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Lions Gate’s Hunger Games leads box office with $44 million

THE HUNGER Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opened as the top film in US and Canadian theaters, taking in ticket sales of $44 million for cinema owners and its studio, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

Sales as reported by Lionsgate were on the lower end of Box Office Pro’s projection of $42 million to $55 million and came in well short of previous Hunger Games films, raising questions about whether the blockbuster series adapted from novels by Suzanne Collins can connect with today’s younger generations.

Songbirds & Snakes, starring Rachel Zegler, is the first Hunger Games picture in eight years. Lionsgate, which plans to split its studio from its Starz network and streaming service, has argued that its film and TV library, which includes multibillion-dollar franchises such as Hunger Games, Twilight, and John Wick, should garner a stronger market valuation on a standalone basis.

Songbirds & Snakes is a prequel to earlier Hunger Games films, focusing on the backstory of the villainous President Coriolanus Snow, played in this film by Tom Blyth, and the evolution of the series’ dystopian empire.

In The Hunger Games, contestants, called tributes, are forced to compete to the death as a societal ritual. The new installment explores Snow’s relationship to the tribute Lucy Gray Baird played by Ms. Zegler.

The movie garnered a 91% approval score from audiences, according to Rotten Tomatoes, while 62% of critics recommended the picture. — Bloomberg

Citadines Roces to be fully operational by mid-January

A ROOM at the Citadines Roces in Quezon City. — COMPANY HANDOUT

By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave, Reporter

CITADINES ROCES Quezon City by The Ascott Limited is aiming to be fully operational by the middle of January next year.

“We are looking at mid-January next year (for full operations),” Citadines Roces Quezon City Assistant Residence Manager Thea Karissa Peregrino said during an interview last week.

The serviced residence, located along Don A. Roces Avenue in Quezon City, was initially set to open in December.

“But by the middle of December, many clients will already be lost since they always book in advance. We don’t want the customer experience to suffer,” she said.

Ms. Peregrino said she expects Citadines Roces to have a 60% occupancy rate during the first three months of its operation. 

“It is conservative. We don’t want to oversell,” she said.

Citadines Roces is the brand’s first property in Quezon City, but the seventh Citadines in the Philippines. The property offers 200 suites ranging from studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments.

“Before, the trend was really more on the long-staying guests. But now, it is getting 60:40 or 50:50 split with staycation and weekenders,” Ms. Peregrino said.

Citadines Roces has function rooms that could accommodate up to 200 guests. Other amenities include an all-day dining restaurant, function spaces for meetings and events, a swimming pool, a fully equipped fitness center, and a resident’s lounge. The parking area can accommodate 114 vehicles.

The property is aimed at business and leisure travelers searching for a comfortable and convenient getaway experience within Metro Manila.

“We have 26 floors. Guest rooms are from the 10th until the 25th floor. The function room is on the ninth, and the amenities and the reception on the eighth floor. Then we also have a restaurant on the ground floor,” Ms. Peregrino said.

She said the property is already seeing demand from offices of media companies and government agencies in the area.

“We saw a potential because of the media outfits (located here). We don’t have that in Makati. Also, the government offices nearby and multinational companies. There are also many customers from Japan and Korea who are possibly looking for an alternative accommodation within Quezon City,” Ms. Peregrino said.

The service residence is also targeting staycationers and long-stay guests.

“In a hotel, you don’t have the cooking aspect. You don’t have the kitchen hubs. You don’t have the washer and dryer. Here in our service apartment, you have all that in the convenience of your room,” she added.

The Citadines brand is under The Ascott Limited, which is the lodging business unit of Singapore-based real estate developer CapitaLand Limited.

Spain’s Acciona eyes opportunities in building PHL desalination plants

Spanish infrastructure company Acciona S.A. is exploring opportunities in building desalination plants in the Philippines amid the need to increase water supply, its director said.

