modes of payment or rewards during the Dutert administration's bloody war on drugs: — first, for every suspect killed; second for the planned operations; and third, the refund of operational expenses. Shegovernment said Duterte has contacted herP1.48 about THE readied the creation of a national task force to billion worth of aid for communiimplement the be "Davao template." ties that may hit hard by typhoon “I waswhich alreadyPAGASA acquaintedsays withcould then‘Julian’ Mayor Duterte, having served as a Staturn into a supertyphoon. tionAs Commander in one of the police staof 5:00 PM on Sunday, PAtions in Davao during his tenure. During GASA raised Tropical Cyclone our meeting, requested that IBatanes locate a Wind Signalhe No. 3 over Philippine National Police officer opand the northeastern portion oforBaerative who is a member of the Iglesia Ni buyan Islands. “’Julian’ is forecast to continue Next page intensifying over the next 24-36 hours as it moves towards Batanes and/or Babuyan Islands. With the current trend in its intensification, the possibility of reaching super typhoon category is not ruled out,” PAGASA said in its advisory. Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said that a total of 1.9 million family food packs worth P1.48 billion, other food items worth P276 million, and non-food items (NFIs) worth P919 million were already prepared by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Some P171 million in standby fund is also available for utilization by the DSWD, including P123 million which can be allotted as Quick Response Fund (QRF) in the central office of the DSWD. In Batanes, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) advised residents to secure their roofs and install window shutters as Typhoon Julian is expected to make landfall
Gov’t readies P1.48b aid as 'Julian' strengthens
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A WEB OF CRIME? House leaders Aurelio Gonzales and David Suarez presented this matrix during the last QUAD Comm hearing which shows the operations of a criminal syndicate allegedly led by fugitive Michael Yang, then economic adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte, that controlled the illegal activities of the POGOs and was involved in the drug trade and extrajudicial killings.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. President Marcos engages US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Summit. The President told Blinken that ASEAN is grateful for the active US presence in the region. Inset shows the President reporting to the nation on his participation in the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits in Vientiane, Laos. He said that the discussions with his ASEAN counterparts were not just about challenges individually but about their shared commitment to finding enduring solutions that would safeguard the region’s ‘collective future’. RTVM/PCO
Yang's lawyer mocks probers amid heated inquiry THE legal counsel of Chinese businessman Tony Yang sought to disparage lawmakers’ conclusions about his client’s supposedly sketchy past and his alleged ties with Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGOs) and even organized crime. Lawyer Raymond Fortun questioned the House Quad Committee’s impartiality and its DISCLOSURE. ability to pin Chinese national Yang Rolan ‘Kerwin’ down testifies for ay wrongdoing in a real Espinosa criminal at the QUADcourt. “I amhearing very interested in how they Committee yesterday [Quad where Comm members] can prove hethis accused Sen. network in court. In criminal Ronald 'Bato' Congress, lawmakers act as both dela Rosa prosecutor and judge,” he said. of pressuring him Yang, who already admitted to implicate former having fake Philippine birth Sen. Leila de aLima certificate, in the illegal is the brother of Michael Yang, drug trade. a presidential economic
adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Fortun, a lawyer who often finds himself at the center high-profile cases, apparently sought to mock congressmen, calling their probe “unacceptable.” However, House members argued they did not come by their suspicions about Yang recklessly. On Friday, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga and Speaker David Suarez of ByDeputy Charles Dantes Quezon presented a matrix showing Yang’s first Marcos appearance anddenied his PRESIDENT strongly subsequent activities at the Quad any knowledge about an alleged Comm hearing. plot to implicate his predecessor, “WeRodrigo saw a pattern, tracked Duterte,and andwe other offiit to thecials top of these corporations... to crimes perpetrated by we stripped it of its Offshore layers , toGaming get to Philippine the top andOperators through (POGOs). it all, we have discovered and identified at least two Responding to claims main actors ormade players theRonald issue by in Sen. dela Rosa, Mr. Marcos expressed confusion over the allegation.
