Majority backs afternoon sked for impeach trial – Lacson By Joel E. Zurbano and Maricel Cruz
20 .00 IN METRO MANILA
VOL. XL • NO. 190 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES AUGUST 23, 2026
EXHIBITION. Participants of the Ibalong Street Dance competition pose for a photo during the 35th Ibalong Festival at Imperial Street in Legazpi City, Albay. Revoli Cortez
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PNP to adopt stricter gun safekeeping rules
Tulfo: Make negligent firearm owners criminally liable By Joel E. Zurbano
T
HE Philippine National Police said it would implement stricter rules on the handling and safekeeping of service firearms to prevent unauthorized access.
Senator Raffy Tulfo, for his part, pushed for the passage of a law that would hold negligent gun owners criminally liable if their weapons are used in a crime. These came after a high school student from Ateneo de Zamboanga University shot dead a fellow student before killing himself on August 18. The gun used was a service firearm of the
shooter’s father, a personnel of the Bureau of Customs. “We remind all our personnel to exercise utmost responsibility in securing their firearms, especially when they are off duty and at home. Firearms must never be left in places where children or unauthorized persons can gain access to them,” PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez said.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla earlier acknowledged the need to pass a law that would hold firearm owners criminally liable when their registered weapons are used in crimes. Tulfo on Saturday agreed, urging the government to implement as well stringent storage regulations and to conduct comprehensive inspections by the PNP to ensure the potential owner has a secure and appropriate storage for firearms before receiving a license. He said the absence of clear and strict regulations regarding firearm storage under current laws could enable unauthorized individuals to easily access firearms. “We must reassess the current laws governing gun ownership. Before the PNP Turn to A4
Habagat, 3 storms leave P1.79b agri losses, P4.7b infra damage —NDRRMC By Ratziel San Juan, Rex Espiritu, Pot Chavez and Maricel Cruz THE combined effect of the southwest monsoon (habagat) and storms Luis, Maymay and Neneng left P1.79 billion in damage and losses in the agriculture sector and P4.7 billion in infrastructure and affected 7.4 million individuals or
about 2.1 million families. According to the Department of Agriculture, at least 51,229 farmers were affected and 41,647 hectares of agricultural land were destroyed. Affected commodities include rice, corn, cassava, high-value crops, fisheries, livestock and poultry, with around 44,745 metric tons (MT) of Turn to A4
BRACING FOR MORE RAINS. The Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority conducts a cleaning operation at the Catmon Pumping Station in Malabon on Saturday, August 22, 2026 amid the monsoon rains and in preparation for future storms. Inset shows the track on an incoming typhoon expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility today, as well as two tropical depressions outside PAR. MMDA, PAGASA
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Ex-Speaker’s camp asks OMB to evaluate recantation By Rex Espiritu A LAWYER of former Speaker Martin Romualdez said the Ombudsman should evaluate the recantation of retired Marine T/Sgt. Orly Guteza as well as fresh affidavits of 25 former aides of ex-lawmaker Zaldy Co insofar as the plunder raps it filed against the lawmaker. “All these admissions are leads for the Ombudsman to follow,” Atty. Ade Fajardo said in an interview with Bilyonaryo. “That’s our argument. How can you trust the word of someone who made an original affidavit and then subsequently disowned that affidavit? There must be an evaluation by the Ombudsman as to which is more credible – are the details in the suborned affidavit believable as against the subsequent affidavit which now recants the original suborned affidavit?” Guteza, in his new affidavit, retracted his earlier testimony that he delivered cash kickbacks in suitcases to the residences of Romualdez and former House appropriations panel chairman Zaldy Co. Guteza said he was offered payment in exchange for implicating Romualdez. He identified former Anakalusgan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor as the one who pressured him to provide false testimony against the former Speaker. Guteza also identified Senator Marcoleta as the one who edited and completed his draft testimony that was Turn to A4
1 dead in sword attack at Swedish high school
TikTok to pay $400m in US children’s privacy case SAN FRANCISCO—TikTok has agreed to pay $400 million to settle a lawsuit with the US Department of Justice over claims that the video-sharing platform violated federal children’s privacy laws, the department announced on Friday. Regulators around the world have been ramping up enforcement against social media companies
THE impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is expected to be rescheduled to the afternoon beginning in September, Senator Ping Lacson said yesterday. He said the Senate majority bloc favors this change, aiming to optimize the use of time for the impeachment trial by conducting legislative sessions in the morning. He said this adjustment may also allow the trial to be extended into the evening. “At least in the majority group, this is the dominating sentiment. We will hold legislative sessions in the morning so the impeachment trial would not be cut short. It is a more practical setup,” Lacson said. “To me, this is more practical. And my colleagues in the majority bloc share this sentiment,” he added. Senator Erwin Tulfo, in a message to ABS-CBN News yesterday, said there will be a caucus on Monday to finalize the schedule of the impeachment trial following the work disruptions from the recent typhoons and the southwest monsoon (habagat). “We, the majority and the minority, will meet on Monday (at the lounge) to get the consensus of the majority of the members if they agree to move the trial in the afternoon to give more time and speed up the trial,” he said. Under the proposed setup, regular Senate sessions may be held Mondays to Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the trial would start at 2:30 p.m. to at least 7:30 p.m. Lacson said there is no pressure to end the proceedings strictly at 7:30 p.m., adding it could extend
that violate laws around protecting children’s data, privacy and safety. Chinese company ByteDance – which sold off a majority stake of its US entity earlier this year in order to avoid a ban by the Trump administration – is also named as part of the settlement. It has a 19.9% ownership stake in TikTok US, according to US media.
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“Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million upon entry of an order vacating a prior consent decree entered against TikTok’s predecessor, Musical.ly,” the department said in a statement. It’s “one of the largest recoveries ever obtained” from a case involving the Children’s Online
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Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the statement continued. COPPA bars websites from gathering the personal information of children younger than 13 without parental permission. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission jointly
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WORLD/ A4
5 ‘pamahiin’ to observe during Ghost Month YOUNG LIFE/ C3
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