“We are analyzing opportunities to see and definitely we are open [to] plans to build desalination plants in the Philippines. We have good partnerships,” Rubén Camba, Acciona’s director of infrastructure in Southeast Asia, told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a project launch last week.

“We are open to explore — definitely — options,” he said.

According to Mr. Camba, the water supply in the Philippines has “room for improvement because the population has [been] growing. There will be more water demand.”

He is hopeful to see the construction of more dams and water treatment plants that will supply enough water to meet increasing demand.

“Apart from dams, apart from water treatment plants in the future, we foresee the need for desalination plants. That’s something we [have] seen to be useful in the Philippines because it’s an archipelago surrounded by sea,” he said.

At present, the company has been awarded three water projects in the Philippines. These are the Putatan 2 water treatment plant in Muntinlupa, which was turned over to Maynilad Water Services, Inc. in 2020, and the Laguna Lake water treatment plant, which it built as part of a consortium with a capacity of 15,000 cubic meters per day.

In July, Acciona was tapped by Manila Water Co., Inc. to build the second phase of its East Bay 2 drinking water treatment plant in a consortium with Prime Metro BMD Corp. and Santa Clara International.

Last week, the company, through its corporate foundation, launched the expansion of its “Light at Home” project, which will install 1,200 solar systems in Brgy. Teneguiban, an off-grid coastal village in El Nido, Palawan.

The project is in partnership with the Ayala Foundation and financial assistance from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation of about €569,657 or P34 million.

The initiative is also in collaboration with companies Ten Knots Philippines and AirSWIFT. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Shakira stands trial in Spain for alleged tax fraud

BARCELONA — Shakira is to stand trial in Barcelona on Monday to face charges that she failed to pay €14.5 million ($15.74 million) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.

The “Hips Don’t Lie” Colombian megastar, who also has a second tax fraud investigation pending with Spanish authorities, has vowed to fight what she called false accusations.
Shakira says she had paid what the tax office said was owed before it filed a lawsuit, and insists she was not living in Spain during the period as her work led to a “nomadic life.”

She rejected a settlement offer from the prosecutor’s office to close the case and is expected to testify on Monday in the first of 12 hearings scheduled until Dec. 14.

The prosecutor’s office is seeking an up to eight-year prison term and to claim back the taxes it says she owes.

It alleges that Shakira spent more than half of each of the years in question in Spain and was therefore ordinarily resident in the country. It also says that a Barcelona property she bought in May 2012 served as a family home.

Shakira, 46, lived with former Barcelona and Spain soccer star Gerard Pique for 11 years and the couple have two children. The singer, whose full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, moved to Miami after their separation.

Judge Jose Manuel del Amo Sanchez, who has handled other high-profile cases, will chair a panel of three judges who are set to hear more than 100 testimonies during the course of the trial.

Spanish authorities have pursued other major celebrities over tax evasion including soccer players such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina’s Lionel Messi, and Brazilian-Spanish player Diego Costa. All settled and paid large fines.

However, Spain’s Supreme Court last month upheld the acquittal of Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso in another tax case. Alonso had refused to settle and eventually won at trial. — Reuters

Japan’s teamLab readies renewed digital museum in Tokyo mega complex

A MEMBER of the teamLab digital art group poses in an installation in preparation for the reopening of their Borderless museum in February at the Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 17, 2023. — REUTERS

TOKYO — In a basement maze beneath Japan’s tallest skyscraper, construction crews and digital artists are racing to assemble an immersive museum that will serve as the cultural anchor of Tokyo’s latest megaproject.

teamLab, an international collective of artists, set a Guinness World Record by attracting more than 2 million visitors in 2019 to their Borderless museum on the Odaiba island in Tokyo Bay. The name refers to digital art pieces that blend into each other and encourage guests to wander at their own pace.

The attraction closed last year ahead of redevelopment of the site by Mori Building, one of Japan’s leading developers. It is due to reopen in February in Mori’s new Azabudai Hills complex in central Tokyo.

