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SMNI files motion to inhibit NTC execs
SONSHINE Media Network International (SMNI) has taken action against three National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) officials, filing a motion on January 4 to request their inhibition from an ongoing administrative case. The motion, filed by SMNI's legal representatives Mark Tolentino and Rolex Suplico, argues that NTC officials Commissioner Ella Lopez and Deputy Commissioners Jon Salvahan and Alvin Blanco should recuse themselves due to perceived bias. Tolentino pointed out a perceived conflict of interest within the NTC, stating, On its face, the show cause order suffers from a fatal flaw. NTC is the judge, NTC is also the complainant, and NTC is likewise the executioner. This is worse than an impartial judge, which is totally abhorred in this country. He emphasized the violation of due process, highlighting the necessity for the neutrality of an impartial judge. Suplico echoed these concerns, stating, In short, we cannot expect justice from the NTC in this case. This motion comes in response to NTC's issuance of a show cause order against SMNI in December 2023, which alleged franchise violations and resulted in a 30-day suspension. SMNI's legal counsel argued that the dual role of the NTC officials violates due process, stating, In the instant case… appearance of impartiality can never be obtained with the dual function of this Honorable Commission, that being the judge and complainant at the same time. Suplico also questioned why the case was not directly handled by the three NTC commissioners, expressing concerns about the authority of the hearing officer in conducting the hearing. He emphasized the significance of public interest in the case and raised doubts about the hearing officer's jurisdiction. The case has been submitted for resolution, with a decision expected soon. SMNI's lawyers have requested an extension until January 20 to file a responsive pleading. In a related development, Davao City-based legislator Margarita “Migs” Ignacia B. Nograles proposed a resolution urging the NTC to suspend SMNI's operations, citing alleged franchise violations and the dissemination of false information as grounds for suspension. Former president Rodrigo Duterte also criticized the suspension of two SMNI programs by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), calling it a violation of his right to free expression. This motion by SMNI reflects the ongoing legal and regulatory challenges it faces, with implications for freedom of expression and due process. The resolution proposed by Nograles adds another layer of complexity to the situation, indicating the broader impact of these developments on media operations and regulatory oversight......»»
Israel to appear before ICJ to counter South Africa’s Gaza case
South Africa asks the International Court of Justice for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against Hamas.....»»
DOJ takes swipe at court over transfer of witnesses who recanted in De Lima case
'Are they afraid of the truth? Why are they blocking it?' De Lima asks.....»»
Withdraw case, LTO chief asks losing bidder
Land Transportation Office chief Vigor Mendoza II yesterday appealed to the losing plastic card bidder to withdraw the case it filed after a Quezon City court stopped the delivery of plastic driver’s licenses......»»
CA junks hazing accused’s inhibition plea
The Court of Appeals has denied the plea of one of the accused in the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas freshman law student Horacio Castillo III seeking to compel Regional Trial Court of Manila City Branch 20 acting presiding judge Shirley Magsipoc- Pagalilauan to inhibit from the case. In a 75-page decision promulgated on 22 September 2023 and written by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio Santos, the appellate court’s First Division held that the claim of Ralph Trangia that the judge acted with grave abuse of discretion in refusing to inhibit has no basis. The CA also did not give weight to Trangia’s claim the alleged failure of the judge to address the issues he raised in his demurrer to evidence shows that she would not be able to decide with utmost partiality. It added that after a careful review of the record of the case and the applicable laws and jurisprudence, it finds that petitioner failed to prove his allegation that the court committed grave abuse of discretion when it denied his motion for inhibition. “Rather it is evident that petitioner’s claim of bias and partiality is merely based on the denial of his Demurrer to Evidence, which in itself is not sufficient to prove that the court a quo acted with bias, bad faith, malice, or corrupt purpose,” said the CA’s decision. “For these reasons, the Court rules that petitioner miserably failed establish that the court a quo acted with manifest impartiality in issuing the assailed Orders,” it added. In denying Trangia’s demurrer, the Manila RTC in an order dated 4 February 2022 held that the evidence presented by the prosecution established all the elements of the offense of hazing as well as the presence and participation of all accused, including petitioner, during the hazing of Castillo by members of the Aegis Juris Fraternity. To recall, Trangia — one of the accused in the death of Castillo — has sought the inhibition of Pagalilauan at the CA on the ground of alleged partiality in denying his motion for demurrer evidence last 24 February 2022, which seeks the immediate dismissal of the case on the ground of insufficiency of evidence. On 10 March 2022, the respondent judge issued an order denying Trangia’s motion prompting the latter to move for the reconsideration of the said order but the same was denied on 28 March 2022. This prompted Trangia to elevate his plea before the CA arguing that Pagalilauan committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction in denying his motion for inhibition and the subsequent motion for reconsideration considering that she showed partiality in denying his demurrer to evidence despite clear showing that the prosecution failed to prove its case against him. The post CA junks hazing accused’s inhibition plea appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Commuters’ group asks Makati Business Club to mind own business
