GOVERNMENT DEFENDS SURGE IN BUDGET OF RED-TAGGING TASK FORCE

MANILA — Large sums of money to be allocated to a controversial task force

that has “red-tagged” individuals will fund local economic projects and not

buy arms and escalate the governmentÂ’s fight against communist rebels.

In an online Senate hearing on Wednesday, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado

said the proposed P16.4-billion budget lodged under President Rodrigo

DuterteÂ’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict

(NTF-ELCAC) will, in fact, be released to barangays and not to the agency.

“The projects are identified by barangays themselves. It’s just NTF-ELCAC,

being the national secretariat, is the repository of all these projects from

the barangays,” Avisado told lawmakers.

“The funds are not released to NTF-ELCAC but released to the local

government units for them to implement,” he added.

Projects such as farm-to-market roads, school buildings and vocational

trainings are eyed for the funding, which represented a whopping 2,969%

year-on-year increase from this yearÂ’s P622.3 million budget, the budget

chief explained.

NTF-ELCACÂ’s proposed outlay became the subject of questions from Senate

Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, who highlighted how a task force, created

by President Rodrigo DuterteÂ’s Executive Order 70 in 2018, would get bigger

funding than line agencies mandated by law.

Among others, Drilon said NTF-ELCACÂ’s budget, if approved as is, will be

larger than that of the labor departmentÂ’s P15.9 billion, as well as

separate outlays of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (P7.5

billion), tourism department (P3.5 billion) and the trade agency (P5.5

billion), all of which are currently in the front-lines of the push for

economic recovery from the pandemic.

“Are we saying that the communist insurgency will be a bigger threat than

our unemployment than our poverty situation?” Drilon asked to which Avisado

pointed out that NTF-ELCACÂ’s budget will be funneled to barangay programs.

But Drilon was unconvinced, saying that if indeed barangays stand to benefit

from NTF-ELCAC’s budget, why is there a need for more red tape. “You know,

our problem is we keep creating bureaucracies. We keep on creating layers,”

he said.

DUTERTE TO BONG: DON’T BE A ‘YES MAN’

DAVAO CITY — President Duterte has told his long-time close aide and now

Sen. Bong Go to sometimes criticize him and not just be a “yes man” all the

time.

The President told Go to feel free to criticize him.

Duterte told Go to not be all praises to him but that the senator should

also be honest enough to tell the President straight to his face if there is

something amiss in his moves or actuations.

Go is admittedly very familiar with the President as he served as DuterteÂ’s

close aide for more than 20 years since the latter was still mayor of Davao

City.

The senator took care of the official needs of the President as well as

other personal considerations when Duterte was still mayor.

The President likewise admonished Go not to consider him as a friend once a

mistake or infraction is committed.

“Pati ikaw... Ang sabi ko kay Bong, ‘If you really want to help me, huwag mo

akong sabihan na kaibigan tayo, you act as if you are with the opposition,

that you were once my...Â’ ItÂ’s not... It ainÂ’t that way sa atin. Iyong iba.

Pero tayo, walang kaibigan-kaibigan basta may mali. Maski pati ako,” the

President said as he concluded his address to the nation Monday night.

Go regularly attends the weekly meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on

Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the latest of which was held Monday

night at the Malago Clubhouse at the Presidential Security Group (PSG)

grounds at the Malacañang compound.

“Senator, I must admire you for your industry. Pasalamat kami. Just your

presence here is just as good as anybody else’s watching over the –

oversight. I encourage oversight committees of projects,” the President

added.

Duterte said that should Go feel uncomfortable and ashamed to call him out,

he could give this task to another lawmaker. He said Go could just be

discreet about it.

“Ibulong mo lang doon na ganito ‘yung sitwasyon. Sila na ang mag-ano sa…

They will open up everything for us. So long as there is no corruption,

talagang mas lalong masira tayo kung we tolerate it eh. Iyan ang mahirap.

Iyang p***** i**** ma-ano kang kawatan. ThatÂ’s a very hard thing to

swallow,” the President said.

SC JUNKS PETITION VS LAW RENAMING MIA TO NAIA

MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition of lawyer Larry

Gadon to nullify the 33-year-old law that renamed the Manila International

Airport (MIA) to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

In full session on Tuesday, justices of the high court unanimously denied

the petition for lack of merit, SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said

yesterday.

