DUTERTE SAYS HE DECLINED UPCOMING US-ASEAN SUMMIT DUE TO #HALALAN2022

MANILA— President Rodrigo Duterte has declined an invitation to Washington for a conference with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders and American President Joe Biden, citing its proximity with the upcoming elections.

Duterte said it would "look bad" for him to attend the US-ASEAN meeting just as the country elects its leaders this May 9. He said the conference will be held from May 11 to 13.

The White House though said the meeting would happen on May 12 and 13.

"Mahirapan ako kasi at that time, tapos na ang election, may alam na tayo kung sino ang maging, ma-proclaim na presidente," Duterte said in his taped speech aired on Wednesday morning.

"Pangit na tingnan kung magpunta ako doon na alam kong may bagong presidente na. Besides, if it is a working conference or commitments that will be made," he added.

The Chief Executive, who said he was the only ASEAN leader who would not come for the meet, noted that he would not want to offend the next president if he makes commitments during the summit.

"Ang mahirap kasi kung ako ang nandoon, I might make a stand that would not be acceptable to the next administration... ASEAN 'yan and I think everybody feels the desire to attend the event."

Duterte on March 4 said he also got an invitation for the ASEAN meeting with Biden set later that month. It was unclear during his speech though whether he accepted or rejected the invite.

LOCAL LEADERS REPORT ABUSE OF GOV'T RESOURCES AMID ELECTION CAMPAIGN

MANILA — More than 100 community leaders have observed that some candidates are using government resources during the campaign period, an election watchdog said Wednesday.

Of the 161 community leaders interviewed by observers from Legal Network for Truthful Elections, 45 of them or 28 percent reported abuse of state resources.

"Some of these incidents mostly we're all familiar. For example, the use of government vehicles during the campaign period," Lente executive director Rona Caritos told ANC's "Rundown".

"The use of government staff to campaign for candidates or they're used to make the flyers or the letters to be distributed by the candidates."

Lente and the Right to Know, Right Now Coalition is conducting a study on abuse of state resources, which will run until June.

The poll watchdog has deployed 40 long-term observers in vote-rich and income-generating areas in the country.

To ensure the conduct of a clean and honest polls, Lente is also monitoring the voting of the vulnerable sectors such as persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and persons deprived of liberty.

According to Caritos, some of the respondents, which include voters and local government employees, saw ASR "as part of Philippine politics".

"They see it as part of Philippine elections. It's not a violation of our laws," she said.

Caritos said her group plans to provide recommendations to Congress and the Commission on Elections "to make our legal framework more effective and more responsive" against these illegal practices.

COMELEC GEARS UP FOR 3-DAY LOCAL ABSENTEE VOTING

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is gearing up for the 3-day local absentee voting beginning Wednesday, April 27, until April 29, Friday.

Local absentee voting is for persons deprived of liberty, members of the media, and uniformed personnel who will be working on Election Day, May 9.

“For PNP, AFP and other government offices, it is the head of office who will conduct the voting, he will be the one to distribute to the local absentee voters their ballots, then the voters will accomplish the ballots, after that give it back to the head who will collect all outer envelopes containing the accomplished ballots, then transmit it back to ECAD (Election Contests Adjudication Department),” Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said.

Media practitioners meanwhile will go to RED-NCR office to vote, said Garcia.

On voting day, pre-registered local absentee voters will be voting for national positions only and will use manual ballots.

They will secretly fill out the ballot by writing the names of their chosen candidates for president, vice-president, and senators, including party-list groups.

There are 84,357 approved local absentee voters, based on Comelec data.

'DOESN'T MAKE YOU A MAN': DUTERTE CRITICIZES HAZING IN FRATERNITIES

MANILA— President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday criticized the unnecessary violence incited for the sake of joining fraternities, saying that does not make anyone a man.

Duterte, a member of Lex Talionis Fraternitas Inc., recalled urging his fraternity to stop hazing at some point, or at least lessen the practice.

"Sobrang physical punishment. Noong nagkasabay kaming tatlo, naging presidente ako... We wrote our fraternity to stop the instances of inflicting severe pain," Duterte said.

