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FIVE LOCAL Marcos’ lifestyle check order HOLIDAYS IN OCT. supported by friends and foes NEWS / A3
By Vito Barcelo, Maricel V. Cruz, and Katrina Manubay
ISRAEL CONTINUES TO POUND HEZBOLLAH PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Mar-
cos Jr. 's order for a lifestyle check WORLD / A6 on government officials involved in
infrastructure projects, particularly those found to be substandard or nonexistent, is gaining support from political allies and foes alike. Public Works Secretary Manuel VOL. XXXVIII • NO.has 227• 16 PAGES • P20 •MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 • Bonoan, whose agency taken 3 theSECTIONS VOL. XXXIX • NO. 194 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • FRIDAY, AUGUST 29, 2025 • Next page
Tax fraud audit forprobe flood PNP resurrecting infra contractors starts into PCSO official's slay Violators face tax evasion raps, admin cases—BIR chief Speaker grateful for PMA Class '83 vote of confidence in Quad Comm
By Charles Dantes By Rio N. Araja and Ram Superable
T
HE of HE Bureau Philippine Internal Revenue National Police launched tax fraud (PNP) is areopening audit of contractors linked its investigation into to alleged anomalous the 2020 murder of flood control projects as Philippine Charitypart of the administration's Sweepstakes Officeanticorruption campaign.
(PCSO) board secretary BIR Commissioner Romeo LumaWesley Barayuga.
gui Jr. said Thursday all revenue offices been PNP directed to conduct Onhave Sunday, Chief Police parallel audits to determine General Rommel Franciscowhether Marcontractors involvedthein reopening questionable bil said he ordered of the cold case after whistleblower Police Lt. Col. Santie Mendoza told the House Quad Committee that he helped carry out the killing at the behest of ex-PCSO general manager Royina Garma. NEWS / A3 Mendoza narrated before congressmen how Garma allegedly faprojects the paidPCSO the correct taxes. cilitated official’s roadside Beyond administrative assassination on July 30, penalties, 2020 by the commissioner warned that conproviding the necessary information tractors to have willfully about hisproven schedule, details about unhis derdeclared taxes could face tax evavehicle and the funding necessary to sion charges. carry it out. He said the bureaualso may also imThe whistleblower implicated pose tax liens to protectPolice public funds. incumbent National Com"If it can be proven that they unmissioner Edilberto Leonardo in the derpaid orofincorrectly paid their taxes, planning the murder. page Barayuga was a retiredNext police general and lawyer who supposedly threatened to expose corruption within the PCSO shortly before he 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-
‘Form independent body on ghost deals’
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DOTr’s Bautista says online news report‘unfounded'
Pacquiao setting up ‘ Thrilla in Manila Gov’t readies 2.0’ in October P1.48b aid as Charlesstrengthens Dantes 'ByJulian' PAGASA
FORMER senator and boxing icon THE government hasThursday readied paid P1.48a Manny Pacquiao on billion ofPresident aid for communicourtesyworth call on Ferdinand ties that Jr. may hit hard by typhoon Marcos andbepresented him with a ‘Julian’ which PAGASA says World Boxing Council (WBC)could belt turn a supertyphoon. and ainto pair of boxing gloves, while of 5:00 PM on Sunday, alsoAsseeking government supportPAfor GASA raised Tropical Cyclone Next page Wind Signal No. 3 over Batanes 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 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
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 Rodrigo Duterte, that controlled theJr. illegal activities POGOs andas was involved theformer drug Senator Manny Pacquiao watches during his THRILLA INPresident MANILA. President Ferdinand R. Marcos, playfully takesofa the boxing stance boxing iconin and trade extrajudicial killings. call and at the Palace. Pacquiao gifted the President a pair of signed boxing gloves and presented his WBC welterweight championship belt and the program for the 50th Anniversary of the ‘Thrilla in Manila,’ the historic heavyweight title bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City in October 1975.PCO
PH lobbies UN for Security Council seat
Yang's lawyer mocks probers amid Torre heated inquiry eyed for posts related to admin’s anti-corruption drive 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 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
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
SUPPORTING THE GUARD. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez receives Philippine Coast Guard Commandant
of illegal drugs and illegal activities associated with POGOs,” Suarez said in a mixture of Filipino and English. The solons explained how the matrix detailsLopez Yang’s connections to By Vince other individuals involved in illicit DEPARTMENT theoperations Interior and activities, includingofthe of Local Government (DILG) Secretary illegal POGOs. Juanito Victor said President Among the Remulla companies implicated Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has offered forare Brickhartz Technology Inc. mer Philippine National Police and Xionwei Technology Co. (PNP) Ltd., chief Gen. Nicolaslinked Torre toIIIalleged a govwhich are being ernment position related to the fight kidnapping. against corruption. The two firms supposedly Remulla revealed have connections withthetheinformaBaofu 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
