Inmate Colangco to Testify vs De Lima in House's Bilibid Drug Probe

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By: Tetch Torres-Tupas, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Convicted robber and drug dealer Herbert “Ampang” Colangco is one of the high profile inmates that will testify against Senator Leila de Lima in the Congressional inquiry next week on the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country’s major prison facility, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said Friday.

Colangco is one of the names in the drug matrix presented by President Rodrigo Duterte as among the convicts inside the Maximum Security Compound of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) who still managed to continue operations despite incarceration. Also in the matrix is De Lima, her former driver Ronnie Dayan and another drug convict Peter Co.

Colangco also managed to shoot music videos inside prison and donated millions to the Bilibid hospital. He, along with 18 other high profile inmates were moved to the National Bureau of Investigtion (NBI) in late 2014 after authorities discovered that they were living a posh lifestyle inside Bilibid. From NBI, they were moved to Bilibid’s Building 14, a highly secured facility separate from the Maximum Security Compound.

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READ: Bato brings SAF to Bilibid, taunts VIP inmate: Do a song for me

“There are 10 to 12 high profile inmates that will testify kasama si Colangco dun (Colangco is one of them),” Aguirre said.

“They have agreed to testify,” he said but pointed out that there are no concessions or agreement in exchange for their testimony.

Aside from the high profile inmates, Aguirre said a former NBI director and NBI agents will testify against De Lima. CDG

Cayetano: EJK hearings could be LP's 'Plan B' to reclaim Malacanang

Cayetano: EJK hearings could be LP’s ‘Plan B’ to reclaim Malacañang

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has questioned the real motive of the Senate Justice Committee in producing witness Edgar Matobato, who has claimed that President Rodrigo Duterte was behind numerous killings in Davao City when he was still mayor.

During Thursday’s hearing headed by Senator Leila De Lima, Cayetano warned that the probe could be a ploy initiated by the Liberal Party to damage the reputation of President Rodrigo Duterte, remove him from power, and install their own president.

“Gusto ko ipakita… na merong posibleng motibo ng paninira sa ating Pangulo dito… I’m asking about you [Sen. De Lima], your motive, and the motive of your party in this hearing… I am testing whether [the witnesses are credible] or is this part of the plan B of the Liberal Party para makuha ang Malacañang at manira lang,” Cayetano said.

“Ako po ay naniniwala sa kasabihan sa Bibliya, kung anong itinanim, ‘yun ang aanihin mo. So kailangan, sa committee na ‘to, katotohanan ang itatanim natin, kasi kung kasinungalingan, grabe po ang consequences nito... Ano ba ang importante, ang lumabas ang totoo, or is this just a demolition job being done against President Duterte?”

The senator questioned the Justice committee’s intention for presenting a witness with no proper corroboration. He strongly expressed doubt over the accusations made by Matobato, a self-proclaimed member of the suspected Davao Death Squad (DDS) who testified against Duterte before the hearing.

To disprove claims of Duterte’s alleged involvement in the killings in Davao during his term as mayor, Cayetano cited how the local office of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) already denied the existence of the said death squad.

The commission earlier conducted public hearings in Davao and even requested the Ombudsman to investigate on murder cases attributed to the DDS. The final disposition approved by the Office of the Ombudsman showed that "no evidence was gathered to support the killings attributed or attributable to the DDS” and that the allegations remain as "chismis and other gossips,” Cayetano noted.

He then stressed that Matobato’s credibility as a witness needs to be tested further, especially considering his proximity to De Lima, a Liberal Party member.

“Kaya ko nga tine-testing kung totoo sinasabi niyo o hindi… kung drawing ba ito, imbento lang ba ito, at dinala ka dito para pabagsakin ang administrasyon,” he told Matobato, who had been under the Justice Department’s Witness Protection Program (WPP) since 2014, back when De Lima was still DOJ Secretary.

Cayetano further expressed his frustration over the manner by which the proceedings were being conducted, particularly the committee’s failure to provide senators with a list of the witnesses prior to last Thursday’s hearing.

“Until 4 p.m. yesterday (Wednesday), humihingi ako ng listahan ng imbitado sa hearing na ‘to. Hindi ako binibigyan ng committee po ninyo. Kahit ang initial list kung sino ang imbitado,” Cayetano narrated. “I just take exception to the way this [hearing] is being conducted. Because dapat handa at prepared kaming lahat, and factual ang mga lumalabas,” he stressed.

Cayetano also called out the committee for mentioning misleading data with regards to the number of deaths being linked to the current administration.

“When the chair gives facts and figures, it should be factual, hindi conclusions. At the start of this hearing, the chair mentioned that there are 3,526 total killed persons on the drug war... But this is wrong, because there are only 1,506 killed resulting from actual police operations. Ang ibang dinagdag dito, ‘yung murder and homicide [cases], pareho ang numero nung time ni Pangulong Aquino, na ngayon ay china-charge kay Pangulong Duterte,” he said during his manifestation.

“Let me say why I want to manifest this. We are being monitored not only by the local media but also the international media, and they are quoting from this hearing, from the CHR, and from this chair. Pero ‘yung mga numero ay mali at misleading,” he added. 

