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FIVECHRISTMAS, LOCAL THIS LET US KEEP IN MIND THOSE WHO SUFFERED — PBBM HOLIDAYS IN OCT.
ON FLIGHT.
By Vince Lopez
NEWS / A3
ISRAEL CONTINUES TO POUND HEZBOLLAH
Dancers of National Artist Alice Reyes leap high during their performance WORLD / A6 at Malacanang before the Christmas Tree lights were switched on last night. PCO
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 227• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 •
PNP resurrecting probe into PCSO official's slay NO INDON PRISONER EXCHANGE—DOJ NEWS / A3
HIV CASES RISING IN PH, SAYS DOH for PMA Class '83 vote of confidence in Quad Comm Speaker grateful VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 290• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2024 •
NEWS / A4 By Rio N. Araja
Philippine NBI’sHE help National sought Police (PNP) is reopening vs. paid vloggers its investigation into the 2020 murder of smearing Quad Philippine Charity
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Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) By Rio N.board Araja secretary Wesley Barayuga. SURIGAO del Norte Rep. Robert
Ace hasPNP formally OnBarbers Sunday, Chiefrequested Police the National Bureau of InvestigaGeneral Rommel Francisco Martionsaid (NBI) to identify pursue unbil he ordered theand reopening of named who, he said, are bethe coldvloggers case after whistleblower ing paid “malign spread lies” Police Lt.toCol. Santieand Mendoza told about the House Quad Committee. the House Quad Committee that he The carry request as the atmega helped outcame the killing the panel continued to probe behest of ex-PCSO general extrajudimanager cial killings (EJKs), Philippine OverRoyina Garma. seas Gaming Operators (POGOs), Mendoza narrated before conand illegal drug syndicates, as wellfaas gressmen how Garma allegedly their alleged links with the previous cilitated the PCSO official’s roadside administration.on July 30, 2020 by assassination Last week, the lawmaker also exproviding the necessary information posed what he called a “well-funded about his schedule, details about his and orchestrated troll campaign” vehicle and the funding necessary alto legedly bankrolled by illegal drug carry it out. syndicates and POGOs to implicated undermine The whistleblower also its ongoing investigation. incumbent National Police ComHe said the continuing online missioner Edilberto Leonardo in the campaign is intended to discredit the planning of the murder. mega-panel and intimidate witnesses Barayuga was a retired police who have significant congeneral and exposed lawyer who supposedly nections between illegal drugs, corthreatened to expose corruption withruption, and POGOs. in the PCSO shortly beforeNext he page was shot dead in Mandaluyong City. Garma, herself an ex-police Lt. Colonel, allegedly gained the top spot at the PCSO because of her in-
EDCA sites being readied; more DOTr’ Bautista jointsbases sought says By Rexonline Espiritu, news Vince Lopez and Rio Araja report‘unfounded' Next page
DEFENSE officials seek to ensure that locations under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the United States are ready for their envisioned roles even while a House leader said more sites should be set aside for joint operations with the Philippines’ oldest ally. On Sunday, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers made a pitch for establishing an EDCA site within his province. Next page
BAUTISTA
By Darwin Amojelar 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 MINDANAO’S ONLYmembers. EDCA “The Defense Bilyonaryo article is maliBASE. Secretary Gilberto cious and unfounded,” Bautista Teodoro, inset, together with Defensesaid in a Viber message, referring Undersecretary for Acquisition and to the Resource Management website that publishedSalvador the said story. Melchor B. Mison, Jr. and key officials “Bilyonaryo is inconsistent,” he added. from the Armed Forces of theonline that Bilyonaryo reported Philippines (AFP) ledlong-time by Chief ofprotege Staff in “Bautista and his General Romeo S Brawner Jr, inspected Philippine Airlines, Undersecretary for the location of the approved and Aviation and Airports Bobby Lim, are funded Humanitarian Assistance and at the center of the storm afteratit was Disaster Relief (HADR) warehouse
Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City, Next page in northern Mindanao.
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Sunday called on Filipinos to keep in mind and help those who suffered from calamities in the past two months while celebrating during the Christmas season. The President made the appeal in his remarks before switching on the Christmas tree lights at Malacanang. "It is joyful time for all Filipinos, but as we celebrate I’d like is to hold the thought, forPAGASA all those people who up to now are trying to recover from the effects of the six typhoons that we suffered for 23 days, many of them are still in the shelters, many of them are still in need, and all of this disasters, like I just came and saw some victims of fires," Mr. Marcos said. Malacañang opened its gates on Sunday morning to nearly a thousand students from Luzon, greetingP1.48 them THE government has readied with music and performances as the billion worth of aid for communiholiday season takes root across the ties that may be hit hard by typhoon country. ‘Julian’ which PAGASA says could The morning festivity at the Katurn intoGrounds a supertyphoon. layaan of the presidential As of 5:00 PM onhighlighted Sunday, PApalace in Manila was by GASA Tropical Cyclone the "Pusoraised ng Pasko," an all-Filipino Wind Signal No. 3 over Next Batanes page and the northeastern portion of Babuyan Islands. “’Julian’ is forecast to continue 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 (QRF) in the cenBy VinceFund Lopez tral office of the DSWD. In Batanes, the Provincial DiHE Philippine saster Risk Reduction and ManageNational Police ment Office (PDRRMO) advised residents (PNP) to secureon their roofs Sundayand install window shutters as Typhoon said new cases Julian that is expected to makewill landfall
Gov’t readies P1.48b aid as 'Julian' strengthens
PNP mulling additional cases vs. Sara, others Libel, obstruction of justice charges being studied
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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.