“To be able to create this kind of large space in which we can exhibit is what’s really important to us,” teamLab founder Toshiyuki Inoko said in an interview on Friday.

The relocation is part of Mori’s strategy of placing cultural attractions in integrated business and residential projects. The 330 meters (1,082 feet) Mori JP Tower is due to open next week, with adjacent shopping arcades, residential towers, medical facilities, and a school in various states of construction.

Several pieces of the new Borderless facility are nearing completion, including “Flowers and People,” a continuous computer projection of blooming and scattering petals, and “Bubble Universe,” a mirrored room of twinkling bulbs that appear to extend into infinity.

teamLab has developed a global reputation for its experimental and interactive set pieces that meld images and senses. Previous projects in Tokyo featured digital art mixed with a sauna experience and a laser light show enhanced performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot.”

“We as team want to create something that makes people feel that the continuity itself is something beautiful,” Mr. Inoko said. — Reuters

PAL set to add more Manila-Toronto flights

PHILIPPINEAIRLINES.COM

FLAG CARRIER Philippine Airlines (PAL) will add more flights to its Manila to Toronto, Canada route starting on April 5 next year to meet growing demand.

In a statement on Monday, PAL said it would introduce a third weekly nonstop frequency on its Manila-Toronto route to cater to increasing demand to and from the Canadian east coast region. 

PAL’s Manila-Toronto-Manila routes will have the following schedule: PR118 Manila-Toronto (Wednesday/Friday/Sunday) leaving Manila at 04:35 p.m. and arriving in Toronto at 8 p.m. on the same day, and PR119 Toronto-Manila (Wednesday/Friday/Sunday) leaving Toronto at 11:30 p.m. and arriving in Manila at 3:45 a.m. (plus two days).

Currently, PAL’s twice-weekly service departs every Wednesday and Sunday from Manila and Toronto.

“The resulting 50% increase in capacity aims to meet growing travel demand to and from the Canadian East Coast region, as part of a long-term investment by the Philippine flag carrier in developing business and tourist travel flows between Canada and the Philippines,” PAL said. 

PAL operates the Toronto route with the Airbus A350-900 which carries 295 passengers across a tri-class layout with 30 passengers in business class, 24 in premium economy, and 241 in economy.

“Our expansion of flights to Toronto highlights the importance of the Canadian market in the Philippine Airlines network. We want to make it easier for businesses to establish commercial relations, for Canadians to plan holiday trips to the Philippines, and for Filipino Canadians to visit their families back in the homeland,” PAL Chief Commercial Officer Eric David Anderson said.

“Canada is among the top 10 sources of foreign tourists to the Philippines, with more than 180,000 Canadians visiting the Philippines during the first ten months of 2023. Additionally, the new frequencies will bolster connectivity between Southeast Asia and Canada via PAL’s Manila hub,” he added. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Tree Planting 4.0 for executives

FREEPIK

Probably the most popular employee engagement volunteer activity is Tree Planting. But has this really helped? Do the trees grow to be century-old trees, like those we see in New Manila, UP Diliman, and in the UP Los Baños Forestry areas? Or are we just doing lip service, or hand service in this case?

Before an employee engagement activity, Human Resource (HR) managers should learn a thing or two about planting trees, especially those interested in coffee, coconut, and maybe even mangroves. Thanks to GCash and GForest, its latest app feature, we are introduced to different species of trees needing replanting, reforestation, and conservation.

1. Choose the right variety or species. Make sure the seedlings are indigenous to our forests, and not introduced varieties.

2. Get a lesson or two in tree planting basics. Remove the plastic bag before setting the tree in place in a hole with the correct size appropriate for the species.

