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Palestinian arrested in Belgium over talk of suicide attack
According to the Belga press agency, the young man was arrested around midday Wednesday in a Brussels hotel following a large-scale search operation. In early afternoon, the Brussels public prosecutor's office announced the arrest of an individual in the Belgian capital, without confirming that it was the individual who had been sought. The terrorist threat level in Belgium was raised last week from two to three, the second-highest level and considered "serious". This followed an attack in the Belgian capital in which two Swedish nationals were shot dead, and another injured, by a radicalised Tunisian. The attacker was shot dead by Belgian police on October 17, the day after the attack. Adding to the fears is the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas which was prompted by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli territory on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians. More than 220 others were kidnapped amid the attack, according to Israeli officials. Israel declared a war to "annihilate" Hamas, and has been relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip. More than 6,500 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed, according to the latest toll from the Hamas health ministry in Gaza. Against this backdrop, the threats made on Tuesday by the young Palestinian exile were taken very seriously. "We can't allow the slightest lapse in our precautions," said the informed source. The post Palestinian arrested in Belgium over talk of suicide attack appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Marina Benipayo defends partner Ricardo Cepeda, asks for prayers amid Syndicated Estafa charges
Model and former beauty queen Marina Benipayo came to the defense of her partner and fellow actor Ricardo Cepeda, who was recently arrested on charges of Syndicated Estafa last weekend......»»
Ecuador officials fired as 7th ‘assassin’ slain in prison
Another suspect in the assassination of a presidential candidate in Ecuador has died in prison, the same fate that befell six other suspects to the crime at another penal facility. The prison authority reported Saturday the killing of the Colombian suspect at the El Inca prison in Quito as President Guillermo Lasso announced the sacking of the police force’s general commander, investigations chief and prisons director. Lasso’s office also said it will file a criminal complaint against the director of the Guayaquil prison, where the six prisoners were said to have died amid “disturbances.” “He has already been detained... to give his version before the prosecutor’s office,” the presidency said. Authorities have not provided details on the inmate deaths, nor explained how the Quito prison failed to provide extra protection for the seventh suspect following Friday’s killings. All dead victims were arrested and detained in August over their alleged involvement in the assassination of anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio. The centrist candidate who had been polling in second place was gunned down days ahead of the 20 August as he left a stadium where he held a campaign rally. One suspected assassin was killed by police responding to the shooting of Villavicencio, while another six were arrested. The suspects’ deaths come just over a week before the election between leftist frontrunner Luisa Gonzalez and challenger Daniel Noboa. The winner of the 15 October vote will succeed Lasso, who called snap polls to avoid possible impeachment for embezzlement. The post Ecuador officials fired as 7th ‘assassin’ slain in prison appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Venezuela offers a peek at prison run by gang
Venezuela's Tocoron prison was like a town all unto itself, boasting restaurants, a pool, a zoo, a playground for inmates' kids, and so much more as a powerful gang ruled the roost, using the facility as a criminal operations center. "Steak House. Enjoy," reads a sign on the wall of one of the restaurants in the prison, which thousands of soldiers and police stormed this week. Tocoron is now empty of the 1,600 prisoners who lived here and have been moved elsewhere. Gone is the gang that controlled it, called Tren de Aragua, which has tentacles in various countries of Latin America. "Life was nicer and safer in prison than out on the street," said the wife of a prisoner transferred elsewhere, declining to give her name. Venezuelan authorities took some 30-odd journalists on a controlled and limited tour of the prison on Saturday. The reporters did not get to see the concrete tunnels that the prisoners dug -- pictures of them are circulating on social media -- or what is left of the zoo with its pink flamingos. On one door is written "GNB: the train has stopped." That is the acronym of the Venezuelan national guard, and train refers to the gang. That was a message aimed at the visiting journalists but which the government is also presumably trying to spread nationwide amid the embarrassment of having a gang running a prison and living in relative luxury. Interior Minister Admiral Remigio Ceballos has said four prison officials had been arrested and charged with complicity with the criminals. The Tren de Aragua, which reportedly numbers some 5,000 criminals, emerged in 2014, specializing in classic mafia activities: kidnapping, robberies, drugs, prostitution, and extortion. It has extended its influence to other activities, some legal, but also to illegal gold mining. The head of the gang, Hector Guerrero, and other leaders were tipped off before the big raid on Wednesday and managed to flee the prison and the country a week beforehand, according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVV), a group that follows developments in the country's notoriously dangerous detention centers. As reporters toured the prison, bulldozers tore down a small settlement of houses made of brick, wood, and metal. The authorities gave no explanation as the machines rolled noisily over walls, bed linens, curtains, and other housewares. 