Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno wanted to dispel notions that the forum was a show of force, but it was one in every respect.

She joined Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Wednesday, November 29, at a gathering of the Constitutional Fiscal Autonomy Group (CFAG) and told the room: “Hindi kami nagtipon-tipon dahil may problems o dinadaanang crisis ang ilan sa amin, noon pa po kaming 2013 nagkikita-kita.” (We didn’t meet today because there are problems or crises that some of us are facing, we have been meeting since 2013.)

But it was strong optics. Sereno is going through impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives, while Morales also faces her own impeachment threat. Both of them have been challenged by President Rodrigo Duterte to resign together.

“I know it was not planned nor intended, but it has the effect of a show of force and solidarity among these institutions critical to our democracy,” said legal and political analyst Tony La Viña.

Sereno was Morales’ junior at the Supreme Court (SC). 

“Justice Chit was my Division Chairperson, when I was just an Associate Justice she was chairing the 3rd Division. I cut my teeth from her mentorship. So I got some of her characteristics, I hope the positive ones,” Sereno said.

Sereno said she and Morales share the same sense of humor.

“That’s where we’re leading the men. Mas magaling ang sense of humor namin kaysa sa kanila. Palagay ko sila when they’re beleaguered, (We have a better sense of humor than them, I think that when they're beleaguered) you don’t see them cracking jokes as often as we do,” Sereno said. 

Sereno teased Morales some more: “The Ombudsman is the wittiest and the sexiest person inside the room, bar none, daig kayo ng lola niyo (she's better than you)!”

Strong message

While Sereno has appeared playful, Morales has been uncharacteristically tight-lipped of late.

Whereas before she would go as far as telling the President, “Anong pakialam niya? (Why should he interfere?)” she would settle for a smile, and give reporters short statements like, “I note it” when asked to react to the President’s tirades.

But on Wednesday, she said quite defiantly: “The Ombudsman is not subject to the disciplinary authority of the President.”

This was said in the context of Duterte’s threats to have Morales and the entire Office of the Ombudsman investigated. The Office, led by Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang, is investigating a complaint regarding Duterte’s wealth.

Carandang also faces a complaint filed before the Office of the President, despite a Supreme Court ruling saying the President cannot remove an Ombudsman or the Deputy Ombudsmen.

Morales reminded everybody of checks and balances, saying that the country can benefit from a “necessary degree of hostility.”

“It is a bitter pill to swallow, but it is a pill nonetheless to avoid contracting the malady of tyranny,” she said.

Then she went further: “Groucho Marx satirically describes a tyrant whose mindset follows this certain credo: ’These are my principles, if you don’t like them, I can change them’ or worse ‘these are the laws, if I don’t like them, I can break them.'”

Constitutionalist Christian Monsod was there in the room too, and he didn't pass up the opportunity to chime in.

“The powers of the Ombudsman must surely make a president uncomfortable if he has “moist eyes” on being an autocrat, as my friend Rene Saquisag would say,” Monsod said.

War on drugs

Sereno, for her part, reiterated her message on the war on drugs.

During the first round of oral arguments in the SC on petitions seeking to declare unconstitutional the circulars relating to the war on drugs, Sereno seemed to be warning policemen about their liabilities.

She repeated that warning again in the forum: “At the end of the day, crimes will catch up with us, alam ba nila ho na maaaring kahit anong sabihin nila akala 'yun ang tama, hindi po yun magiging defense sa mga krimen na gawa ng ganitong klaseng gravidad.” (Are they aware that even if they say they thought that what they were doing was right, it will not stand as a defense for crimes of this gravity.)

She told the heads of the constitutional bodies, among them Chito Gascon of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and himself a subject of Duterte’s ire: “Ngayon ang panahon na kayo ay mag-shine, dapat tuunan, dapat tulungan.” (This is the time for you to shine, for people to take notice of you, for people to help you.)

But Gascon, though his CHR was threatened with a P1,000-budget at the House level, made it about Sereno and Morales again: “Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales will prevail, Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will prevail, and justice in this country will prevail."

Avengers or Suicide Squad?

The SC, Office of the Ombudsman, CHR, Commission on Audit, Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) make up the CFAG.

“The CFAG may not be Avengers of the Justice League, we may be the Suicide Squad,” joked Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, the acting chairman of the Comelec.

Of course the Comelec has had its own trials, with the impeachment and then resignation of its former chairman Andres Bautista, who is embroiled in a hidden wealth scandal. 

But Sereno urged them to stay strong and reminded them of their powers.

She even called for reinforcement, as she urged Monsod to gather members of the 1986 Constitutional Commission to help them strengthen their mandates.

“Magsama-sama kayo, and ano po ba talaga ang correct description ng role nilang 5 ngayon sa system of checks and balances?” she said. (Come together and determine what is the correct description of roles of these 5 agencies when it comes to checks and balances.)

She added: “Kapag malakas ang laban ng CFAG agencies, malakas ang laban ng Pilipino.” (When the CFAG agencies are strong, the fight of the Filipino people is strong.)

So Sereno may claim it was just a routinary event, but still they made sure that whoever they were speaking with got their message. – Rappler.com

Who among Philippine presidents has proven to be the most doting Commander-in-Chief, so far? 

For President Rodrigo Duterte, it's a tie between him and the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

Between them, no one else seemed to compare, Duterte implied in remarks to troops in Camp General Teodulfo Bautista in Barangay Bus-Bus, Jolo, on Friday, December 1, where he awarded medals to soldiers who fought in the Marawi siege, gave cash assistance to the wounded, and wished troops an advance merry Christmas. 

He also gave watches to birthday celebrants that day – including his own watch, which he took off and handed over to the most senior among the celebrants on stage.

“Never was a time – hindi ako nagyayabang – walang ibang presidente, dalawa lang ang nagbigay ng atensiyon na kinakailangan para sa sundalo. Ako lang pati si Marcos (Never was a time – I'm not bragging – no other president, there are only two who gave the needed attention to soldiers. It's only me and Marcos),”  Duterte said.

“Marcos was also a lover of soldiers,” he added, but did not elaborate.

It can't be argued that Marcos indeed paid extra attention to the military during his regime. In nearly half of his 21-year-rule, he placed the country under martial law to keep his grip on power. The military was tainted by human rights abuses and became highly politicized during his watch, triggering an effort among idealistic young officers and their similarly-minded seniors to reform the Armed Forces.

Duterte has openly admired Marcos, and calls him the best Philippine president – if not for his dictatorship. Duterte is also friends with the Marcos family, and supported their patriarch's burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani amid strong opposition from survivors and families of victims of martial law and other groups.

'I'm not a despot'

In the same speech, the President assured soldiers that he was not "a despot." He said that contrary to how he was being portrayed by some quarters, he was a "president for peace."

"We would like to seek peace. 'Wag sana kayo magmisinterpet sa aking mga diskarte. Kasi po, I am a president for peace. I am not an authoritarian, aristocratic, a despot. Hindi ako 'yan. Tayo limitado sa Constitution. Ikaw at ako, we swore to protect the people and defend the Republic, its sovereignty, and territorial bounds," he said.

(We would like to seek peace. Don't misinterpret my strategies because I am a president for peace. I am not an authoritarian, aristocratic, a despot. That's not who I am. We are limited by the Constitution. You and I, we swore to protect the people and defend the Republic, its sovereignty and territorial bounds.)

A day earlier, on Thursday, November 30, various groups held rallies either protesting or supporting the declaration of a revolutionary government in the country. The President himself had broached the idea to quell any destabilization plot against him, but said it would not happen under his watch.

Malacañang said on Friday that such a declaration was an option if the Duterte administration was "in its death throes." 

Gifts

The President devoted much of his Jolo speech to honoring the sacrifice and courage of soldiers. He assured them that he had kept his promise to increase their salaries and give them side weapons.

He also said he would have a satellite dish installed in the camp so that the soldiers can have access to "CNN" and see "what is happening in the world."

"It’s a crazy world," Duterte said, adding that even mosques and holy shrines were being attacked by terrorists. (READ: PH slams 'cowardly' attack on Sinai mosque)

As another special treat to soldiers, Duterte brought with him his "good friend," Hollywood actor Steven Seagal who, he said, really wanted to join him on the camp visit. 

"Give us a few words about your thoughts on the Filipinos and the sacrifices that my soldiers have to do and maybe some inspiring words," Duterte told Seagal, who took the lectern on the other end of the stage. (READ: Action star Steven Seagal rallies troops in Jolo for Duterte)

The actor told the soldiers, "Every day, you have to tell yourself, this isn’t going to be won today, this is going to be a long battle but slowly, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, the enemy will be smaller and smaller and they will be gone to the point where it is absolutely and positively controllable." 

Duterte ended his remarks with an announcement that he would shoulder the Christmas party expenses of the camp, including the roast calf. He also promised Hong Kong trips to 4 people who would be on duty in the camp during the holidays. 

The President has made military camp visits a regular fixture in his schedule since the start of his term. Among Commanders-in-Chief in recent memory, he seems unrivaled in terms of frequency of camp visits, leading some to ask whether the purpose goes beyond just boosting troop morale. (READ: Why has Duterte visited 14 military camps in less than a month?) – Rappler.com

Every Philippine Bar Examination has its own controversy, and this year's tests have not been spared.

The 2017 Bar Examinations came to a close on Sunday, November 26, chaired by Supreme Court Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin.

A few days later, Twitter user @PapaFrenma posted on Friday, December 1, that many of the questions in the Legal Ethics Examination appear to have been copied from previous bar examinations. (READ: Bar examinees urged: Become people's lawyers, human rights defenders)

The account said "8 out of the 16" questions in Legal Ethics were copied "with only the names changed." The user posted photos of 4 questions side-by-side with the respective questions from previous examinations which it seemed to have been copied from.

See the comparisons here: 

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2017 Q1 is almost the same as 2013 Q16. Able Law Office became Brando and Luzon Law Office. <a href="https://t.co/UIrD3lQHPO">pic.twitter.com/UIrD3lQHPO</a></p>&mdash; Fred M. Papa (@PapaFrenma) <a href="https://twitter.com/PapaFrenma/status/936555920225529856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2017 Q3 is the same as 2004 Bar. The name Atty. Malibu was changed to Atty. Frank and Miss Magayon became Malen. Pregnancy at 16 and filing after 7 years are also the same. <a href="https://t.co/V2BUyGAmd8">pic.twitter.com/V2BUyGAmd8</a></p>&mdash; Fred M. Papa (@PapaFrenma) <a href="https://twitter.com/PapaFrenma/status/936564976273145857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2017 Q16 is a verbatim reproduction of 2002 Q3 with minor modifications but Q3C is verbatim. <a href="https://t.co/lQMUqKuG2P">pic.twitter.com/lQMUqKuG2P</a></p>&mdash; Fred M. Papa (@PapaFrenma) <a href="https://twitter.com/PapaFrenma/status/936735927421911040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2017 Q7 is the same as 2005 Q4 with minor modification from school to university. <a href="https://t.co/Z2KfsbmfLK">pic.twitter.com/Z2KfsbmfLK</a></p>&mdash; Fred M. Papa (@PapaFrenma) <a href="https://twitter.com/PapaFrenma/status/936738968762163200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The 2017 Bar questionnaires are uploaded on the Supreme Court website. Examination takers can also take home their questionnaires if they choose to after the exams, while past questionnaires are either uploaded by 3rd party websites like Lawphil.net or collated by schools which use them as reviewers.

It's not clear if the Twitter user was among the Bar takers this year.

Associate Justice Marvic Leonen replied to the tweet, which tagged him.

“Which questions and allegedly copied from which bar examinations. Please specify. This is a serious charge. If not true, it is also a serious offense to accuse," Leonen told the Twitter user, after which he posted the photos in reply.

Lawyer Pia Bersamin, Judicial Staff Head of Bar Chairman Justice Bersamin and also the Head of the Office of the 2017 Bar Examinations Chairman, also replied to the tweet asking for proof.

Asked by Rappler if it merits an investigation by the Bar Chairman, Pia Bersamin said "no it does not."

She said it is not an issue of intellectual property because the questions are owned, technically, by the Supreme Court.

"It is a matter between the Bar Chairman and the examiner. The examiner is still unknown to the public, and his or her identity will be revealed only when the results of the bar exam are released," she said.

Some lawyers think that it is a question of whether it is proper for the Bar Examiner – paid to craft the questions – to simply copy previous questions. It may also be a matter of the "copied" questions getting past the scrutiny of the Bar Chairman.

"It is a question of how the bar examiner represented his questions to the bar chair. I hope he or she did not claim that these were her or his questions," said a source from the academe.

The Twitter user alleged it's a case of plagiarism.

"Not really," Legal Education Board Chairman Emerson Aquende told Rappler.

"It is not uncommon at all to repeat test questions or give similar test questions. That in fact is one of the things that review trainors try to predict in future bar exams," Aquende said in a text message.

He added there were key differences in the requirement of the questions.

"Even though the parameters of the questions were very similar, the type of the questions were different since the 2017 question requires an essay answer while the old question was multiple choice. The 2017 question will require the examinee to explain the basis of his/her answer, while in the latter case, to only choose the correct answer," he said.