3. Know about basal fertilizers and quality of soil.

4. Be mindful of the season. Never plant when it is summer or when the tree has no chance of being watered.

5. Check back on the tree after a month and several weeks after, until you are sure it has taken root.

6. Consult a forester or a botanist for proper care and maintenance.

I met the head of a Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) — simply referred to as CENRO (even for the person) — and he enlightened me on the proper species of forest trees we must plant and where we can still plant these. I asked him why the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) still distributes mahogany seedlings as these are known to be toxic to animals and other species. He clarified that mahogany is only given to those who want to do production forestry, not reforestation. After some time, mahogany can be “harvested” and sold with proper permits from the same DENR office.

What about those who want to plant in forests? In this case, for example, we, the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. (www.philcoffeeboard.com) or PCBI, work with the very farmers who will become the stewards of these trees as they grow to their productive stage. In the case of coffee, that may take a couple of years to bear fruit and the farmers can share their produce or sell it back to us.

What about forest trees that do not have edible fruits? We can use their carbon capture to donate to companies. This is the idea behind GCash’s initiative. They are not after the fruits but they could use the carbon produced for their sustainability report. They have made the planting of the tree possible, after all. So, it is a win-win-win. The farmer gets his new coffee tree, GCash gets its carbon report, and we get the fruits or the coffee beans in years to come.

At the recent GForest launch, we presented 200,000 plus trees and they were snapped up by GForest users just in a few days, a record-breaking feat. That shows how popular coffee is among the young and old, for them to choose planting coffee over coconut, for example. Coffee is relatable and is relevant to most of the GCash app users.

Other companies have reached out to us wanting to also plant coffee and its companion trees, like pine, coconut, alnos and madre de cacao. And this is a good development in replacing trees in our deforested areas or even in new areas, such as those relayed to me by Mr. CENRO. There are timberlands that can be planted to new trees under an agreement with the State.

Our HR managers may do well to visit CENRO or PENRO (provincial) offices to find out more about how to plant trees and where you can plant on public land. Every able-bodied Filipino aged 12 years and above should be planting at least one tree every year. Employers may as well plant with their employees to comply with this law. Yes, it is a law but, as with many laws, it needs proper enforcement. Imagine at least 40 million trees planted every year if my estimate is correct. We need seedlings and we need land. Planting a tree in your backyard hardly counts, especially in the city where the soil may not be conducive to growing shade and forest trees. They can destroy your pavements as roots need room to grow over time. You need to give them space and it is best to plant them either in forests or in open areas as long as they have companion trees that will give shade (e.g., coffee and madre de cacao).

If you enable your employees to plant one tree every year, imagine what that can do for our air quality, our flood control, and how it can actually reduce our temperature and create a better climate. One seedling can make all the difference if we engage our employees and comply with the law, too, in the process.

Every October is Coffee Month as proclaimed by then President Fidel V. Ramos in 1997. Even if October is over, we are still encouraged to plant coffee. The rains are still here, after all, and a tree-planting activity can be a win-win for your company and the environment.

 

Chit U. Juan is the co-vice-chair of the MAP Environment Committee and is a member of the MAP Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. She is president of NOWCD and chair of the Philippine Coffee Board, and head of Slow Food Manila Advocate for organic agriculture.

map@map.org.ph

pujuan29@gmail.com

UnionBank starts offerings of 1.5-year, 3-year senior bonds

BW FILE PHOTO

UNION BANK of the Philippines, Inc. (UnionBank) is looking to raise a combined P2 billion from two separate offerings of senior fixed-rate bonds under its P50-billion borrowing program.

The Aboitiz-led bank on Monday began offering 1.5-year senior fixed-rate Series F bonds and three-year senior fixed-rate Series G bonds, it said in a stock exchange disclosure.

The bank aims to raise at least P1 billion in fresh funds from each bond tenor, with an oversubscription option and with the offers set to run until Nov. 29, unless adjusted.

The 1.5-year papers due in 2025 have an interest rate of 6.5625% per annum, while the three-year bonds due 2026 carry a yield of 6.68% a year.