'Look in the morgue' Rubeles Mejias, aged 25 and the fiancee of an inmate serving a 13-year term for manslaughter, said she lived in the jail for seven months and left only when her four-year-old daughter had to start school. Her man, whom she planned to marry in a few weeks, was one of the so-called "baptized" people in the prison -- devout Christians who wore white and were treated as a separate caste within the prison hierarchy. Gang members would leave them alone. "It was peaceful. There was a swimming pool, a zoo," Mejias, a hairdresser, said Wednesday after the raid as she stood outside the prison. She said her partner worked in a prison shop and sent her money so she could survive Venezuela's hyperinflation and shortages of food, medicine, and other essentials. "It was he who helped me," she said. The few streets that reporters touring the prison were allowed to see were littered with beer bottles, clothing, TVs, appliances, and stuffed animals. Near the pool and a basketball court were abandoned food stands. On the day of the raid, AFP reporters saw police taking away valuables such as air conditioning units, TVs, and motorcycles as women waiting at the gates of the prison for news of their loved ones screamed "Thieves!" On Saturday, three prisoners in yellow jail uniforms walked around the grounds, which include a building labeled as being for "the training of new men." Outside the prison, many people were still waiting, hoping to find out where their loved ones were sent. Claribel Rojas cried as she looked for her brother. Nesbelis Mavares was trying to find her partner, who was in for homicide. "The last message I got from him was a voicemail Wednesday in which he said, 'I love you. God bless you,'" Mavares said. She added: "They are prisoners, not animals. A guard told us to go look in the morgue." The post Venezuela offers a peek at prison run by gang appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Politically divided Chile marks 50-year coup anniversary
Chile on Monday marked 50 years since the coup d'etat that brought Augusto Pinochet to power, with political divisions over the legacy of his brutal dictatorship on stark display. Commemorations of the violent US-backed ouster of Marxist leader Salvador Allende still evoke strong emotions, and police fired teargas and water cannons at protesters who vandalized the presidential palace on the anniversary's eve. Leftist President Gabriel Boric led an event at the palace, known as La Moneda, to mark the historic date, and stressed the need to condemn those who violate human rights "without any nuance." "The coup cannot be separated from what came after," he said, referring to the 17-year Pinochet dictatorship under which more than 3,200 people were killed or "disappeared" and tens of thousands tortured. The far-right UDI party issued a statement Monday defending the coup as "inevitable" due to the failures of Allende's political left. The presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, and Uruguay were at the emotional ceremony in Santiago, also attended by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and former Uruguayan president Jose Mujica. No right-wing representatives attended Monday's event at La Moneda. Poetry readings and musical performances were interrupted by a minute of silence to mark the moment the bombs started dropping on the palace. Allende committed suicide while troops and tanks closed in. As night fell, thousands arrived at the national stadium in the capital -- once used by Pinochet's regime as a torture center -- to place candles in memory of the victims. Elsewhere, protesters on the outskirts of town prevented the passage of vehicles. The 1973 coup, in a country seen until then as a bastion of democracy and stability in Latin America, reverberated around the world and underscored covert interference by the United States. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Monday that President Joe Biden's government "has tried to be transparent about the US role in that chapter of Chilean history by recently declassifying documents from 1973 as the Chilean government has requested us to do." 