"'Yung mga fraternity -- may bago na namang namatay -- ano ba ang makuha nito?" he added.

ThePresident described fraternities as something meant for academic pursuit.

"'Yung mga fraternities hindi ka maging masyadong lalaki. You cannot be more of human even to yourself if you kill another human being na helpless. Hindi naman makaganti."

Republic Act 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 was enacted into law nearly a year since the death of hazing victim Horacio "Atio" Castillo III, a University of Santo Tomas law freshman.

The 22-year-old died of heart attack after sustaining "massive injuries" from the beating he received during the initiation rites of fraternity Aegis Juris.

In 2020, Duterte issued a written proclamation that makes the second week of every February as the National Hazing Prevention Week.

PDP-LABAN CUSI FACTION, UNITEAM JOINING FORCES FOR RALLIES

MANILA — The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) faction composed of President Duterte’s allies and the UniTeam of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will join forces in campaign rallies.

In a Facebook post, the PDP-Laban said it would unite with the UniTeam in campaign activities two weeks before the national and local elections on May 9.

The ruling party also teased that its chairman President Duterte might make an appearance.

The PDP-Laban has yet to release a schedule of activities for the joint events.

Asked if they are working on Duterte and Marcos joining together on stage, party president Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said in a text message: “Abangan na lang natin (Let’s just wait for it), please.”

MEDIA-SHY MARCOS PUZZLED THAT PRESS HAS DIFFICULTY INTERVIEWING HIM

MANILA — It is a puzzle for presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. why people are saying it is difficult to get to interview him.

Marcos, whose media bureau accredits journalists allowed to cover him and disseminates campaign information to just a few, has been criticized for being selective with his media engagements.

"I don't know kung saan sinasabing that mahirap ako i-ambush interview. I'm always out in public," he said in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines.

He also said that he has other campaign activities planned when he is out.

"Ako, palagay ko hindi ako maglalagay ng spokesman. Haharap ako sa media (I don't think I will appoint a spokesman. I will face the media)... I don't understand bakit may spokesman ang presidente. Kaya naman i-explain ng presidente kahit na ano," Marcos said of his plans if elected.

At the press conference, which was streamed on Facebook, Marcos was asked about fuel prices and on prospects for peace in Muslim Mindanao. At one point in the rare press conference, a member of the media even addressed him as President Marcos.

While it is true that Marcos has had many public events and campaign sorties, reporters following him on the campaign trail have struggled to be able to ask him questions.

There have been a few instances when Marcos answered a few questions from the media although the setup was not always ideal.

During a March 22 sortie in Cavite, Marcos allowed a rare ambush interview on between campaign events, where he was asked for his reaction to administration PDP-Laban party giving him its endorsement.

But when asked about estate taxes that the Bureau of Internal Revenue has been trying to collect from the Marcoses, the candidate chose to walk away.

DUQUE: SOME 3.6 MILLION DONATED COVID-19 JABS ALREADY EXPIRED, TO BE REPLACED

MANILA— Some 3.6 million donated COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Philippines have already expired and will be replaced by vaccine-sharing platform COVAX, the Department of Health said on Wednesday.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the expired anti-virus shots made up 1.46 percent of the country's vaccine inventory, and the replacements come with no additional cost.

"Papalitan 'yan. Ire-replace ng COVAX facility. Nag-meeting na kami kahapon at mayroon na po silang sulat sa atin," Duque told President Rodrigo Duterte in a taped address aired on Wednesday morning.

Duque and vaccine czar Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr. were also appealing to brand manufacturers to replace expired or near-expiring COVID-19 vaccine doses that government has bought.

Government is still waiting for their response.

Galvez said the country still has 98 million readily-available virus jabs.

"'Yung mga expiring na lahat, maaaring palitan ng COVAX ng freshly-manufactured at mataas ang shelf life na more or less 6 months or one year," he noted.

Duterte said he was happy with the development: "That's nice for them to do that. It's a distinct humanitarian sentiment."

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion earlier said some 27 million COVID-19 jabs will expire by July.

He earlier said making boosters mandatory will help in the slow vaccine uptake.