In his petition filed on Aug. 27, Gadon said former senator Benigno Aquino

III “is not even considered a hero,” thus he does not deserve to have an

airport named after him.

Gadon asked the SC to declare Republic Act 6639 null and void, saying the

decision to rename the countryÂ’s main gateway violated National Historical

Commission of the Philippines guidelines that a public place should be named

or renamed after a person within 10 years of his death except for “high

reasons.”

Aquino was assassinated on the tarmac of the MIA on Aug. 21, 1983.

The law to rename the airport was enacted on Nov. 27, 1987 to honor the

statesman.

Gadon said the 8th Congress has abused its discretion in passing the

“shortest law in history.”

“It was the shortest law in the country with only 44 words, including the

title. The law was created for the purpose of political name recall,” he

said.

Gadon said while he respects the SCÂ’s decision, he was saddened that the

justices did not appreciate the essence of his petition.

HEAVY COST OF COVID-19 RESPONSE DRAINS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS' DISASTER BUDGETS

The coastal towns of Dolores and Sulat in Eastern Samar constantly battle

with the impact of extreme weather events such as storm surges, flash floods

and typhoons.

Early this year, the leaders of the two towns were set to conduct training

for emergency response teams, buy rescue equipment and early warning devices

from their calamity funds, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way and

wiped out their calamity funds to prevent the entry of the virus.

While the government was still on post-Yolanda operations, Ruby came in

November 2014 and caused severe damage to homes, crops and farmlands that

were still being rehabilitated. There was not enough public attention in the

aftermath of Ruby as Yolanda was still fresh in the minds of government

officials as well as the general public.

'NOT MY PRIORITY': ISKO MORENO REFUSES TO USE FUNDS FOR MANILA BAY MAKEOVER

MANILA — Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said Thursday that while he was “very

thankful” for the rehabilitation of the capital’s bay, he would not shell

out money for its white sand makeover.

Some environmental groups and scientists earlier said waves could wash away

the artificial white sand dumped in Manila Bay and that authorities would

have to shell out money to replenish the crushed dolomite there.

Moreno said the environment department told him that “engineering works”

were in place to keep the sand in place.

But if the sand is washed away, the mayor said he was willing to spend money

to replenish it “10 years, 5 years from now… but not in this pandemic.”

Moreno said he would use the city’s funds for drugs, equipment and “anything

that will help a patient who got infected with coronavirus.”

“I will continue to spend every single cent that is available for this

pandemic,” Moreno told ANC. “It (white sand) is not my priority.”

The revamped beach, he said, could be a “good attraction” that would lure

tourists and investors to hotels and restaurants around the bay.

“This is just the beginning. That’s why we’re very grateful,” Moreno said.

“Alam naman natin na napakadumi na ng tubig ng Manila Bay.”

Manila personnel collect daily trash from the area, some of which are waste

from fish pens in neighboring cities and provinces, he said. Moreno urged

other local governments to heed a Supreme Court mandamus to rehabilitate the

bay.

The P389-million Manila Bay rehabilitation started 2 years ago and funds

cannot be diverted for the pandemic, the environment agency earlier said.

At least 3 senators have asked the agency to halt the white sand project

over reports that it could be harmful to health.

Stopping the project requires a “valid reason,” said Moreno, who noted a

health department statement that dolomite, in its "bulk state," was not a

known health hazard.

“These lawmakers, I understand their feelings, but remember, they’re part

also of the approval of the 2020 budget. It was presented to them,” the

mayor said.

“Kung iyan ay makapaminsala at mapapatunayan ng mga siyentipiko, ipapaaresto

ko sila lahat,” he added.

CARPIO, CARPIO-MORALES MOVE TO BLOCK MARTIAL LAW SOLGEN'S PLEA TO JUNK

ANTI-TERROR LAW PETITIONS

MANILA — Retired Supreme Court Justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita

Carpio-Morales moved to block former Solicitor General Estelito MendozaÂ’s

plea to stand as the tribunal’s “friend” in resolving the petitions against

the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.

That Mendoza moved, in the Comment he asked the SC to admit, for the

dismissal of the petitions shows that his “offer of friendly advice” to the

SC in resolving the petitions but a motion to intervene, the group of

petitioners led by the Carpios said.