'Never again' Chileans remain deeply divided between those who defend the coup and those who repudiate it, while many feel the anniversary is irrelevant amid economic woes and concerns over rising crime. A survey conducted by Cerc-Mori in May found that 36 percent of people believe Pinochet "liberated Chile from Marxism" -- the highest figure measured in 28 years of polling. On Sunday, Boric became the first president since the end of the dictatorship in 1990 to attend a commemorative march through Santiago for Pinochet's victims. But the procession was marred by vandals causing damage to the exterior of La Moneda and the general cemetery that houses a victims' memorial. Six police officers were injured and at least 11 people were arrested, officials said. Boric blamed the acts on "adversaries of democracy." On Sunday night, some 6,000 women dressed in black held a peaceful vigil in the capital under the slogan: "Never again will democracy be bombed," in reference to the 1973 air raids. Politics 'a little toxic' Led by Boric, Allende's leftist political heirs are in power in Chile today. But the far-right Republican Party -- Pinochet apologists -- emerged the strongest from elections in May for a body tasked with drafting a new constitution to replace the one that dates from the dictatorship era. Pinochet died of a heart attack on 10 December 2006, aged 91, without ever stepping foot in a court. Michelle Bachelet, a former leftist president of Chile, told a local radio station Monday the country must "learn from the lessons of the past" at a time when politics "is a little toxic." She herself was tortured during the dictatorship, as was her father, an air force general who had opposed the coup. Chile's right-wing opposition has abstained from signing a document affirming a commitment to "defend democracy from authoritarian threats" that has been signed by four living ex-presidents of the South American country. On Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the 1973 coup "was an institutional breakdown that ruptured the bonds of coexistence and marked generations of Chileans, but also inspired many to fight for justice and freedom." He added: "Today's strong Chilean democracy gives us hope that humanity, united in its diversity, can solve any global challenge." The post Politically divided Chile marks 50-year coup anniversary appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Facing impeachment, Ecuador’s president dissolves Congress
Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso, who is weathering impeachment proceedings in Congress over alleged corruption, issued a decree Wednesday dissolving the legislature. The decree released abruptly by the unpopular conservative president's office states that Lasso is dissolving the opposition-led National Assembly "due to a grave political crisis and national commotion." In dissolving Congress, Lasso also called upon the National Electoral Council (CNE) to call new elections. It is the first time a president in Ecuador has dissolved the legislature. By law, within seven days of the publication of this decree, the CNE must convene new presidential and legislative elections to finish out the current term. Until a new National Assembly is sworn in, Lasso is able to rule by decree, with checks by the constitutional court. Lasso's impeachment trial opened in Congress on Tuesday, amid a spike in violence related to drug trafficking in the South American country and widespread anger over the rising cost of living. Lasso is very unpopular. The majority left-wing opposition has accused Lasso of knowing about alleged corruption in state-owned companies, in which his brother-in-law Danilo Carrera and a businessman accused of drug trafficking have been implicated. Speaking on state television Wednesday, Lasso defended his decision to dissolve the National Assembly. "It is a democratic decision not only because it is constitutional but because it returns to the Ecuadoran people the possibility to decide," Lasso said, referencing the new elections. Ecuador's congress tried to impeach Lasso in June, at a time of violent protests against the rising cost of living but came up 12 votes short. A similar political drama played out late last year in neighboring Peru. Then-president Pedro Castillo, also facing corruption allegations, tried to dissolve congress in December so he could rule by decree. He was arrested the same day and is now in prison awaiting trial on charges of rebellion. The post Facing impeachment, Ecuador’s president dissolves Congress appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Another disgraceful police scandal
With too many whys, a clear-cut and independent full-blown investigation is imperative into the now infamous alleged police cover-up and pilferage of illegal drugs worth billions. But by any yardstick, the police can’t be a party to such an investigation. Not only because the investigation involves top police officers but also — and more damningly — because the police brass hasn’t been exactly forthright about their own promised probe of the disgraceful incident. In fact, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said that as early as February, his department had raised concerns to police brass about the slow pace of the police investigation into the arrest of Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr., the seizure of illegal drugs worth P6.7 billion, and what happened to the drug haul afterward. Apparently, the concerns were ignored, forcing Mr. Abalos to launch another inquiry, this time with the National Police Commission in the lead. It was only after Mr. Abalos publicly disclosed what he described as a “massive attempt to cover up” Mayo’s arrest did the police brass divulge its investigation report that found a coterie of 49 Drug Enforcement Group officers and men liable for criminal and administrative charges amid irregularities in the illegal drug seizure. At the same time, police also officially divulged that some DEG officers speciously stole from the drug haul at least 42 kg of illegal drugs, that was found in an abandoned car near Camp Crame. Mr. Abalos wasn’t alone in raising suspicions about the slow pace of the official police probe into Mayo’s arrest