Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Tuesday, July 16, 2024.
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READ: Court convicts Ocampo, Castro
A DAVAO court has convicted former Bayan Muna congressman Satur Ocampo and House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, and 11 others of violating a law that protects children from abuse, exploitation and discrimination, sentencing them to up to six years in prison. The decision stemmed from the transport of students to Tagum City from the Dulyan campus on Nov. 28, 2018. The accused joined the November 2018 mission, which, they argued, aimed to rescue Lumad schools from a food blockade and forcible closure of the school by a paramilitary group in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. But the court said that the prosecution "established proof beyond reasonable doubt" that Ocampo, Castro, Nolasco, Madamo, Poquito, Andagkit, Aga, Rendon, Paraba, Awing, Daunsay, Talledo, and Ibarra "committed acts detrimental to the safety and well-being of the minor Lumad learners by keeping them in their company and transporting them on foot in the evening for three (3) hours, more or less, on a remote, dark and unsecured road without the assistance and presence of the law enforcement, any government agency, or written permission and consent of the minor's parents and exposing the said minors to danger and hazards by traveling in the middle of the night, thereby compromising their safety and creating conditions prejudicial to their development." The road from Sitio Dulyan to Sitio Butay, which the accused and the children traversed at night, was secluded, dark, remote and dangerous, the court said. Considering the terrain and the conditions of the road, the children might be shot either by the military or NPA (the communist New People's Army) because it was in these areas that the military and the NPA had several encounters."
READ: Padilla files anti-dynasty bill
SEN. Robinhood Padilla on Monday filed Senate Bill (SB) 2730 that seeks to fulfill the 1987 Constitution's mandate to prohibit political dynasties. The senator, chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, said it was "time to break the barriers that prevent the best and the brightest from serving the Filipino people."
READ: 6,500 police deployed for SONA
MORE than 6,500 policemen from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and hundreds of public order and traffic personnel will be deployed for the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said on Monday. The President will deliver his third SONA when Congress starts its session on July 22. Belmonte reaffirmed her administration's commitment to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly as she gave assurances that pro and anti-administration demonstrators could gather in designated areas provided they secure the proper permits from the city government.
READ: CCG ship on 'patrol' in Batangas
A CHINA Coast Guard (CCG) vessel has inched closer to the Philippines, sailing past an island located just 40 kilometers west of Calatagan in Batangas over the weekend, a maritime group said. Based on monitoring by SeaLight, a maritime transparency project that monitors and reports activities in the South China Sea, the 135-meter CCG 5303 arrived 60 nautical miles west of Lubang Island at 4:20 p.m. on Sunday. Retired United States Air Force Col. Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, said the ship is conducting an intrusive patrol.
BUSINESS: OFW remittances hit $2.88B in May
Topping business, personal remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFW) hit $2.88 billion in May, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Monday, 3.7 percent higher compared to the year-earlier $2.78 billion. The amount was also slightly higher, by 0.8 percent, than the $2.86 billion posted a month earlier, preliminary central bank data showed. Money sent home via banks alone totaled $2.58 billion, 3.6 percent up from the $2.49 billion recorded in May last year and also higher than the $2.56 billion posted a month earlier.
SPORTS: NCR reclaims Palaro basketball crown
Over to sports, the National Capital Region (NCR) redeemed the Palarong Pambansa secondary boys basketball glory, blasting Central Luzon in the championship game, 86- 71, on Monday at the University of San Carlos Gym here. Losing the crown to Central Visayas last year, NCR, represented anew by NU Nazareth School, put the game away in the third frame to fuel its redemption bid. The Big City bets unleashed a 20-4 run to turn a 36-40 halftime lead into a 60-40 advantage in the last 2:39 of the quarter. NU did not let up as it shut down Central Luzon, represented by St. Agustin Institute of Pampanga, for the rest of the way.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Antonio Contreras, Yen Makabenta, and Orlando Mercado are today's front page columnists. Contreras calls Vice President Sara Duterte a "designated joker" for skipping the upcoming State of the Nation Address, Makabenta says the upcoming elections should address constitutional reforms, and Mercado laments the closure of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza hotel.
Today's editorial has new expectations at the Department of Education, following the appointment of new Secretary Sonny Angara. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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