Social media…

THU, SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

… and the rise or  fall (?) of  global politicians!

With an increasingly globalized world social media have become an invaluable tool of the international political trade, and it will continue to evolve. Just ask our good President Rodrigo Duterte and/or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for example.

We are living in a world where YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter can make you a star, keep you a star or help catapult you to the highest political offices in the world. Or we see the total opposite.

It’s not just ‘entertainment-it-girls’  (or boys!) using the tools of the social media trade. Politicians and heads of government are too, and now they are reaching beyond the traditional marketing avenues to address their constituents and reach an audience that sometimes transcends their own national borders.

I came across Bhupesh Shah, a social media marketing expert and professor at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada, ranking as one of the Top 50 business professors to follow on Twitter. He says that it is helping leaders connect with their citizens in an “efficient and effective manner.” If I meet other business people and ask them about their Facebook or Twitter accounts, I mostly receive a positive smile and answer. Of course, I have!

Back to Shah, who says: “It is absolutely critical for politicians to be accessible and to disseminate their message as wide as possible. Not fully leveraging the tools available nowadays, and sticking only with traditional methods would be fatal. And this is absolutely correct!

Arguably the most successful by virtue of followers and likes are India’s Prime Minister Nerendra Modi and US President Barak Obama. Modi now has over 20 million followers on Twitter, while President Obama has over 77 million and both continue to wrack up the likes on Facebook and have taken to YouTube, whether it’s to be interviewed or to post.

Both have one thing in common when it comes to their social media presence: they get personal.

Rather than just posting canned political messages they’ve stepped out of the traditional political box, posting more intimate glimpses into their lives, like Obama exercising with the Vice Presi-dent or playing football with his dog.

“Social media gets around the so-called gatekeepers and takes the message directly to the virtual street!… You’re typically reaching the younger demographic, those that are keen to have their voices heard,” said Shah.

But social media is also a rapidly changing arena and there are pitfalls that can trip anyone up – or down! Trudeau, Modi and Obama have largely managed to avoid these, although the Canadian PM has faced criticism within Canada over his use of social media, most notably after he answered a question about quantum computing from a journalist that went viral. Some criticized him for planting the question solely for social media purposes.

“Leaders should recognize that anything they say or do can and will be used by the public (and media) for their own agenda. This means that they always have to be ‘on’ – knowing that what they say will be instantly captured and shared,” Shah explains. Correct! We just experienced this with our president Rodrigo Duterte, didn’t we?

With an increasingly globalized world social media has become an invaluable tool of the international political trade and it will continue to evolve. Modi, Obama and Trudeau are pioneers in this realm and their experiences online are shaping what’s to come both internationally and nationally for the next generation of politicians who aspire to the highest offices.

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visit www.german expatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com.

Philippines Suspends Scallops Linked to Hawaii Outbreak

By: Associated Press

An employee cleans a logo at the Genki Sushi conveyor belt restaurant chain Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016, in Aiea, Hawaii. The Hawaii State Department of Health Sanitation said Tuesday that Genki Sushi was being ordered to close its 10 restaurants on Oahu and one on Kauai after state authorities identified its raw scallops as the probable source of a hepatitis A outbreak. The disease can cause fever, loss of appetite and other symptoms. AP

The Philippine government has suspended distribution of seafood believed to be the cause of a hepatitis A outbreak in Hawaii.

De Oro Resources Inc. must temporarily suspend distribution of its products, according to an order by the Philippines’ Department of Agriculture Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Hawaii’s Department of Health last month identified frozen scallops served raw at a sushi chain as the probable cause. The scallops are produced by De Oro Resources.

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READ: Cebu scallops blamed for hepa A in Hawaii

Andres Bojos, director of the agriculture bureau in the Central Visayas region, said officials required the company to test workers, including those who shuck scallops and those who work in their plant. All of them tested negative for hepatitis A, he said.

The Hawaii outbreak has sickened more than 250 people.

Bojos said Tuesday that De Oro Resources remains suspended pending completion of the audit they are doing. Aside from scallops, De Oro also exports shrimp.

“We required the operator to subject all their personnel involved in the supply chain from those who shuck the meat of scallops in Masbate to their people in their plant here in Cebu to medical tests, but all of them tested negative for Hepatitis A,” Bojos said. He said those who were tested include around 100 personnel of De Oro in its plant in central Cebu province and 29 people who work in De Oro’s pre-processing plant in Masbate in the eastern Philippines, where the company gets some of its scallops.

But Bojos said a water sample from Masbate was found to have a high level of coliform bacteria, and scallops are not being sourced from that area for the meantime.

He noted that out of 9 restaurants of a chain in Hawaii that get their supply from the Philippines, only two have been identified as having the Hepatitis A-tainted scallops. He said there is also a possibility that the scallops were contaminated during the handling of the food in Hawaii. There are no known cases in the region of Hepatitis A from scallops consumption, he added.

Four other companies in the region export scallops aside from De Oro Resources, said Grace Paguinang, a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources inspector in Central Visayas. But the seasonal product is not a main export of those companies, whose bigger products are crabs and shrimp. There were no immediately available data on exports volume.

Messages left for De Oro Resources remain unanswered. The company had also not responded to previous requests for comment.