Aquende said that the integrity of the examinations is what's important. (READ: More 'reasonable' Bar exams resulted in high passing rate)

"What is important is that no one knew what will be asked before the test is administered," he said.

"No cheating or leakage took place, no right was violated. It is not an intellectual property as it is a public professional qualifying exam," Pia Bersamin added. Other critics countered however that with little variation in test questions, it would be easier to leak them, with leakers only instructing Bar examinees to study closely specific years of the Bar Exams.

Over 7,000 law students took this year's examinations, following the 2016 Bar Examinations, which registered a decades-high 59.06% passing rate. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Harry Roque has had a whirlwind of a first month as President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman.

Two international conferences, one foreign trip, and almost daily press conferences that have taken him from Malacañang to Marawi gave the public a telling glimpse of his performance so far in his new role.

Since he was first named to the post on October 28, he’s had to speak for the President on a number of controversial issues: Duterte’s threat to slap United Nations rapporteur Agnes Callamard, a Reuters report claiming abuse of power by Manila police, Duterte’s most recent remarks about Pope Francis, and calls for a revolutionary government.

Roque made a clear departure from his predecessor, the sedate ex-pastor Ernesto Abella, in his first Malacañang press conference. Energetic and verbose, Roque gave lengthy answers to questions. Radio commentators patted him on the back for being “good copy.”

His seemingly boundless energy found an outlet in his decision to hold press conferences outside Metro Manila. He held one in Marawi City, Cebu, and Davao. This culminated in a realized whim to take the glitch-ridden Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3), a move which drew flak for coming across as a public relations stunt.

He grabbed at opportunities to shine in the international spotlight. Roque appeared positively giddy about his first interview as spokesman with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Like any typical Filipino with a smartphone, he lost no chance in taking selfies with world leaders while he attended international summits with the President.

Definitely, Roque has changed Malacañang communications in more ways than one.

Failed courtship

The first major controversy Roque faced as spokesman was not of the President’s doing, but his own.

Roque, unlike Abella who tried so hard to say safe in his statements, tried to court the “diehard” Duterte supporters early on. 

This manifested itself in his“threat” to throw hollow blocks at the President’s critics, a threat which was applauded by perhaps the most “diehard” Duterte supporter of all, Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson. 

But to Roque’s chagrin, his remark took on a life of its own with vitriolic Duterte defenders using the threat themselves in typical no-holds-barred fashion. One pro-Duterte blogger, RJ Nieto, used the threat in a radio program against this reporter.

Roque ended up taking back the threat, but not without Duterte supporters, led by Nieto, slamming him for it and even demanding his resignation. Uson, meanwhile, warned Roque in a video, "Don't play with fire."

Now Roque has lost an ally among the most rabid of the President’s supporters. Is this boon or bane? Time alone will tell.

Despite this, Roque appears not to have lost the trust and confidence of one man: President Rodrigo Duterte.

Roque said he himself told Duterte about some bloggers’ demands that he be axed. Duterte has paid it no mind.

“I have relayed that information. He had no reaction. What I did was, I sent the news clippings that they want me fired. Wala naman siyang sinabi (He didn’t say anything),” Roque told Rappler.

Access to Duterte

If anything, Duterte has been eager to keep Roque by his side. 

Roque has been attending many of Duterte’s events and has even been mentioned fondly by the President in his speeches, an indication he is in the Chief Executive’s good graces.

“Nandito po si Secretary Roco – eh Roque, ‘yung ating spokesman na bago. Hindi ho siya nauubusan ng salita sa bunganga,”said Duterte during the send-off of Vietnamese fishermen in Pangasinan on November 29.

(Secretary Roco – Roque, our new spokesman, is here. He does not run out of words.) 

Abella was rarely acknowledged in Duterte’s speeches.

Duterte has issued instructions that Roque be allowed to sit in closed-door meetings, including bilateral meetings with foreign heads of government. Abella, in comparison, did not typically enjoy such access.

Thus, especially during recent international summits, Roque said he was the “nightmare” of Malacañang protocol staff.

Because of Duterte’s orders that his new spokesman be allowed in bilateral meetings, protocol had to quickly insert him in the list of attending officials.

Roque was named spokesman right before conferences like the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in November, meaning protocol staff did not have the luxury of time to make such last-minute arrangements.

Still, they pulled it off, and Roque was able to attend Duterte’s meetings with leaders like US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It appears he has more access because of the Cabinet rank position compared to Abella who was undersecretary,” said Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) president Reymund Tinaza, a radio reporter for Bombo Radyo.

More important to media, however, is Roque’s seeming ability to consult directly with Special Assistant to the President Bong Go or Duterte himself on the President's stance on pressing issues.

Roque has said he goes through a “procedure” to “verify statements” he makes as spokesman.

He has directly clarified with Duterte or Go the Chief Executive’s statements on the open-pit mining ban, allowing more telecommunication players, and the police’s return to the drug war.

Roque said he’s consistently gotten Duterte’s messaging right.

“Hindi pa ako nagkakamali (I haven’t made a mistake) so far,” Roque told Rappler.

How does he keep on track? Roque claims to have a soft- and hard-copy “index” of all Duterte’s statements on various topics. 

The index is updated by his staff every time the President makes a speech, he said.

It definitely helps that Roque is a lawyer like Duterte, giving him the ability to explain things from a legal perspective, as the President himself is wont to do.

Boon for media

But if there’s one group that’s happy about Roque’s access and his tendency to give detailed, wordy statements, it’s the Palace reporters.

Aside from issuing Palace statements that are more detailed and original than statements issued during Abella’s time, Roque appears to make a real effort to link media with the President.

This came to the fore during Duterte’s attendance of the APEC Summit in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Roque was asked by media to keep them updated on Duterte’s bilateral meeting with China’s Xi Jinping. 

The spokesman had no time to hold a lengthy press conference after. Upon consultation with reporters, he took out his smartphone and recorded himself reading out loud notes he had taken during the meeting. 

He then sent the recording to reporters via a messaging app, allowing media to immediately report on what Duterte and Xi discussed.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">File video: Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque recording his notes about Duterte-Li bilateral mtg for reporters. <a href="https://t.co/xkNiEYnkTv">pic.twitter.com/xkNiEYnkTv</a></p>&mdash; Pia Ranada (@piaranada) <a href="https://twitter.com/piaranada/status/936165330350587904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
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This prompt information-sharing was a godsend for reporters who previously had to wait hours after or even the next day for a press release or press conference.

A week after, Roque again sent a recording of him reading his notes of Duterte’s bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Malacañang. 

He had decided to record himself when reporters were stopped by Malacañang media relations staff from interviewing him because Duterte and Li were about to reenter the hall. 

Because of Roque’s strategy, media got reportable information quickly without flouting Malacañang rules.

“Roque appears to have a good understanding of media dynamics, our hows and whys,” said Tinaza.

Learning the ropes

But Roque’s penchant for sharing information with media has raised some eyebrows. 

One instance was during his press conference at the 31st ASEAN Summit and Related Summits, his second international press conference as spokesman.

A Department of Foreign Affairs insider observed that Roque departed from the usual practice of waiting for official documents first before giving details of closed-door meetings.

During the November 13 press briefing at the International Media Center, Roque gave details about how the controversial Rohingya refugee crisis was discussed at the closed-door plenary session. He almost revealed the “two or three” countries that had raised the issue, a sensitive topic for ASEAN member-state Myanmar.

But Roque said he has learned from the experience, saying he now “recognizes the limitations” in talking about ASEAN closed-door meetings and similar diplomacy-related meetings.

Another ASEAN summit insider said Roque may have had spoken too soon when he told media that Duterte and Trump did not discuss human rights in their bilateral meeting in Manila.

The White House had given a conflicting account, saying human rights was “discussed briefly.”

However, this might have merely been a difference in understanding of what it means to “discuss human rights.”

Roque, a former human rights lawyer, was consistent in saying human rights was not raised by Trump and that Trump did not take a strong stance against Duterte’s drug war, a stance usually taken by human rights groups.

Some, however, equate a discussion about Duterte’s drug war (which Roque agreed did transpire) with a discussion about the country’s human rights situation. The government, however, because of its position that there are no human rights abuses in the drug war, sees these two things as separate.

Roque also admitted he got nervous during his first international press conference because of the presence of foreign media.

“I really felt intimated by the international press corps. I never expected I would have stage fright. I did have stage fright in Vietnam,” he said about his APEC Summit presser.

But perhaps Roque’s biggest misstep with the press was inviting them to cover his MRT3 train ride.

The presence of reporters and crew lugging around cameras and tripods made his immersion experience come across as a PR stunt and added to the inconvenience of regular commuters. 

It also constricted him from riding the train during rush hour, which would have greatly improved public reception of his move.

His reason for not taking the train at peak hours was that the public would have crucified him if he brought along media at that time.

A better decision, according to some, would have been to prohibit or limit media coverage to allow him to have the “true” MRT experience with minimal disruption to other passengers.

One month may be a short time, but for someone as zealous as Roque, that one month has been filled with all kinds of experiences to learn from.

More challenges await Roque who long stood outside Duterte’s circle but has been pulled to the President’s side for reasons he himself cannot adequately explain. – Rappler.com

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<h1 class="spec-exec-headline" style="color: #fff !important;">The Fifth Man</h1>
<p class="text-center light" style="color: #e0dedc !important; margin: -15px 0 40px 0;">The police call it an encounter. The survivor says it was an execution. Forensic evidence says he may be right.</p>
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<label class="text-center light" style="color: #e0dedc !important;">Text by Patricia Evangelista</label>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 50px;">Five men were shot by police on August 21, 2016 in an alleged encounter during a Tokhang operation in Payatas Village. Four bodies were carried out. The survivor, Efren Morillo, accused by the police of direct assault, filed charges of murder against policemen of Quezon City Police Station-6 in the first case against the government’s war against drugs.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 50px;">One year later, forensic analysis, as well as contradicting police testimony, show the fifth man survived what may have been a massacre in the hills of Quezon City.</p>
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<label id="ts-new">Published November 18, 2017 5:06pm</label>
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<p>READ: The Quezon City drug war <br> (Part 2:<a href="https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/188904-impunity-series-police-killings-quezon-city-ejk" target="_blank"> This is where they do not die</a>)

<br> (Part 2:<a href="https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/188916-drug-testing-payatas-quezon-city-police-drug-war" target="_blank"> The red mark</a>)</p>

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<p class="drop-cap">W</p><p>hen the bullet plowed into his chest, Efren Morillo decided not to die.</p>

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He made the decision in the split second between the gun’s firingand the sudden flood of blood soaking his underwear. He forced his breathing to slow. He lay limp on the packed earth floor inside a shack with torn tarpaulin walls, as the cop in the red sweatshirt shot Efren’s best friend Marcelo Daa once, twice, thrice in quick succession.

There was more shooting from the backyard.

Efren prayed through the gunshots. He prayed through the screaming. He prayed, hard, as the cop walked away. 

You know what to do, he heard the cop instruct the gunmen outside. Call the crime scene operatives. Leave the evidence behind. Say they all fought back.

Efren waited. He listened until he was certain he was alone, then staggered to his feet. He took a minute to talk to the dead. Help me, he asked them, before he threw himself down a ravine.

More than an hour later, he walked out of the hills and into the highway, a bloody figure clutching leaves to his chest. 

In the fifteen months since Efren Morillo, 29, was shot in Payatas, Quezon City, the narrative of the police has evolved in statement after statement: the number of operatives, the names of team leaders, all the way to who shot the fatal bullets that killed Marcelo Daa Jr, Jessie Cule, Rhaffy Gabo and Anthony Comendo.

Forensic experts who studied available evidence gathered by the police have thrown the weight of their support behind Efren Morillo's eyewitness account. 

There are many stories told about that Sunday afternoon in August. Almost every fact is disputed, except for one.

Five men were shot. Four men were killed. The fifth man lived.

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<p>Batasan Police Station (PS-6) After Operation Report, from Station Commander Lito Patay, August 23, 2016</p>

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<p>MISSION: Conduct OPLAN-TOKHANG</p>

<p>TDPO:At about 3:40 P.M. of August 21, 2016</p>

<p>AREA OF OPERATION: Group 9, Brgy. Bagong Silangan, Quezon City</p>

<p>PARTICIPATING ELEMENTS: PCP-4 Brgy. Bagong Silanga, Batasan Hills, PS 6, QCPD Personnel led by PSI EMIL DE LOS SANTOS GARCIA, PO3 Allan Formilleza, PO1 James Aggarao. PO1 Melchor Navisaga</p>

<p>BRIEF NARRATIVE: On stated TDPO, personnel from PCP-4 led by PSI EMIL GARCIA conducted OPLAN TOKHANG against drug personalities particularly at the house of suspect Marcelo Daa Jr at Group 9, Area B, Brgy Bagong Silangan Quezon City. </p>

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The Tokhang operation, its name derived from the Visayan words “toktok” and “hangyo” – knock and plead – is one of the key features of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.

According to Quezon City Police District Director Guillermo Eleazar, Project Double Barrel attempts to address the drug scourge in two ways.