The papers will be issued under UnionBank’s P50-billion bond program.

ING Bank N.V. Manila Branch and Standard Chartered Bank are the joint lead arrangers and bookrunners for the transaction. They are also the selling agents for the offer, along with UnionBank.

The new bonds are scheduled to be issued, settled, and listed on The Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. on Dec. 5.

Meanwhile, UnionBank also began an exchange offer for holders of its fixed-rate Series C bonds maturing on Dec. 9. The size of the Series C bond issuance stood at P8.115 billion, with the interest rate per annum at 2.75%.

Holders of these papers can sell them back to UnionBank in exchange for their subscription to any of the new bonds currently being offered by the listed lender.

The bond exchange period will run until Friday, unless adjusted.

“Any interest accruing to the exchangeable bonds from the date of the last interest payment up to and including the issue date of the new bonds will be paid on the bond exchange settlement date on Dec. 4,” the bank added.

UnionBank saw its net income drop by 58.99% year on year to P1.65 billion in the third quarter as the bank set aside more loan loss provisions in the period versus the prior year.

The bank’s shares declined by 45 centavos or 0.75% to close at P59.50 apiece on Monday.

Christmas tree lighting at Robinsons Magnolia

HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES kicked off at Robinsons Magnolia with a tree lighting event on Nov. 13. Children from the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral Foundation who were treated to a day of fun, presents, and special surprises.

Quezon City Mayor Joy G. Belmonte and Robinsons Land Corp. Executive Vice-President and Business Unit General Manager Faraday D. Go led the lighting of the mall’s 40-foot-tall golden Christmas tree.

SNAP, Napocor tie up to protect Benguet watershed area

NORWEGIAN-FILIPINO power company SN Aboitiz Power Group or SNAP has partnered with state-led National Power Corp. (Napocor) for the conservation of a 1,000-hectare watershed area in Benguet province.

Under the memorandum of agreement, the company will adopt the 1,000-hectare watershed area within a 2.5-kilometer radius of the Ambuklao and Binga reservoirs.

“The adoption of the watershed area will harmonize SNAP’s watershed management programs to ensure greater conservation and protection of the Upper Agno River Watershed,” the company said in a statement.

SNAP is a joint venture between AboitizPower Corp. and Norwegian firm Scatec.

The agreement covers forest fire protection, rehabilitation and restoration activities, agroforestry, and riverbank stabilization.

The signing was led by SNAP President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph S. Yu and Napocor President and Chief Executive Fernando Martin Y. Roxas at the agency’s head office in Quezon City.

According to SNAP, the agreement is aligned with Napocor’s Energy Sector Carbon Sequestration Initiative for the rapid rehabilitation of open and depleted areas in its watersheds.

SNAP agreed to rehabilitate and maintain 50 hectares within the Upper Agno River Watershed, of which 20 hectares have been completed.

In 2008, Napocor turned over to SNAP the ownership and operation of the 112.5-megawatt (MW) Ambuklao and 140-MW Binga hydroelectric power facilities under the government’s privatization program.

The dams and reservoirs remain under Napocor’s ownership and management.

The two entities have been partners in watershed and environmental initiatives since the signing of a technical cooperation agreement in 2010. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera

Alterenergy Holdings Corp. to hold 2023 Annual Stockholders’ Meeting via remote communication on Dec. 13

 

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The persecution of Senator Leila de Lima

SENATOR Leila de Lima attends the hearing at Regional Trial Court Branch 204 in Muntinlupa City on Nov. 4, 2022. — PHILIPPINE STAR/RUSSELL PALMA

It all started in August 2016 when Senator Leila de Lima convened Senate hearings into the killings of alleged drug users and drug dealers from the time President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30. At the hearing on Sept. 15, Edgar Matobato, who claimed to have worked as a former hitman for Mr. Duterte when he was mayor of Davao City, testified that Mr. Duterte was involved in the killing of about 1,000 people in Davao City, where Mr. Duterte had been mayor for more than two decades.

