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Netizen charged over video tagging Duterte’s kin

By Vann Marlo M. Villegas, Reporter

THE Department of Justice (DoJ) on Thursday disclosed the identity of the arrested netizen who shared the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” (The Real Narcolist) which implicated members of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s family in the drug trade.

In a press conference, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra identified the suspect as Rodel Jayme, also the domain owner of website Metro Balita, who was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Tuesday, in connection with shared links of the video series that went viral in April and which featured a certain “Bikoy” linking members of the Duterte family to illegal drugs.

By Thursday evening, the NBI recommended to the DoJ the charge of inciting to sedition in connection with Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act against Mr. Jayme.

Mr. Guevarra said a search warrant ordering the seizure of Mr. Jayme’s computer, mobile phone, and internet provider was served on April 30.

“Rodel Jayme was cooperative and surrendered his desktop computer and his peripherals, mobile phone, and internet service provider…which are subject of the said warrant,” Mr. Guevarra said. “After the implementation of the said warrant, Rodel Jayme voluntarily went to the NBI headquarters with the CCD (Cybercrime Division) agents to provide clarifications on the issues involving the publication of the ‘Ang Totoong Narcolist’ videos.”

He was ordered arrested following forensic laboratory examination by the NBI which showed that he was the registrant and administrator of the Metro Balita website.

The NBI said it is still investigating the identity of the uploader of the videos.

The said videos tagged presidential son Paolo Z. Duterte and Manases Carpio, husband of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.

In a statement, Ms. Duterte-Carpio said she will not file charges against the uploader of the videos, describing the suspect as “just a fool, no depth.”

NBI-CCD Chief Victor V. Lorenzo also said other criminal charges may be filed against Mr. Jayme, such as violation of Republic Act No. 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law, since Mr. Duterte’s youngest daughter, Veronica, was also tagged in the video.

“From our point of view he must have known that those videos were produced and they were just a tool in propagating those videos,” Mr. Lorenzo said.

Mr. Guevarra for his part said, “It appears that he was the one who started all of this, like creating the website behind the subsequent uploading of the ‘Bikoy’ videos. It’s just logical that the NBI start with him.”

But DoJ Office of Cybercrime Division Chief Charito A. Zamora, citing a 2014 Supreme Court (SC) decision, said: “Mere sharing of the videos is not punishable or will have no crime liability. But then of course we don’t want to say in a straight manner that they don’t have any liability,…since it’s still [a] continuing investigation. Because, who knows? Those who might have also shared the videos would have also some sort of liab[ility] as may be later on disclosed, as per investigation of the NBI agency.”

“The Supreme Court in 2014 ruled that those who share or like a supposedly defamatory post online will not be liable under the Cybercrime Prevention Act, saying shares or likes are “essentially knee-jerk sentiments of readers who may think little or haphazardly of their response to the original posting.”

For his part, Senator Panfilo M. Lacson told ANC in an interview: “The first question that needs to be answered is, is the arrest proper or legal?…Unless he was arrested for violation of another crime and then he willingly was subjected to preliminary investigation on this particular offense that he is known for, then the arrest could be considered proper. But without a proper legal basis for conducting the arrest,…I think the DOJ or the NBI should explain why they arrested him.” — with Maya M. Padillo

Senate panel to submit report on charter change

By Charmaine A. Tadalan, Reporter

THE SENATE Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, chaired by Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, is set to file its committee report on the proposed shift to a federal government when sessions resume on May 20.

“We will file the report; whether we will tackle it or not, we will see,” Senator Pangilinan said in a briefing, Thursday.

Mr. Pangilinan did not yet disclose the findings of the report as he has yet to discuss it with members of the committee.

“Hintayin natin, dapat makita muna ng mga senador,” the Senator said when asked if the report will recommend revising or amending the 1987 Constitution. (Let’s wait. It has to be reviewed first by the Senators).

This comes amid doubts the proposed charter change can still hurdle the Senate in the 17th Congress, considering the limited time it has left before it adjourns.