A commuters' group on Sunday said business groups should mind their own business, instead of dipping their hands into the exclusive affairs of the Office of the Ombudsman. Atty. Ariel Inton, who heads the Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection, particularly chided the Makati Business Club (MBC) for criticizing the dismissal order by the Ombudsman leveled against officials of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA). "The Makati Business Club has no personality to the case," Inton, a former official of the LTFRB, said. Inton was reacting to the MBC statement urging Ombudsman Samuel Martires to reconsider the dismissal of MIAA acting general manager Cesar Chiong and acting assistant general manager Irene Montalbo, who were accused of grave abuse of authority. The Office of the Ombudsman earlier this month ordered the two officials dismissed after ruling that they were guilty of grave misconduct and abuse of authority in ordering the reassignments of nearly 300 MIAA employees. Inton said it is Chiong and Montalbo who should be appealing to the Ombudsman by filing a motion for reconsideration on its decision, "rather than the MBC do the talking." Inton also rebuked Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista on how the latter handles the transport system (air, land, and sea) like "hinalong kalamay (mixed rice cake)", adding that the transport chief should have an "iron fist" for his subordinates to focus on their jobs. "As transport commuter advocates, we feel the pressure of his job. He (Bautista) should look to his subordinates to focus on their jobs," Inton said referring to how Bautista should run the DOTr. Critics find Bautista "too soft" in running the DOTr making the NAIA one of the worst airports in Asia, based on passengers' queueing experiences, according to data obtained by property management and hospitality company Casago. The DOTr, they said, should be run by those coming from the land transportation system, not like Bautista who came from the private sector. Inton's group recommended Thomas "Tim" Orbos who was once the general manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure of the Department of Transportation under the Duterte administration; former Party-list Congressman Jonathan A. Dela Cruz and Jess Manalo (Angkla Party-list) as Bautista's possible replacements. Meanwhile, Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation Secretary Larry Gadon said he stands by the decision of Martires in his ruling to dismiss former airport GM Chiong and former Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) head Lloyd Christopher Lao from service with perpetual disqualification from holding public office. "I know that OMB Martires is apolitical as his decisions are based on the merits, facts, and evidence and beyond personal biases," Gadon said. He emphasized that it should be noted that decisions on removing public officials are not based solely on criminal intent or the consequences of a criminal act. "It may be based also on incompetence or acts of omission the effect of which resulted in irreparable damage to the public and the government. So even if the official is not criminally charged nor proven guilty as yet, the official may still be removed for utter lack of competence or lack of responsibility and due diligence in performing his functions. More so if the acts or omissions have inflicted great damage to the public," the Malacañang official explained. "OMB Martires does not look at personalities but more on the issues and acts that are proven by mere preponderance of evidence," Gadon added. The post Commuters’ group asks Makati Business Club to mind own business appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US firms to dip fingers into MIF
An in-depth study by the Asian Central Journal or ACJ dated 20 July 2023 reveals that the Department of Finance forged a $1-million contract with a US PR firm, Weber Shandwick Philippines or WSP, that was signed in early January 2023, according to WSP sources. The ACJ study asks why the Maharlika Investment Fund or MIF bill was signed at the precise time Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri was in the US. “On 21 June, Senate President Zubiri reportedly signed an ‘enrolled’ copy of the MIF. Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippine ambassador to the US, was present for the signing. Ambassador Romualdez has long held the positions of chairman and CEO at WSP.” The ACJ study reports that, “The US was designated as the top campaign market in the PR strategy to draw US investment” and that “the MIF might be used by the US as a means of financial pressure on the (Philippines).” In other words, US funds for the MIF may be used as bait for the US to get major MIF projects in the future. The study says the WSP PR strategy aims (1) “to decrease misconceptions about the MIF, particularly those pertaining to abuse and corruption” (downplaying corruption helps fuel it); (2) “to raise awareness of it as an instrument for economic development” (sanctifying corruption as ‘economic development’); and (3) “MIF management and investment may be subject to US intervention. DBM Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman stated on 19 April that several US corporate organizations and investors are eager to assist us in structuring the MIF.” This dangerous move towards achieving US corporate funds for the MIF will easily increase corruption tenfold, with the participation of US corporations. This was the strategy of US oil firms in Nigeria in partnership with a corrupt government to siphon the oil for the West. The US corporations turned a blind eye to the corruption. The strategy triggered the growth of terrorists in the Muslim-dominated deep north which did benefit from the “development” received by the Christian-dominated south. The ACJ report, citing the MIF, warns, “There looms a grave concern: the specter of corruption.” It cites two cases. “Norway’s sovereign wealth fund lost $174 billion (about P8.7 trillion) in the first half of 2022, while (the Singapore-based) Temasek Holdings, which is primarily regarded as a sovereign wealth fund, has seen a net loss of S$7.3 billion throughout the nearly 50 years since its founding.” If less corrupt-prone affluent nations like Norway and Singapore are unable to contain corruption in sovereign wealth funds, what more a Third World nation like the Philippines, which is noted for rampant unstoppable corruption? In its 2020-2022 survey, the Philippines ranked no. 116 out of 180 nations (the higher the ranking, the more corrupt) in the Corruption Perceptions Index published by Transparency International. Norway ranked No. 4 and Singapore No. 5 as least corrupt. (Source: Wikipedia). The MIF Act provides that a Maharlika Investment Corporation or MIC will be established to manage the MIF fund. The ACJ study is concerned that the MIC board of directors will consist of presidential