MARCOS DOUBTS INFORMATION ONLINE CAN BE REGULATED – ‘WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO?‘

MANILA – Presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos expressed doubts on Tuesday about the potential efficacy of laws against the propagation of fake news.

In an interview with Ruth Cabal on CNN Philippines, Marcos said that it would be hard for government to limit peoples' participation in the internet.

"One of the greatest advantages of the internet in general, not just social media, is that it's interactive and open source. So anybody can participate. How do you control that? And why would you want to?" Marcos said.

The former senator also said that legislation would always be behind technology, and a certain technology would be outdated by the time legislators understood enough to have it regulated.

"I think the only defense for everybody is to interact and to read everything. Don't read one thing," Marcos said. "You have to be more ... you have to show a little discretion in what you believe in."

The Commission on Elections has repeatedly lobbied a bill to have social media regulated during elections. However, according to political analyst Aries Arugay, these moves have been ignored by successive sessions of Congress.

Former Comelec Commissioner Luie Tito Guia has also said Philippine voting laws, such as the Fair Elections Act and the Omnibus Election Code, were too "Jurassic" to deal with political manipulation and other election-related issues on social media and the internet.

Marcos' campaign has been accused of propagating fake news against political rivals, as well as historical revisionism aimed at cleaning up the Marcos family's history and the Martial Law period between 1972 to 1981.

In March, election watchdog "Kontra Daya" called out Marcos for his campaign's alleged use of disinformation networks.

But the former senator denied he made use of so-called troll farms, just as he did in a previous interview with Korina Sanchez.

"Find me one. Show me one. One. Just one," he said.

News outlet Rappler reported in January that more than 300 accounts from Marcos' supporter base on Twitter were taken down for violating the platform's rules on spam and manipulation.

But the former senator said these were just individual accounts.

"You know, yung sinasabi nilang trolls, thousands of... hanapan mo ako ng isa. Just one. Find me a troll working for us," Marcos said.

"They don't exist. You show me the place where the hundreds of trolls sitting in front of a computer spreading fake news. It doesn't exist."

Marcos added that he was offered a so-called "click army", as well as online trolls, but he never made use of their services.

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INCUMBENTS TOP CHOICES FOR METRO MANILA MAYORS – SURVEY

MANILA — Metro Manila mayors running for reelection or other local posts remained the most preferred candidates in the upcoming elections, the latest survey conducted by RP-Mission and Development Foundation Inc. (RPMD) showed.

RPMD released the results of its April 17 to 21 survey on Monday night, two weeks before the May 9 polls.

In Quezon City, Mayor Joy Belmonte maintained her lead with 65 percent of support among survey respondents, compared to 33 percent obtained by her closest rival, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor.

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto obtained the support of 67 percent of survey respondents from the city, compared to the 30 percent who support Vice Mayor Iyo Bernardo. Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro had 58 percent of support, against the 38 percent of former mayor and incumbent Rep. Bayani Fernando.

Other re-electionist mayors leading in their respective races were Abby Binay of Makati (95 percent), Imelda Aguilar of Las Piñas (91 percent), Ike Ponce III of Pateros (88 percent), Emi Calixto-Rubiano of Pasay (93 percent) and Francis Zamora of San Juan (85 percent).

Some lawmakers also emerged as the most preferred candidates in their respective mayoralty races: Valenzuela Rep. Weslie Gatchalian (90 percent), Navotas Rep. John Rey Tiangco (88 percent) and Parañaque Rep. Eric Olivarez (78 percent).

Caloocan Rep. Dale Malapitan (85 percent) is leading against Rep. Edgar Erice (15 percent), while former mayor and Taguig Rep. Lani Cayetano (70 percent) is leading against former representative Arnel Cerafica (25 percent).

Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon obtained 85 percent of support, compared to closest rival Red Marinas with 13 percent.

In Manila, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna is leading with 55 percent against former representative Amado Bagatsing with 20 percent and Alex Lopez with 18 percent.

Former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. is also leading the race in Mandaluyong with 88 percent.

In Malabon, former vice mayor Jeannie Sandoval has 56 percent compared to 42 percent for Councilor Enzo Oreta, brother of outgoing Mayor Antolin Oreta.

Outgoing Caloocan Mayor Oscar Malapitan and Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco, who are both running for Congress, obtained 92 percent.

