Maniolas

By Cielito M. Reganit President Rodrigo Duterte arrives at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City to attend the 48th anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing on September 13. (MNS photo) MANILA  (PNA) – President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday the Philippines would no longer join any patrol expeditions in the West Philippine Sea even as he asserted the country’s entitlements to portions of the disputed waters that are part of its exclusive economic zone. In his speech during the 48th anniversary celebrations of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing, the President said he would not involve the Philippines in hostile acts beyond its territorial waters. “We will not join any expedition of patrolling the sea. I will not allow it because I don’t want my country to be involved in a hostile act,” he said. President Rodrigo Duterte, flanked by Philippine Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, sings the national anthem during the opening rite of the 48th anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on September 13. (MNS photo) “When you patrol — not on the high seas but some other else’s territory — whether it is really owned by us, which the law says, the judgment says, ‘Atin yan entitlements’ (‘Those are our entitlements’) at sabihin naman ng isa, (and the other would say) – China – ‘That’s beside the point’. The point is I do not want to ride gung-ho style there with China or Read More …

Traffic on EDSA near the Kamuning Avenue flyover is heavy again on Tuesday after the long, 5-day holiday amid the visit of Pope Francis. Despite some roads being closed for motorcades during the papal visit, the holidays kept traffic light in the metropolis. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Thursday said the traffic crisis currently plaguing Metro Manila is not a “state of mind” but rather a “state of chaos.” Tugade made the clarification after he was supposedly misquoted in a newspaper report as saying the traffic gridlock was only the commuters’ state of mind. “Ang tranportation at traffic issue ay totoo at hindi state of the mind. Kung estado lang… it is a state of chaos we have to address,” Tugade said a House hearing on giving emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to solve traffic woes. “We can journey together and address this crisis and stop it once and for all,” Tugade said. He assured the public that there is nothing to worry about in giving the President such emergency traffic powers, saying it would only given to Duterte for a limited period of time. “Basta nakarining ka ng emergency, ang unang sisipsip sa sistema natin ay takot,” Tugade said. In response to the newspaper report, the Presidential Communications Office insisted the Secretary was misquoted and said this was his exact quote: “A state of mind adds to the problem of traffic. Let’s stop blaming traffic. If you’re late, that’s that.” According to the Read More …

Witness Edgar Motabato appears before the Senate Committee on Justice’s probe on the alleged rampant extrajudicial killings and summary executions of suspected criminals. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Confessed hired assassin Edgar Matobato, who surfaced at the third Senate hearing on alleged extrajudicial killings, claimed to have kidnapped and killed in 2010 four bodyguards of former House Speaker Prospero Nograles, who used to be a rival of President Rodrigo Duterte in their hometown of Davao City. “Noong 2010, tumakbo po si Prospero Nograles na mayor ng Davao City. Naglaban sila ni Mayor Duterte so hinuli nila at pinakidnap ang mga bodyguard ni Nograles. Kinidnap namin at dinala sa island city of Samal,” Matobato narrated. The witness said it was upon the orders of “Mayor Duterte.” Asked who Mayor Duterte was, Matobato said: “Ang ating mahal na Pangulo ngayon.” President Duterte, who served as mayor of Davao City for more than two decades, are close rivals with Nograles, until they ended their political rift when Duterte decided to ran for the presidency. In 2010, Nograles ran against President Duterte’s daughter, Sara, for the mayoralty post. It was Sara Duterte who won the elections. President Duterte then won as vice mayor of the same city. Matobato said he himself carried the bodies of the kidnapped bodyguards, who were eventually killed. “Ako ang nagbuhat, isa-isa ko binuhat. Nilagay sa buhangin at binigti lahat. Pagkatapos, biniyak namin ‘yung tiyan tapos ako ang nagkarga ng bangka doon sa laot. Tinapon namin. Nilagyan ng hollow blocks, Read More …

Witness Edgar Motabato appears before the Senate Committee on Justice’s probe on the alleged rampant extrajudicial killings and summary executions of suspected criminals. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Senators recommended Thursday placing self-confessed killer and witness Edgar Matobato under the protection and custody of the Senate. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the Senate should provide sanctuary to Matobato within the Senate grounds so that he will be adequately protected. “My motion is to place the witness under the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms and provide sanctuary within the Senate grounds until formal arrangements can be made,” he said. Trillanes also wanted Matobato to be placed under the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program. Senator Leila de Lima, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, agreed with the motion. “The Senate is the best to provide protection to the witness at this time,” she said. Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senator Franklin Drilon also agreed with the motion. Trillanes also recommended that the witness be given legislative immunity. Both motions should be approved by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III before it can be implemented. Matobato said during the hearing that he knows his testimony could cost him his life. “Alam ko ‘yung testimony ko ‘yung buhay ko naman ang kapalit. Matagal na nila akong hinahabol,” he said. The witness has earlier been admitted to the WPP but he left after President Rodrigo Duterte won, saying he knows he will be killed. “Alam ko na ipapabunot ako sa WPP. Read More …

President Rodrigo R. Duterte welcomes the US Congressional delegation accompanied by US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg at the President’s Hall in Malacañan Palace on July 19. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – President Rodrigo Duterte telling American troops to leave Mindanao is not yet a policy statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Tuesday. “It is not policy yet. It is not policy. In other words, nobody acted on it yet,” he said in a press briefing in Malacañang. “There is no specific directive as to how this pronouncement will be effected,” Abella added. Duterte’s words, however, may be a basis for future actions. “Definitely, the President has already painted a picture, let’s see how it unfolds,” he said. Duterte on Monday said that the US special forces based in Mindanao “have to go.” “Kaya iyong mga special forces, they have to go. They have to go.  In Mindanao, maraming mga puti roon, they have to go. I-review ko iyang foreign policy. Hindi ko lang masalita noon out of respect or I do not want a rift with America. But they have to go,” Duterte said in a speech delivered before his new appointees at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang. The US State Department, meanwhile, said that the Philippines has not made an official demand on the American troops’ pullout from Mindanao