appointees “based on favor rather than talent… in a nation where nepotism is rife.” (Ambassador Romualdez is the second cousin of Marcos Jr. It’s all in the family.) This will induce a “lack of transparency in regulation and a high risk of financial embezzlement.” The ACJ study argues that “the MIF could be a weapon for politicians to steal from the public coffers,” citing the case of Angola. In 2018, Jose Filomeno dos Santos, ex-sovereign fund chairman and son of ex-President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was charged with the theft of $1.5 billion. In 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak transferred about $700 million from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund to his personal account. The ACJ study reports that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised $6.5 billion in five years. In an investigation after the 1MDB scandal broke out, Goldman Sachs admitted stealing $1 billion from 1MDB “to bribe officials in Malaysia and other nations, including (payments) for the extravagant lifestyles of Malaysian officials and purchasing luxury yachts and hotels for them.” Goldman Sachs pocketed $4.6 billion in bribes and kickbacks. Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the massive 1MDB heist. It will be easy for creative Filipino politicians to improve on this type of ‘Financial Terrorism’ with the help of equally corrupt Western corporations. They must be drooling in excitement. This evil partnership of government and multinationals is the biggest hindrance to the true development of Third World countries. Even as the MIF heist is yet to happen, the solons are cooking up a more sinister storm, the Overseas Filipino Workers Sovereign Wealth Fund, tapping the biggest dollar earner of the country. This is “stealing” the hard-earned money of our workers. The OFWs may rise in protest. *** eastwindreplyctr@gmail.com The post US firms to dip fingers into MIF appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Six white US police officers admit torturing Black men
Six white Mississippi police officers tortured two innocent Black men using a sex toy, Tasers and a sword in an hours-long attack that ended with one man shot through the mouth and neck, the US Department of Justice said Thursday. The brutal assault, and its subsequent cover-up in which the men left one victim bleeding as they hid evidence of their crimes, is the latest race-tinged stain on US policing. "The defendants in this case tortured and inflicted unspeakable harm on their victims, egregiously violated the civil rights of citizens who they were supposed to protect, and shamefully betrayed the oath they swore as law enforcement officers," said Attorney General Merrick Garland. Five now-former members of Mississippi's Rankin County Sheriff's Department and one former member of the Richland Police Department pleaded guilty Thursday to multiple charges including civil rights conspiracy, deprivation of rights under color of law and obstruction of justice. All six acknowledged that while responding to a report of suspicious activity on January 24 this year, they kicked in a door at a house and began a sustained and unprovoked attack on two Black men there. They handcuffed the men and racially abused them, warning them to "stay out of Rankin County," the DoJ said. "The defendants punched and kicked the men, tased them 17 times, forced them to ingest liquids, and assaulted them with a dildo," a press release said. They also hit one man multiple times with a metal sword and a wooden kitchen implement, the DoJ said. Deputy Hunter Elward, 31, removed a bullet from the chamber of his gun and forced his weapon into one man's mouth before pulling the trigger. "Elward racked the slide, intending to dry-fire a second time. When Elward pulled the trigger, the gun discharged. The bullet lacerated (the victim's) tongue, broke his jaw and exited out of his neck," the DoJ said. As their critically injured victim lay bleeding, the men set about planting evidence to justify their actions. "Remarkably, the victim survived the shooting even though these defendants left him lying on the floor gushing blood for a considerable amount of time... because they were too busy developing a false story to try and cover up their misconduct," prosecutor Kristen Clarke told reporters. "The actions of these defendants not only caused significant physical, emotional and psychological harm to the victims, but also caused harm to the entire community, who feel they cannot trust the police officers who are supposed to serve them and leaving other police officers to try to mend the communal wounds inflicted by these defendants," said Clarke. "This trauma is magnified because the misconduct was fueled by racial bias and hatred." Elward, Brett McAlpin, 52, Christian Dedmon, 28, Jeffrey Middleton, 46, Daniel Opdyke, 27 and Joshua Hartfield, 31, pleaded guilty to all charges against them. Dedmon, Elward, and Opdyke also pleaded guilty to three other felony charges stemming from another episode of brutality against a white man in December. All six are due to be sentenced November 14. Horrifying episodes of police abuses against minorities in the United States burst into the public consciousness with unwelcome frequency, with victims like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor symbols of what critics say is wrong with the US model of law enforcement. The post Six white US police officers admit torturing Black men appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump-appointed judge, to preside over his case
When Aileen Mercedes Cannon was appointed a judge by Donald Trump three years ago, she could hardly have imagined she would preside over his trial. But on Friday she set May 20, 2024 as the date to start the unprecedented federal criminal prosecution of a former president in her small Fort Pierce, Florida courtroom. Her assignment to the high-stakes trial has added another layer of controversy to the case, in which Trump is charged with 37 counts of willfully keeping highly classified US documents in his Mar-a-Lago, Florida home, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal law enforcement officials. Some of the charges bring up to 20 years in prison, with Cannon to decide the sentencing if a jury finds Trump guilty. The pressure is even higher because the trial will start in the middle of an already intense battle before the November 2024 presidential election, with Trump leading the race for the Republican nomination. It remains to be seen how Cannon will accommodate the courtroom requirements and election campaign needs of the man who