Congress is currently on a Feb. 9-May 19 break, amid the election campaign leading to the midterm polls on May 13. It will resume sessions from May 20 to June 7, a period of nine session days to work on the remaining measures. All unfinished legislative matters will need to be re-filed in the 18th Congress, which will open on July 22.

When asked about the chances of the federal shift in the next Congress, Mr. Pangilinan said it will depend on the discretion of the incumbent senators and the newly elected senators who will join them after the midterm polls.

“Well, it’s going to be a new Senate, so I will leave the answer to that question to the new set of senators sa susunod na (of the next) Congress,” he said.

“I would rather leave this now to the next Congress kasi (because) it’s better that way.”

The House of Representatives, for its part, had already approved on third and final reading Resolution of Both Houses No. 15, which embodies its draft federal constitution.

DILG monitoring villages in bay cleanup

By Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will issue show cause orders to 1,000 barangays around Manila Bay as well as Laguna de Bay that will not comply with an order by the agency requiring their weekend coastal cleanup.

“Right now, we have prepared issuance of show cause orders to barangay captains of the Regions III, IV-A, and NCR who have failed to comply with the mentioned circular. Unang hakbang po diyan ay kailangan nilang maipaliwanag sa akin po mismo ang kanilang non-compliance (They should explain to me first their non-compliance),” DILG Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs Martin B. Diño said in a press conference on Thursday, May 2.

DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2019-09 directed 178 local government units and 5,714 barangays along the Manila Bay Watershed Area to conduct a weekly cleanup.

“In our rough estimate, around 1,000 of the 5,714 barangays remain to be indifferent to our cause, making a complete mockery of our overall campaign by continuously disregarding these high level orders for rehabilitation of the bay,” Mr. Diño said.

Along with the DILG order which aims to rehabilitate Manila Bay and other bodies of water, barangay captains are required to report on their weekend cleanup to the DILG.

“Kapag na-evaluate namin na hindi nakisama ‘yung kapitan (If we have evaluated that the barangay captain did not participate), remember, under Republic Act 7160, book 3 chapter 3, section 389, the punong barangay shall enforce all laws at kapag ‘di niya ginawa (if he does not comply), grave negligence ang aabutin niya. Sa Ombudsman kami magpa-file (he can be charged with grave negligence which we will file before the Ombudsman),” Mr. Diño said.

He warned all mayors in Metro Manila to implement Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act and the Clean Water Act, as he cited the case of Aklan Mayor Cicero Cawaling, who was dismissed for gross neglect of duty in connection with Boracay’s environmental situation.

“‘Yung mga mayor sa Metro Manila at mayors ng 179 [LGUs] that cover Manila Bay, hindi kayo exempted, baka kayo na ang kasunod (you might be next in line) once na hindi niyo pinatupad (once you did not implement) ang Republic Act 9003 at Clean Water Act,” said Mr. Diño.

Mr. Diño also said some piggeries and poultry farms near the bay have already been closed.

Duterte thumbs down suggestion by ex-PM to decriminalize drug use

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

MALACAÑANG on Thursday thumbed down the suggestion of former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator and former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark to create a drug policy that “decriminalizes” the use of drugs.

In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said: “The suggestion of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to decriminalize the use of drugs as an alternative to the drug war, similar to the proposal by the European Union made two years ago, had already been thumbed down by the President.”

He added: “The other countries’ experiences in addressing illegal substance while educational relative to their method of solving their own drug menace, decriminalizing the use of drugs in the Philippines will not only aggravate but multiply the problem.”

He noted that the Philippines is a country “where the illegal drug industry is a billion-peso industry, where 97% of barangays, or small villages, have or had already been infiltrated.”

“Take out the criminal liability of those involved and you induce and encourage others to be a part of the dreaded evil,” he also said.

According to Mr. Panelo, the campaign of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration against illegal drugs is “anchored on national security and on public health as well.”

“More than 7 out of 10 Filipinos are satisfied with the way the government handles the campaign,” he noted.

He further explained that drug treatment and rehabilitation form part of the second phase of the campaign.