The upper barrel functions to enforce police operations, and covers the administration of warrants and the pursuit of high-value suspects through drug raids and buy-busts. 

All arrests, said Eleazar, fall into the upper barrel.

The lower barrel “is all about Operation Tokhang,” when policemen, accompanied by representatives from the village hall, knock on doors of the houses “where people on our watch list live.”

The intent is to convince drug suspects “to stop what they’re doing” and “go into reformatory and rehabilitation so that they can be reintegrated into the community.” 

“I’ve been in the police service a long time,” said Eleazar. “Back then, we had the drug problem, but it wasn’t as bad as it is now. When we had information, we went straight to case build-up. No Tokhang, no pleading, we work the case then and there. Only in this administration is there a chance for rehabilitation. And that is Oplan Tokhang.”

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<p class="caption"><span class="caption-title"> HOME IN PAYATAS. L-R</span>(1) The Daa home in Payatas Village, Quezon City. (2) Belen and Marcelo Daa, Senior inside one of the shanties in the Daa compound.</p>
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In spite of the intentions behind Operation Tokhang, under Eleazar’s watch, Rappler counted at least 15 who were killed during the first seven months of the drug war in Quezon City. The narratives were similar: each of the dead suspects allegedly drew guns on personnel of the Philippine National Police. The 15 include the four men shot by personnel of Quezon City Police Station 6 (PS-6) on August 21, 2016 in the slums of Payatas Village, where Marcelo Daa Jr’s home sits on a clearing in a patch of forest.

On that Sunday morning, Efren Morillo, Marcelo’s best friend, made his way from his home in Montalban. He rode a jeep that deposited him at the mouth of an alley along Road 9.

Marcelo owed Efren a thousand pesos – what amounted to 20 US dollars – and it was that debt that Efren decided to redeem when he took the ten-minute walk downhill, the stench of the massive dumpsite rising past the thick canopy of trees. He went through the rusted chain link gate and down a short set of stone steps.

The Daa home is a makeshift huddle of wooden shanties with tin roofs, held down by rocks and a chipped Blues Clues doorstop on its side. A 60-foot ravine curves around the edges of the clearing.

Efren, a short skinny man who had grown up in Payatas, found Marcelo playing pool with a neighbor named Jessie Cule. 

Marcelo told Efren the money was coming, and offered Efren a cue stick.

The minutes ticked by slowly. It was a hot afternoon. The children chased spiders in the wild grass. The women sat watching television inside. Two other young men, Anthony Comendo and Rhaffy Gabo, slept the afternoon off in hammocks in the backyard, occasionally rousing themselves for a game of cara cruz.

The pool table sat under a shed in front of the house, in full view of the front gate. 

It was where Efren and Jessie and Marcelo stood when the armed group first walked in.

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<p>Direct Examination of PO3 Allan Formilleza, October 10, 2017, Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 42</p>
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<p>Prosecutor Eugene Kho: So going to that place, what happened next, Mr Witness?</p>

<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: Upon ambling towards the place, we saw the two male persons standing and without any sufficient reason, they drew their respective firearms. </p>

<p>Prosecutor Kho: So without any sufficient reason, they drew their firearms?</p>

<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: Yes sir, the men were clad in a yellow and blue T-shirts.</p>

<p>Prosecutor Kho: Any words to that effect that was accompanying their action when these men drew their guns?</p>
<p>Formilleza: After firing their guns sir, one of them shouted, “Hindi kami papahuli ng buhay.” (We will not be caught alive). </p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: Do you recall, Mr Witness, who was this the person who uttered those words, “Hindi kami papahuli ng buhay?”</p>
<p>Formilleza: Eventually sir, we positively identified the suspect Efren, as Efren Morillo. </p>
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In the story Efren Morillo tells, five men and two women entered the gate, all in civilian clothes.

“Nobody run,” said the man aiming the gun.

The children screamed. The women ran to the windows. Efren, Jessie and Marcelo raised their arms in surrender.

The three were cuffed together, one arm to the other, before their pockets were turned out. 

Rhaffy and Anthony were dragged out of the house. One of the armed men reached up the shed roof to snap off a length of electric wire. The two were bound at the wrists.   

The men with the guns were cursing. Drug-pushing sons of whores, they called Efren and his friends. They began punching and hitting. They aimed for the tattoos.

Efren watched as a man tapped the point of a knife against someone's neck.

“I’ll kill you all now,” the man with the knife said. “I’ll knife you, you menaces.”

The three women, Marcelo’s wife, aunt, and sister, said the armed men and a number of informants ransacked the house for drugs.

By the time they were done, they had pocketed a mobile phone, a tablet, a pair of hearing aids, a lighter, a bong, pieces of aluminum foil, a weighing scale, and, oddly enough, a new bottle of rubbing alcohol.

Marcelo Daa’s 20-year-old sister Marla ran out the house and knelt before her brother. Marcelo yanked off his rings and bracelet and pushed them to Marla. Go, he told her. 

One of the armed men stepped outside the house. “We didn’t find any drugs.” 

{source}

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<p>Spot Report, Batasan Police Station-6 (PS-6), August 21, 2016</p>
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<p>RECOVERED EVIDENCES:</p>
<ol type="a">
<li><p>two (2) 38 pistol</p></li>
<li><p>two (2) caliber .45 pistol</p></li>
<li><p>two (two) small heat sealed plastic sachet containing suspected shabu substance</p></li>
<li><p>drug paraphernalia and </p></li>
<li><p>one (1) weighing scale</p></li>
</ol>
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{/source}

Marcelo Daa Sr, 69, was down in the valley working on his patch of banana trees when the armed men walked in. He hauled himself up the hillside and saw his son and his four friends sitting cuffed and bound in a line along a bench by the side of the house.

In the story Marcelo Sr tells, the yard was crawling with people.

One of them, who called himself the commander, shoved Marcelo Sr and tried to grab him by the arm. He called the old man a criminal mastermind.

“They told me they had a mission,” Marcelo Sr. said. “They told me they were cops.”

Marcelo Jr, cuffed and terrified, called out to his father.

“I’ll take care of this, ‘Tay,” said Junior to Senior. “I’m at fault here. Go.”

He went. 

Efren and the four others were forced to their feet and uncuffed. They were led to the back of the house. The cop in the red sweatshirt took charge of Efren and Marcelo. Both were pushed into a shack at the back of the house, just off the backyard.

The two were told to sit. Marcelo sat on the wooden chair, Efren sideways on its arm.

Police Officer 3 Allan Formilleza raised his gun and aimed for Efren.

Efren talked fast, the words tumbling over each other.

He said he knew nothing. He said he was clean. He said he had nothing to do with anything and that he was a vendor from Montalban.

“Really?” asked Formilleza. “Really?” 

The bullet slammed into Efren’s chest, just under his heart.

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It was more than an hour before the policemen discovered a body was missing.

By then, Efren had dragged himself across a stream and through stands of bamboo, the star apple trees looming overhead. He followed a circuitous route down rocky footpaths and around the gorges he had travelled as a child, repeating the names of the dead in his head. He thought maybe he had been shot twice. 

The gunshots had echoed up the hill. Rowena Cordero, Marcelo’s aunt, was at home when the armed men marched by her garden. She ran downhill at the sound of gunfire and followed the line of trees bordering the Daa property. She found herself just short of the backyard.

In the story Rowena tells, she saw Rhaffy and Anthony on the ground, riddled with gunshot wounds. She saw Jessie, on his knees, his shoulders heaving, still alive. 

She stepped forward. Her way was blocked by an armed man. She began shouting, screaming, until she was pushed out the gate.

The gate was less than four feet high, made of recycled wire mesh. Rowena watched the armed men inside. 

She heard one of them say, “Sir, one of them is still breathing.”

Within minutes, there were two more gunshots.

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<p class="caption"><span class="caption-title" style="color: #000;">GONE. L-R</span>(1) A portrait of Marcelo Daa Jr inside his Payatas home. (2) The contents of the wallet he left inside his home, including letters from his wife and children, scavenged jewelry and currency, as well as money the family still refuses to spend. (3) Marcelo's wife Maribeth Bartolay. </p>
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Marcelo’s wife Maribeth ran into the backyard. She saw three corpses: Rhaffy, Anthony and Jessie. She did not see her husband.

She was back in the front yard when the cops began taking food and cigarettes from the small store she kept beside the house. She was still there when the rain began falling, when the men walked to the pool table to eat off the family’s plates.

In the story Maribeth tells, one of them was PO3 Allan Formilleza. 

{source}

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<p>Judicial Affidavit of PO3 Allan Formilleza, sworn to by Affiant Jay T. Borromeo, on February 7, 2017 at Camp Karingal in Quezon City </p>
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<p>QUESTION: In the petition, you were alleged to have eaten from the pool table using the family plates and utensils of the Daa’s, is there any truth if any, to this allegation Mr Witness?</p>
<p>ANSWER: No sir. The truth is that I asked Richard Riñon, one of our companions, to buy food along the highway which is more or less 50 to 70 meter distance from the place of incident. At that time, I was so hungry because I have not eaten my lunch. I was the only one who ate, but never used the plates and utensils of the Daa’s as alleged except for a glass where I drank water.</p>
<p>QUESTION: In the petition, and you allegedly solicited from Maribeth Bartolay food and drinks from her sari-sari store, is there a truth, if any, to this allegation, Mr. Witness?</p>
<p>ANSWER: There is no truth to that sir. </p>
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{/source}

On the year Marcelo Daa Jr was born, his mother Belen planted a tamarind tree beside the shanty where she gave birth.

Thirty-one years later, Belen came running down the hill and up to her own gate. She had met her daughter Marla by the road. Marla said Marcelo was dead. 

The cops refused to let Belen inside. She argued with the police. She said it was her home. She said it was her son. They let her in eventually, her husband Marcelo Sr in tow. 

In the story Belen tells, they passed the pool table with the scraps of food the cops had tossed to the ground. They passed the ransacked house where mattresses had been turned over and ripped apart. They passed the sprawled bodies of Rhaffy Gabo and Anthony Comendo. They passed Jessie Cule, on his knees, his chest slumped into the wet grass, his forehead resting on his clasped hands.

They ran, husband and wife, into the shanty where Marcelo Daa, Jr was born, where he sat leaning against the tamarind tree, his left leg crossed over his right, a bullet buried over his left eyebrow and blood streaming out of his open mouth. 

They slept at home that night. 

“Why would we leave?” Belen asked. “They got what they wanted, didn’t they?” 

{source}

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<p>Broadcast Interview with PSI Emil Garcia conducted by Abs-cbn outside the Daa home on August 21, 2016 and aired over Umagang Kay Ganda on August 22, 2016</p>
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<p>Police Superintendent Emil Garcia: When we were approaching the room at that place they suddenly fired at us.</p>
<p>Reporter on site: So they were armed?</p>
<p>Police Superintendent Emil Garcia: Yes. They were armed with a revolver and caliber 45. </p>
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{/source}

Marilyn Malimban had been with Jessie Cule for seven years. He wasn’t particularly handsome, but he was nice to her and never hit her and made dinner when she came home from working as a cutter in an underwear factory.

Jessie went from job to job: junkshop caretaker, tricycle driver, dump truck assistant.

"I admit he used drugs before," she said. "I won't lie about it. He told me once he wanted to leave Payatas, that he didn't like it here anymore. I told him no, because we hadn't paid off the house yet. I said, 'Let's wait for December.' Only we didn't have until December, because of what happened to him."

She got a call at four in the afternoon of August 21. Emergency, said the neighbor.

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<p class="caption"><span class="caption-title">REMEMBERING. L-R</span>(1) Marilyn Malimban lights candles at the backyard of the Daa home at the one-year anniversary of Jessie Cule's death. (2) The shanty where Marcelo Daa Jr and Efren Morillo were shot.</p>
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There was a 14-year-old boy who met Marilyn by the Daa house.  He had been in the yard when the men came, and climbed up a tree before the shooting began. 

The boy told her that Jessie was the last to die. He said he saw Jessie on his knees. He had thrown his arms around the legs of the cop who held the gun.

“That’s what I can’t accept,” she said. “He knelt. He hugged the police. If he sinned, he sinned against the law. He didn’t sin against the police, for them to kill him like that. He was crying. It meant he didn’t want to die. Because he wanted to live. He was begging.”

She saw the cops in their uniforms come marching in just before the corpses were carried out.

She heard Police Superintendent Emil Garcia interviewed. He said four men were dead. He said they were notorious drug dealers. He said they had pulled out their guns as he and his men approached the shack.

Jessie wasn't on the drug watch list, said Marilyn. He had just gotten his police and village clearance for his new job.

In the story Marilyn tells, the man she lived with for seven years couldn’t have been notorious. The police didn't know who he was. It was Marilyn, on the night of the shooting, who gave a reporter Jessie Cule’s name.

“[The police] didn’t even know it.” Marilyn said. 

