LABOR unions from foreign countries expressed support for Filipino jeepney drivers and operators on strike against the threat of a jeepney phaseout under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).

Pro-labor coalition Philippines Australia Union Link, along with its 12 member unions based in Australia, condemned the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for its refusal to defer the year-end deadline for franchise consolidation.

Likewise, the Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (Center of Indonesia Labor Struggle) expressed support for the recent transport strikes led by the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) and labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).

“A just transition — not eliminating and oppressing workers’ rights, and not burdening students and other oppressed people with public transportation fare hikes,” it said in an Instagram post on Sunday. 

In a one-page letter dated Dec. 15, which PISTON posted on its Facebook page on Sunday, the Union Link group said it supports the demand of labor and transport groups to junk the franchise consolidate requirement and repeal the entire PUVMP.

The modernization program “would result in the monopoly of a few big corporations who have the necessary financial capacity to comply with the larger capital need to ‘modernize’ and control public utility vehicle (PUV) routes,” said union secretary Peter Murphy in the letter.

PISTON and KMU led a two-day transport strike last week. Another transport group, Manibela said it will extend the strike to Dec. 29 until the government heeds their call to repeal the modernization program. — Jomel R. Paguian

FORMER party-list congressman Teodoro “Teddy” A. Casiño filed civil charges against Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) hosts Lorraine Marie T. Badoy-Partosa and Jeffrey L. Celiz on Monday, claiming they were responsible for constantly “red-tagging” him in their TV program.

“They have been constantly spewing lies, aspersions, inciting ridicule and hate against me, my family, my fellow activists and our legitimate political beliefs and activities,” said Mr. Casiño, of Bayan Muna party-list.

In a 36-page complaint filed before the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC), he said the two used their TV program Laban Para sa Bayan (later renamed to Laban Kasama ang Bayan) to throw baseless accusations against him since its first episode on July 19, 2021.

“All of the above were lies woven by the defendants (SMNI hosts) in pursuit of their red-tagging and vilification agenda,” read part of Mr. Casiño’s complaint.

Citing an August 2022 episode, Mr. Casiño said he was accused of being an “urban operative” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), a member and national cadre of the CPP Central Committee, and a part of the National United Front Commission. Moreover, the former lawmaker said he was accused of working in an underground movement for youth recruitment to the New People’s Army (NPA) in Aklan.

He said he was also accused of going to the United States as part of the CPP underground operations in a Nov. 7, 2022 episode.

Mr. Casiño also cited in his complaint a May 23 episode where Ms. Badoy-Partosa reportedly insinuated him of having “blood on his hands,” implying that he was responsible for killings, particularly of children recruited into the NPA.

In a transcript provided in the petition, the SMNI host allegedly said in the TV program, “Teddy Casiño is the cause for the deaths of our children… he is a top recruiter of a terrorist organization that has destroyed our country… and that has stolen our children from us.” — Jomel R. Paguian

THE SUPREME Court (SC), in a recent ruling on a cellphone snatching case, that guilt beyond reasonable doubt must be established to prove an act of unlawful taking.

In a 13-page decision dated July 10, which was made public on Nov. 13, the SC Third Division acquitted two suspected snatchers — Julius Enrico Tijam and Kenneth Bacsid — by overturning the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA), citing that the charges against them were solely based on circumstantial evidence.

“An accused shall not be deprived of life and liberty on sheer conjectures, presumptions, or suspicions, but only on evidence that supports a conviction beyond reasonable doubt,” read part of the ruling penned by Associate Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan.

The Court rejected the CA’s reliance on presumptions and emphasized that guilt must be proven beyond reasonable doubt. Despite the circumstantial evidence — such as the account of the victim Kim Mugot stating that Mr. Bacsid pinned him against a bus door and Mr. Tijam allegedly handed the cellphone to Mr. Bacsid — the High Court deemed these circumstances insufficient to establish all elements of theft under the law.

“The only overt acts remotely connecting Bacsid to the purported theft are Mugot’s allegations that Bacsid pinned [Mugot] against the bus door and thereafter, walked back to the waiting area. By no stretch of the imagination may the act of pinning someone establish the unlawful taking of property,” said the Court.

For an inference of guilt based on possession of recently stolen goods, the prosecution must prove that the crime was committed; that the crime was committed recently; that the stolen property was found in possession of the defendant; and that the defendant is unable to explain his possession satisfactorily, said the SC.

Applying these criteria, the High Tribunal found Mr. Tijam’s explanation — that he saw the phone on the pavement and picked it up — satisfactory. “Such explanation is plausible in view of Mugot’s own narration that there was an onslaught of passengers rushing inside the bus, which could have caused [Mr. Mugot] to drop his cellphone. — Jomel R. Paguian