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DOJ eyes EJK state witnesses FIVE LOCAL HOLIDAYS IN OCT. NEWS / A3
ISRAELto CONTINUES Probe start with resource persons on killings of Barayuga, 3 Chinese convicts in Davao TO POUND HEZBOLLAH
By Charles Dantes WORLD / A6
VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 227• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 •
PNP resurrecting probe into PCSO official's slay ESOURCE persons who will be invited by the Department of Justice for its probe into extrajudicials killings during the Duterte administration may be granted state witness status if their testimonies are needed to secure a conviction, DOJ Usec. Jesse Andres said.
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VOL. XXXVIII • NO. 309• 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 •SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2024 •
PAGASA
NEWS / A3
Gov’t SMC readies WAIVES TOLL P1.48b as DURINGaid HOLIDAYS / B4 'Julian'BUSINESS strengthens
Top Bamban POGO exec nabbed; Court denies Guo's bail petition By Vito Barcelo and Charles Dantes
ban, Tarlac after a months-spanning cat-and-mouse game with authorities. Pan Meishu, alias “Hannah,” who supposedly led financial operations at Zun Yuan Technology (formerly Hongsheng Gaming Technology), was arrested by combined elements of the Presidential Anti-Organized
Crime Commission (PAOCC), Bureau of Immigration (BI), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines as she was dining at a hotpot restaurant in Pasay City on Thursday. BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado on Friday hailed the Chinese national’s arrest, saying the operation
Speaker grateful for PMA Class '83 vote of confidence in Quad Comm
Andres said based on the hearings of the House Quad Committee, two possible EJK cases have a "trail of possible evidence." ByHe Riocited N. Araja the killing of former PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020 the deaths of three HE and Philippine Chinese drug convicts at the Davao National Prison and Penal FarmPolice in 2016. "We will talk to all the possible (PNP) is reopening resource persons there and if needits into ed, investigation we will grant them the stature of a state witness, if their the 2020 murder of testimony is very much needed to ensure the Philippine Charity conviction of the real perpetrators," Andres said. Sweepstakes Office He said the DOJ will work to (PCSO) board secretary strengthen the testimonies that were Wesley Barayuga. already given during previous Quad Comm hearings. On Sunday, PNPpolice ChiefLt.Police At the House, Col. General Rommel Francisco MarSantie Mendoza told the Quad bil said he ordered the reopening of Committee that former National the coldCommission case after head whistleblower Police Edilberto Police Lt. Col. Santie police Mendoza told Leonardo and retired colonel the Committee that he andHouse formerQuad PCSO general manager helped out conspired the killingtoat have the Royinacarry Garma behest of ex-PCSO Barayuga killed. general manager Royina Garma. Garma was also implicated in the Mendoza narrated Chinese before conkillings of suspected drug gressmen Garma falords Chuhow Kin Tung, Liallegedly Lan Yan and cilitated the PCSO Wong Meng Pin official’s inside theroadside Davao assassination on Farm. July 30, 2020 by Prison and Penal providing necessary information Garma the admitted during a Quad about schedule, details President about his Commhis hearing that former vehicle and the funding necessary to Next page carry it out. The whistleblower also implicated incumbent National Police Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo in the planning of the murder. Barayuga was a retired police general and lawyer who supposedly By Charles Dantes threatened to expose corruption within the PCSO shortly he was PRESIDENT Marcosbefore reiterated his shot dead in Mandaluyong commitment to modernizingCity. the Armed Garma, herself an ex-police Lt. Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) capaColonel, allegedly the gained the top bilities, highlighting importance of spot at the PCSO because of her in-
METRO FILMFEST PARADE ON TODAY
THE long arm of the law finally caught up with the alleged finance officer of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bam-
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IN COMMAND. President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. leads prayers yesterday before the start of the annual Armed Forces of the Philippines Command Conference for the year 2024 at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. PPA Pool 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.
THE government has readied P1.48 billion worth of aid for communities that may be hit hard by typhoon ‘Julian’ which PAGASA says could is just one of many targeting illegal turn into a supertyphoon. aliens at scam As working of 5:00 PM on hubs. Sunday, PA"Theseraised companies doingCyclone illegal GASA Tropical activities have No. no place in the counWind Signal 3 over Batanes try,"the saidnortheastern Viado. and portion of Ba"Expect more arrests as we crack buyan Islands. down on illegal POGO to operations," “’Julian’ is forecast continue page he added. intensifying over the nextNext 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 Next page
PH lobbies UN Marcos to AFP: Prepare for ‘complex, at times invisible’ enemies Christmas oil price hike looms for Security tackling emerging security challenges liant Defense Posture Revitalization Council seat as the organization marks its 89th anProgram, which aims to strengthen the international jitters Yang's lawyer mocks probers amid amid heated inquiry supply Next page
DOTr’s Bautista says online news report‘unfounded'
niversary. Speaking in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, the President THE legal counsel ofhighlighted Chinese the importance of the AFP’s Self-Rebusinessman 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 ability to pin Chinese national Yang down for ay wrongdoing in a real 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
country’s defense capabilities while reducing reliance on foreign sources. “Foroftheformer threatsPresident we face today are adviser Rodrigo Next page 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
