MASSIVE FLOODING LEAVES 30 DEAD, 1 MILLION AFFECTED ACROSS PHILIPPINES

MANILA — The death toll from the massive flooding across the Philippines brought by a series of low-pressure areas (LPA) and the shear line has climbed to 30, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said Wednesday.

More than 1 million people—or 387,000 families—were also affected by the flooding that hit 13 regions across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao since Jan. 2. Over 200,000 individuals, or 55,850 families, were also displaced after being forced to flee their homes.

The flooding also left 13 people injured and 5 others still missing as of writing, the OCD reported.

Agricultural damage was estimated at P374 million, while damage to infrastructue was pegged at P181.6 million.

Some 1,292 houses were also damaged; 35 roads and 10 bridges were also reported to be not passable to all types of vehicles.

Ten cities and towns were also placed under a state of calamity, the latest of which was the entire island of Samar.

As of Wednesday, the OCD said that over P77.9 million worth of assistance has been provided to the affected population.

Search and rescue teams were also deployed with their operations ongoing, the OCD added.

MARCOS JOINS OTHER WORLD LEADERS AT WEF OPENING

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday attended the formal opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2023 at the Davos Congress Center in Switzerland.

Mr. Marcos is scheduled to address the WEF today (Wednesday, Jan. 18, Manila time).

Ahead of the formal opening, Mr. Marcos made an investment pitch for the Philippines that gained “a very positive response” from some of the world’s top business leaders, Speaker Martin Romualdez said.“This is an auspicious start and bodes well for the success of the President’s mission here at the WEF and that is to position the Philippines as an investment hub and gateway to the Asia-Pacific region,” Romualdez said.

“Everyone was excited about the Philippine recovery story and agreed that it is the future investor haven for Western capital,” he added.

MARCOS: SHUN COLD WAR OUTLOOK

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that countries in the Asia Pacific region should chart their own destiny away from the clutches of intense geopolitical rivalry, noting that there is unanimity among those nations not to embrace the Cold War mentality.

Speaking during a luncheon hosted for him and the Philippine Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) by the economic team in Davos, Switzerland, President Marcos said countries in the Asia Pacific are facing pressure to take sides as a result of intense geopolitical tension in the region.

The President said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies are very well committed to the idea that they cannot return to the Cold War formula, in which they have to choose whether to be under the Soviet Union or the United States spheres of influence.

“No country grew wealthy without a very strong trade relationship, not only with one or two other countries but with the rest of the world…. We all desire, especially let us say around the South China Sea, we all desire a more multi-polar [geopolitics],” Mr. Marcos said.

“However, the forces of us going back to that Cold War type of scenario where you have to choose one side or the other are strong. So the multilateralism that ASEAN—what we call the ASEAN Centrality, has become a very important concept. I think we are determined as a group in ASEAN and in the Indo-Pacific, those around the Indo-Pacific, despite all of this conflict we are determined to stay away from that.”

JOURNALIST MARIA RESSA, RAPPLER ACQUITTED OF TAX EVASION

MANILA — Journalist and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa was acquitted by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on 4 counts of tax-related charges filed against her and her media company Rappler Holdings Corporation (RHC).

The CTA First Division handed down the verdict on Wednesday, finding Ressa and RHC not guilty on 3 counts of failure to supply correct information and one count of tax evasion, amounting to P141 million worth of taxes, including surcharge and interest.Ressa and her legal counsel reiterated that there was no evidence on the tax cases against her and RHC.

The Department of Justice, which filed the charges in 2018, had said that RHC allegedly failed to file value-added tax (VAT) returns for the 3rd and 4th quarter and income tax return in 2015, in violation of Section 255 of the Tax Code.

DOJ also alleged that Ressa and RHC violated section 254 of the Tax Code, or an attempt to evade payment of taxes.

Ressa had pleaded not guilty to the charges against her and paid a bail of P204,000 at the CTA in 2020.

Ressa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize along with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021, still faces 3 other criminal cases, including a cyber libel conviction, currently on appeal, for which she could face nearly 7 years in prison.

"Today, facts win. Truth wins," a defiant Ressa told reporters outside the Manila courtroom shortly after the court handed down its ruling.