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<p>Batasan Police Station (PS-6) Spot Report filed on August 21, 2016 by PS-6 Station Commander Lito Patay</p>
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<p>SUSPECTS:</p>
<ol type="a">
<li><p>A certain Jess (Deceased)</p></li>
<li><p>ANTHONY COMENDO y MIRABONA, 36 years old, with live-in partner, painter, native of and residing at Group 13 Bgy Payatas B, Quezon City (Deceased)</p></li>
<li><p>RAFFY GABO y MABINI, 23 years old, single, jobless, native of Quezon City and residing at Area D, Phase 3, Brgy. Payatas-B Quezon City</p></li>
<li><p>MARCELO DAA JR. y CORDERO, 31 years old, with live-in partner, truck helper, native of Manila and residing at Group 9,, Brgy. Payatas-B, Quezon City. (Deceased</p></li>
<li><p>EFREN MORILLO y MENDOZA, 28 years old, married, vendor, native of Quezon City (confined at EAMC)</p></li>
</ol>
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{/source}

Efren Morillo found the highway at four in the afternoon, more than an hour after he was shot.

He didn't dare go to a Quezon City hospital. He was afraid the cops would find him and finish him off. He asked help from passersby, men and women he knew from childhood. He said they were too afraid to speak to him. 

He found an old friend and begged a ride to a clinic in Montalban. The friend, terrified, agreed anyway, and helped Efren up the back of a jeep. 

There was no doctor present when Efren arrived. The nurse attempted to bind his wounds, but the blood was pumping out in a fountain, soaking through gauze and tape.

Efren stayed conscious. He asked a gas station attendant to run to his house and get his mother.

It was hours before she arrived weeping at the clinic. She had been told he was dead and went to Payatas for his body.

The clinic sits beside the Montalban police station. Soon the cops were inside. They asked Efren about the gunshot. They told him they would help.

Efren told them everything. They called the QCPD.

“The Montalban cop told me the Quezon City police would come get me,” Efren said. “I said, ‘Sir, I’m not going.’”

The cops promised to escort him to the hospital. The ambulance left with Efren and his mother at 11 in the evening and parked outside Quezon City Police Station 6. Cops stepped up to the window to look inside.

Efren began moaning in pain.

“I kicked up the drama,” he said. “I heard one cop say, ‘That kid’s strong. He was shot at 3 pm – and he’s still alive.”

The ambulance sat outside the station for close to half an hour. It was midnight when Efren was wheeled into the East Avenue Medical Center emergency room. The QCPD police cuffed him to his bed and told him he was being charged for direct assault a full hour before doctors discovered that there was a single gunshot that had pierced through his chest.

The bullet exited between his ribs, just under his lungs.

He spent ten days in the hospital with his left wrist locked to the hospital bed. 

The Commission on Human Rights arrived to assist the family. The Morillos sold their house to pay for bail and hospital expenses.

Efren is still angry.  

“I’m the one who almost died,” he told Rappler. “I’m the one who spent all that money, and I’m the one at fault. It’s not true.” 

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<p>Joint Verified Position Paper for Respondents PO3 Allan Formilleza, PO1 James Aggarao, Jr., and PO1 Melchor Navisaga filed at the Office of the Ombudsman, sworn to on September 14, 2017</p>
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<p>…the allegations found in the complaint-affidavit of Maria Belen Daa, Lydia Gabo, and Marilyn Malimban were all based on the interweaving statements of herein complainant Efren Morillo’s cinematic, thespian, histrionic, dramaturgical interlocking script of narration of events with the clear intent of alibis of his crime committed... </p>
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{/source}

On the first day of his hearing, Efren Morillo climbed the stairs of the city hall and found himself beside the man who killed his best friend. 

Police Officer 3 Allan Formilleza, in full uniform, pulled out his gun. 

Efren braced himself. This time, he promised himself, he would fight.

Formilleza laid down the gun on the security table. Firearms were banned inside the city hall. 

The charge was direct assault: the People of the Philippines against Efren Morillo, accused of drawing a gun against uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police.

“The way they looked at me,” said Efren, “it was as if I were a small man they couldn’t believe had lived. As if I would be tasty to eat.” 

No words were exchanged between Efren and the police. 

Efren’s lawyer told him there was no reason to be afraid. He had survived a massacre. The cops could glare at him all they liked, but they couldn’t kill him with their eyes.

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<p>Batasan Police Station (PS-6) After Operation Report from Station Commander Lito Patay filed on August 23, 2016</p>
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<p>FOR: The District Director, QCPD<br>(Attn: CIDU, Chief, Investigative Bureau)</p>
<p>FROM: Station Commander</p>
<p>SUBJECT: After Encounter Report Re: Encounter between PCP 4 Pesonnel of Batasan Police PS-6, QCPD and Five (5) Male Persons Resulting in the Death of Four (4) Male Persons and One (1) Injured…</p>
<p>ASSESMENT: For awards and commendation.</p>
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{/source}

On January 26, five months after he was shot, Efren Morillo and the relatives of the deceased filed the first petition against the government’s Operation Tokhang. The Center for International Law (CenterLaw), on his behalf, asked the Supreme Court to issue a writ of amparo.

The writ, as defined by the High Court, is a remedy “available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity." The writ covers incidents of extralegal killings, enforced disappearances, or threats. 

It was the first granted under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, and covered Morillo, his family, and the families of the four dead men. 

The Court of Appeals later made the protection order permanent. The CA ruled that all four policemen present at the August 21 operation were prohibited from entering within a one-kilometer radius of the petitioners.

Formilleza, Garcia, Aggarao, and Navisaga were transferred out of the Quezon City Police District.

In March, Morillo filed before the Office of the Ombudsman administrative charges for grave misconduct, as well as criminal charges of frustrated murder, murder, robbery, and planting of drugs and firearms against QCPD PS-6 personnel Garcia, Formilleza, Aggarao, and Navisaga.

Rappler's review of QCPD spot reports finds that PS-6 is responsible for the highest number of drug suspects killed during police encounters in the first seven months of the drug war. The cases against the four PS-6 personnel are undergoing preliminary investigation. 

Four months later, in July of 2017, the QCPD charged Formilleza for the killing of a 39-year-old security guard named Isagani Pagud in his home along Everlasting Street in Barangay Payatas. Formilleza was identified as the gunman who shot and killed Pagud. 

In the aftermath of the shooting, Quezon City Police Director Guillermo Eleazar told reporters that Formilleza was “nowhere to be found.” Eleazar said that Formilleza had failed to report to his new commander, and was considered absent without leave (AWOL). 

In spite of his absence, Formilleza appeared three times in court. He explained to Rappler that “it is normal to a human being to take any vacation, leave, like any normal person, even a civilian.” 

On November 8, under cross-examination, Formilleza admitted he was AWOL, and was no longer on active-duty status. 

He said it while wearing his full uniform, carrying the patch of the Eastern Police District. 

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<p>Direct Examination of PO3 Allan Formilleza, October 10, 2017, Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 42</p>
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<p>Prosecutor Eugene Kho: So as you were saying you drew your gun in exchange of the fire of their guns that were also discharged by these two men and then subsequently these three men, correct?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: So after that incident, Mr Witness, what happened next?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: The three malefactors fell on the ground. </p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: And then?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: And then Efren Morillo was able to escape. </p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: Efren Morillo was not one of those three?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: No sir. </p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: He happened to be one of those who was encountered with you?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: So Efren Morillo ran away?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: And what to the four?</p>
<p>Defense Counsel Gil Aquino: Your knowledge is misleading sir. The witness said three men. </p>
<p>Court: Sustained. Reform your question, Prosec.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: So you made mention that the three men apparently were neutralized. Correct?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: So you made mention that the first two consisting of Efren Morillo and the other one, Morillo ran away. Correct?</p>
<p>Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: What happened to his companion?</p>
<p>Formilleza: He entered into, into… he ran towards into the shanty. </p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: And then?</p>
<p>Formilleza: (Pause) And we learned eventually it was in trouble already. </p>
<p>Prosecutor Kho: It also appeared that the other one was also neutralized, correct? </p>
<p>Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
</div>
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{/source}

Allan Formilleza’s career in the police began with his father. It was a simple proposition. His father wanted him to be a cop, so the young Allan became a cop. All boys, he said, want to be policemen. It was the adventure that he wanted.

It was only after he went into service that he discovered that cop work was hard work.

It was okay, he said. “This is what we chose.”

Formilleza has been a cop for 17 years. The gunfight in Payatas was not his first. He admitted that while the slew of charges occasionally gives him “low morale,” he is optimistic over the verdict.

His presence in court is “just part of the job.” 

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<p class="caption"><span class="caption-title" style="color: #000;">PO3 FORMILLEZA. L-R</span>(1) A photo from the Facebook page of Allan Formilleza (2) PO3 Allan Formilleza and PSI Emil Garcia at the Quezon City Hall of Justice (3) A photo from the Facebook page of Allan Formilleza </p>
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In person, Allan Formilleza is a quiet man, unlike his more vocal former commander Emil Garcia, who appealed to media “to tell the real story.” 

There is a different man over social media. An account under the name of Allan Formilleza is crowded with his many selfies, in uniform and out, as well as photos of a variety of armed action stars. Videos of President Rodrigo Duterte are shared over the account, along with a collection of memes celebrating the police as brave and “badass.” Other posts portray the Commission on Human Rights as defenders of criminals who “kill, rape, steal.”

In comments and status messages, drug addicts are often referred to as animals. The account was particularly vehement on the days after Morillo et al won a permanent protection order.

“…but the brave man say… nobody is going to jail as long us they are doing their job…” 

“Nag t****###nakasuhan…naaning sa sobrang stress hahaha” 

“you damn!!!included all inocent people for a crime in which you committed first…see me in hell!!!”

“you know whom im referring to.you are not saving human,,,but an animal!”

In March, after criminal and administrative charges were filed, the account posted a meme describing the Philippines as a “country where the police are being investigated and criminals defended.” 

All of this may explain why Formilleza told Rappler it was unsurprising that Efren Morillo and Marcelo Daa Jr suddenly drew guns without provocation.

“That’s how addicts are,” he said. “Always off their heads.”

In crime scene photos, Formilleza can be seen wearing a yellow bonnet and a red sweatshirt. He said he arrived at the Daa home in full uniform. He explained the civilian clothing by saying he was soaking wet from the rain that had fallen in the late afternoon. He claims to have carried the sweatshirt all the way from his police precinct. 

“No policeman is afraid of criminals,” he said. “We enforce the law. They should be the ones running. They should be the ones surrendering. They shouldn’t be having shootouts with cops.”

{source}

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<p>Joint Verified Position Paper for Respondents PO3 Allan Formilleza, PO1 James Aggarao, Jr., and PO1 Melchor Navisaga, sworn on September 14, 2017</p>
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<p>That the allegations in [the families’] complaint affidavit that they were apprehended and later removed their handcuffs was baloney and a complete lies...</p>
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{/source}

A year after the encounter, the non-profit global organization Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), at the request of CenterLaw, began performing independent forensic analysis on evidence secured by police after the shooting deaths of Marcelo Daa Jr, Jessie Cule, Anthony Comendo, and Rhaffy Gabo. 

PHR shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for critical research on landmine injuries. In the past decade, PHR has provided evidence for international tribunals, as well as criminal investigations into torture and extrajudicial executions in countries like Colombia, Honduras, Libya, Mexico, Peru, and Sierra Leone.  

Dr Homer Venters, PHR's Director for Programs, sent the final report on the Payatas incident to CenterLaw on November 8, 2017. Venters has conducted forensic assessments of more than a hundred survivors of torture and persons injured during interactions with security forces. His work also involves training health care personnel on assessing and documenting injuries relating to human rights abuses.  

Venters compared autopsy findings as well as medical records to eyewitness testimony, including Efren's claim that they were shot “while kneeling, sitting, or otherwise not posing any threat or resistance.” 

“Based on the available data,” wrote Venters, “I find that the account of Mr. Efren is consistent with the available evidence and that there was a lack of evidence to support the accounts of police officers that Mr. Morillo or the four men who died were shot and killed in a gunfight.” 

A second, independent analysis was prepared by Dr Nizam Peerwani, an expert forensic consultant for PHR and a fellow of the American Academy for Forensic Sciences. He reviewed autopsy reports, death certificates, parrafin tests, the crime scene diagram, eyewitness accounts, as well as the position papers and counter affidavits of the police.

Peerwani concluded that the QCPD “failed to provide empirical evidence to substantiate their allegations that the four victims were shot when they drew their weapons on the police.”

Peerwani, who also serves as the chief medical examiner for four counties in Texas, is a pathologist with 35 years of experience performing thousands of forensic examinations, many of them involving injuries caused by firearms. He has investigated wrongful deaths and genocides in various countries, and testified at the War Crimes Tribunal for charges of genocide in Rwanda.

His findings on the killings in Payatas include the opinion that the positive parrafin test performed by the PNP Crime Lab “has no forensic value.”

Paraffin tests, he added, “is one of the crudest methods” to detect gunshot residue and can lead to false accusations.

The extensive PHR report pointed out mistakes in SOCO protocols, including the “highly unusual” failure to perfom “comprehensive postmortem toxicology” on the bodies, “especially since the encounter between the operatives [of] Batasan Police and the Da-a family was an alleged ‘drug raid.’”