gave her the job. Lifetime appointment Cannon was relatively young -- 38 years old -- when Trump nominated her to the lifetime position in 2020. Born in Cali, Colombia, she grew up in Florida. Her mother immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a child. Cannon obtained her undergraduate degree at Duke University and her law degree from the University of Michigan, routinely ranked among the top 10 law schools in the country. A member of the Federalist Society, which brings together conservative attorneys, judges, and law experts, Cannon worked for three years at a private law firm in Washington and for seven years as an assistant US attorney prior to becoming a judge. Random pick Her selection to handle the Trump case was random, blindly drawn from the pool of several active federal judges in the Justice Department's southern Florida district. Some legal experts have argued she should have recused herself because she allegedly displayed bias towards Trump last year when she was assigned a lawsuit he filed over the FBI raid to recover the Mar-a-Lago documents. She has broad powers to determine the pace of the trial, and her 20 May start date comes smack in the middle of the presidential campaign. If the trial is ongoing and Trump wins the November 2024 election, he could conceivably take action to intervene or even pardon himself upon taking office. Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University, said the presiding judge wields enormous power over a trial and plays a critical role in how it unfolds. "Even in a run-of-the-mill case, the judge can have a significant and sometimes even dispositive effect on proceedings," Richman said. Others contend that Cannon will ensure that he gets a fair shake. "It's impossible now for Trump to complain that he's got a judge that is biased against him," said Edward Foley, a constitutional law professor at Ohio State University. Thomas Holbrook, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, said Cannon is in a "tough position." "Almost no matter what she does, she's going to either feed into existing concerns about her potential bias or disappoint Trump supporters," Holbrook said. The post Trump-appointed judge, to preside over his case appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Prosecution asks new judge handling De Lima s last drug case to inhibit
State prosecutors have asked the Muntinlupa court judge handling the recently re-raffled drug case against former Sen. Leila de Lima—her last pending charge—to inhibit himself......»»
Stains on Luna’s ‘Hymén’
Striking is the so-contemporary debate ongoing in artistic and intellectual circles regarding Juan Luna’s rediscovered work sporting two titles, “Hymén, O Hyménée” and “Boda Romana”. Strikingly contemporary since the debate revolves around an urgent general question of our present times: What is to be done about art made by bad men? Anyone cognizant of feminist consciousness and conversant with Luna’s true biography easily raises that question when gazing at Luna’s painting, tackily commoditized as the “holy grail” of Philippine painting. But once the general question is advanced, it also raises a specific related question: Do we separate the art from the artist? One side of the current debate answers we must divorce the painting from its maker’s life, judging it strictly on its aesthetics. A biography should not color our aesthetic experiences of the painting. But the other side asks: How can we possibly exercise such a divorce after being injured by the knowledge of Juan Novicio Luna’s awful monstrousness? Now an “awful thing disrupts the great work; we can’t watch or listen to or read (or see) the great work without remembering the awful thing,” reminds critic Claire Dederer, whose recent excellent book “Monsters” coincidently fell on my lap just as the present debate on Luna’s painting heated up. In Luna’s case, the awful thing is that on the morning of 22 September 1892 inside a Paris apartment bathroom a lividly jealous Luna shot in the head his wife and the mother of his two children, Maria “Paz” Pardo de Tavera. Maria “Paz” Pardo de Tavera is the diaphanous bride of Luna’s painting, a vibrantly-colored, visibly eroticized, raucous scene of a procession accompanying the bride’s walk to the bridegroom’s chambers. Inescapably, the painting — possibly started in 1886 during Luna’s honeymoon and completed in 1889 — can’t now be seen but as a chilling contrapuntal to the marital violence in Paris. Additionally to the murder, as historian Raquel A.G. Reyes pointedly says, “Juan Luna terrified his domestic household with his violent rages. He beat his wife and, in the months leading up to her murder, the beatings had increased in frequency and viciousness. Paz was desperately unhappy and her mother feared for her daughter’s life.” Luna subsequently faced trial for his crimes by a French court — he also shot in the head his mother-in-law and wounded his wife’s two brothers — but was acquitted on the verdict his violence could be attributed to “the semi-barbaric peoples of the Tropics”. It’s an ironic verdict for a thick-lipped Europeanized reformist colonial subject who, despite his award-winning paintings, failed to convince his colonial masters of his fitness to be a fellow Spaniard. He was not, as Jose Rizal once perceptively noted, radical enough. Maria “Paz” Pardo de Tavera, meanwhile, suffered a doubly tragic fate. She was later vilified and effectively erased from history by a generation of Filipino intellectuals bent on promoting proto-nationalist agendas. Consequently, Ms. Reyes argues, “Juan Luna’s career as painter… in Philippine nationalist history flows smooth and untarnished.” Luna “the first nationalistic painter” got a free pass, even forgiven and largely lionized as a “genius,” which currently connotes “the name we give our love (for an artist) when we don’t want to argue about it; when we want our opinion to be fact.” Such are the emotional “disruptions” staining Luna’s “Hymén.” Removing the stains is impossible, however. “When someone says we ought to separate the art from the artist, they’re saying: Remove the stain. Let the work be unstained. But that’s not how stains work,” says Dederer. Stains, you see, travel forward and backward in time, “affecting the perpetrator and defining the perpetrator not just at the time of the abuse, and not just after the abuse, but before he committed the crime. Our knowledge of the crime affects the person he was all along. The knowledge is a time traveler — because our idea of that person is affected by our new knowledge.” Email: nevqjr@yahoo.com.ph The post Stains on Luna’s ‘Hymén’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DoJ: Teves raps ‘non-transferable’
Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Thursday said that there is no way that the multiple murder complaints against suspended Negros Oriental Third District Representative Arnolfo Teves Jr. can be transferred to the Office of the Ombudsman. The DoJ chief’s statement comes after the camp of Teves sought the recusal of the Department of Justice from handling the case involving the assassination of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and the subsequent deaths of 10 civilians. Remulla stressed that only judges can be removed from a case through a motion for inhibition. “We are not judges,” Remulla said. To recall, the lawmaker — represented by Atty. Ferdinand Topacio — has requested an immediate transfer of the case to the Office of the Ombudsman, a non-political entity headed by former Supreme Court associate justice Samuel Martires. Topacio expressed concern about their camp receiving a fair treatment from the DoJ, regardless of which prosecutors handle the cases and stressed that appealing the resolution of prosecutors to the Secretary of Justice would be futile due to Remulla’s alleged bias. “If you win and appeal to the SoJ (Secretary of Justice), what will happen to your appeal? It’s an exercise in futility. So that is our plea here. Perhaps, there may be some shred of decency and fair play in the secretary, that he refers it to the Ombudsman since we have grounds to conduct a preliminary investigation under the law,” Topacio said. To recall, Teves and several other respondents have been charged with 10 murder, 14 frustrated murder, and four attempted murder in the deaths of 10 persons and injuries sustained by 18 others. The DoJ’s panel of prosecutors has started its preliminary investigation. Teves has been out of the country even after his travel abroad expired on 9 March 2023. He has been tagged as “one of the masterminds” in the Degamo killing although he consistently denied the allegations. The solon failed to attend the preliminary investigation conducted last 13 June. The panel of prosecutors set another investigation on 27 June. The post DoJ: Teves raps ‘non-transferable’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Phl judge steps down from jailed Duterte critic’s case
The lawyers for jailed Philippine human rights activist Leila de Lima vowed to win her freedom after a judge who recently denied her bail quit the trial on Friday. De Lima, one of the most outspoken critics of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his deadly anti-drug war, has been in prison for more than six years on narcotics-related charges. She says the three charges -- two of which have been dismissed -- were fabricated to silence her. Romeo Buenaventura, the judge in the trial over the remaining charge, stepped down on Friday, saying his decisions in the case are "vulnerable to charges of bias and partiality", according to a copy of the ruling seen by AFP. The case will now be assigned to a new court that de Lima's lawyers said will hopefully grant bail, which Buenaventura had denied on 7 June. De Lima's lawyer Filibon Tacardon told AFP that the campaigner is "steadfast in her resolve that her vindication is near". Buenaventura faced calls from de Lima and other defendants to recuse himself on the grounds that he had failed to disclose that his brother had served as a lawyer for a prosecution witness who had since recanted his testimony. The judge has rejected allegations of bias. De Lima, 63, is accused of taking money from inmates inside the largest prison in the Philippines to allow them to sell drugs while she was the justice minister from 2010 to 2015. Multiple witnesses, including prison gang bosses, died or recanted their testimonies, resulting in the dismissal of two charges against de Lima. The mother of two still faces life in prison if she is convicted on the remaining charge. Since President Ferdinand Marcos came into office in June last year, there have been renewed calls from human rights groups, foreign diplomats and politicians for de Lima's release. While in jail, she suffered various health problems including one that required surgery. In October 2022, she was briefly taken hostage during an attempted breakout by three detained Islamist militants. Before her arrest in February 2017, de Lima had spent a decade investigating "death squad" killings allegedly orchestrated by Duterte during his time as Davao City mayor and in the early days of his presidency. The post Phl judge steps down from jailed Duterte critic’s case appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Trump indicted in classified documents probe
Donald Trump said Thursday he has been indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving office, the US ex-president's most serious legal threat yet as he pursues a second White House term. "The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he broke the bombshell news of a historic moment for the United States: the first time a sitting or former commander-in-chief has faced federal charges. There was no immediate confirmation from the Justice Department. Trump attorney Jim Trusty told CNN that his client has been indicted on seven charges including the willful retention of documents in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements, obstruction of justice and a count of conspiracy. Though the precise details of the charges were not immediately clear, people familiar with the matter told The New York Times the conspiracy charge was related to obstruction of justice. In his post, Trump, who is running for president again, said he has been summoned to a federal courthouse in Miami next Tuesday -- the day before his 77th birthday. His announcement came a day after US media said federal prosecutors had informed his lawyers that he is the target of the probe into his handling of classified documents. Trump was already the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime -- in his case over election-eve hush money payments to a porn star who said she had an affair with him. That indictment was handed down by Manhattan's district attorney in March. In a statement after his initial online posts, the Trump campaign lashed out at what it called an "unprecedented abuse of power," and called for the indictment to be thrown out. 