Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
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READ: AMLC to handle any asset freeze request
THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) will handle any request to freeze the assets of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing trial before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, the Palace said Tuesday. Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said the AMLC would be the one to decide if the ICC makes a request to freeze Duterte's assets. The Palace official also said it does not matter if the request comes from the ICC because the Philippine government "must give what justice should be given."
READ: Despite suits, no stopping ICC trial – Carpio
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) will press forward with the trial of former president Rodrigo Duterte despite questions over the legality of his arrest, former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio said Tuesday. In an interview, Carpio asserted that while Duterte's legal team has the right to challenge the circumstances of his arrest before the ICC, their arguments are unlikely to succeed. He noted that Duterte's camp could bring up the issue during the next ICC hearing in September or file a motion questioning the validity of his arrest. However, he emphasized that the ICC's authority over Duterte remains intact, as it is independent of the actions taken by the Philippine government in surrendering him to the court.
READ: Imee to grill top officials on ICC arrest
SEN. Imee Marcos has invited Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and other top officials to shed light on the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Also asked to attend the inquiry were Department of Transportation-Office for Transportation Security Administrator Arthur Bisnar, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Emilio Aquino, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Raul del Rosario, Deputy Executive Secretary Amante Liberato, and BGen. Jean Fajardo, Police Regional Office 3 head. The senator is set to conduct an inquiry Thursday into Duterte's arrest to determine whether due process was followed when he was turned over to the ICC to face trial for alleged crimes against humanity. She said she wanted clarification of the involvement and the roles of the ICC, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the various government agencies in the arrest of the former leader.
READ: Palace twits SolGen on recusal
MALACAÑANG on Tuesday called on Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra to "assess himself" to determine if he is worthy to remain as the government's top lawyer after he opted out of defending agencies that participated in the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Guevarra last Monday submitted to the Supreme Court a manifestation of recusal from the consolidated habeas corpus petitions filed by Veronica Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, and Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, stating that as head of the Office of the Solicitor General, he "may not be able to effectively represent respondents in these cases" due to his firm stance that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines. In a Palace briefing, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said that while Guevarra declined to defend the respondents led by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, he did not state that the arrest of Duterte on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC and transmitted through the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) was illegal.
READ: 'Palestine recognition prerequisite for peace'
PALESTINIAN Ambassador to Manila Mounir Anastas sees no end in the war in Gaza unless the international community drops its double standard and recognizes Palestine as the second state in the "two-State solution" to the conflict with Israel. The proposed solution establishes two states for two peoples: Israel for the Jewish people and Palestine for the Palestinian people. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier said that the two-State solution is the only way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
BUSINESS: January budget balance swings to P68.4-B surplus
Topping business, the government's budget balance returned to a surplus in January, the Bureau of the Treasury reported on Tuesday, as strong revenue growth made up for increased spending. The 68.4-billion peso surplus — from revenues of 467.1 billion pesos and expenditures of 398.8 billion pesos — was a turnabout from December's 329.5-billion peso shortfall. It was, however, lower than the year-earlier surplus of 88 billion pesos.
SPORTS: PH to host Asian Lawn Bowls
Over to sports, the Philippine lawn bowls bets will be wearing bullseyes on their backs when the country hosts the 16th Asian Lawn Bowls Championships next month. But head coach and tournament director Ronalyn Redima Greenlees is confident that the hosts will be up to the challenge in trying to defend the gold medals in the men's pair and women's singles events. Eight golds in singles, pairs, triples and fours (men and women) will be at stake in the event set April 27 to May 4 at the Clark Bowling Greens in Clark, Pampanga. Twelve countries will field entries, including Malaysia, Iran, Brunei, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Macao, South Korea and China.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Rigoberto Tiglao and Francisco Tatad are today's front page columnists, as they continue their commentary on the developments from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Today's editorial says a new mining law in the Senate has unrealistic expectations. Read more on the paper's opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
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