In a Manifestation with Opposition and Reply, the Carpios also said Mendoza

failed to satisfy the requirements to participate as amicus curiae in the

cases.

A separate petition filed through the Free Legal Assistance Group also

sought the denial of MendozaÂ’s Petition for Leave. They said that Mendoza is

seeking to intervene in the case as a third person and not to serve as a

“friend of court.”

FLAG also called Mendoza’s submission as “frivolous and dilatory,” and

“disruptive to the orderly administration of justice” as it further adds to

the already voluminous records the SC is resolving.

In his petition, Mendoza cited his 14 years of working as a solicitor

general during the Martial Law rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos

Sr. where he attended to the more than 500 hearings and filing of return of

writs for the petitions for habeas corpus.

But the Carpios said this experience is not relevant or pertinent in the

present petitions. Mendoza was never involved in the enactment of the Human

Security Act of 2007, which the ATA repealed.

“His record of defending the [Arrest, Search, and Seizure Orders] issued by

the Marcos dictatorship may be extensive, but unless the OSG agrees that

present circumstances have placed the nation under Martial Law, would be out

of point,” they said.

DOH: EXPECT 'IRREGULARLY HIGH NUMBER' OF COVID-19 CASES AS LABS SUBMIT

COMPLETE DATA

The public should anticipate a higher number of reported cases of

coronavirus in the coming days due to reporting delays, the Department of

Health said Wednesday.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire there are confirmed COVID-19 cases

that have not yet been included in the national tally after it required

laboratories to include the addresses and contact numbers of patients when

they submit data to the departmentÂ’s database.

THE REST

========

COVID-19 INFECTIONS IN PHILIPPINES RISE TO 245,143

The number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines increased to 245,143

Wednesday as the Department of Health reported more than 3,000 new

infections.

The DOH recorded 3,176 additional cases based on the submissions of 105 out

of 117 testing laboratories in the country.

DRUG WAR KILLINGS INCREASED DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN: WATCHDOG

MANILA - The number of drug-related killings in the Philippines increased

during the country's quarantine lockdown against the COVID-19 pandemic,

Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

Some 155 people were killed in police operations between April and July 31,

according to HRW Asia researcher Carlos Conde, citing official government

data. This is a 50 percent increase from the 103 deaths recorded from

December 2019 to March 2020, he said.

"The police and other agencies have been in the thick of the lockdown, the

lockdown itself has been enforced by police. Poor communities who are pretty

much stagnant, theyÂ’re basically sitting ducks there waiting for the police

to come. They are constricted in their own communities," he told ANC.

The figure does not include killings by unidentified assailants, Conde

added.

"These killings are not included in these figures. We can reasonably deduce

here that the number is definitely higher. If you track the estimates by

other human rights groups and juxtapose that with the figure coming from

Real Numbers PH, itÂ’s triple, even quadruple the number," he said.

"The killings by the police have not stopped during the pandemic and the

killings by unidentified assailants who may be related to the drug war have

not stopped either."

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan on Monday denied that

extrajudicial killings were committed under the drug war.

Conde called for an "institutional response" to drug-war related killings as

Cascolan's appointment as PNP chief for 2 months would not "do much."

"It cannot be just one police chief saying 'lapitan niyo ko magsumbong kayo

sa'kin.' It has to be institutional. The accountability needs to be

institutional. And Gen. CascolanÂ’s statements unfortunately do not reflect

that," he said.

Conde also said the data-sharing agreement between the Department of Justice

and the Commission on Human Rights was welcome but was part of government's

"cynical attempt" to avoid international sanctions.

"This is part of the campaign to try to hoodwink the international

community, the (UN) Human Rights Commission and International Criminal

Court, into thinking that government is doing something," he said.

DOJ RE-OPENS PROBE INTO PIMENTEL QUARANTINE BREACH

The Department of Justice has reopened its probe into the quarantine

protocol breach complaint against Sen. Koko Pimentel — this time to include

a narration from the Makati Medical Center in the investigation.

The investigating prosecutor will now also consider the incident report from

the Makati Medical Center Medical Director Saturnino Javier, who said in

March that Pimentel “violated his Home Quarantine Protocol [and] entered the

premises of the Medical Center Delivery Room Complex.