Peerwani also noted how police examiners failed to offer descriptions of the entry gunshot wounds, gunpowder tattooing, or whether muzzle imprints were present – “Hence the range, or the distance from where the victims of shot cannot be predicted.”

Peerwani’s findings listed the trajectories of many of the bullets as downward. Rhaffy Gabo, according to Peerwani’s report, was shot twice in the back. 

Dr Peerwani concurred with Dr Venters. “It is my opinion that the autopsy findings support the eye witness narrative provided.”

{source}

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<p>Cross Examination of PO3 Allan Formilleza, November 8, 2017, Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 42</p>
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<p>Defense Counsel Gil Aquino: So Emil Garcia was not part of the operation?</p>
<p>PO3 Allan Formilleza: No sir. </p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: He was nowhere in sight at the time of the incident?</p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: No sir. </p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: Only after?</p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: After the incident. </p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: In fact you said he was the last to arrive even after the CIDG and the SOCO, yes?</p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: Yes sir. </p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: Mr Witness, I would like you to read the information. Can you read the substantive part of the information? </p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: “That on or about the 21st day of August 2016, in Quezon City Philippines, the abovenamed accused, without any justifiable cause, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, feloniously assault, attack, and employ personal violence or intimidation upon the following persons, to wit, PSI Emil de los Santos, PO3 Allan Formilleza, PO1 James Aggarao, and PO1 Melchor Navisaga, bonafide members of the Philippine National Police assigned at Police Station 6, IBP Road, Batasan Hills, this city.”</p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: Mr Witness, is that same PSI Emil de los Santos here the same PSI Emil Garcia that is your PCP Commander?</p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: Is this the same PSI Emil Garcia that was supposedly not in the incident?</p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: Yes sir.</p>
<p>Counsel Aquino: That was supposedly not part of the operation?</p>
<p>PO3 Formilleza: Yes sir, he was not. </p>
</div>
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{/source}

The case for direct assault against Efren Morillo is still in court.

There are a number of inconsistencies between the police affidavits filed in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and the series of sworn testimonies the personnel of PS-6 offered a year after the encounter.

The first of the police narratives claim the operating team was composed of Allan Formilleza, James Aggarao, and Melchor Navisaga, led by precinct commander Emil Garcia. They arrived at the Daa household for a Tokhang operation, and were forced into a fatal encounter that killed four drug suspects and wounded one.

Under oath, more than a year later, the police claim there were three policemen present at the shootout, instead of the original four.

They said that Garcia was absent during the encounter on August 21. Garcia is the same precinct commander who gave an eyewitness television interview describing the incident, and who was named repeatedly in police reports as team leader, including reports he signed himself. 

Garcia called it “a small mistake.” Formilleza said he was the team leader instead. 

The most recent narrative has seven suspects present at the Daa home, instead of five. It also added that two other suspects had escaped with Morillo – possibly, Formilleza told Rappler, with a large cache of drugs.

Police now claim only Formilleza was part of the gunfight. The two other policemen, Navisaga and Aggarao, who were “several meters away,” did not fire their guns.

All of this means, based on autopsy reports and the police’s own narrative, that PO3 Allan Formilleza, alone, shot 14 bullets into five moving targets, 12 of them hitting the suspects in the head and trunk, all before Formilleza walked away unscathed. 

There are many stories told about that Sunday afternoon in August. Almost every fact is disputed, except for one. Five men were shot. Four men were killed. The fifth man lived. – Rappler.com

Editor's note: Unless stated otherwise, all data referring to total number of Quezon City fatalities resulted from a review of spot reports of deaths under investigation and armed encounters between July 2016 and January 2017 that the QCPD allowed Rappler to access. All quotations have been translated into English. 

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<label>Supervising Editor | Chay Hofileña</label>

<label>Design | Dominic Go</label>

<label>Data Analysis | Katerina Francisco and Sofia Tomacruz</label>

<label>Additional Reporting | Lian Buan, Kimberly dela Cruz, and Alex Evangelista</label>

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MANILA, Philippines – Solicitor General Jose Calida on Tuesday, December 5, painted a picture of a police force respectful of suspected drug users. 

Responding to the questions of Supreme Court Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe on how the police handle alleged drug personalities who refuse to open their doors during Tokhang operations, Calida said that the police "do not insist and just move on to the next house.”

“Let me make this clear, your honor, the police just knock on the door and the police are not allowed to enter the house,” he said. “They just talk with the person who will open the door and if the person does not like to talk to them, they move on.”

A key component of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, Tokhang refers to operations where cops visit the homes of suspected drug personalities to ask them to surrender and undergo rehabilitation.

The police are definitely expected to follow protocols – uphold the rights of suspected individuals and the rule of law – when conducting these anti-drug operations. 

Media coverage of at least two drug war incidents that have resulted in the deaths of 5, however, refute the claim of Calida. (READ: The Impunity Series)

The following are victims:

• Marcelo Daa Jr, Raffy Gabo, Jessie Cule, and Anthony Comendo 
  - Killed by police from Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 6 in Payatas in August 2016 
  - Allegedly killed execution-style even after no illegal drugs were recovered, according to Efren Morillo, the lone survivor who later filed a case against the government’s war on drugs (READ: IMPUNITY: The Fifth Man) 

This has been an all-too-familiar scenario in several incidents of drug war deaths since July 2016, such as in Tondo, Manila: 

• Rex Aparri
  - Killed in his home in Tondo, Manila allegedly by Alvarez, beat patrolman of Delpan Police Community Precinct (READ: Where the drug war began) 
  - Police reports say he “suddenly drew out his gun and fired shot on the approaching lawmen but he missed his mark"
  - His family, however, recalled that he pleaded to be just arrested instead of killed

While the above-mentioned incidents may include "only" 5 people killed, the circumstances of their deaths – the pleadings, the absence of illegal drugs, and manner of deaths – confirm that police do not always just “move on" to another house. (READ: In the PH drug war, it's likely EJK when...)

Latest data from the PNP shows that the PNP "visited and knocked" on a total of 8,827,489 households from July 1, 2016, to October 10, 2017. While these operations led to the surrender of 1,262,188 people, the deaths – 3,933 to be exact – are still hard to ignore. – Rappler.com

Photos from March 2017 surfaced on Wednesday, December 6, showing Court Administrator Midas Marquez attending the birthday bash of lawyer Larry Gadon, the complainant in the impeachment proceedings against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.

Actress and Duterte supporter Vivian Velez uploaded the photos on March 2, one of which showed her posing beside Marquez.

Marquez has been the House justice committee’s resource person for days on Gadon’s allegations against Sereno.

Gadon said Marquez was not his birthday guest.

“That bar is a flashy bar, maraming mga sosyal at sikat nagpupunta dun (many celebrities go there). He probably was there because it’s open to the public and being sikat nag-take photo ang mga tao (being famous, people took a photo). Ako nga kahit saan ako magpunta may nagpapa-selfie (Even I get asked for a selfie wherever I go),” Gadon said in a message to Rappler.

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Jojo Lacanilao, Sereno’s spokesperson, said Marquez should explain his “friendship with Gadon” and whether it “might have had any connection with the filing of the impeachment complaint, or on his own credibility as witness in the impeachment hearings.”

“Their association is eerily too close to gloss over, given that at least one allegation in the complaint pertains to a matter that Marquez had shown a lot of interest in,” Lacanilao said.

Marquez is directly involved in two issues mentioned in the complaint – the supposed delay in the approval of survivorship benefits, and the reopening of the Regional Court Administrator’s Office (RCAO).

On Wednesday, House members ganged up on Supreme Court personnel who belong to the special committee and working groups in charge of the benefits. These groups – and the RCAO – sidelined Marquez, removing some of his powers as court administrator.

Marquez told the House panel that since the creation of the committee and the working groups, the approval of application for benefits took almost two years, in contrast to the 2-3 weeks it took when he was in charge.

“Remember that Gadon had no personal knowledge on the allegation in the complaint on the alleged delay by the Supreme Court on the grant of survivorship benefits,” Lacanilao said.

Gadon said Marquez never provided him information or documents. He said they’re “not really friends, but also not enemies.” 

“Casual,” Gadon said. – Rappler.com

There is no stopping Larry Gadon from saying what he wants. He believes he can win a possible senatorial election on a hardline policy on drugs and criminality, even tougher than President Rodrigo Duterte’s.

“Masuwerte pa nga sila, kasi kung ako ang presidente, mas marami akong pinatay. Mas marami akong papatayin kung ako ang presidente, mahina pa ’yang si Digong eh,” Gadon said in an interview with Rappler on Friday, December 8.

(Drug personalities are lucky because, if I were President, I would have killed more. I would kill more if I were president. Digong is even soft.)

Rappler caught up with Gadon Friday noon for updates on his impeachment complaint against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Gadon maintains that his complaint is meant to strengthen the judiciary, a public service for the Filipino people. (READ: Who is Larry Gadon, the man behind one Sereno impeachment complaint?)

We asked him if he would ever consider extending legal aid to victims of extrajudicial killings (EJKs), as part of his public service.

“I don’t believe there are EJKs.’Yang mga killings na ’yan, ano ’yan, gawa rin ’yan ng mga drug syndicates,” Gadon said. (I don't believe there are EJKs. Those killings are perpetrated by drug syndicates.)

We reminded him of the deaths of teenagers Kian delos Santos and Carl Angelo Arnaiz, where evidence point to execution at the hands of policemen. In the Delos Santos case, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) made the findings that it was murder.

“Nag-file naman ang VACC di ba? (VACC filed a case right?)” Gadon said, referring to the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, where he serves as legal counsel.

Asked if he believes there are police abuses, Gadon said: “There are probably some instances, it cannot be avoided.”

But Gadon said he would consider helping out in EJK cases “if I have the time.”

We asked him if he sees any irregularities with the police war on drugs, and that’s when he said he would kill more if he were President.

“You think you can win [a Senate seat] on those pronouncements?” Rappler asked.

“Yes,” Gadon said.

We asked if it’s because he sees that the tough-talking, candid style is working with the voters.

“Not only that, eh kung ’yun ’yung gusto kong gawin eh, I will really do it, kapag ako nandiyan (if that's what I want to do, I will really do it if I were there),” Gadon said.

Earlier in the interview, Gadon said he’s considering running for the Senate again in 2019 because “a lot of people are pushing me.”

“Nagsawa na kasi ang mga Pilipino sa pambobola ng mga dilaw, ’yung pag-indoctrinate nila sa mga Aquinos, the heroism, actually it really ruined the country,” Gadon said.

(The Filipinos are fed up with the flowery words of the Yellows, the indoctrination of the Aquinos, their heroism, actually it ruined the country.)

Careful with words?

Gadon’s candor has gotten him into trouble. 

When he was running for the Senate in 2016, remarks he said in a pre-election interview on GMA News TV were deemed hateful speech against Muslims, and became the subject of a disbarment case pending before the Supreme Court. 

He said in that interview: "Sampung beses akong luluhod sa [Moro Islamic Liberation Front para huwag nang manggulo], iiyak ako ng bato at dugo. Kapag labing-isang pagkakataon at tumanggi pa rin sila, lulusubin ko sila doon at dadalhin ko ang buong sandatahang Pilipinas at papatayin ko silang lahat, susunugin ko ang bahay nila. Burahin ang lahi nila, kahit masunog ang kaluluwa ko sa impiyerno gagawin ko 'yan," Gadon said.

(I will kneel before the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to beg them not to launch attacks, I will cry stones and blood. If they still refuse on the 11th time, I will attack them and bring the entire Philippine army there and kill them all. I will burn their houses and eradicate their clans, even if my soul burns in hell later.)

On the Sereno impeachment case, he said over an interview that an “oligarch” was planning to bribe senators with P200 million to acquit the Chief Justice. 

Lawmakers scolded him for it, and even asked that he explains himself to the justice committee in writing.

“Please shut up your mouth,” an exasperated Quezon City 1st District Representative Vincent Crisologo told him in this week's hearing. 

So we asked him again if he acknowledges that there is a need for him now to be more careful with the words he says. 

Gadon answered: “Well actually hindi rin naman, kasi I speak what's on my mind (Not really because I speak what's on my mind).” – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson constantly accuses legitimate news organizations of bias and being purveyors of fake news.

Yet her account, which has 5 million followers, posts a number of misleading content from dubious sources, including what appears to be her favorite, going by the number of times she has shared their content in a span of one year: Trending News Portal (TNP). (READ: 'MOCHA USON: Fake news victim or fake news peddler?' )

In just one year, Uson has shared TNP content more than 500 times, way more than any other website whose content she has disseminated.

What is TNP and what kind of content does it produce and spread? Here's what we found:

TNP’s brand of news

On its website, TNP describes itself as "a digital news outfit specializing in trending news that become viral sensations online." 

It produces thousands of online content every year. The data on TNP’s Facebook page recorded at least 769 posts in the year it started. This catapulted to 3,041 posts in 2015, and 4,025 in 2016. As of November 2017, it has recorded more than 3,300 posts already. 

Its content is categorized into different sections: News, entertainment, buzz (trending stories), lifestyle, and health. But since the site does not have reporters actually covering these beats, they simply source their stories from news organizations and social media.