Yang's lawyer mocks probers amid heated inquiry LIGHTS ON. President
THE legal counsel of Chinese Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. businessman Tony Yang and First Lady Liza sought Araneta to disparageMarcos lawmakers’ conclusions applaud as the Christmas tree lights are about his client’s supposedly turned on at sketchy past and hisMalacanang, alleged ties capping day-long with Philippine Overseasactivities Gaming performances Operatorsthat featured (POGOs) and even National Artists Ryan organizedofcrime. Cayabyab, and Alice Lawyer Fortun Reyes’sRaymond dance company. questioned theFirstHouse With the Couple areQuad Committee’s and Houseimpartiality Speaker Martin G. its ability toRomualdez pin Chinese Yang andnational Rep. Yedda down forRomualdez. ay wrongdoing in a real RTVM Grab/Ver Noveno criminal court. “I am very interested in how they [Quad Comm members] can prove this criminal network in court. In Congress, lawmakers act as both prosecutor and judge,” he said. Yang, who already admitted having a fake Philippine birth certificate, is the brother of Michael Yang, 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 Deputy Speaker David Suarez of Quezon presented a matrix showing Yang’s first appearance and his subsequent activities at the Quad Comm hearing. “We saw a pattern, and we tracked it to the top of these corporations... we stripped it of its layers , to get to the top and through it all, we have discovered and identified at least two main actors or players in the issue
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 Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd., which are being linked to alleged kidnapping. The two firms supposedly have connections with the Baofu Compound in Bamban, Tarlac, which, in turn, can be directly traced to disgraced ex-mayor Alice Guo. During Friday’s Quad Comm hearing, lawmakers cited Tony Yang in contempt for “lying” to about his businesses and business partners. Next page
be filed against ViceNext page President Sara Duterte and others on top of the complaints for direct assault, disobedience, and grave coercion filed against them last week.
PH lobbies UN for Security Council seat
THE government on PNPPhilippine spokesperson Police BrigaSunday publicly called for the Unit- to dier General Jean Fajardo refused ed Nations (UN) to charges give it a would seat onbe specify what new the Security highlightfiledUN against theCouncil, Vice President and ing country’s strong record and her the companions but indicated that dedication to upholding the stemmed rule of the additional complaints law. from more “recent events” or things Department of Foreign Affairs that happened after the scuffle at the (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo in Veterans Memorial Medical Center a(VMMC). speech delivered at the UN GeneralHowever, Assemblysources in New within York said thethe PNP Philippines continues to emphasize told the Manila Standard that they the “importance adding of upholding are considering libel andthe obrule of lawofand the integrity the struction justice charges of against multilateral in thepeople face ofinto-her Duterte andsystem unnamed day’s circle.global challenges.” Quoted reports,that Manalo also It can bebyrecalled the Quezon said: has consisCity “The PolicePhilippines District (QCPD) filed tently pursued peace, against the sovereign criminal complaints Duterte, equality of states, rights and digher security detailthe head Colonel Raynity of all persons.” mund Dante Lachica, and certain He added that the country is also ‘John Does’ after a confrontation with recognized as the “first Re-the the police officers who Asian secured transfer of Office of the Vice-PresiNext page dent (OVP) chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez from a hospital. Next page
Navy spokes debunks China claim of military exercises inJapan Scarborough shoal more defense equipment to PH to provide 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 made the announcement coinciding with the fourth Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity between the Philippines, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the regional waters over the weekend. Philippine Navy Spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vin-
cent Trinidad told reporters that TOKYO—Japan to provide deManila troops plans did not monitor fensesuch equipment the Philippines, any activity,toadding that BeiIndonesia, Mongolia Djibouti jing’s statement was and meant only under officialaudience. security assistance for its its internal (OSA) the armed of like“Ourtotroops did forces not observe minded countries share valany exercise, wethat have to its underues, a government source said. stand that sometimes, China is doing this for their internal audience, right? For them not to look weak and embarrassed,” Trinidad said. Two Chinese warships were monitored at a distance ranging from eight to 14 nautical miles. By Alena Mae S. Flores One of these went up to 1,000 yards at the MMCA site but evenOIL firms increased price of liquetually went away.the“It was not fied petroleum gas or LPG prices by as threatening, just normal,” accordmuch as P1.20 per kilogram or P13.20 Next per 11-kilo tank effective Dec. 1 page to re-
The four countries have been designated as the recipients of the OSA grant aid for fiscal 2024 through March next year, with Japan earmarking 5 billion yen ($33 million) in its initial budget for the current fiscal year, the source disclosed on
Saturday. Tokyo launched the OSA in April 2023 to help recipient countries ramp up their defense capabilities amid security concerns like China's growing military assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region. Next page
LPG prices up by P1.20/kg due to higher world rates
AWARD. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, was honored by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) with its Outstanding Filipino Retailers President Award for his visionary leadership in retail development. (From to right): PRA Director Directortract of SMprice Retail of Jorge T. Mendiola, flect the left higher contract price ofand LPG LPG for the PRA month of Vice President and President and COO of Golden, ABC, Inc. (The Penshoppe Group) in the world market this month. December,” Petron said. Alice T. Liu, SM Prime Holdings Chairman of the Executive Committee Hans T. Sy, Petron Corp.and andChairman Solane ofLPG is- International, PetronInc.implemented a P1.20 per PRA President Quorum (Toby’s Sports) Roberto sued separate ofand thePresident LPG of kilo (VAT-inclusive) increase S. Claudio, andadvisories PRA Director Sportshouse Int’l. Leisure, Inc. andin LPG increase. prices proponent of PRA OFR President’s Award Mars C. Chuaeffective 12:01 AM Dec. 1 “This reflects the international conNext page