of illegal drugs and illegal activities associated with POGOs,” Suarez said in a mixture of Filipino and English. The solons explained how the matrix details Yang’s connections to other individuals involved in illicit activities, including the operations of illegal POGOs. Among the companies implicated are Brickhartz Technology Inc. and XionweiLopez Technology Co. Ltd., By Vince which are being linked to alleged kidnapping. GOVERNMENT agents arrested The two powerful firms supposedly a supposedly personality have the Baofu amongconnections Philippine with Overseas GamCompound in Bamban, Tarlac, ing Operators (POGOs), identified which, turn, alias can be"Boss directly traced as LyuinDong, Boga," in to disgraced ex-mayor Alice Guo. an operation in Biñan, Laguna on During evening. Friday’s Quad Comm Thursday hearing, lawmakers cited Tonyaround Yang Lawmen pounced on him in contempt for “lying” to about hisa 8 p.m. as he left his house inside businesses and business partners. residential subdivision to attend a NextAntipage social event, the Presidential Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Friday. The suspect is allegedly a key figure in the operations of Lucky South 99, a POGO enterprise linked
PH lobbies UN for Security Council seat THE Philippine government on Sunday publicly called for the United Nations (UN) to give it a seat on the UN Security Council, highlighting the country’s strong record and dedication to upholding the rule of law. Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo in a speech delivered at the UN General Assembly in New York said the Philippines to emphasize to various continues crimes and may be bethe “importance of upholding the hind the "scam farms" in different rule of law and the integrity of the provinces. multilateral system in the face of toPAOCC spokesperson Winston day’s global challenges.” Casio told journalists that Lyu’s Quotedmarks by reports, Manalostep alsotocapture a significant said: “The Philippines has consiswards dismantling illegal POGOs. tently pursued peace, the Casio recounted thatsovereign there was equality of states, the rights "minor resistance" duringand the digarrest nity of all persons.” but Lyu and his nine supposedly He added that thewere country is also armed associates successfully recognized as the “first Asian Retaken into custody without anyone
Bato made me link De Lima, Lim to drugs—Kerwin POGO kingpin arrested in Laguna; DOTr’s Bautista PBBM: No idea of 'plot' suspect also linked to ‘scam farms’ Next page
By Maricel V. Cruz and Joel E. Zurbano
says online news report‘unfounded' ALLEGED drug lord Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa accused incumbent Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa of pressuring him into admitting involvement in the narcotics trade and implicating high-profile individuals, including former Sen. Leila de Lima and businessman Peter Lim. Espinosa made the revelation before the House Quad Committee, where he recounted his family’s ordeal as victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), allegedly carried out as part of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. His father, accused drug lord and then Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa was killed inside his jail cell on November 5, 2016, after volBAUTISTAto police. untarily surrendering Next page
By Darwin Amojelar
HOR Media
OF SENATORS TO 60
Navy spokes debunks China claim of military exercises in Scarborough shoal
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By Rex Espiritu THE Philippine Navy debunked on Sunday the recent announcement by China that it conducted military exercises off Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). China reportedly thewere, an''I always thought made that we nouncement coinciding but maybe I was deceived.''with the fourth Multilateral CoDuterte had said Maritime she was never operative Activity between the friends with Marcos, but has close Philippines, Australia, ties with his sister, SenatorJapan, Imee New Zealand, and the United Marcos. States within Manila’s In an interview at theexclusive House of economic zone (EEZ) in the reRepresentatives in September, the gional waters over thewould weekend. Vice President said she "never Philippine Navy again" team up withSpokesperson the Marcoses for WPS Rear Admiral following their falling out.Roy NextVinpage
‘I always thought that we were (friends)‘—PBBM on VP Sara
TRANSPORTATION Secretary Jaime Bautista denied an online news report claiming that Malacañang was angry with the increase in airport fees without the approval of the Cabinet members. “The Bilyonaryo article is malicious and unfounded,” Bautista PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos,said Jr. insaid a Viber message, to and the yesterday he wasreferring dismayed website that published the said story. felt deceived when Vice President “Bilyonaryo is inconsistent,” he added. Sara Duterte said they were never Bilyonaryo reported online that friends. “Bautista andknow his long-time in “I don’t anymore.protege I’m not Philippine Undersecretary for quite sureAirlines, I understand. I’m a little Aviation Bobby are dismayedandtoAirports hear that she Lim, doesn’t atthink the center of are the storm afterMarcos it was that we friends,” told reporters at the sidelines of the Next page ASEAN summit..
PRUNES LIST toCOMELEC link Rody to POGOs
being harmed. Next page Meanwhile, the PAOCC is looking into the possibility that Lyu is among the significant POGO personalities that dismissed Bamban Next page
Quad Comm orders arrest of Roque’s spouse
cent Trinidad told reporters that Manila troops did not monitor any such activity, adding that Beijing’s statement was meant only for its internal audience. “Our troops did not observe any exercise, we have to understand that sometimes, China is doing this for their internal audiBy Maricel Cruz ence, right? For them not to look weak and embarrassed,” Trinidad THE House Quad Committee yessaid. AWARD. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SMan Prime Holdings, terday issued arrest warrant Two Chinese warships were was honored by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) with its Outstanding against the wife of fugitive lawyer monitored at a distance ranging Filipino Retailers President Award for his visionary leadership infor retail development. Harry Roque repeatedly ignorfrom eight to 14 nautical miles. (From left to right): PRA Director and Director of SMtheir Retailsummons Jorge T. Mendiola, PRA ing in the ongoing One of these went up to 1,000 Vice President and President and COO of Golden, ABC, Inc. (The Penshoppe Group) congressional hearing. Alice T. Liu, SM Prime Holdings Chairman of the Executive Committee Hans T. Sy, yards at the MMCA site but evenThe Inc. committee was Roberto Ms. Mylah RICE FOR ALL. Residents of Barangay Daang Banal in Mandaluyong City line PRA President and Chairman of Quorum International, (Toby’s Sports) tually went away. “It was not Roque cited in contempt for snubup at the newly-opened 'Kadiwa Ng Pangulo Store' to buy well-milled but cheap rice S. Claudio, and PRA Director and President of Sportshouse Int’l. Leisure, Inc. and threatening, just normal,” accordat P43 per kilo. Manny Palmero its hearing for the third time. proponent of PRA OFR President’s Award Marsbing C. Chua Next page
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