This was confirmed by their managing director, Mike de Jesus. When we asked for the name of their editor-in-chief, he said that they currently don't have one, "since we only reblog existing materials found online."

Scraping the headlines of all the content posted on its Facebook page shows the following as the top 20 key words every year since 2015:

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• Entertainment news

Entertainment stories seem to be TNP's forte in its first two years of existence.

Some of its earliest content featured updates about the Youtube couple Jamich and hit television show Pinoy Big Brother. They also write about celebrity gossip and interviews, sourced from other media organizations and social media.

• Viral content

For TNP, social media is a treasure trove of content. It blogs about anything that goes viral, from inspiring photos and stories to cringe-worthy, caught-on-cam footage. It also produces original memes and viral content.

Its most shared posts in 2014 for example, were all stories about viral posts and video sourced from social media.

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But indiscriminately reporting viral content, without verification and checking the credibility of its source helps spread misinformation online.

TNP, for example, recently wrote about a viral post by the Facebook page ‘Tulfo Action Agad.’ It showed video of an airline crew caught opening passengers’ luggage.  

Neither the post nor the report provided any detail about the supposed crime – they failed to mention where and when it happened. TNP said "this case is not so new in the Philippines," then cited two instances of baggage theft that happened in the country.

The truth, however, is that the incident actually happened at the Phuket International Airport in Thailand, involving crew who stole a camera from a Jetstar luggage. But both the report and the post went viral anyway, with many netizens being misled to think that it happened in the Philippines.

• Shift to politics

It was in 2016 when TNP started to adopt a more political tone. President Rodrigo Duterte and detained senator Leila de Lima have become two of their most written about figures.

But the penchant for reporting anything viral without actual verification also amplified black propaganda campaigns against those regarded as critics of the president.

On June 25, 2016, for example, TNP published a story reporting a viral photo of Leni Robredo and an alleged "leftist" she married before Jesse Robredo. It had the headline, "Leni Robredo's Alleged Wedding Photos To Her First Leftist Husband Before Jesse Robredo Goes Viral Online!” 

The photo, however, was not of Robredo. It was instead taken from an unknowing netizen who posted it to greet his parents on their wedding anniversary. 

In another instance, TNP published a "breaking" story with the headline, "De Lima Begged Marcelino Not To Reveal Her Involvement in Bilibid Drug Trade." 

The story referred to Lt Colonel Ferdinand Marcelino who was arrested during a raid on a shabu warehouse in Manila in January 2016. The story, however, just mentioned De Lima visiting him in prison just before the elections in 2016, without stating the reason for the visit.

As it turned out, Marcelino's affidavit – released after charges against him were dropped in May 2016 – indicated that he and De Lima discussed the raid and dismantling of a shabu laboratory in Camiling, Tarlac when she visited him in prison. 

The posts have already been deleted.

• Pro-Duterte

Just as they published stories against the President's critics, they also published several stories in 2016 that expressed strong admiration for Duterte.

"Talagang hindi natatakot si President Duterte sa mga Threats na kanyang natatanggap dahil malakas ang paniniwala niya sa ating Poong may Kapal. Kaya mahal na mahal namin kayo President (sic),” TNP wrote in a post in July 10, 2016. This came with a story with the headline, "Duterte Unafraid of Threats Says 'God will Decide.' 

(President Duterte is really not afraid of the threats he has received because he has strong faith in our God. This why we love you so much, President.)

"Napaka humble talaga ni President Duterte kahit isa na siyang ganap na Presidente ay ganito parin siya manamit,” they said in another post in the same month. Their story had the headline, "The Humble President Wears His Slippers In Bahay Pangarap. Must See!"

(President Duterte is so humble. Even if he is already a president, this is still how he dresses.)

"Talagang parami na ng parami ang sumusuporta kay Duterte pagdating sa pagsugpo sa krimen sa bansa, Iba talaga ang Duterte Effects sa lahat ng Filipino," they wrote in a post on July 4, 2016.

(Duterte is surely getting more and more supporters when it comes to fighting crime in the country. There really is something about the "Duterte effect" on all Filipinos.)

A closer look into their 2016 posts shows that content about Duterte started as early as March 2016, during the campaign period. Duterte was consistently their top topic starting April.

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Uson also started sharing content from TNP in April 2016, a month before elections. 

Good move?

Shifting their focus from entertainment to politics, whether deliberate or not, proved to be beneficial for TNP.

Its Facebook page's engagement, or the total number of reactions, comments, and shares of posts saw its biggest increase in 2016, the year President Rodrigo Duterte won the election and spent his first months in office. 

Their total engagement increased 5 times in just one year, from 2015-2016. 

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The followers of TNP’s Facebook page – in existence since May 2014 – have since risen to over 3.7 million in November 2017. 

In the last 6 months alone, Tnp.ph has been enjoying an average of 1,440,150 website visits every month, according to SemRush, a digital marketing suite that provides competitive traffic analysis, among others. This excludes views on the mirror site, tnp.today.

Network of pages

TNP’s reach on Facebook extends beyond its own page because it has been given a boost by several fan pages for celebrities and pro-Duterte pages such as:

• Jamich (8.2 million followers)
• Unofficial: Maja Salvador (5.5 million followers) 
• Barkada FM (2.4 million followers)
• Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa Supporters (932,000 followers)
• Pinoy Radio (913,000 followers)
• Kitty Duterte Supporters (625,000 followers)
• Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters (353,000 followers)
• Alex Gonzaga (191,000 followers)
• Jam Fernando Sebastian (127,000 followers)

In many cases, TNP’s content was posted on these pages with the same caption and within minutes of posting on TNP’s Facebook page. Sometimes, they were posted at the exact same time.

For example, TNP’s story about a supposed “political scientist” slamming former President Fidel Ramos, when he criticized President Duterte, was posted on Facebook pages TNP, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa Supporters, and Alan Peter Cayetano Supporters on May 29, 2017 at exactly 2:30 am.

Not only were they posted at the exact same time but also with the exact same caption: “Wala akong masabi dito! Basahin niyo po ang kanyang pahayag tungkol kay Ex. President Ramos! Ano po ang masasabi niyo?” (I’m speechless! Read ex-President Ramos’ statement! What can you say?)

The posts on the 3 pages have already been deleted.

This has been happening since 2014, where the same content is posted in various pages within a minute or less. For example:

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It is organically impossible for two Facebook page administrators to share the same link with the same caption at exactly the same time. This either shows there is a connection between these pages or that they are managed by the same people.

Each one of these groups has a huge following, ranging from over 8 million to over 120,000. Combine all these groups together and they make a network far wider than TNP’s reach of 3.7 million followers – all the more reason why it should be more responsible for their content.

Deleting past posts

But accountability is also an issue with TNP.

Checking their posts and past content has also been tricky because there appears to be unwillingness on their part to be transparent.

For instance, they regularly migrate to a new domain and make their old domains inaccessible. The domain for TNP’s website has been changed several times in the following order: trendingnewsportal.blogspot.com, trendingnewsportal.com, trendingnewsportal.net, trendingnews.portal.net.ph, and the current domain, tnp.ph. They also currently have a mirror site: tnp.today.

TNP also has an exclusion protocol (robots.txt) installed in their past domains which blocks crawlers from the Internet Archive. 

It's not only their websites that have been taken down: many of their posts in 2015 and 2016, especially political ones, have already been deleted. This shows a deliberate effort to hide previously published content. 

Their editorial process is also undisclosed. The TNP site does not show who is on the editorial board, although it has started to use bylines for stories. In the early versions of their site, a disclaimer said they can't vouch for the accuracy of their reports.

Asked about details pertaining to their editorial process – how they gather news and verify their information before posting – their managing director said, "The inquiry is too expansive to address given the lack in time and some difficulties in coordination" as their "key people are abroad for a two-week trip." – Rappler.com

To be concluded

MANILA, Philippines – Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Flerida Ruth P. Romero – who died on Friday, December 8, at the age of 88 – left a mark in the legal profession, particularly in labor and civil law circles.

Romero was born in Tondo, Manila, on August 1, 1929. She earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines in 1952. She then received a Master of Laws degree in 1955 from the University of Indiana, where her mother and sister also studied.

She became an expert in civil and labor law, and taught law at her alma mater UP. She became the director of the UP Law Center, and helped establish the UP Asian Labor Education Center, which became the School of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Romero played a key role in drafting the Family Code of the Philippines, which is part of the country's Civil Code. 

She also advocated for the rights of women and children. In 1975, she headed the Philippine delegation to the International Women's Year Conference. In 1995, she took part in a regional consultation on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Prior to her appointment to the SC, Romero was a special assistant to then-president Corazon Aquino. In 1986, Aquino chose Romero as the secretary-general of the Constitutional Commission, which crafted the 1987 Constitution.

In 1988, Aquino designated Romero as her legislative liaison officer to the Senate.

Romero was appointed to the Supreme Court by Corazon Aquino on October 21, 1991, becoming the 5th woman to ascend to the High Tribunal. Her appointment elicited some controversy because she did not have any prior judicial experience.

She was a member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) in 1994 and from 1997 to 1999. She chaired the SET from 1998 to 1999.

She served in the Supreme Court until her mandatory retirement on August 1, 1999.

Post-retirement, Romero was part of the panel – composed of ex-SC justices – that looked into the row over the control of power distribution firm Meralco in 2008. The scandal involved the Government Service Insurance System or GSIS. (READ: Meralco-GSIS case shows improprieties and ethical lapses in Court of Appeals) 

In 2010, Romero was named a member of the Truth Commission, created by President Benigno Aquino III to look into supposed anomalies of his predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

But before that year ended, the body was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. – Rappler.com

President Rodrigo Duterte teased his appointee and longtime friend, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, that if he wants to run for senator, the Chief Executive would have no problem with it.

Duterte, speaking at the 84th anniversary of the Department of Labor and Employment, addressed Bello and his seatmate, Senator Joel Villanueva, on Friday, December 8.

"Kung gusto talaga ni Bebot magtakbo ng senador, pati si Senador Villanueva na tatakbo uli, okay lang," said the President.

(If Bebot really wants to run for senator, and even Senator Villanueva, if he wants to run again, it's okay.)

Bello, however, in a text to Rappler after the event, denied he is running for senator in 2019.

Duterte had been talking about the impending twilight of his own political career. He repeated pronouncements that after his term as president, he will retire from politics.

Bello has had previous experience as a lawmaker, having been elected to the House of Representatives as 1BAP (now renamed 1-Ahapo) party-list representative.

With the 2019 elections looming, there has been talk of other Duterte appointees running for the Senate.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has endorsed Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque and Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson to be senatorial candidates of Duterte's political party, PDP-Laban.

Uson denied she plans to run while Roque has said he would leave his fate "to God."– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The move to include dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in the national vaccination program did not have the imprimatur of the panel of medical experts that was tasked to review its safety, effectiveness, and even its cost-effectiveness.

Minutes of a January 25, 2016 meeting of that panel, called the Formulary Executive Council (FEC), said, “Since the safety and efficacy of the vaccine are not yet well-established, the Council suggested a small scale pilot testing of the vaccine through phased implementation rather than vaccinating the target children in the 3 regions all at once.”  (READ: W.H.O. didn't recommend Dengvaxia for PH vaccination program)

The 3 regions referred to were the National Capital Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon).

The FEC, according to Executive Order No. 49, is the body mandated to determine which drugs should be part of the National Formulary, a list of drugs that the government can buy and use. Any drug not listed in the formulary cannot be purchased by government.

Given this restriction, the FEC recommended to the DOH an exemption for Sanofi Pasteur’s Dengvaxia dengue vaccine for only a year, with certain conditions. Any purchases beyond that period were supposed to be subject to another study, according to minutes of meetings obtained by Rappler.

Under that one-year purchasing period, the FEC also recommended a “staged procurement” of the vaccine.

All these indicate that then-DOH chief Janette Garin had decided to forego the FEC’s recommendations when she launched the school-based dengue vaccination program in the 3 regions on April 4, 2016. (READ: TIMELINE: Dengue immunization program for public school students)

Less than two years after, Sanofi said new analysis of 6 years’ worth of clinical data showed its vaccine could lead to “more severe” cases of dengue when administered on a persons who have not been previously infected by the virus. 

Current DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III already suspended the program, but not before 830,000 Filipino children received the vaccine in school. (READ: Duque confirms vaccinated 12-year-old in Tarlac later got severe dengue)

Another 15,000 cops, their dependents, and walk-in civilians got the vaccine from an immunization drive in Quezon City.

'Political decision'?

The FEC is composed of experts in the fields of pharmacology, toxicology, clinical epidemiology, pharmacy, clinical medicine, public health, health economics, health social science, and law and medicine. 

The FEC members who tackled the dengue vaccine were:

• Lawyer Froilan Bagabaldo
• Dr Cleotilde How
• Dr Cecilia Jimeno
• Dr Hilton Lam
• Dr Cecile Maramba-Lazarte
• Dr Paul Matthew Pasco
• Dr Imelda Peña
• Dr John Wong

Throughout their 3 meetings – on January 7 and 25, 2016 and February 1, 2016 – a majority of the FEC members argued there weren’t enough clinical studies at the time to guarantee that Dengvaxia was safe to use, effective in preventing dengue, and cost-effective enough for the government to buy for mass consumption.