'Dark day' In a defiant video released after he shared the news, Trump repeatedly declared his innocence and framed the indictment as a form of election interference by a Justice Department "weaponized" by the Biden administration. "They come after me because now we're leading in the polls again by a lot against Biden," Trump said in the clip. "Our country is going to hell and they come after Donald Trump... We can't let this continue." Fellow Republicans swiftly stood by him, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who has had a rollercoaster relationship with Trump. "Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him," McCarthy said in a statement. "I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rival for the GOP presidential nomination, echoed Trump's claims of a "weaponized" DOJ, adding on Twitter that he would "excise political bias" if elected president. The Twitter account of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee posted a repeated Trump slogan: "WITCH HUNT." Special counsel Jack Smith, named by US Attorney General Merrick Garland, has been looking into a cache of classified documents that Trump had stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House. The FBI carted away some 11,000 papers after serving a search warrant on Mar-a-Lago in August, and obstruction-of-justice charges could be a result of his resisting efforts to recover the trove. Trump eventually turned over 15 boxes containing almost 200 classified documents to the National Archives in January 2022 but was subpoenaed for any outstanding records in his possession. When asked about the charges Thursday night, Smith's spokesman Peter Carr told AFP: "We are declining to comment." The White House said it learned of the indictment from media coverage and a spokesperson declined to comment on the news, noting that the DOJ "conducts its criminal investigations independently," CNN reported. Mounting legal woes Some Democratic lawmakers spoke out following Thursday's revelation. Trump's indictment "is another affirmation of the rule of law," House Democrat Adam Schiff said. "For four years, he acted like he was above the law," he added. "But he should be treated like any other lawbreaker. And today, he has been." Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the documents case, telling a Fox News town hall event on June 1 that "everything I did was right." But he has openly acknowledged taking and storing the documents, undermining his lawyers' suggestion that he took the stash inadvertently in the confusion of a chaotic departure. "This evidence just adds to the mound of stuff that already exists, and no one piece is the 'be all and end all,' but when you put them all together, the case is so strong," former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks told MSNBC. "You cannot imagine his getting away with this." The latest indictment comes with Trump facing numerous other probes as he bids to be the Republican nominee to challenge Joe Biden for the presidency in 2024. Smith is also looking at whether Trump should face charges over the 2021 US Capitol riot, and Georgia prosecutors are investigating whether Trump illegally attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election outcome there. Trump has already been charged with dozens of financial crimes as part of the alleged hush money scheme to silence the porn star, and is due to go on trial next March, in the middle of primary election season. The post Trump indicted in classified documents probe appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NFA: No fake rice in Nueva Ecija
The National Food Authority refuted on Wednesday claims saying its rice distributed to employees of the Department of Education in Nueva Ecija were not edible. “As of this date, all rice issued were found to be edible, in good condition and safe for human consumption,” the NFA’s statement showed. The agency said this was the result of its laboratory tests and investigations on the alleged fake rice. These statements came after related reports were published and broadcasted by The Philippine Star and CNN Philippines two months ago. It added NFA did not receive any complaint from the education department regarding the rice provided under its One-Time Grant Rice Assistance Program. NFA stressed that a representative from the fellow government agency was allowed to inspect the rice before delivery to the beneficiaries. “The focal person of each agency-beneficiary is requested to witness the actual rice issuance to confirm the quality and exact quantity in bags and in weight based on the provided number of qualified beneficiaries.” NFA supplies ordinary, well-milled rice produced locally which is different from long-grain and aromatic rice mostly seen in commercial markets. As NFA rice serves as buffer stock during a supply shortage, the agency said some of its rice might produce a certain smell caused by long storage in warehouses. NFA asks for the public’s “utmost understanding” in this case. However, NFA stressed its officials regularly subject its rice to laboratory tests to ensure they are still safe to eat. The post NFA: No fake rice in Nueva Ecija appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Aboitiz Data Innovation’s gender bias study makes global excellence list
Aboitiz Data Innovation’s joint non-mortgage fintech lending project with the UnionBank of the Philippines and the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Canada on anti-discrimination law, artificial intelligence and gender bias was recently listed in the Global Top 100 list of Artificial Intelligence solutions by the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence under the auspices of UNESCO. The Top 100 list is created by IRCAI to scope and showcase effective and impactful solutions that contribute to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through the application of AI. IRCAI recognized the project’s applicability, credibility and ethics in solving SDG1: No Poverty, SDG5: Gender Equality, SDG10: Reduced Inequalities, and SDG17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal, evaluating the research as “excellent,” placing it in the top 30 percent of projects on the Global 100 list. “This recognition is yet another milestone achievement for our team,” ADI chief executive officer Dr. David R. Hardoon said. “Our study highlights the importance of addressing gender bias in fintech lending and that we need to rethink existing anti-discrimination laws that shall be applicable to AI systems to ensure fairness and equality. We’re proud to have our work recognized by IRCAI and UNESCO, and with its proven significance for the greater good, we hope that our findings will contribute to the continued development of more ethical and inclusive AI solutions.” Recent studies have shown that the consumer lending market process is stacked against women and minorities. Recognizing the inequalities and imbalances in play, ADI carried out the study — based on a use case in non-mortgage fintech lending — engaging in explainable and responsible AI efforts. The study investigated whether excluding the use of gender information in assessing creditworthiness hurt or helped the groups they are supposed to protect. It ultimately revealed that using gender-related data results in a significant decrease in gender discrimination and increased profitability for the firm. [caption id="attachment_140689" align="aligncenter" width="750"] IMAGE COURTESY OF ADI | ‘Our study highlights the importance of addressing gender bias in fintech lending and that we need to rethink existing anti-discrimination laws that shall be applicable to AI systems to ensure fairness and equality,‘ said ADI chief executive officer Dr. David R. Hardoon.