Maniolas

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines—US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton goes on trial here Monday more than three months after he was charged with the murder of transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude in a local hotel in October last year. According to Virgie Suarez, one of the Laude family’s lawyers, the family will come prepared for the trial despite apparent tension between the public and private prosecutors of the case. Suarez said the government prosecution panel on Wednesday barred the Laudes’ private lawyers from attending the trial preparation. She said the panel, headed by Chief City Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos, refused to involve the private lawyers in the conference because only the criminal aspect of the case was to be tackled. “Prosecutor [De los Santos] said the private lawyers of the Laude family have nothing to do with the case’s criminal aspect,” Suarez said in a text message on Sunday. De los Santos had told reporters the lawyers of the Laude family could be involved only in the civil aspect of the case. Suarez said, “We need to prepare [the Laudes]. We need to do something.” Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of Regional Trial Court Branch 74 in this city has directed court employees to collect the telephones, cameras and other recording gadgets of the lawyers and other people who would be allowed in the courtroom. Reporters, however, have been barred from the courtroom. Jabalde has scheduled two hearings weekly to be held Mondays and Tuesdays, the preliminary conference minutes showed. The Read More …

President Benigno Aquino III has noted the opinions of those who believe he should publicly apologize for the Mamasapano clash, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said on dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday, “Patuloy pong nakikinig ang ating Pangulo sa saloobin ng mga mamamayan at gagawin po ng ating Pangulo ang sa kanyang pagtuturing ay pinakamainam na desisyon na naaayon sa pambansang interes,” explained Coloma.  “Kung mayroon man pong kailangan pang ipaliwanag, kung mayroon pang naging pagkukulang sa pagpapaalam sa ating mga mamamayan hinggil sa buong kaganapan, patuloy din po itong tinutukoy ni Pangulong Aquino at ng pamahalaan.”  Former President Fidel V. Ramos, former senator and administration ally, Panfilo Lacson, Senator Sergio Osmeña as well as several bishops had urged Aquino to apologize for the Mamasapano clash, in which 44 police officers were killed.  A Senate draft report on the clash had concluded that Aquino was “ultimately responsible for the Mamasapano mission”, while Philippine National Police inquiry said that the president violated the chain of command. Aquino himself had said earlier this month, “Kung ako ang may kasalanan dito, bakit di ko aakuin lahat?”  Meanwhile, Coloma said the President was confident that his allies in Congress still supported him, even after more than a hundred House members had signed a resolution for the resumption of its investigation into the Mamasapano clash. The House’s investigation will resume on April 7 and April 8. Their investigation into the January 25 tragedy had been indefinitely suspended after a single hearing last February 11. — Read More …

The first of three new C-295 medium lift aircraft bought under the Philippine Air Force Modernization Program arrived at Clark Air Base in Pampanga on Sunday afternoon, the Air Force said. According to the press release, the aircraft will still have to be inspected and tested by the Technical Inspection and Acceptance Committee before being turned over to the PAF. Two more C-295s, which can carry 71 passengers, 50 paratroopers, or up to 20,000 lbs. of cargo, are to be delivered in 2016. The AFP said the C-295 can perform the same missions that the C-130 — the PAF’s current workhorse — does but with smaller payloads. “The additional C-295s will enhance the overall capability of the PAF in providing airlift requirements of the AFP and during Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) operations,” the Air Force said. The three planes cost P2.59 billion. — JDS, GMA News