According to RPMD, the survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 10,000 respondents from Metro Manila, sampled randomly and divided proportionally based on population. Margin of error ranges from 2.5 percent to 3.36 percent, depending on the sample size.

PANGASINAN BANS CHICKEN, POULTRY PRODUCTS FROM CAGAYAN VALLEY

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — The entry of chicken and poultry products from Cagayan Valley has been banned in Pangasinan amid reported cases of avian influenza or bird flu in Isabela.

Gov. Amado Espino III issued an executive order on Monday implementing the ban to protect the poultry industry in the province as well as the general public from the ill effects of bird flu.

The EO noted that the Department of Agriculture regional office confirmed that around 200 chickens have died of bird flu.

It also cited research and diagnosis from the Cagayan Valley Integrated Agricultural Laboratory, which confirmed avian flu cases in the region.

“There is an urgent need to prohibit the entry of chicken from Region 2 in Pangasinan,” the EO read.

Provincial veterinarian quarantine officers were tasked to put up checkpoints, such as along the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway and other strategic areas.

“All local chief executives are directed to strengthen biosafety, hygiene and sanitation standards in slaughterhouses/abattoirs, public markets and poultry farms in their respective areas of jurisdiction,” the EO stated.

MRT-3 SAYS FREE RIDES PROGRAM EXTENDED UNTIL END-MAY

MANILA — Management of the Metro Rail Transit-Line 3 said it would extend the rail line's free ride program until the end of May, it said in an advisory sent to reporters.

"Passengers will be able to continue enjoying free rides at the rehabilitated MRT-3 line until 30 May 2022, anytime between the rail line’s operating hours from 4:40 a.m. and 10:10 p.m.," the advisory reads.

The program, which was supposed to end on April 30, was meant to showcase the rehabilitation of the rail line in the past months and restore the public's confidence in the train.

"The ridership of the MRT-3 has improved...Before the pandemic, [it was just] 260,000. And although there was a pandemic, the ridership reached 280,000. And now, the MRT-3 can board 300,000 safely," Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade was quoted as saying.

DEPED: OVER 37,000 PUBLIC SCHOOLS READY FOR 2022 ELECTIONS

MANILA — More than 37,000 public schools are ready to serve as polling centers for the national and local elections this 2022, according to an official from the Department of Education (DepEd).

"All of these [schools] are ready and they are also prepared for testing and sealing [of the vote counting machines] from May 2 to 7," DepEd Director of Public Affairs Services Marcelo Bragado said in an interview over Unang Balita on Wednesday.

He added that their teachers assigned to serve as the board of election inspectors (BEI) are ready to serve in this year's elections, as they have already attended the necessary training.

Bragado said that their classrooms are equipped with disinfection areas as well as a help desk to assist voters.

Under the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 10460, the Electoral Boards (EBs)— also known as BEIs—  are normally made up of public school teachers who are willing and able to provide election-related services.

EB members receive honoraria, travel allowances, communication allowances, anti-COVID-19 allowances and service credits.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES APR 25

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

2 Celtics4-0       30        28        32        26        116

7 Nets0-4          26        24        28        34        112

GAME 4: BOS LEADS 4-0, BARCLAYS CENTER, BROOKLYN, NY

SCORING LEADERS

J. Tatum BOS

29 PTS 3 REB 5 AST

K. Durant BKN

39 PTS 7 REB 9 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

5 Raptors2-3     29        25        21        28        103

4 76ers3-2        27        14        25        22        88

GAME 5: PHI LEADS 3-2, WELLS FARGO CENTER, PHILADELPHIA, PA

SCORING LEADERS

P. Siakam TOR

23 PTS 10 REB 7 AST

J. Embiid PHI

20 PTS 11 REB 4 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

5 Jazz2-3          18        18        19        22        77

4 Mavericks3-2 24        28        29        21        102

GAME 5: DAL LEADS 3-2, AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER, DALLAS, TX

SCORING LEADERS

J. Clarkson UTA

20 PTS 4 REB 3 AST

L. Doncic DAL

33 PTS 13 REB 5 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 52.25

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. - Francis Bacon