“These charges were a brazen abuse of power, political harassment against journalists trying to hold power to account. This is where business, capital markets, and press freedom meet. So this victory is not just for Rappler, it’s for every Filipino who has ever been unjustly accused,” Ressa said.

The 59-year-old has been battling a series of cases that media advocates say were filed due to her criticism of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his drug war, which claimed thousands of lives.

DIOKNO SEES FASTER GROWTH IN 2022 THAN GDP TARGET OF 6.5% TO 7.5%

The government expects a strong full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2022, most likely much faster than its growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Monday.

In a speech during a luncheon hosted for President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Philippine chief executive officers (CEOs) in Davos, Switzerland, Diokno said because of the expected slowdown of the global economy, the Philippine economy is forecast to grow by around 6.5 percent this year.

“And that’s still one of the highest if not the highest growth projections in the Asia-Pacific Region,” Diokno said.

The Philippines’ bustling manufacturing sector, record-low unemployment, and stable and resilient banking system can act as buffers against external headwinds, all indicating a resilient economy, the Finance chief said.

At the same time, Diokno said the Marcos government has created a more competitive and enabling environment through public-private partnership (PPP) to further expand the Build, Better, More infrastructure agenda of the administration.

This will further boost investments on top of the government’s goal to spend at least 5-6 percent of GDP on infrastructure, Diokno noted, stressing all these form the backbone for the rapid and sustained growth for the Philippines.

GALVEZ ADMITS ‘RUMBLINGS’ IN THE MILITARY, VOWS TO FIX THINGS WITHIN 3 MONTHS

Newly appointed Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Tuesday admitted “rumblings” within the military due to Republic Act 11709, which grants a three-year fixed term for the AFP Chief of Staff and other key officials, but said this situation would be resolved within the first quarter of 2023.

In the hearing to amend the law conducted by the Senate Committee on National Defense chaired by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Galvez revealed the unrest among some AFP members as they have not been promoted, and that the law has gravely affected their morale.

The delayed appointments, he said, will mostly affect those officers who belong to the Philippine Military Academy Classes of 1990 and 1994.

“But if we can fix it now, this will be a huge help. It will (remove) apprehensions that the ensuing class especially those in Class ‘90, ‘91, ‘92 that they will be affected and there will be some sort of arbitrary disqualification from the competition,” the AFP’s 50th Chief of Staff said.

Due to this, Galvez cited the urgency to amend RA 11709, which was signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte toward the end of his term, adding he personally asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to help rectify the issue.

The Defense chief disclosed that he requested Mr. Marcos Jr. to make the new military appointments before going to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.

Galvez attributed the delay in the military appointments to the election ban and the transition from the Duterte to the Marcos administration.

The President recently defended his decision to reappoint Gen. Andres Centino as AFP chief of staff, saying he had to “rationalize” the senior military leadership to prevent “chaos” in the lower ranks.

The “unintended consequences” of the retirement law affected 14 key positions, Galvez said, and not resolving it “will greatly affect the dynamism of the organization.”

 DOJ PANEL JUNKS MURDER RAPS VS 17 COPS OVER LABOR LEADER'S KILLING

MANILA — A panel of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors has junked the murder complaint filed against 17 police officers over the killing of labor leader Manny Asuncion in Cavite on March 6, 2021, in what became known as "Bloody Sunday".

In a resolution received by the lawyer of Asuncion’s wife, Liezel, on January 16, Monday, the DOJ panel led by senior assistant state prosecutor Rodan Parrocha dismissed due to lack of probable cause the murder complaint against 17 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Rizal and PNP-Laguna who were part of the team that supposedly served a search warrant on Asuncion’s office in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

“We lament the demise of Emmanuel Asuncion. However, complainant and the evidence she submitted failed to discharge the obligation to prove the existence of a crime and identify the perpetrators thereof. In the absence of proof, there could be no probable cause to charge the respondents,” the 23-page resolution said.

Police said Asuncion fought back upon service of the warrant but his family and lawyers said police ransacked the gate and the main door of his office without showing any warrant.

He was then supposedly brought towards the staircase and was later killed.

After a months-long probe by the DOJ’s special investigating team (SIT), the murder complaint was filed in November 2021.

In dismissing the murder complaint, the DOJ panel said Liezel was not able to adequately substantiate her allegations against the cops.