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MAY DAY MURAL. Artists
put on finishing touches on mural depicting worker solidarity in the fight for a living wage for today’s Labor Day rallies. Manny Palmero
Workers to mark Labor Day with wage hike calls VARIOUS labor groups will hold protests nationwide today to mark Labor Day with renewed calls for a P200wage increase. Major labor organizations, including the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), are spearheading the mobilizations which are expected to draw thousands of workers from key urban centers and provincial hubs. Organizers said the demonstrations are driven by growing frustration over the rising cost of living, stagnant wages, and what they describe as insufficient government intervention.
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VOL. XL • NO. 76 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2026 •
Senate impeach trial likely to start May 13
JAY SONZA HELD FOR CYBERLIBEL NEWS / A2
RODY LAWYERS APPEAL ICC RULING NEWS / A3
Senators discuss preparations, budget, scenarios in caucus Fuel prices spike By Ram Superable, Rolando Ng III, Pot Chavez, Charles Dantes and Maricel Cruz
T
HE Senate will likely convene as an impeachment court for the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on May 13, Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday said.
"Once we receive it (on May 12), we will convene the following day as an impeachment court," Senate President Vicente Sotto III said. "We have to do our job. We have to be impartial... we will act on it forthwith," he added. Sense of urgency
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the Senate can determine the timeline in convening as an impeachment court in defining the word “forthwith.” The High Court ruled that “forthwith” should be interpreted as convening the body at a “reasonable time,” regardless of the given time-
frame. Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Marivic Leonen, however, dissented. “He was of the position that the impeachment court should have been convened immediately and that the impeachment court—not merely the Senate President—should have taken charge of organizing that court," the High Court said. Leonen was the ponente of the decision that deemed the impeachment complaints transmitted to the Senate last year as violations of the one-year bar rule. In an interview with Manila Standard yesterday, retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Car-
pio said he does not agree with the decision. "[The word] forthwith means immediately as per all dictionaries. The official Pilipino version uses the word ‘agad’ which means immediately," he said. "This is how the people who ratified the Constitution understood it. The only limitation to ‘forthwith’ or immediately is the official schedule of Congress and nature itself," Carpio added. In a social media post, former FEU Institute of Law Dean Mel Sta. Maria added that while the Senate is allowed to craft the timeframe, it must still preserve the sense of urgency. Next page
as Trump says Hormuz blockade would last months PRESIDENT Donald Trump said a US naval blockade against Iran could last months, leading oil prices Wednesday to spike to their highest in more than four years. With diplomacy between Iran and the US at a standstill after false starts, Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who warned him of "damaging consequences" if the US and Israel resume their war on Iran. Next page
VP Sara’s camp insists NBI proof on kill threat insufficient, spliced By Katrina Manubay, Maricel Cruz and Rex Espiritu VICE President Sara Duterte’s camp challenged the evidence presented by the National Bureau of Investigation during a House Committee on Justice impeachment hearing, saying this was insufficient to establish probable cause for inciting to sedition and serious threats.
In a statement, Paul Lawrence Lim, legal counsel for Duterte in the NBI complaint, said the evidence was selective and taken out of context. “Evidence is curated, even spliced. Context is ignored. Opinion is substituted for facts. Guesswork is presented as investigation results,” he said. “These cannot be the foundation for probable cause, much less a prima facie case with reasonable certainty of conviction. Simply repeating a Next page
DIRECT TO LGUS. President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. hands over a bag of rice to a beneficiary of the Bagong Pilipinas Rice Program and Local Government Support Fund in Tacloban City. Assisting the President Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez. PCO
PBBM pushes Euro envoys confirm Co detention for direct funding but mum on bid for political asylum support to LGUs By Charles Dantes and Ram Superable
OFF TO WPS. Well-wishers bid farewell to participants on board MV Kapitan
Felix Oca of Atin Ito’s fourth civilian mission to Pag-asa island in the West Philippine Sea. Akbayan FB Page
EUROPEAN officials have confirmed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that fugitive Zaldy Co had been detained in the Czech Republic, but declined to provide further details, citing legal restrictions. In a press briefing at Malacañang. Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the Czech chargé d’affaires relayed the
confirmation during a recent meeting with President Marcos, but withheld additional information due to international, European, and national laws governing such cases. As this developed, the Philippine government is coordinating with international partners to locate and freeze the global assets of Co. According a report by ABS-CBN, authorities from the executive department have initiated discussions on legal Next page
By Charles Dantes PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday pushed for expanded fiscal support to local governments and barangays, highlighting a revamped funding approach aimed at accelerating service delivery and addressing rising food costs amid a global oil price surge. Speaking at the “Bawat Bayan Next page