last October, however. Last month, an evidently peeved Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairperson of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, lashed out, saying that after six months the police special investigation task group looking into the incident still had nothing to show for it. “Why is it said that the PNP SITG is foot-dragging or dilly-dallying on their probe? Are they covering up for something we don’t know or are they still trying to make up a different script about his arrest and involvement in shabu stockpiling and possibly for recycling?” Mr. Barbers furiously asked then. Aside from these damning cover-up allegations, a flurry of other questions surfaced about Mayo’s arrest. CCTV footage, for instance, purportedly showed that instead of immediately spiriting away a handcuffed Mayo following his arrest in Tondo, Manila, police officers entered a nearby building with him and then suspiciously transferred bags and luggage into several vehicles. The building in question, which Mayo allegedly owned, was where the illegal drugs were stored. Even more puzzling, Abalos said, the police apparently already had Mayo in their custody even before the raid. A DEG report claimed he was arrested after a hot pursuit operation the following day. Worse, Mayo was even listed as an arresting officer in a different operation on the day of the raid. In the aftermath, other serious issues surfaced, including revelations of the disgusting practice of drug operatives setting aside 30 percent of seized illegal drugs to pay off informants. Nonetheless, the latest police scandal ricochets into broader issues like if the police organization can still restore integrity and professionalism in the ranks amid the temptations of lucrative criminal activities. Particularly so since the police brass haven’t so far demonstrated political will for serious reforms. Outgoing PNP chief Gen. Adolfo Azurin Jr., who is set to retire tomorrow (24 April), for instance, was reticent about the Abalos exposè until last week, only to issue a lame blanket denial that senior police officers had covered up the Mayo case. Yet, something must urgently be done about the increasing police involvement in mafia-life criminal undertakings. We can’t take such urgency lightly. A recent report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime, for instance, predicts that emboldened Filipino mafia-style criminal groups, particularly state-embedded actors like the police, are going to step up their nefarious violent doings in the next few years. Not doing anything now therefore means we’ll end up paying a steep price later on. Email: nevqjr@yahoo.com.ph The post Another disgraceful police scandal appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
LA art exhibition on Middle East women opens amid US reproductive rights row
An exhibition of work by female artists on women in the Middle East opens in California this weekend, as a fierce battle over women's reproductive rights grips the United States. "Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond" brings together the creations of 42 female artists, depicting what curators say are the personal and universal stories of women in Islamic societies, and aims to challenge stereotypes about this part of the world. "So many people think that all women are the same in Middle Eastern lands, they're all oppressed, they are invisible, they have horrible lives," curator Linda Komaroff told AFP. "And it's not true. It's like women everywhere. They have a good deal of agency and they act upon it." Exhibits come from all over the Middle East and beyond but include a number from Iran, which has been shaken in recent months after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman arrested for allegedly not properly wearing the compulsory veil. One powerful picture by Iranian photojournalist Newsha Tavakolian shows an Iranian woman in traditional clothes -- also wearing a pair of boxing gloves. Another, by Shirin Aliabadi, showcases the irrepressible spirit of a younger generation, depicting a woman whose blonde wig pokes out from under her scarf as she blows a bubble with gum. The exhibition comes as the United States has been thrown into tumult over the issue of abortion after the US Supreme Court last year struck down the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. On Friday the same court is set to wade into the legal battle over the abortion drug mifepristone after a Texan judge issued a ruling that would ban this widely used medication. Komaroff said the ongoing fight over abortion rights in the United States meant this was a timely exhibition. "Things are kind of going downhill for women in America in terms of our own control over our own bodies," she said. "American women have been complacent. It's easy for them to look to another country or another region and say, 'We're better off than they are.' "But maybe we're not. Maybe we're all in the same boat together." The exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) opens Sunday and runs until 24 September. See more photos here: The post LA art exhibition on Middle East women opens amid US reproductive rights row appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Immigration bureau reports 28 foreign fugitives arrested in half of 2021
The number of arrested foreign national fugitives in the country in the first half of 2021 is still down amid continuing COVID-19 restrictions, the Bureau of Immigration on Monday reported......»»