[/caption] The project serves as a guide in improving anti-discrimination laws to ensure that Machine Learning models foster a fairer and more inclusive system, particularly for discriminated groups within the financial services industry, all the while increasing firm profitability. “We are honored to be named one of the top 100 international AI solutions for achieving the 17 SDGs. The result of our study provides a strong basis for whether the use of protected attributes such as gender data should be allowed in fintech, particularly credit lending models. To achieve a win-win situation for both business and communities, it eventually comes down to the responsible collection and use of gender data where minority groups are treated with fairness and businesses achieve higher profitability,” said Dr. Adrienne Heinrich, head of ADI’s AI and Innovation Center of Excellence. As AI systems become more complex, achieving transparency, reliability and interpretability can be a challenge. ADI has created proper guidelines to ensure ethical and proper AI use through its Explainable and Responsible AI Guidelines. The XRAI Guidelines include practical recommendations for leaders, team members and stakeholders involved in the development and deployment of AI systems at ADI. These recommendations cover a wide range of topics, including data collection and management, model development and testing, human oversight and control, and the ethical implications of AI. The guidelines are based on eight main principles — transparency, explainability, repeatability, safety and security, robustness, fairness, accountability, and human agency and oversight. Ensuring reliable and responsible use of AI-driven technology is crucial, and the responsibility falls under businesses to actively address such concerns. This is a step in the right direction as ADI continues to encourage the operationalization of responsible AI, as well as promote trust in the technology, within and outside the organization. The post Aboitiz Data Innovation’s gender bias study makes global excellence list appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Rape allegation against Trump heads to civil trial
A civil trial over an allegation that ex-president Donald Trump raped a prominent former American columnist three decades ago got underway Tuesday with jury selection. The writer E. Jean Carroll says Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store and then defamed her after she went public with the allegation years later. Trump, who is facing a barrage of legal woes that threaten to derail his 2024 run for a second presidential term, has repeatedly denied the allegations. The start of the trial, which stems from a lawsuit Carroll filed against Trump, comes just weeks after Trump's historic arraignment on criminal charges related to a hush-money payment made to a porn star. Carroll, a former columnist for Elle magazine, says she was raped by Trump in the changing room at the luxury Bergdorf Goodman department store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in 1995 or 1996. The now-79-year-old said the attack came after Trump asked her for advice on buying a women's lingerie gift. Carroll, who was in court for the start of proceedings Tuesday, first made the allegation in an excerpt from her book published by New York Magazine in 2019. Trump responded then by saying he has never met her, that she was "not my type" and that she was "totally lying." Carroll initially sued Trump for defamation in 2019 but was unable to include the rape claim because the statute of limitations for the alleged offense had expired. But a new law took effect in November last year in New York that gave victims of sexual assault a one-year window to sue their alleged abusers decades after attacks may have occurred. Lawyers for Carroll filed a new suit that accused Trump of battery, "when he forcibly raped and groped" her. It also included defamation for a post that Trump made on his Truth Social platform in October where he denied the alleged rape and referred to Carroll as a "complete con job." Psychological harm The suit seeks unspecified damages for "significant pain and suffering, lasting psychological and pecuniary harms, loss of dignity and self-esteem, and invasion of her privacy." It also asks that Trump retracts his comments. Around a dozen women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. He has denied all the allegations and has never been prosecuted over any of them. No criminal prosecution can stem from the Carroll case but if Trump loses it will be the first time he has ever been held legally liable for an allegation of sexual assault. Trump has provided sworn testimony in the case and is not expected to take the witness stand during the trial as Carroll's lawyers have said they do not intend to call him. The trial in Manhattan is likely to last between one to two weeks. Trump became the first sitting or former president to have ever been charged with a crime when he was arrested in the hush-money case earlier this month. He pleaded not guilty to 34 counts related to the payment made just before the 2016 election that propelled him to the White House. Trump is also being investigated over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House, and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. The post Rape allegation against Trump heads to civil trial appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Unsound climate studies sneak into print: scientists