“It is during the Duterte Administration that a 10,000-bed drug rehabilitation center — the country’s biggest — opened in Nueva Ecija. Twenty-seven reformation centers have likewise been established, as of February 2019,” he said.

“We suggest observers, especially those in foreign countries, to understand fully the Philippine government’s strategy in dealing with illegal drugs before being persuaded by one-sided information and crafting unwise if not cerebrally challenged commentaries based thereon.”

PHL embassy in Libya raises flag to avoid being targeted by airstrikes

By Charmaine A. Tadalan, Reporter

THE Philippine Embassy in Libya has raised the Philippine flag to prevent military forces from being mistakenly targeted by airstrikes.

“With more and more airstrikes in and around Tripoli, we wanted to make sure that [the Philippine Embassy in Libya] will not be targeted by mistake by making it clearly identifiable from the air as a diplomatic mission — one of several that remain open in [the] Libyan capital,” Charge d’Affaires Elmer G. Cato said in a social media post, Thursday.

Mr. Cato also disclosed the Embassy has within its custody 13 Filipino nurses, while over 40 others have taken refuge in the homes of friends and relatives.

The Embassy is “providing shelter to 13 Filipino nurses who fled the fierce fighting in the southern outskirts of Tripoli this afternoon,” Mr. Cato said.

“More than 40 other nurses and their dependents also evacuated and are now staying with friends and relatives.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday announced it has elevated the alert level in Tripoli to level 4 from 3 in Tripoli and surrounding areas within 100 kilometers, after fighting since last month over the state capital.

The current alert level requires government agencies in the area to undertake mandatory evacuation, but while this is the case, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. said he will not compel over 1,000 Filipinos affected. He, however, directed the DFA to closely monitor the safety of Filipinos there.

DILG to file charges vs politicians who supported NPA’s ‘permit-to-campaign’ collection

THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is preparing to file charges against politicians who supported the collection of “permit-to-campaign” fees by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples’ Army (CPP-NPA). “We need to gather the evidences…. Pagkatapos ng eleksyon (After the elections), once we have the evidences ready, once the AFP (military), PNP (police) submitted them to us, we will file the necessary charges against them….we can remove them from office, once they assume office,” said DILG Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Jonathan E. Malaya in a press conference on Thursday. Mr. Malaya noted, however, that the number of candidates who were giving extortion money to communist rebels for this coming election have decreased compared with previous polls. He declined to disclose the figures as investigation and validation is still ongoing. Based on the last report of DILG early this year, 349 local government officials were allegedly giving fees to the communist rebels. The DILG spokesperson said the officials may be charged for violating Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act. PNP Spokesperson Col. Bernard M. Banac added: “Aside from Republic Act 10168, the act of giving amount or any item to the CPP-NPA is tantamount to disloyalty and punishable under the revised penal code. If the fee is proven part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government, the donor may be held liable as co-conspirator in the crime of rebellion.” — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

160,000 cops to be deployed for May 13 elections

THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) has raised to 160,000 from 143,000 the number of police personnel that will be deployed for the May 13 midterm elections. PNP Spokesperson Col. Bernard M. Banac, in a press conference on Thursday, said this means that cops who are under administrative duties will also be given tasks related to securing the polls, including as contingency teams that will be deployed should there be violence in some areas. Meanwhile, with the prevailing election-related gun ban, the PNP reported that a total of 4,038 firearms have been voluntarily surrendered and confiscated as a result of PNP’s focused police operations from Jan. 13 to April 29, and 4,839 individuals have been arrested. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

Iloilo City council calls on water distributors to waive minimum fee amid water shortage due to El Niño

THE ILOILO Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council) passed a resolution last April 30 calling on the city’s two water distributors to waive the minimum rate amid the prevailing water shortage due to El Niño, especially for consumers who are unable to fully draw the minimum 10-cubic meter (cu.m) supply per month.

Councilor R. Leone N. Gerochi, proponent of the resolution, said consumers should not be compelled to pay for the minimum 10 cu.m fee if the supplier cannot provide this.