EXPERTS NOTE DECLINE IN DAILY COVID-19 CASE AVERAGE IN QC

MANILA — The average coronavirus cases recorded per day in Quezon City have

been steadily declining for the past three weeks, an independent research

group said.

In a statement issued Wednesday morning, the Quezon City local government

said that according to the findings of the UP OCTA Research Team, the

average number of daily cases dropped from 540 on the week of August 10-16

to 456 from August 17 to 23.

It further dropped to 372 from August 24 to 30, and later on to 205 from

August 1 to September 6.

The LGU added that the city's Reproduction Number, which indicates the

average number of people who will contract a contagious disease, "also

dropped for five straight weeks from 1.47 (July 27 to Aug. 2) to 0.92 on

Aug. 31 to Sept. 6, indicating a decline in the movement of the virus."

QC COVID-19 task force head Joseph Juico urged residents to stay vigilant

despite the decline in cases, saying the local government still needs their

cooperation to contain the spread of the virus.

“The city cannot afford another lockdown so we need everyone’s cooperation

in following protocols such as wearing of masks and face shields, proper

handwashing, and social distancing,” said Juico.

MAKABAYAN BLOC EYES CHARGES VS PCOO'S BADOY OVER RED-TAGGING

MANILA - The Makabayan bloc is mulling charges against Presidential

Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy for accusing several lawmakers

of being high-ranking officials of the Communist Party of the

Philippines-New People's Army, a lawmaker said Thursday.

The House Committee on Appropriations suspended budget proceedings for the

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) after the Makabayan

bloc accused Badoy of red-tagging.

Badoy should clearly state her accusations against Makabayan bloc lawmakers

under oath, said ACT Partylist Rep. France Castro.

"We will again engage tomorrow if she will be there in the budget hearing...

so that accountability would be there and then the legal team of the

Makabayan bloc is studying a case for Undersecretary Badoy," she told ANC.

During Wednesday's hearing, Castro said Badoy's red-baiting or

"terror-tagging" is a threat to the lives of Makabayan bloc lawmakers.

"Hindi kami papayag na basta na lang hahayaan na ang isang Undersecretary ng

isang ahensiya ng gobyerno ay patuloy na maghahasik ng kaniyang mga

kasinungalingan na nagdudulot ng pandarahas at pananakot sa aming buhay at

pamilya. Hindi biro ang maaaring kapinsalaan ng red-tagging sa isang

indibidwal o organisasyon," she said during the hearing.

"Malaki ang epekto nito, especially threat to our life. Marami nang

aktibista, members of progressive grouse na pinatay sa red-tagging," she

added in the ANC interview.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

LIZA SOBERANO SHARES A DAY IN HER LIFE IN THE NEW NORMAL

MANILA — The show must go on for Liza Soberano, and like most whose work

requires them to head out the actress makes necessary adjustments amid the

new normal.

Soberano shared a day in her life in her latest vlog entry released on

Wednesday. She chronicled heading to a pictorial, where safety protocol was

observed, and returning home, where she made it a point to disinfect.

“It definitely is a challenge for us to adapt and make it a safe place for

everyone but IÂ’m fortunate to be healthy and even have work at a time like

this,” she wrote in the video’s description.

In the video, Soberano also shared her hygiene routine, as she emphasized

the importance of cleanliness to minimize the risks of infection.

“Hope you guys pick up a few tips and please do let me know how you guys

take care of yourselves at work during a pandemic,” she said.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES SEP 9

FINAL

    1    2    3    4    T

2 Clippers 3-1    26    22    25    23    96

3 Nuggets 1-3    12    28    23    22    85

GAME 4: LAC LEADS 3-1

SCORING LEADERS

    K. Leonard LAC

30 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST

    N. Jokic DEN

26 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST

FINAL/2OT

    1    2    3    4    OT    T

2 Raptors 3-3    21    27    33    17    27    125

3 Celtics 3-3    25    27    25    21    24    122

GAME 6: SERIES TIED 3-3

SCORING LEADERS

    K. Lowry TOR

33 PTS, 8 REB, 6 AST

    J. Brown BOS

31 PTS, 16 REB, 2 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 48.66

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even

the best strategy. - George S. Patton Jr.