Misleading studies sowing doubt about climate change are getting into peer-reviewed journals, scientists warn, citing recent papers linked to a lawsuit in Germany whose authors denied conflicts of interest. Observers have long questioned the growing number of research journals that take fees from eager academics but often publish their work without rigorous review. Biased authors, they say, are taking advantage of an overloaded assessment system, undermining the scientific evidence that provides the bedrock for climate action. "The recent explosion of so-called 'predatory journals' is creating problems that are pro-actively explored by climate sceptics," said Carl Schleussner, a scientist at research group Climate Analytics. "It opens the door to those who want to willingly get dubious research out there." AFP Fact Check's full investigation is published at u.afp.com/i2qZ. Peruvian glacier study One study denied that human-driven warming was to blame for the melting of a Peruvian glacier and consequent flood risk. Two of its authors are former executives of RWE, a German energy company targeted by a lawsuit over the glacier, and both are prominent climate contrarians. Their study appeared in November 2022 in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences, which is owned by the major Dutch publisher Elsevier. Like many others, the journal charges authors for submissions, which are then supposed to be vetted by qualified experts before being published. The paper attacked the findings of an earlier study by scientists at Oxford University that a plaintiff in the Peruvian case -- a local farmer who says RWE's carbon emissions contributed to warming -- is citing as evidence. Nathan Stansell, a palaeoclimatologist at Northern Illinois University, is one of the scientists whose work was cited in the German-led paper. The paper was "fraught with misinformation, mischaracterizations and bias," he told AFP. It presented a "debunked argument that since it was warm in medieval times, then there was nothing alarming about recent warming. "The bulk of the paleoclimate community recognises that the groups trying to spread this fallacy cannot compete with sound scientific data." Two other scientists cited in the study, Ben Marzeion of the University of Bremen and Jorge Strelin of Cordoba University in Argentina, also told AFP their work was misused. Strelin said a graphic in the study, drawing on one used in his own work, omitted data showing the sharp retreat of one glacier over recent decades. The two ex-RWE men, lead author and geologist Sebastian Luening and chemist-turned-politician Fritz Vahrenholt, did not respond to AFP's requests to comment. The author of the Oxford study, Rupert Stuart-Smith, submitted to the journal a formal scientific rebuttal of Luening's paper, contesting its use of certain data and detailing what he called "inaccurate or misleading assertions." Elsevier communications executive Andrew Davis told AFP the journal's editors "did not detect unethical behaviours and it is their belief that the two research groups simply did not agree with each other." But the publisher acknowledged the failure to include a disclosure of the authors' links to RWE in the study. The disclosure did appear in a preliminary "pre-proof" of the paper but disappeared from the version published in November 2022. "The publisher would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused," Elsevier said in an email to AFP. It said the disclosure would be added back into the study after approval from the authors. Firm denies funding study Another paper on the Peru glacier appeared in the journal Remote Sensing, from publisher MDPI, in 2021. The study reviewed three years of data on ice-flow velocity and assessed the risk of avalanches and floods, concluding that there was no evidence that a flood was imminent. Stansell said this conclusion should have been dealt with in a separate study as it "seems out of place and doesn't relate directly with their principal findings". A 2022 article by investigative media group SourceMaterial said the study was produced with funding from RWE. It cited the authors as denying this. The authors did not respond to AFP. RWE spokesman Guido Steffen told AFP the study "was made independently from RWE and the court case and it was not funded or paid for by RWE." Regarding the Luening study, he said: "We did neither commission that study nor play any role in producing it." Extreme weather study slammed In September 2022, top climate scientists called for the withdrawal of a paper that claimed scientific evidence of a climate crisis was lacking. The peer-reviewed paper by four Italian scientists appeared in the European Physical Journal Plus, from prestigious science publisher Springer Nature. Four scientists told AFP the study manipulated data and cherry-picked facts about extreme weather events. In response, Springer Nature put a warning notice on the article and said it was investigating. In late March 2023 Christian Caron, executive publisher of Springer Nature, told AFP the investigation was "progressing but still ongoing. "Additional material received as part of the investigation is currently following the usual procedures of an extensive peer-reviewing process, which may take more time than anticipated." Payment for publication is a time-honoured part of the business model among peer-reviewed journals. Their reputation relies on being the gold standard in scientific publishing, through external reviewers who are supposed to weed out false papers and reject sketchy or biased use of data. But the low-cost advantages of publishing on the internet have led to an explosion of peer-reviewed journals and, say some, standards have fallen. Ivan Oransky, co-founder of Retraction Watch, a blog that tracks thousands of withdrawals of academic papers each year, told AFP some authors sought to get unsound work published in journals with a lax peer-review system that used unqualified reviewers. "A lot of junk gets through peer review," he said. "It is really time that everybody admitted that, so that we can try and do better." The post Unsound climate studies sneak into print: scientists appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Bulatlat opposes NTC move for inhibition of judge in website blocking case
In its plea, the NTC sought the inhibition of Judge Dolly Rose Bolante-Prado for agreeing with Bulatlat's counsel in previous proceedings, saying this showed "bias in favor of the plaintiff, through words and actuations.".....»»
NTC wants judge handling website blocking case to inhibit
A few weeks before the start of the trial, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) asked the Quezon City trial judge handling the website blocking case to inhibit, saying that she has shown “bias and partiality” in favor of Bulatlat. The post NTC wants judge handling website blocking case to inhibit appeared first on Bulatlat......»»