Anti-vaccine pastor nabbed in CDO for holding prayer meetings amid ECQ
CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 03 August) — Police arrested on Sunday a Nigerian evangelical pastor known for his anti-vaccine stance for holding prayer meetings with his followers in his residence in Barangay Bugo. Police Major Evan Viñas said police officers went to the residence of Pastor Hassan Babatunde in Phase III, Block-19, Lot-35, Villa […].....»»
Foreign pastor held for holding religious gathering in CDO amid ECQ
A Nigerian pastor was apprehended for holding a religious gathering inside his church despite the prevailing enhanced community quarantine in Cagayan de Oro City, police reported. Arrested was David Babatunde Hassam, 53, currently residing in Brgy. Bugo, according to a report from the city police. Members of the City Police Station 6 apprehended Hassam at […] The post Foreign pastor held for holding religious gathering in CDO amid ECQ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Hate attacker of Filipina in NY nabbed, was on parole after killing his mother
NEW YORK – New York City police on Wednesday arrested a convicted murderer on charges of attacking a 65-year-old Asian woman on a street, an assault captured on a video that went viral amid a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in the United States. Brandon Elliot, 38, was identified as the man seen in the […] The post Hate attacker of Filipina in NY nabbed, was on parole after killing his mother appeared first on Cebu Daily News......»»
BI: Fugitive foreigners’ arrests dropped by 87% in 2020
The number of foreign fugitives arrested in the country decreased by 87 percent last year compared to 2019 amid the ongoing pandemic, the Bureau of Immigration reported yesterday......»»
Biden to sign executive orders on Day 1, amid high alert for inauguration
Joe Biden’s top aide said Saturday the incoming president would sign about a dozen executive orders on his first day in office, as police fearing violence from Trump supporters staged a nationwide security operation ahead of the inauguration. Authorities in Washington, where Wednesday’s inauguration will take place, said they arrested a man with a loaded handgun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition at a security checkpoint, underscoring the tension in the US capital which is resembling a war zone. However, the man’s family told US media he was a security guard, rejecting the idea he was intent on causing harm. Incoming Biden chief of staff Ron Klain said in a memo to new White House senior staff that the executive orders would address the pandemic, the ailing US economy, climate change and racial injustice in America. “All of these crises demand urgent action,” Klain said in the memo. “In his first ten days in office, President-elect Biden will take decisive action to address these four crises, prevent other urgent and irreversible harms, and restore America’s place in the world,” Klain added. As he inherits the White House from Donald Trump, Biden’s plate is overflowing with acute challenges. The US is fast approaching 400,000 dead from the Covid-19 crisis and logging well over a million new cases a week as the coronavirus spreads out of control. The economy is ailing, with 10 million fewer jobs available compared to the start of the pandemic. Biden this week unveiled plans to seek $1.9 trillion to revive the economy through new stimulus payments and other aid, and plans a blitz to accelerate America’s stumbling Covid vaccine rollout effort. On Inauguration Day Biden, as previously promised, will sign orders including ones for the US to rejoin the Paris climate accord and reverse Trump’s ban on entry of people from certain Muslim majority countries, Klain said. “President-elect Biden will take action — not just to reverse the gravest damages of the Trump administration — but also to start moving our country forward,” Klain said. – 500 rounds of ammunition – Meanwhile, Washington was under a state of high alert after a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6. The assault left five people dead, including a police officer. Security officials have warned that armed pro-Trump extremists, possibly carrying explosives, pose a threat to Washington as well as state capitals over the coming week. Thousands of National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington and streets have been blocked off downtown with