But in a way, they were working under a “deadline.” 

Even before the FEC’s first meeting, Garin publicly said then president Benigno Aquino III already approved the allotment of P3.5 billion in sin tax revenues to administer the vaccine to more than a million kids in the 3 regions. 

The February 1, 2016 minutes also quoted ex-DOH undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan Go as saying it was “not yet imperative” to include Dengvaxia in the National Formulary, but a “political decision to allot the budget from the national agencies’ savings was already made by a higher Committee.” 

He did not specify which committee he was exactly referring to. 

Not illegal, but was it right?

To be clear, it was not illegal for Garin to ignore the FEC regarding Dengvaxia, as it is merely a recommendatory body. But former DOH undersecretary Susan Pineda Mercado explained that the FEC’s recommendations are usually the basis of the DOH chief’s key policy decisions. 

“Because if you have a number of experts who studied the issue and put their approval behind it, then the secretary of health can say, ‘Well, the leading scientists have already said that this is ok,’” said Pineda.

“In fact, the recommendation of the FEC is what secretaries of health usually use as their basis for making a decision. It is not some external body, some international expert,” she added.

Public health experts have renewed outrage over the dengue immunization program now that Sanofi issued its new advisory against its vaccine. 

Duque plans to go after Sanofi, eyeing to demand a refund and making the French pharmaceutical giant set up an indemnity fund for vaccinated Filipino kids who will later be hospitalized due to dengue.

Garin speaks up

Others pin the blame on Garin for the “rushed” implementation of the vaccination program. But she stands by her decision, arguing it was above-board. 

“Hindi po totoo ‘yon na maraming nag-object at pinilit ko… Lahat sila ngayon nagke-claim na eksperto sila eh.  Pero sino ba ang talagang totoong eksperto? The DOH is on top of the situation. The DOH has the authority to say kung ano ang gagawin, ano ang nangyayari, at sila dapat ang pinakikinggan natin,” Garin told ABS-CBN.

(It’s not true that there were many objections but I forced to implement the program… They’re now all claiming to be experts. But who are the real experts? The DOH is on top of the situation. The DOH has the authority to say what should be done, what is happening, and they should be the only ones we should listen to.)

She said she was saddened that the dengue vaccine controversy is being used as a “vehicle to confuse the people.”

“I understand the concern. At kailangan na itong tutukan kasi maski kami, galit na galit [sa] announcement ng Sanofi, lalo na no’ng makita mo severe dengue. Nanay din ako. Anak ko nabakunahan din. Ako nabakunahan din. So ang tinitingnan ko, bakit ganito?” said Garin.

(I understand the concern. We need to closely look into this because even we are also very angry over Sanofi’s announcement, especially when I saw it involved severe dengue. I am a mother, too. My child was vaccinated as well. I was vaccinated also. So why did this happen?)

It’s the same question lawmakers want to find answers to next week, when congressional investigations on Dengvaxia will be reopened.

The Senate blue ribbon committee will probe into the dengue vaccination program on Monday, December 11, while the House panels on health and good government and public accountability will hold a joint hearing on Wednesday, December 13.

Read copies of the minutes of the FEC's meetings on January 7 and 25, 2016 and February 1, 2016 below:

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– with a report from Sofia Tomacruz/Rappler.com

Part 1 of 2

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs has left thousands of dead people in its wake. Most of them belong to families who could barely afford 3 meals a day, much less a proper burial.

It was close to midnight when Flor tracked down her nephew, Alex, and Michelle her son, Mark, but they couldn't take them. Light Funeral Service demanded P35,000 ($690)* to claim each body.

Earlier in the day, the women set out to search for the boys they held just the day before. Later on, they learned that the celebration their children attended the past night had turned into a bloodbath.

John, Mark, and Alex along with two others, were celebrating John’s 38th birthday when a knock on the door led to gunshots that left all 5 men dead in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City, on August 15, 2016.

May*, John’s wife, said she was lucky she reached her husband’s body at the morgue. That way, she had the chance to take John to a funeral parlor she could afford.

Flor and Michelle were not as lucky. The bodies of Alex and Mark were nowhere to be found as the sun rose over Quezon City the morning after the birthday massacre.  

Following whatever lead they could, they searched in hospitals, morgues, funeral homes, and the police station. But at each destination they met a dead end, and were told to look elsewhere.

“Kung saan-saan kami tinuro, napagod na kami talaga. Kung saan-saan na kami nakapunta (We were pointed to so many directions,  we really got so tired. We went to so many places)."

She added, “Sabi namin, sabihin 'nyo naman kung saan dinala, kung nasaan (We begged them to tell us where they brought them, where they were)."

Yet as soon as they found the bodies of the two, they were told that the corpses had been subjected to an autopsy.

“Sabi nila, nagalaw na raw ang bangkay. Ang katwiran nila, kaya nila ina-autopsy agad, kasi wala raw kamag-anak na pumunta, natagalan kami. Eh hindi raw puwede na ang katawan ay nakatiwangwang lang. Parusa na talaga,” said the women.

(They said they already processed the bodies. They told us they autopsied the bodies because no relative came and we took too long. You can’t just do that to a body. It’s torture.)

Since July 2016, at least 3,993 individuals have been killed in anti-illegal drug operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Critics have argued that Duterte’s war on drugs has been largely a war on the poor. Poor families not only suffer the loss of loved ones, but are also burdened with the cost of burying them. (READ: This is where they do not die)

‘Mahal talaga mamatay'

Boy Ramos, the father of Ara, said that they did not know where to get the money to pay for the funeral expenses of his daughter. As a taxi driver, he was barely earning enough.

Ara's family knew the cost would be expensive but never imagined that the funeral service that was supposed to be worth only P7,500 ($147) would balloon to P60,000 ($1,183). 

Ara, 17, died in a shootout on May 1 inside a friend’s residence along San Simon Street, Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City.

The investigators of Ara’s case referred them to Light Funeral Service, where they were supposed to be charged less, or if they were lucky, not at all.

When Ara's remains were brought to their home on May 3, Florence Ramos, Ara’s sister, went to the office of the funeral service located along Kamias Road to ask for their balance. She was surprised to see P60,000 at the bottom of the contract.

Like the Ramos family, Flor and Michelle held the funeral for Alex and Mark, respectively, using Light Funeral Service. The two families could not afford to pay the fee of P35,000 ($690) to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones.

While Flor’s funeral for Alex, cost P50,000 ($986), Michelle had to gather P75,000 ($1,479) to bury her son.

“Mahal talaga mamatay dito sa Pilipinas (It's really expensive to die in the Philippines),” Ramos said. 

What makes it so expensive?

At the beginning of his presidency, Duterte said that the funeral parlor business  would boom from all the casualties in his drug war.

“Instead of going to drugs, you might want to put up a business, sabihin ko sa inyo, itong mga panahon, itong mga araw na dadating, kung may punerarya ho kayo, kikita kayo nang husto(These coming days, if you have a funeral parlor, you will earn a lot),” Duterte told Tondo residents after he took his oath of office on June 30, 2016.

“Iyong mga small time punerarya dito, doon, at sigurado hindi kayo malugi,” Duterte added. “At 'pag humihina na ang negosyo ninyo, sabihin ko lang sa mga pulis, bilis-bilisan ninyo nang konti para kumita ‘yung tao sa negosyo nila.”

(These small-time funeral parlors, you will earn enough. If your business falters, I’ll tell the police, hurry up because these people need to earn.)

But many of the victims of the drug war have faced the problem of not having enough money to properly bury their dead. Despite this, some funeral parlors continue to charge high rates.

Documents obtained by Rappler for 4 of the victims' families showed a breakdown of the costs charged by Light Funeral Service. “Restoration of human remains” came out to be the most expensive service on the list at P17,500 ($345).

This was followed by other services including a registration fee, burial permit, 7-day wake duration, casket and hearse, as well as a tarpaulin, some flowers and balloons, which totaled about P32,500 ($641).

According to Flor, one item not included on the list which she paid for was an extra formalin shot, priced at P3,000 ($59), to preserve the remains Alex for the rest of the wake.

Accounts of the families show discrepancies between the prices that they were initially told, and those written on their contracts.

Upon arrival at the funeral parlor where they had found the bodies of Alex and Mark, Flor and Michelle were told to pay P35,000 ($690) as the bodies had been autopsied despite the absence of the family’s consent. However, documents list autopsy costs as free or at P9,000 ($177) detailing the use of morgue, man power, and an ambulance.

On the funeral service’s official Facebook page, advertisements for their “libreng serbisyong (free) funeral service" show yet another cost: P25,000 ($493).

Rappler reached out to the company several times but no formal response was received as of posting.

Cutting costs

According to two other funeral parlor operators who have received hundreds of bodies from the drug war, the amount Light Funeral Service asked the families of the victims to pay were “higher than usual.”

Orly Fernandez, operations manager of Eusebio Funeral Homes in Malabon, told Rappler that their service usually just costs P28,000 ($552) which already includes everything except the price of a cemetery plot. The biggest chunk, he said, goes to embalming and restoration. 

“Pinakamababa na iyon,” he explained. “Lahat ng natanggap namin na namatay sa drug-related noong nakaraan, na may pamilya, nakakabayad naman kasi mababa lang ang singil namin.”

(That’s the lowest. All those we serviced in the past who were drug-related, the families were all able to pay because we only ask for a low price.)

Since it knew that most of the families that avail of the services are indigent, Eusebio Funeral sees to it that the families are made aware of the burial assistance available. They usually end up only paying less than P25,000 ($493) because of this.

“Tuturuan ko pa iyong pamilya kung paano makakuha ng tulong,” Fernandez explained. “Punta ka sa ganito, dalhin mo iyong kontrata at death certificate, ibibigay sa ’yo usually P5,000 kaya mababawasan talaga babayaran mo.” 

(I will even teach the family how to seek assistance. I tell them to go to this certain place, bring the contract and death certificate and they’ll usually give P5,000 ($98) so you’ll pay less.)

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Jose*, a manager of a Pasay-based funeral home, meanwhile, said that they charge P25,000 ($493) to P30,000 ($591) for drug-related deaths. Like Eusebio Funeral, they also offer discounts and refer families to organizations who can assist.

Sometimes, he said, it is the families themselves who adjust to lower the cost. 

“Kapag umiiwas sa gastusin at para practical, wala na coffin, diretso na sa crematorium,” he explained. “Wala na burol kasi iyon iyong nagpapamahal doon eh.” 

(If they do not want extra costs and to be more practical, they don’t buy a coffin, they cremate immediately. No more wake because that’s what increases the cost.)

Still, there are a lot of families who are not able to pay the total amount. According to Jose, they end up giving only promissory notes.                                           

“Minsan makuha mo lang iyong gastos just to get rid of it kasi ang problema nila, problema mo rin,” he said. “Panalangin na lang na bumalik at magbayad.”

(Sometimes you just recoup your expenses just to get rid of it because their problem is also your problem. You just have to pray that they will come back and pay the remaining balance.)

Availing of gov’t assistance

Even if the families had complaints about the amounts charged, they knew they had no choice but to pay. 

To make up the bulk of the burial costs, families tried to avail of burial assistance from various government offices.

When this is not enough, they stretch the wakes of their loved ones just to get more abuloy (donations) from good-hearted visitors.

Flor, whose nephew’s wake lasted for two weeks, obtained assistance amounting to P47,000 ($927) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) after refusing to take the initial P10,000 ($197) offered to her. 

“Nagtaka nga sila kung bakit binalik ko iyong P10,000. Sabi ko ma'am, mas kailangan ko iyong P47,000,” she said. “Sabi nga nila sa buong Manila, ito 'yung pinakamalaking nakakuha.”

(They were confused as to why I returned the P10,000. I told them, ma’am, I need P47,000. They told me that in Manila, I got the biggest amount.) 

Boy, meanwhile, received a DSWD guarantor letter that covered the amount of P30,000 ($592) after going through interviews and doing the necessary paperwork. He received an additional P30,000 from Baclaran Church.

It wasn’t the same for Michelle who only got P4,000 ($79) from DSWD. The rest was covered using the money donated by those who visited the wake of her nephew.

“Sabi namin, hindi namin kaya bayaran iyon,” she recalled. “Ang sabi sa amin ng Light, pumunta daw kami ng City Hall. 

(We told them that we really cannot pay that much. Light [Funeral Service] told us to go to City Hall.)

Michelle and Flor were eventually able to get a sum of P1,500 ($30) each from the offices of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, and Representative Winnie Castelo. 

For Elaine, the sister of a victim named Jerico in Payatas, she got P10,000 ($197) from Belmonte – the maximum amount given to indigent residents for burial assistance, the Vice Mayor later told Rappler.

