Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Wednesday, November 13, 2024.
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READ: Duterte to confront quad committee
FORMER president Rodrigo Duterte will confront members of the House quad committee for canceling its scheduled hearing into his administration's bloody war on drugs after the former chief executive accepted its invitation. Salvador Panelo, Duterte's former chief legal counsel, confirmed that the former president would go to the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City and would dare the quad comm members to a "marathon hearing." On Monday, Duterte accepted the invitation to attend the 11th hearing of the quad committee scheduled for Wednesday. But the House Of Representatives' website showed that the joint hearing of the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Accounts, Public Order and Safety, and Human Rights set for Nov. 13 had been postponed to Nov. 21 to give lawmakers enough time to vet affidavits that witnesses and resource persons had already submitted. The quad committee has invited Duterte to its hearings twice, but he has not attended them for various reasons. On the first occasion, his lawyer said he could not make it because he was tired from a trip to Manila, but he promised to attend a hearing after Nov. 1. But later, through the said lawyer, the former president said his appearance before the quad committee was no longer needed as he had told everything about the drug war to the Senate blue ribbon committee. Duterte's drug war has been one of the major topics of the quad committee hearings, especially after revelations made by retired police colonel Royina Garma about the existence of a system that rewarded those who killed drug suspects. Garma testified that Duterte called her in 2016 to create a task force that would implement the so-called Davao template for a war on drugs on a nationwide scale. The Davao template, Garma said, involved providing cash rewards worth 20,000 to 1 million pesos to police officers who kill drug suspects. She also claimed the existence of the Davao Death Squad — a team that former president Duterte supposedly formed. The quad committee said it postponed its hearings from Nov. 13 to allow vetting of affidavits from witnesses who had already given their testimonies to the panel. In a press conference on Tuesday, quad comm overall chairman Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said that the quad comm's legal team is now interviewing potential witnesses and vetting each affidavit that they are submitting to the panel.
READ: 'Big guns' targeted in anti-drug campaign
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is now going heavy on chasing after the "big guns" in the illegal drug trade in the country, as his administration shifted its campaign from intensified rehabilitation to a new strategy that would focus on the supply side, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Tuesday. Speaking to reporters, Remulla said a new strategy in the fight against illegal drugs was discussed during a meeting with the President and the heads of the law enforcement agencies in Malacañang on Monday. Remulla said the officials of the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) met again on Tuesday following an intelligence report that the top source of the drug trade in the country remains inside the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.
READ: Drug war whistleblower nabbed in US
RETIRED police colonel Royina Garma, the whistleblower of the House quad committee who accused former president Rodrigo Duterte of setting up a system to reward police officers who killed suspects in his war on drugs, has been detained in San Francisco, California, and will be sent back to the Philippines. In a press conference in Malacañang, Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Garma and her daughter were flagged as their visas were canceled. Remulla said Garma and her daughter were expected to be flown to the country on Wednesday.
READ: Fifth storm in under a month gains strength
THE government issued fresh weather warnings on Tuesday as the fifth major storm in three weeks bore down on the archipelago, days after thousands were evacuated ahead of Typhoon Nika (international name: Toraji). Now a weakened tropical storm, Nika blew out to sea overnight after causing relatively limited damage and no reported deaths. But Tropical Storm Ofel (international name: Usagi) is now just two days away from the coast of Luzon and gaining strength, the national weather agency said. The government said it had evacuated more than 32,000 people from vulnerable areas in the northern Philippines ahead of Nika's Monday landfall, weeks after Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (international name: Trami), Typhoon Marce (international name: Yinxing) and Super Typhoon Leon (international name: Kong-rey) killed a combined 159 people. Most of that tally came during Kristine, which unleashed torrential rains that triggered deadly flash floods and landslides. The government did not report substantial flooding caused by Nika and has so far not called for evacuations ahead of Ofel's arrival.
READ: Advocates focus on PH reading crisis
A COALITION of over 100 reading advocacy organizations and educators across the Philippines aims to address the country's reading crisis and chart a collaborative path forward to improve literacy nationwide. The National Alliance of Reading Advocates (NARA) announced on Tuesday that it will hold its inaugural conference on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila. The NARA conference is convened by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) to confront these issues headon. It will serve as a platform for advocates, educators, and policymakers to share innovative solutions and collaborate on strategies to improve the country's reading culture.
READ: 2 House bills for OFWs pass second reading
TWO bills that would support overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families were passed on second reading on Monday at the House of Representatives. House Bill 10914, or the Free Financial Education Act for OFWs and Their Families, would mandate comprehensive financial literacy training as part of the PreDeparture Orientation Seminars (PDOS) and Post-Arrival Training Seminars (PATS), while House Bill 10959, or the OFW Remittance Protection Act, would provide a 50 percent discount on remittance fees for funds sent to the Philippines by OFWs. Both bills were sponsored by Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, who serves as the chairman of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs. Under House Bill 10914, financial literacy training will equip OFWs with "essential knowledge on consumer protection, credit management, and debt avoidance to help them safeguard their earnings."
BUSINESS: Banking sector assets increase to almost P27T
Over to business, the total assets of the Philippine banking sector rose to 26.77 trillion as of end-September, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed, up by 11.4 percent compared to the year-earlier 24.01 trillion pesos. Bank assets primarily consist of deposits, loans and investments, including cash, amounts due from other banks, interbank loans receivable (IBL) and reverse repurchase (RRP) arrangements, adjusted for allowances for credit losses.
SPORTS: Obiena to launch first pole vault facility
In sports, Filipino pole vaulter Ernest John "EJ" Obiena announced that the launching of his first pole vault facility will be on Nov. 22 at Marcos Stadium in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. Obiena announced this on a social media post on Monday evening, saying that his dream is now a reality. Currently training in Italy, Obiena said he will return to the Philippines to lead the launching of the facility which he said is the first of many he plans to build with his sponsors. A coaching clinic and pole vault seminar will also be held during the launch, which is open to the public.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists. Tiglao claims that China is formalizing complete control of the Scarborough Shoal, while Tatad investigators of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have arrived in the country looking into the War on Drugs.
Today's editorial says a new weather study can help improve the country's calamity response. Read the full version in the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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