concrete barriers. On Friday night, police arrested a Virginia man at a security checkpoint where he tried to use an “unauthorized” credential to access the restricted area where Biden will be inaugurated. As officers checked the credential against the authorized access list, one noticed decals on the back of Wesley Beeler’s pick-up truck that said “Assault Life,” with an image of a rifle, and another with the message: “If they come for your guns, give ’em your bullets first,” according to a document filed in Washington, DC Superior Court. Under questioning, Beeler told officers he had a Glock handgun in the vehicle. A search uncovered a loaded handgun, more than 500 rounds of ammunition, shotgun shells and a magazine for the gun, the court document said. Beeler was arrested on charges including possession of an unregistered firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. But Beeler’s father Paul told The New York Times his son had been working as a security guard on the Capitol grounds. Asked if the younger Beeler supported a peaceful transition of power, Paul Beeler told the newspaper, “That’s the reason he’s there.” In addition to the heavy security presence in Washington, law enforcement was out in force in state capitals around the country to ward off potential political violence. Mass protests that had been planned for the weekend did not materialize on Saturday, with security far outnumbering Trump supporters at several fortified statehouses, US media reported. In St Paul, Minnesota, for example, hundreds of law enforcement officers, some armed with long guns, ringed the Capitol with National Guard troops providing backup. The number of protesters totaled about 50......»»
Rights groups slam MMDA spox for ‘drama serye’ remark on detained activist
Human rights groups slammed Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Spokesperson Celine Pialago following her “drama serye” remarks at detained activist Reina Mae Nasino who recently buried her three-month-old daughter River. Kapatid, a support group for families and friends of political prisoners, said those who downgrade what happened to the political prisoner are only trying to “cover the government’s gross violation of human rights.” “The story of Reina Mae Nasino and her 3-month-old child who died last week is not ‘drama-serye.’ It is a real story that exposed the countless injustices committed by the government,” it said in a statement released on Sunday. “MMDA Chair Danny Lim, a former political prisoner himself, should have long shown the door to his spokesperson. It should be obvious by now that sensitivity cannot be taught nor proper manners and right conduct if one is empty-headed,” it added. Meanwhile, National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) President Edre Olalia was more restrained, saying they would “do the same thing if she was in Ina’s position and circumstance. “To start with, we will never ever wish this horrible tragedy and injustice to visit the Asec, her mother, her daughters, her sisters and her aunts,” he said in a Facebook post. Despite having nothing to do with traffic, Pialago felt the need to “use her voice as a Filipino” to share her two cents on Nasino’s case. “Hindi lahat ng inang nakakulong ay nakapunta sa libing ng kanyang anak. Kaya yung mga sumisimpatya kay Reina Mae Nasino, pag aralan niyo mabuti ang dahilan bakit siya nakulong at kilalanin niyong mabuti kung sino siya sa lipunan (Not all jailed mothers get to visit their children’s funeral. So all of those who sympathize with Reina Mae Nasino, study well why she was imprisoned and know who she is and what her role is in society),” she said in a Facebook post on Sunday morning. “Masyado ninyong ginagawang pang drama serye sa hapon ang paghihinagpis niya. Tigilan niyo (You are trying to make her grief like an afternoon drama serye. Stop it)!” she added. Nasino was five months pregnant with River when she was arrested in November 2019 for allegedly being found with firearms and explosives at the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Manila Office in Tondo, Manila. Her lawyers have insisted that the pieces of evidence were planted and that the charges filed against her are trumped-up. She gave birth to River on July 1 at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Medical Hospital on July 1. She and her baby were returned to the Manila City Jail 48 hours later. Before this, she filed a motion