There is no confirmation that the father-and-son gunmen who killed 15 people in Sydney’s Bondi Beach received “military-style training” in southern Philippines before the Dec. 14 attack, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said on Wednesday. “No evidence supports such a claim at present,” Año, a former chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),...
Category: News
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Budget reform advocates urge the bicam: Abolish unprogrammed appropriations
With the first-ever open bicameral conference (bicam) set to start on Dec. 13 to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the proposed ₱6.7-trillion national budget for 2026, reform advocates have one distinctive call: for the bicam members to abolish unprogrammed appropriations (UA) in the budget measure that have been the source of “insertions” and...
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Ombudsman ruling not to prosecute ‘tokhang’ officers seen as a ‘legal paradox’
Lawyers for the sole survivor of an alleged extrajudicial killing by the police during an antidrug operation nine years ago are urging the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling upholding the Office of the Ombudsman’s decision to junk their petition to charge four officers and six civilian informants with multiple murder and frustrated murder. In...
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‘Intense, stressful ICI work’ and family security concerns force Singson to resign
Rogelio “Babes” Singson has resigned as commissioner of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) barely three months after his appointment, making him the second high-profile official to leave the panel amid mounting concerns about its mandate and power to look into the corruption scandal centered on the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). ICI...
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Prayer rally in Naga calls for justice and accountability in flood control mess
NAGA CITY—John Oliver Mimay, 32, and 13 others travelled for five hours from the town of Irosin in Sorsogon to this city to join a prayer rally against the widespread corruption involving politicians in infrastructure projects undertaken by the Department of Public Works and Highways and private contractors. The group composed of volunteers from the...
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‘Allocable’ funds are the new pork barrel
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) builds bridges that connect people, streetlights that make roads safer, and classrooms that serve schoolchildren. In the agency’s words, it is their mission to bring about “a comfortable life for Filipinos through safe, reliable and resilient infrastructure.” But recent congressional investigations have exposed the true nature of...
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Duterte to spend Christmas in detention after ICC rejects his release
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has rejected former president Rodrigo Duterte’s appeal for temporary liberty. The 80-year-old former prosecutor and mayor, who gained a reputation as “The Punisher” for his iron-fisted anticrime policy, will remain in detention in The Hague where he will spend Christmas thousands of kilometers from his home in Davao City. The...
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Under Naga’s ‘Carless Sunday’ program, Magsaysay Avenue becomes a playground
NAGA CITY— Magsaysay Avenue, normally a four-lane artery buzzing with traffic, transforms into a playground on Sunday nights. Under this city’s “Magsaysay Carless Sundays” program, the avenue is filled, not with motor vehicles, but with strolling families, children busy drawing on the street, cruising skaters, and fitness buffs moving to the beat of Zumba music....
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As ‘Tino’ and ‘Uwan’ leave their mark, Haribon marks 53 years of protecting nature’s first line of defense
The devastation wrought by Typhoons “Tino” and “Uwan” made more Filipinos aware of how forests provide protection during storms. This is the continuing advocacy of the Haribon Foundation throughout five decades of science-based, community-centered conservation work. With only 24% forest cover remaining, the Philippines is losing its most critical natural defense against climate disasters. Healthy...
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Zaldy Co makes bombshell claims, Roberto Bernardo names more names
Zaldy Co begged off from participating at the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon committee inquiry into the flood control corruption scandal on Friday, supposedly for health reasons. But three hours into the hearing, the former Ako Bicol party list lawmaker who has been out of the country since July surfaced in a video on Facebook...