EDITOR’S NOTE: The detained former senator Leila de Lima was granted bail by Judge Gener Gito today, Nov. 13. Gito is the presiding judge of Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court Branch 206, which will now hear the last of the three drug cases filed against her. The other two have been dismissed. CoverStory is republishing...
Tag: crime
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Save the dogs (and other creatures)
CAPAS, Tarlac—In the news lately is the order of Mayor Carmelo Lazatin of Angeles City, Pampanga, to file criminal charges against three men said to have killed and cooked a dog last week to serve as bar chow for their drinking session. It only goes to show that the law, in this case Republic Act...
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When the wheels of justice grind
When she is released from prison, whether by virtue of bail, dismissal of her remaining two drug cases, or acquittal, Leila de Lima is clear on what she will do. “I will make every second of my life as a free woman count. I will waste no time,” the former senator said last November in...
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Trafficking Filipinos: Are immigration, airport personnel involved?
(Last of two parts) :Trafficking Filipinos: Philippines becoming ‘incubator of scammers’ A mix of excitement and anxiety filled “Paulo” as he stepped off a cab at the departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 on Oct. 4. He was flying to Thailand, his first trip out of the country. Everything had...
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Trafficking Filipinos: Philippines becoming ‘incubator of scammers’
(First of two parts) Trafficking Filipinos: Are immigration, airport personnel involved? Tantalized by the promise of being paid P50,000 a month, “Betty,” a single mother of four in Navotas City north of Manila, didn’t think twice about grabbing an opportunity last April to work as a call center agent in Thailand. Before the month ended,...
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Oxytocin and a smooth talker are the drivers behind romance scams
“Michelle” would have known it was one of the popular cons had she read more about it sooner, but “Perry” was one smooth operator. Waking up after half a sedative pill had sent her to la la land, she put two and two together. She’d fallen hook, line, and sinker for a romance scam, and...
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Impunity may become institutionalized gov’t policy
In seeking to quash the inquiry of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into the Philippines’ “war on drugs,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may be institutionalizing impunity for the systematic mass violence under his predecessor. “Impunity” occurs if perpetrators of human rights violations and other crimes are able to avoid any procedure that can lead to...
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How events in 2019 resulted in the Furigay assassination
The body of slain former mayor Rose Furigay was brought home to Lamitan City, Basilan, on July 31, but closure is nowhere near the horizon. Contrary to what is being claimed by partisans on social media, the feud between Furigay and her suspected murderer, Dr. Chao Tiao Yumol, did not spring from the latter’s campaign...