Matobato was scheduled to appear again in the Senate hearing on Sept. 19 to continue his testimony. But before he could do so, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, President Duterte’s vice-presidential running mate in the 2016 general elections, delivered a privilege speech in which he accused Sen. De Lima of misrepresenting to the international media the real status of the extrajudicial killings in the country. “We might all lose these wars, but the biggest loser… will be the economy. Why allow our institutions to be used that way?” he lamented.

Whereupon, neophyte senator Manny Pacquiao, a party-mate of President Duterte, moved that the Senate declare the chairmanship and membership of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights vacant. Sixteen senators voted yes. In effect, they ousted Sen. De Lima from the chairmanship of the committee.

The 16 senators who voted to oust Sen. De Lima were Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, Alan Peter Cayetano, JV Ejercito, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Koko Pimentel, Grace Poe, Tito Sotto, Cynthia Villar, Migz Zubiri, and Joel Villanueva, who ran for the Senate as a Liberal Party candidate. Liberal Party senators Frank Drilon, Kiko Pangilinan, Bam Aquino, and Risa Hontiveros voted “no.”

The senators who voted “yes” to bump Sen. De Lima off her Justice and Human Rights chair would also go on to vote “yes” to the extension of martial law which President Duterte imposed in Mindanao in May 2017. That indicates that those senators based their decisions on the bidding of the power that be. It also belies what Sen. Sotto likes to say that the Senate is composed of 24 independent minds.

The House of Representatives was not to be outdone. As Sen. De Lima remained a senator and member of the Senate committee and therefore still in a position, though a weaker one, to expose the viciousness of President Duterte’s “war on drugs,” the members of the House not only tried to destroy her credibility — nay, her character — they colluded to accomplish President Duterte’s wish that she rot in jail.

First, President Duterte’s allies in the House filed a resolution on Aug. 19 seeking an investigation into the proliferation of drug use at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) when Sen. De Lima was Secretary of Justice. Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez led the filing of the resolution. The others were: Raneo Abu, Romeo Acop, Michael John Duavit, Rudy Fariñas, Paulino Salvador Leachon, Karlo Nograles, Eric Martinez, Danilo Suarez, Abraham Tolentino, and Jerry Treñas. Speaker Alvarez had earlier rejected a congressional probe into the spate of drug-related killings under the Duterte administration.

The House opened its investigation on Sept. 20 with Rep. Reynaldo Umali, chairman of the Committee on Justice, presiding. But he practically gave up his chairmanship of the committee in favor of a non-member of the House, Secretary of Justice Vitaliano Aguirre, who led the interpellation of witnesses against Sen. De Lima. Many of the witnesses were convicted felons, most of whom were serving life sentences.

Sitting right beside Mr. Aguirre was Persida Acosta, head of the Public Attorney’s Office. Rep. Acop asked her if she was acting as a deputy of Sec. Aguirre. She said she was there as the legal counsel to the convicts who had been summoned as witnesses. Strange that the chief public attorney was acting as counsel for witnesses who were convicts.

On Nov. 24, congressmen took turns in prying into the past love affair of then Secretary of Justice De Lima (her marriage had been annulled by then) with Ronnie Dayan, who was testifying against her. Representatives Fariñas, Castro, and Harry Roque (of the Kabayan Party-list) took great pleasure in asking him all sorts of personal, even lewd, questions — to the delight of the members (including lady members) of the Justice committee and to the media people present.

Their questions were criticized by some netizens, who took the three lawmakers to task for prying into a private love affair. For Rep. Micaela Violago, dwelling on Dayan and Sen. De Lima’s relationship was unnecessary as the details were private matters. Pastor Cesar Pabuayon of Kabayan Party-list said Rep. Roque’s questions were irrelevant to the subject of the hearing. They greatly affected the moral sensibilities of the party’s elders, according to him.

But Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, a staunch ally of President Duterte, said her colleagues’ questions were necessary to establish Sen. De Lima’s alleged links to the drug trade. “I think I can understand my colleagues. The line of questioning (was) in trying to establish the closeness between Ronnie Dayan and Sen. De Lima… (which) would reflect on her official responsibility or capacity,” said she.

Justice Committee Chairman Umali said, “The hearing is not about persecuting Sen. De Lima. We are conducting an investigation in aid of legislation on the extent and magnitude of the illegal drugs trade right within the biggest prison facility in the country. The Bureau of Corrections that oversees the NBP is under the Department of Justice which she headed during the previous administration.” Yet only Sen. De Lima among former secretaries of Justice of previous administrations was summoned. Former Justice secretaries Hernando Perez, Merceditas Gutierrez, and Agnes Devanadera were not called. After all, Philippine National Police Deputy Chief Benjamin Magalong had testified that the illegal drugs trade within the NBP started in 2001.

Five months after the House investigation of then Justice Secretary De Lima’s alleged transactions with NBP detainees, Justice Secretary Aguirre filed three criminal complaints against her, accusing her of violating Section 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which penalizes the “sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution and transportation of illegal drugs.”

On Feb. 23, 2017, Judge Juanita Guerrero of the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) ordered the arrest of Sen. De Lima and two others for drug charges. The arrest warrant was issued less than a week after the Department of Justice filed charges against Sen. De Lima. The senator’s lawyer, Alex Padilla, found the issuance of the warrant “funny and sad” as Sen. De Lima’s camp had filed a motion to quash with the court which had yet to be heard. “I cannot but think it’s pre-judgment on the part of the judge,” Mr. Padilla said.

In the evening of that day, Philippine National Police Chief Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, in his earnest desire to accomplish President Duterte’s wish, led a convoy of police vehicles to serve the arrest warrant to Sen. De Lima who had gone home to pack up the personal effects she would need in detention. But the Senate sergeant-at-arms told him the Senate would surrender Sen. De Lima the following morning. Police chief Dela Rosa had been catapulted from chief-of-police of Davao City to chief-of-police of the Philippines by President Duterte.

On Feb. 27, 2017, Sen. De Lima filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Supreme Court, calling for the immediate issuance of a temporary restraining order against the proceedings and arrest. Then Solicitor General Jose Calida filed a manifestation before the Supreme Court seeking the dismissal of her petition, arguing that she falsified the notarizations on her affidavits. Her lawyers said the issue was “legal nitpicking and hair splitting.”

On Oct. 10, the Supreme Court en banc junked Sen. De Lima’s petition to nullify the arrest warrant, giving the Muntinlupa City RTC the go-signal to hear the drug cases. The ruling was penned by Associate Justice Noel Tijam. Associate Justices Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr., Teresita J. Leonardo-De Castro, Diosdado M. Peralta, Lucas P. Bersamin, Mariano C. Del Castillo, Estela M. Perlas Bernabe, Samuel R. Martires, Andres B. Reyes, Jr., and Alexander G. Gesmundo concurred.

Associate Justices Tijam, Velasco, De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Del Castillo, Bernabe, and Martires also voted to affirm President Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao. Associate Justices Velasco, De Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Del Castillo, and Bernabe also voted to junk the petition to nullify President Duterte’s order to bury former president Ferdinand Edralin Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, in effect dismissing the status quo ante imposed to block attempts to bury Marcos in that cemetery.

Still, retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban says that jurists decide according to the rule of law.

Let me end this piece with what Sen. De Lima said about Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who continued her prosecution despite three key witnesses retracting their statements that led to her detention. “Up to the end of his term, Secretary Guevarra is minded to stand by the lies and manufactured evidence of the Duterte government, not wanting to displease his principal.”

 

Oscar P. Lagman, Jr. has been a keen observer of Philippine politics since the late 1950s.

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