Byillegal Alena Mae Flores of drugs and S. illegal activities associated with POGOs,” Suarez said THE Department of Energy (DOE) in a mixture Filipino andtoEnglish. expects localofpump prices increase solonsasexplained byThe as much P1.40 perhow literthe on matrix details Yang’s connections to Christmas Eve. other involved illicit Onindividuals Friday, DOE Oil inIndustry activities, including the(OIMB) operations of Management Bureau direcillegal POGOs. tor Rodela Romero said that based on thetrading companies implicated theAmong four-day in Mean of Platts are Brickhartz Technology Singapore (MOPS), the prices ofInc. all and Xionwei Technology Ltd., domestic oil products wouldCo. go up on which are being linked to alleged Tuesday. kidnapping. She estimates gasoline will likely The by twoP0.35 firms supposedly increase to P0.70 per liter, have with per theliter, Baofu dieselconnections by P1.10 to P1.40 and Compound in Bamban, Tarlac, kerosene by P0.90 to P1 per liter. which, turn, can be directly traced TheinOIMB head explained that to disgraced ex-mayor Alice Guo. several factors contribute to next During Friday’s Quad hike, Comm week's expected oil price inhearing, lawmakers cited Tony Yang cluding the stronger dollar and the fall in contempt for “lying” to about his businesses and business partners. Next page
THE Philippine government on of US crude stocks. Sunday publicly called for the Unit“Final adjustments be detered Nations (UN) to givewill it a seat on mined by today’s MOPS trading the UN Security Council, highlight-and other of record the oiland coming theoperating country’scosts strong panies,” Romero noted. dedication to upholding the rule of law.Meanwhile, Jetti Petroleum president Leo Bellasofsaid dieselAffairs may inDepartment Foreign crease Secretary by P1.40 Enrique to P1.60 Manalo per literinand (DFA) by P0.60 to perGenliter. agasoline speech delivered at P0.80 the UN Bellas attributed the imminent eral Assembly in New York said the price increase to the anticipated supPhilippines continues to emphasize ply “importance impact of tighter international the of upholding the sanctions and of demand rule of lawagainst and theRussia integrity the for oil following the US Federal multilateral system in the face of to-Reserveglobal interest rate cut, among other day’s challenges.” factors. Quoted by reports, Manalo also said Philippines another factor the tight said:He“The hasisconsisdiesel and gasoline supply in Asia tently pursued peace, the sovereign due to limited exports from China equality of states, the rights and dig-and South even if this is mitigated nity of Korea, all persons.” Next page He added that the country is also recognized as the “first Asian ReNext page
Navy spokes debunks China claim of military exercises in Scarborough shoal By Rex Espiritu PBBM hikes gratuity pay for COS, JO workers
ASSERTING SOVEREIGNTY. Filipino fishermen join Philippine Coast Guard vessels BRP Teresa Magbanua (9701) and BRP Cabra (4409) in conducting maritime patrols in waters off Bajo de Masinloc last Thursday. BAUTISTA
Polymer bills will By Darwin Amojelar focus on endangered species, says BSP 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 Cabinetngmembers. THE Bangko Sentral Pilipinas “The Bilyonaryo confirmed Friday thatarticle imagesisofmaliPhilcious unfounded,” said ippineand heroes have beenBautista removed in inthea new Viberseries message, referring to the of polymer banknotes website published the said story. but willthat remain in paper banknotes “Bilyonaryo is inconsistent,” he added. that are already in circulation. Bilyonaryo reportedCurtis, onlinedirector that Atty. Sarah Severina “Bautista and his long-time protege in of the BSP Banknotes and Securities Philippine Airlines, Undersecretary for Next page Aviation and Airports Bobby Lim, are at the center of the storm after it was Next page
THE Philippine Navy debunked BySunday Charles on theDantes recent announcement by China that it conducted PRESIDENT Ferdinand Jr. military exercises off Marcos Bajo de has approved an increase in year-end Masinloc, also known as Scarborgratuity pay for Service ough Shoal, in Contract the Westof Philip(COS) and Job Order (JO) workers pine Sea (WPS). in China the government, reportedlyraising madethe themaxianmum amount to ₱7,000. nouncement coinciding with the The Multilateral increase, detailed in Adminfourth Maritime Coistrative Order No. 28 and signedthe by operative Activity between Executive Secretary Lucas P. BerPhilippines, Australia, Japan, samin,Zealand, applies to and workers have New the who United rendered at least four months of satStates within Manila’s exclusive isfactory service of Dec. economic zone as (EEZ) in 15. the regional waters over the weekend. Philippine Navy Spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vin-
cent Trinidad told reporters that Manila troops did not monitor any such activity, adding that BeiThose meetingwas thismeant requirement jing’s statement only willits receive pay ranging for internalgratuity audience. from ₱5,000 to ₱7,000, while work“Our troops did not observe ers with less than months of serany exercise, wefour have to undervice will a prorated amount stand thatreceive sometimes, China is based this on the duration of their service. doing for their internal audiIn right? his order, Marcos ence, For them not acknowlto look edgedand theembarrassed,” vital contributions of weak Trinidad COS and JO workers to government said. programs, activities, and projects, Two Chinese warships were known as PAPs. monitored at a distance ranging said the year-end gratuity pay fromHeeight to 14 nautical miles. serves as a “well-deserved recognition One of these went up to 1,000 Next page yards at the MMCA site but eventually went away. “It was not threatening, just normal,” accordNext page
AWARD. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings, was honored by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) with its Outstanding X'MAS EXODUS. With four days tovisionary go beforeleadership ChristmasinDay, passengers wait at Filipino Retailers President Award for his retail development. the Parañaque Integrated Terminaland Exchange boardJorge buses for their (From left to right): PRA Director Director(PITX) of SMtoRetail T. bound Mendiola, PRA home provinces. The average daily number of passengers at PITX increased to 170,000 Vice President and President and COO of Golden, ABC, Inc.has (The Penshoppe Group) according to SM PITX. Norman CruzChairman of the Executive Committee Hans T. Sy, Alice T. Liu, Prime Holdings PRA President and Chairman of Quorum International, Inc. (Toby’s Sports) Roberto S. Claudio, and PRA Director and President of Sportshouse Int’l. Leisure, Inc. and proponent of PRA OFR President’s Award Mars C. Chua