BAGUIO CITY—Police arrested labor leader and folk musician Michael “Mike” Cabangon at his home in Baguio City on Dec. 27 on a charge of terrorism financing, according to the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA). Cabangon, spokesperson of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Cordillera and an advocate for workers’ and transport rights, was served a warrant...
Category: News
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Philippine authorities cautious about forum seeking Taiwan’s ‘reunification’ with China
A recent forum hosted by a group closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party that opposes Taiwan’s independence has come under scrutiny amid concerns over foreign influence. The Philippine Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China (PCPPRC) convened more than 300 representatives of the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification...
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ICI member quits as Marcos fails to jail ‘big players’ in flood scandal
Seasoned accountant Rossana Fajardo resigned from the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) on Friday, leaving Chairman Andres Reyes as the sole official steering the body just over three months after its creation. Lawmakers say the departure of key figures from the ICI highlights the body’s failure to effectively investigate multibillion-peso flood control projects. In a...
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Probe of ex-public works official Catalina Cabral’s mysterious death continues
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes mention of suicide. Those in distress may call the phone numbers listed at the end of the report. BAGUIO CITY—The mysterious death of former public works undersecretary Catalina Cabral has prompted growing concern over the handling of evidence by police and the transparency of the investigation. Cabral was discovered unconscious...
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What the Bondi Beach shooters did during their stay in Davao City
Sajid Akram, who with his son Naveed killed 15 persons in an attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, was seen jogging with Naveed each morning and visited a gun shop during their nearly monthlong stay in Davao City. Police Maj. Catherine dela Rey, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11, told CoverStory...
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Ex-DPWH official Cabral dead just as bicam produces ‘corruption-free’ budget
On the day Congress came one step away from approving the proposed “corruption-free” ₱6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, a former official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) being investigated in connection with the anomalous multibillion-peso flood control projects fell to her death from Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet. The body of former...
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Año says no evidence of Bondi shooters’ terror training in Mindanao
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),...
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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...