“There are unforeseen circumstances that are happening which can greatly affect the supply of water. You cannot utilize the 10 cu.m simply because there is no water flowing so the customers should not be compelled to pay the minimum rate,” Mr. Gerochi said.

The two main water providers in the city are Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) and South Balibago Resources, Inc. (SBRI).

For the first 10 cu.m, MIWD charges between P200 to P640 for residential and government customers based on the meter size, while SBRI has a rate of P357.50.

“Climate change has brought extreme dry season in the city of Iloilo wherein the supply and distribution of water has been affected negatively. Many areas in Iloilo City which used to enjoy some slightly adequate water supply have suddenly been experiencing no water flow,” Mr. Gerochi said.

The councilor also said that the passage of the resolution is intended to encourage consumers to voice their concerns.

“We are encouraging the residents to air out their concerns so that they will not pay for the extra amount,” he said.

Mr. Gerochi acknowledged that the resolution could not readily compel the utilities to drop the minimum fee.

“This is the sentiment of the city council, it depends on them on how they will act on it,” he said. — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

Iloilo strengthens ‘bike-friendly city’ campaign

THE ILOILO City government, supported by the private sector, is holding the 6th Iloilo Bike Festival from May 1 to 5 as it strengthens its campaign towards becoming a “bike-friendly city.” Mayor Jose S. Espinosa III, at the festival’s opening held at the Festive Walk Mall of Iloilo Business Park, said their goal is to further promote cycling as part of daily life and not just a weekend activity. He said projects are continuing to encourage the use of bicycles as a regular mode of transport while at the same time campaigning for the practice of road sharing. Two ordinances that ban bicycles in certain portions of Iloilo City, which were passed in 1982 and 1983, are up for repeal by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council). “This is a priority of my administration and my government,” Mr. Espinosa said, adding that his “dream” is to see Iloilo become like Amsterdam in The Netherlands, where the number of bicycles are higher than the population. “We will be saving nature at the same time,” he added. Iloilo City Sports Division head Moises Salomon Jr., for his part, stressed the health benefits of biking. He said, “We hope to promote biking because it can really help us maintain a healthy lifestyle.” — Emme Rose S. Santiagudo

Marcos Bridge closure moved to May 11

THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced on Thursday that the closure of the eastbound side of Marcos Bridge in Marikina City will be moved to May 11 from May 4. In a statement, MMDA said it decided to delay the closure following a coordination meeting with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and its private contractor, and SM Marikina. The meeting and ocular inspection showed that the contractor is not yet fully prepared to push through with the Marcos Bridge rehabilitation project that would affect motorists, truckers, and commuters in the eastern part of Metro Manila. The private contractor was given a week to complete the necessary preparations to minimize inconvenience to motorists. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras

New Hall of Justice in QC inaugurated

A NEW Hall of Justice that can accommodate 52 court branches was inaugurated in Quezon City on Wednesday. In a statement, the Supreme Court said the building also has an “integrated data infrastructure for management of eCourts and rooms with video link equipment for family court hearings” as well as business center, day care center, library, office for the Philippine Judges Association, and a Department of Justice waiting area. The inauguration and blessing ceremony of the Quezon City Hall of Justice-Annex was led by Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin and Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista. Also present were QC Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Cecilyn E. Burgos-Villavert and Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, among others. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

Zamboanga City residents warned not to gather, eat dead fish along boulevard as BFAR investigates fish kill incident

THE ZAMBOANGA City government has advised the public not to gather and eat the thousands of dead rabbitfish, locally referred to as danggit, that were found floating in the waters and washed along the shore of R.T. Lim Boulevard on Wednesday afternoon. In a statement, Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar also advised people not to swim in the area until the cause of the incident is determined and a clearance is issued by the local government. Representatives of the City Agriculture Office, Office Of The City Environment and Natural Resources, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources immediately went to the area on Wednesday to collect water and fish samples for testing. Ms. Salazar said the results were expected by Thursday, but updates were not yet available as of this posting. BFAR’s initial assessment is that the fish kill may have been caused by the dissolved oxygen level given the prevailing dry spell and the sudden downpour earlier this week.

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