before the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) to allow her to breastfeed her daughter for a year at the hospital or a prison nursery. But Manila RTC Branch 20 Judge Marivic Balisi-Umali denied this, saying that the jail has “very limited resources” for the care of her child. Nasino was also among 22 elderly and medically-compromised detainees who filed a motion for their compassionate release amid the pandemic on April 8 before the Supreme Court. But months later, the High Court ruled that the trial courts will be the ones to decide on their temporary release. On August 13, the activist-mother was ordered to turn her child over to her relatives. River was admitted at the Philippine General Hospital for fever and diarrhea on September 24. She was placed in the intensive care unit on October 9 where she died a few hours later. A few hours before her daughter died, Nasino filed a very urgent motion for furlough so she can be with her child in her dying moments. On October 13, Manila RTC Branch 47 Judge Paulino Gallegos granted her three full days from October 14 to 16 to be by her daughter’s side during the wake and burial. But the next day, he cut Nasino’ furlough down to only six hours from 1 to 4 p.m. on October 14 and 16 after receiving opposition from the Manila City Jail. The Manila City Jail cited lack of personnel, health concerns, and a guideline stating that detainees can only be at their loved ones’ burial and wake for a maximum of three hours. For both the wake and the funeral, Nasino was clad in a full set of personal protective equipment, handcuffed, and flanked by numerous uniformed personnel. Tensions rose during the wake after her escorts tried to pull her away twice before her time was up, eventually escorting her out with 20 minutes to spare before 4 p.m. On October 16, Marites Asis, Nasino’s mother, had to kneel and beg in front of the police to allow them to hold funeral at 11:30 a.m. The cops wanted to delay it until 1 p.m. Police also sped off with River’s hearse to the Manila North Cemetery, leaving her family behind and thwarting activists’ plan to conduct a caravan around the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals before burying her at the cemetery. Nasino’s counsels at NUPL earlier said that they will file charges against those involved in the activist’s treatment during her daughter’s wake and burial. .....»»
97 violators of quarantine nabbed in Pasay
Police raided two night clubs in Pasay City and arrested 97 individuals, including 27 foreigners, for violating quarantine protocols amid the coronavirus disease outbreak. .....»»
2 barangay officials, 27 others nabbed in Davao City for cockfighting amid COVID-19 pandemic
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 7 September) – Authorities arrested here Sunday two village officials and 27 others after they were caught in the act of holding a cockfight and seized from them their pot money worth P245,734, Mayor Sara Duterte said Monday. In an interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5), she identified the […].....»»
'PRIDE20: Queer activists, supporters arrested during a Pride Protest
“There is no other way to describe this violent dispersal as a blatant attack on the LGBTQ+ community and its long history of militant resistance against State repression, especially amid the looming passage of the Anti-Terrorism Bill.” BY AARON MACARAEG Bulatlat.com MANILA– LGBTQIA+ activists and their allies came to celebrate on Thursday, June 26 the… The post #PRIDE20: Queer activists, supporters arrested during a Pride Protest appeared first on Bulatlat......»»
Discern merits of terror bill, public urged; 8 arrested
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has urged the public to discern the merits of the anti-terror bill amid widespread opposition to the proposed legislation now awaiting President Duterte’s signature......»»
US reaffirms support for Philippines sovereignty amid its tensions with China
Washington, DC [US], March 28 (ANI): US Secretary of Defence Llyod Austin has reaffirmed Washington's commitment to Manila in defending its sovereignty while criticising China's "dangerous" water cannon attack at the Philippine supply mission vessel on Saturday. In a telephonic conversation between Austin and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, the US Secretary reiterated the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty.....»»