Tag: Vann Marlo M. Villegas

THE Department of Justice (DoJ) has stopped re-arresting convicts illegally released for good conduct after spotting errors in the list of convicts submitted by the Bureau of Corrections, according to DoJ spokesman Markk Perete.

THE Department of Health (DoH) has confirmed a second case of polio after 19 years since the country was declared free of the disease.

ROGUE COPS recycled illegal drugs after kidnapping Chinese drug lords for ransom in an illicit business that leads all the way to the Philippines’ national jail and several regional police offices, according to a former police general.

A JOINT Senate committee has approved a bill seeking to set up a separate jail for felons convicted of heinous crimes.

POLICE will re-arrest without a warrant more than 1,000 felons who were illegally released for good conduct if they fail to surrender by Sept. 19, according to the Justice department.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has designated Gerald Quitaleg Bantag as the new director-general of the Bureau of Corrections, replacing fired former prison chief Nicanor E. Faeldon, Malacañang said yesterday.

AUTHORITIES signed revised rules on the release of convicts for good conduct after illegally freeing about 2,000 felons convicted of heinous crimes.

THE Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has ordered a P13.35 million refund on erroneously paid value-added tax (VAT) by PTT Philippines Trading Corp. covering its imports of petroleum products.

THE SENATE has uncovered more money-making schemes at the country’s jails, including prostitution, kidnap-for-ransom and gambling.

THE Court of Appeals has stopped the Ombudsman and Department of Interior and Local Government from enforcing an order disqualifying Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio M. Umali from public office.

THE Sandiganbayan Third Division rejected the pleas of former Vice President Jejomar C. Binay and his son Junjun to suspend the graft case against them in connection with the overpriced Makati City Hall parking building.

JAILED Senator Leila M. de Lima denied allegations that she was part of a group that plotted the ouster of President Rodrigo R. Duterte by linking him and his family to the illegal drug trade.

THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) released P82.5 million to the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Tuesday to fund measures relating to the African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreak.

THE country’s chief graft buster suspended three more prison officials for allegedly allowing the illegal release of felons convicted of heinous crimes, according to separate copies of the suspension orders.

THE SUPREME Court has finished its report on the recount of ballots in three pilot provinces where massive cheating took place, as alleged by losing 2016 vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.

A MANILA trial court has ordered the arrest of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison, his wife and 36 other members of the organization for murder.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Friday said he still believed in his former prison chief, whom he fired early this week over the illegal release of felons convicted of heinous crimes for good conduct.

GOVERNMENT prosecutors are about to finish hearing the sedition complaint against Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo and 35 others and will soon submit the case for decision.

CHARGES must be filed against the country’s prison chief, whom President Rodrigo R. Duterte had fired, for the botched parole of a former mayor convicted of rape and murder, an opposition senator said yesterday.

GOVERNMENT agents yesterday filed a human trafficking complaint against an American who got arrested for trying to sneak out of the country a six-day old infant without proper travel documents.

TWO former opposition senators and a losing senatorial candidate have separately asked government prosecutors to dismiss sedition charges against them.

THE NATION’S top court is treading carefully on the issue of Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s election protest for the 2016 vice-presidential race, Chief Justice Lucas P. Bersamin said yesterday.

THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested one of the suspects in the killing of Judge Reymar L. Lacaya in May this year.

THE PROPOSED Anti-Discrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE), could be considered a “class legislation,” making it unconstitutional, according to Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III.

THE Supreme Court has rejected a plea from fishermen and a lawyer’s group to force the government to protect three disputed shoals in the South China Sea.

ILLEGITIMATE children in the Philippines have outnumbered kids born after marriage and their rights should also be protected, a Supreme Court magistrate said yesterday.

THE SUPREME Court (SC) junked a lawyer’s petition seeking to legalize same-sex marriage in the country.

THE DEPARTMENT of Justice (DoJ) has started the preliminary investigation into the double murder and multiple counts of frustrated murder complaint against two police officers in connection with the killing of Balaoan, La Union vice-mayor Al-fred O. Concepcion and his bodyguard on Nov. 14, 2018.

1 New Zealander, 2 Chinese arrested THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) recently arrested three foreigners, one from New Zealand who is wanted in his...

FINANCING COMPANY Aeon Credit Service Philippines recently opened its first branch in Mindanao, located in Davao City, and has started offering its services to members of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations (TODA).

VICE-PRESIDENT Maria Leonor G. Robredo yesterday denied the sedition charge against her, saying she wasn’t part of an alleged plot to destabilize the government of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

A SENATOR has filed a “designated survivor” bill to ensure government continuity in case of a terror attack, a major disaster and other “exceptional circumstances.”

THE DEPARTMENT of Justice (DoJ) and Department of the Interior and Local Government have created a committee that will review the rules on parole.

GOVERNMENT agents filed graft charges against 21 officials and employees of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for allowing a company to do business with the government despite findings of fraud.

EDGARDO P. Luib, the self-confessed hitman in the killing of businessman Dominic L. Sytin, has pleaded guilty to his murder charge.

THE SUPREME Court (SC) affirmed the dismissal of the petition challenging the 2.5-hectare ancestral land awarded to the Ati indigenous community in Boracay, Malay.

A GROUP representing Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) has asked the Supreme Court to stop the Social Security System (SSS) from collecting pension contributions from land-based workers overseas.

A CONGRESSMAN has filed a resolution seeking to investigate a government program on the early release of convicted criminals for good conduct, after an uproar against a plan to free former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez, a convicted rapist and murderer.

THE MANILA City government could lose an estimated P1 billion income from real property taxes with the new ordinance reversing a previous incremental increase on rates.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has ordered the Justice department not to release former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez, a convicted rapist and murderer, according to his former aide.

PHILIPPINE authorities will suspend a program on the early release of convicted criminals for good conduct pending a review of the guidelines, Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra said at the weekend.

Malacañang on Friday said former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez, a convicted rapist and murderer, is ineligible for an early release.

FORMER Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto R. Yasay, Jr. got out of jail after posting a P240,000 bail over charges that he violated banking laws.

MANILA CITY Mayor Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso has approved a local law that reduces by 20% the maximum increase in real property tax rates next year.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte should certify as urgent the passage of a bill that will designate areas in the South China Sea where foreign vessels can pass through, a Supreme Court magistrate said.