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 upholding the by ruleGMA of tion in an to exclusive report law. News on Wednesday, a day after Mr. Department Foreign Marcos relievedofTorre fromAffairs his post (DFA) Manalo in as PNPSecretary chief andEnrique appointed Lt. Gen. aJose speech delivered at the Jr. UNasGenMelencio Nartatez acting eral PNPAssembly chief. in New York said the Philippines continues to do emphasize ‘‘It has something with antithe “importance of upholding the corruption. So, I’m telling you... rule of law andstill the really integrity of the in the President believes multilateral systemRemulla in the face of toGeneral Torre,†said.’’ It is Next page day’s global challenges.” Quoted by reports, Manalo also said: “The Philippines has consistently pursued peace, the sovereign equality of states, the rights and dignity of all persons.” He added that the country is also recognized as the “first Asian ReNext page
Admiral Ronnie Gil L. Gavan during his courtesy call yesterday at the Speaker’s Office in the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno
Navytospokes Chinashortage claim Speaker lauds help easedebunks classroom
of military exercises in Scarborough shoal
By Maricel V. Cruz BAUTISTA
SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez welcomed the Department ByofDarwin Amojelar Education’s (DepEd) partnership TRANSPORTATION Secretary Jaime Bautista denied an online news report claiming that Malacañang was angry with the increase in airport feesMike without de the approval of the Cabinet members. Leon “The Bilyonaryo article is malicious and unfounded,” Bautista said in a Viber message, referring to the website that published the said story. “Bilyonaryo is inconsistent,” he added. Bilyonaryo reported online that “Bautista and his long-time protege in Philippine Airlines, Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Bobby Lim, are at the center of the storm after it was
ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR MIKE DE LEON, 78 NEWS/ A2
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with HOPE and other private companies to address the country’s massive classroom backlog. ByThe RexSpeaker Espiritu described the tie-up as a “landmark collaboTHE 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 By Vince Lopez Maritime Cooperative Activity between the Philippines, Australia, Japan, FORMER Criminal Investigation and New Zealand, and the United Detection Group (CIDG) chief Brig. StatesRomeo within Manila’s Gen. Macapaz has exclusive been suseconomic (EEZ) the repended for zone 90 days amidininvestigagional waters over thecomplicity weekend.in tion over his alleged the Philippine high-profile Navy missingSpokesperson “sabungeros” for WPS Rear Admiral Roy (cockfighting afficionados) withVinap-
ration” that advances President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s vision of a whole-of-nation approach to cent Trinidad told reporters transform the education sector. that Manila troops did not monitor Next page 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 audience, right? For them not to look weak and embarrassed,” Trinidad said. propriate charges filed against him, Chinese warships were theTwo National Police Commission (Namonitored at a distance ranging polcom) announced on Thursday. from eight to a14 nautical Meanwhile, member of themiles. MakOne ofbloc these went upurged to 1,000 abayan in Congress pertiyards at the MMCA but evennent authorities to presssite investigations tually went away. “It was not into more than 300 human remains rethreatening, just normal,” portedly retrieved from theaccorddepths
Napolcom metes out 90-day suspension on ex-CIDG chief
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NEGROS TRADE FAIR AT SM AURA. The 39th Negros Trade Fair officially kicked off with its media launch at SM Aura. This year’s edition gathers 139 vendors, showcasing the best of Negrense food, fashion, crafts, and culture. As the country’s longest-running provincial trade fair, it makes its historic debut at the SMX Aura Convention Center in BGC from September 23–28, 2025. In photo (L–R): Ms. Christina Gaston, President of the Association of Negros Producers; Mr. Steven Tan, President of SM Supermalls; and Ms. Mary Ann Colmenares, Vice President of the Association of Negros Producers.
Tulfo floats scrapping ‘One-China’ policy AWARD. Hans Sy, Chairman of the Executive Committee of SM Prime Holdings,
honored by the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA)can withcome its Outstanding ‘‘They in and out, and Bywas Ram Superable Filipino Retailers President Award for his visionary leadership in retail development.
we have no say to the point that our (From left toErwin right):Tulfo PRA Director and Director of SM Retail Jorge Mendiola, PRA are SENATOR on Thursday Coast Guard andT. Navy personnel Vice President and President and COO of Golden, ABC, Inc. (The Penshoppe Group) questioned whether the Philippines being harassed, our fishermen driven Alice T.continue Liu, SM Prime Holdingsthe Chairman Executive Committee Hans T. Sy, should observing One of the away back to our shores,’’ the senator PRA President and Chairman of Quorum International, Inc. (Toby’s Sports) Roberto China policy while Beijing continued lamented. S. Claudio, and PRA Director and President of Sportshouse Int’l. Leisure, Inc. and to proponent ‘‘trample’’of PRA on Philippine rights in Mars C. Tulfo OFR President’s Award Chua said China’s deployment of Next page the West Philippine Sea.