The rest was paid off by donations – over $2,000 – gathered by a Vietnamese-Australian human rights lawyer who read about Jerico and Angel. (READ: IMPUNITY: Let them sleep)

“Sabi namin ng tatay ko, hindi talaga namin kaya, paano mababayaran iyon, ibuburol ba namin ng ilang buwan si Jerico?” she said. “Kaya laking pasasalamat namin sa mga tumulong talaga.”

(I told my father, we really cannot pay that. What are we going to do, hold a long wake for Jerico? That’s why I am so grateful for all those who helped us.) 

The families were eventually able to pay either full or a part of the funeral costs. But going through government bureaucracy on top of being distraught over the untimely death of a loved one left them feeling “tortured.” 

“Patay na nga, pinapatay pa lalo sa gastos (They were already dead. They were killing us with more costs),” Elaine said. – with reports from Rambo Talabong/Rappler.com

*1 USD = P50.7

*Names have been changed to protect their identities

MANAMA, Bahrain – At the Al Noor Ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton, Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, the United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Affairs Minister, addressed a room of some of the Middle East’s top defense and security experts. 

Among the crowd were other government officials and ministers, ambassadors, military personnel in uniform, and analysts from across the region.

A frank Gargash had been talking about the challenges and importance of seeking stability after Irag and Syria and the dangers posed by Iran. And then, like all those who spoke before him, he slammed US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

“It is these issues that are actually a gift to radicalism,” he said of Trump’s move. 

The condemnation of Trump’s statement from just 3 days earlier, was a widespread consensus at the Manama Dialogue, the region’s top security and defense summit.

At the event, Saudi Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud called Trump's December 6 decision “a dangerous step.” Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said it was a threat to a “peace process on which millions have pinned their hope and aspirations.” His Iraqi counterpart Dr Ibrahim Al Jaafari went so far as to call it a “step towards war.” 

Trump’s move has obvious and immediate consequences for the Gulf. Thousands have marched in protests across the Arab world. Clashes erupted between Palestine and Israel, leading to the death of two Palestinians in Gaza, shot by the Israeli army. Aside from evangelical Christians and right-wing Jewish Americans, only Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the Jerusalem recognition.

Several peace plans have unravelled in the past decades over the issue of how to divide Jerusalem, which is home to holy sites sacred to Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Israel seized Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later claimed all of Jerusalem as its capital in a move never recognized by the international community. The Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

The international community has remained neutral, insisting the issue can only be resolved in negotiations through peace talks.

But the consequences of Trump’s move reach far beyond just the Gulf.

Over 7,000 kilometers away, in Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, hundreds protested in front of the United States embassy condemning the decision. In Malaysia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, thousands also called for Trump to retract his statement.

The protests however, could well be the least of the world’s concerns.

Trump’s decision, along with recent development in the Middle East – specifically the liberation of Mosul and Raqqa from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorists – bring bad news, particularly to Southeast Asia.

Fanning flames

In Christian-majority Philippines, Trump’s statement was met with no fanfare.  

This, as an Israeli media report said that the Philippines was one of the countries considering following America’s lead to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

There has been no evidence of this or confirmation from Philippine government officials. The Philippine government has not even released a statement on Trump’s declaration – despite the fact that the statement can very well affect the Philippines.

At the Manama Dialogue, there was not a single Philippine government official or representative present – compared to 3 registered participants each from Indonesia and Malaysia and one from Singapore – signaling a lack of appreciation by the Philippine administration of how Middle East security affects the country. 

Why does Trump’s declaration matter?

Trump’s move heightens the risk of terror threats further, as experts warn it could be used by extremists to justify further attacks.

 “Radicals and extremists will use that to fan the language of hate. To use it not because they’re interested in Jerusalem or in an overall two-state solution, but because they are interested in utilizing it in the current polarization we are seeing in the current state,” said Gargash.

Indonesian Islamic activist Yenny Wahid said the "reckless" decision will be used by radical groups as a recruiting tool, while Prince Turki said it would be “oxygen to lost souls.”

This is especially significant to the Philippines, which is just recovering from a 5-month war between government troops and ISIS-linked rebels. The conflict saw foreign fighters from Indonesia and Malaysia come to Marawi City, in the Southern Philippines. For the first time, ISIS-linked fighters held a city for months.

For the region, it was a rude awakening to the growing influence and power of ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, IS, ISIL, or its Arabic acroym Daesch, and to Southeast Asia's inadequacies in countering terrorism. It is now trying to play catch up, with the region vowing to work together, to exchange intelligence, and strengthen its cooperation to fight extremism.

Trump’s statement is further problematic for Southeast Asia, after ISIS' loss of territory in Iraq and Syria. ISIS has been eyeing the Philippines as a possible caliphate, even encouraging their followers in Southeast Asia to train and fight in the country. 

So while leaders at the conference in Bahrain congratulated Iraq after it gained full control of its border with Syria and declared its war with ISIS over, Southeast Asia should be increasingly more concerned and vigilant. 

With the fall of ISIS in the Middle East, comes more threats for the region still recovering from the reality of Marawi.

Not over

While the conference participants acknowledged ISIS’ loss of territory however, they were united in clarifying that it didn’t mean the war against ISIS is over.

“Countries in the region and elsewhere realize the threat from Islamic state and other Jihadi groups remains highly potent… We should also remember the Islamic State and al-Qaeda are not only active in Iraq and the Levant,” Dr Nelly Lahoud, Senior Fellow for Political Islamism for IISS-Middle East, said.

“We may therefore expect the rivalry between al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to be on a more equal footing now, with groups in different geographical regions competing with each other through escalating their attacks.”

In Southeast Asia, followers of al-Qaeda and ISIS are still present and active, with groups like Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf splintering between both, and extremist fringes Maute group and BIFF recovering after the Marawi siege. 

Gavin Williamson, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Defense, also emphasized that the greater battle is against extremism and its ideologies, since “Daesh don’t have to hold territory in order to wage war.”

“Without a secure Gulf, the world is a less safe place,” he said. 

In Southeast Asia, it is not just radical ideologies that have already been passed on, but also war tactics. In Marawi, urban warfare, sniping skills, and complex ratholes and trenches were evidence of a transfer of knowledge and advanced planning and coordination.

Even now, after the Philippine government declared victory over terrorists, analysts believe the Marawi conflict has changed the face of terrorism in the region and will have long-term repercussions for extremism in Southeast Asia.

The success of pro-ISIS fighters in occupying an entire Philippine city for an extended amount of time has inspired violence in other places in the region and could lead to a higher risk of violent attacks in other Philippine cities and in Indonesia and Malaysia; greater cooperation among Southeast Asian extremists; and new leadership for Indonesian and Malaysian pro-ISIS cells from among returning fighters from Marawi.

Southeast Asian ISIS supporters in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, may also see the Philippines as an attractive alternative as ISIS is pushed back in the Middle East.

For Southeast Asia, it may be the perfect storm.

Global fight

Back in Manama, Gargash ended his segment on the Trump decision with a musing.

“I’m really surprised the Americans have this wonderful platform here to explain the Jerusalem decision and they are not here. It really needs a lot of convincing, [their view that] yes it’s drastic but it’s not changing anything,” he said, calling their absence a lost opportunity. 

Similar to Southeast Asia, Washington appears to have no clear strategy on the Middle East. It has yet to appoint U.S. ambassadors to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan. In Southeast Asia, the lack of Trump's foreign policy– compared to former president Barack Obama’s aggressive pivot to Asia – was evident at the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Manila.

The United States’ inaction is perilous.

“US leadership is imperative. If the US does not lead, another country will,” said Retired General and former Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus.

He also highlighted that the “approach has to be comprehensive” rather than a “narrow counter terrorist” one, since the war against terror is a "generational struggle."

Ayman Safadi, Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized, “We will never prevail in our long term war against terrorism unless we defeat the root causes. Loss of hope, poverty… these are from where dark ideologies of hate thrive.” 

“We’ve all done a great job in ending ISIS and its territorial control. Our biggest battle is to defeat their narrative, and addressing root causes of conflict.”

Williamson said it was crucial to take terrorists on in the virtual and real world, infiltrate communication channels, educate the youth, and work with partners globally both militarily and politically. 

“We cannot give up the battle for hearts and minds,” he said. “We need to win the battle of ideas, eradicating the virus of extremism.” 

The strategies are crucial for anywhere in the world, whether in the Middle East or Southeast Asia – with intense pressure to step up if the United States will not take the lead. But these are not novel ideas.

In Southeast Asia, the same solutions are consistently discussed, but implementation and fostering trust among nations remain obstacles.

What is different though, is it is even more critical now more than ever to act. 

“I’m worried we will see the Jerusalem decision as a turning point… like a watershed moment,” said Gargash. “I hope not but this is a worry for me.” – Rappler.com

Natashya Gutierrez travelled to Manama, Bahrain with support from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). 

(READ: PART 1: The cost of dying in Duterte's war on drugs)

PART 2 OF 2

MANILA, Philippines – Representatives of funeral parlors and morgues are a common sight after police operations under President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

They are the ones who take care of the slain suspected drug personalities who, if spot reports are to be believed, fought back or "nanlaban". It is in their utility vehicles where bullet-riddled bodies are boarded to be transported for “processing” amid the chorus of wailing family members.

Since July 2016, at least 3,993 individuals have been killed in anti-illegal drug operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

But the suffering does not end with the grief of losing a loved one. It transcends and lingers among families as they are burdened with funeral expenses that are beyond what they can afford.

Investigators’ prerogative

In Quezon City, Rappler found families who were charged between P50,000 ($988)* to P60,000 ($1,186). 

Documents obtained by Rappler for 4 of the victims’ families showed a breakdown of the costs issued by Light Funeral Service. “Restoration of human remains” came out to be the most expensive service on the list at P17,500 ($346) while the rest – registration fee, burial permit, 7-day wake duration, casket and hearse, as well as a tarpaulin, some flowers and balloons – totaled about P32,500 ($642).

Rappler has repeatedly sought comment from Light Funeral Service but has received no response as of posting.

But funeral costs shouldn’t be that high in the first place, at least according to two funeral parlor operators based in Malabon and Pasay.

Funeral service for someone who died from “unnatural causes” ranges from only P25,000 ($494) to P30,000 ($593) in Eusebio Funeral Homes in Malabon – almost half of what Light Funeral Service charged the families in Quezon City.

Orly Fernandez, operations manager of Eusebio, says that the possible reason why other funeral parlors charge a lot is their “obligation” to police officers who provide them the bodies.

“Kasi wala akong obligasyon kaya mura iyong serbisyo sa amin,” he told Rappler. “Kasi kung may obligasyon ako sa bawa't nagbibigay ng bangkay, eh syempre mamahal na iyan.”

(I don’t have any obligation that’s why our services are cheap. If I have an obligation to give to anyone who gives me a body, of course my prices will go up.)

This observation is consistent with what an investigation by human rights watchdog Amnesty International discovered. In its report released in January 2017, Amnesty said that police established dealings with funeral homes, often getting cash for every dead body.

“Police investigators appear to be running a racket with funeral homes, forcing families to spend money they can ill afford to claim the body,” Amnesty said.

Business of picking up the dead

How does one body end up in a specific funeral service?

First, a funeral parlor that wishes to accept bodies from police needs to be accredited. Its facilities and equipment are inspected and evaluated to ensure it can accommodate the required services such as autopsy and proper storage.

The process, according to a guide by the PNP Crime Lab, takes a little over a day and costs P3,000 ($59).

But being accredited, however, does not guarantee a funeral parlor it will constantly be called to pick up “clients”.

An employee of the PNP Crime Lab, who requested anonymity, said it is usually up to the investigator assigned to one crime incident to choose who the “lucky” morgue will be.

“The police stations, homicide investigators will call funerals that are accredited by the PNP Crime Lab,” he said. “The investigators are the ones who choose who, as long as it is accredited.”

This was echoed by another operator of a Pasay-based funeral service who also requested anonymity. According to him, there are really law enforcers in Metro Manila who prefer those who are “more generous.”

At the Supreme Court, where the constitutionality of Duterte’s war on drugs is being questioned, Solicitor General Jose Calida could not answer when asked by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen on November 28 if it was illegal for “police in a precinct to facilitate the funeral arrangement” of those who died during police operations.

Leonen said that these are “what’s coming out in terms of, unfortunately, the drug war.”

Families have long complained about high funeral costs, with most of the victims belonging to lower socioeconomic classes barely having enough to make ends meet. They end up extending the wake period to gather enough donations, borrow from more well-to-do relatives, or suffer through the bureaucracy to avail of government assistance.

This reality is exactly why human rights advocates have dubbed the war on drugs as being a war on the poor. (READ: This is where they do not die)

The fight against high funeral costs has led to familiar scenes of tug-of-wars between relatives with their preferred service provider and funeral services called by police. Still, there are those who have had no choice, especially if they were unable to reach their loved ones’ bodies at the crime scene.

Flor and Michelle, whose relatives were killed in August 2016, spent almost a day looking for the bodies of their relatives in Quezon City. When they finally found them, Light Funeral Service asked them to pay P35,000 ($692) each before they could claim the bodies.

“Kasi sabi nila, nagalaw na raw ng bangkay at na-autopsy na,” Michelle said. “Wala kaming consent tapos na-autopsy na? Kaya tumaas na iyong presyo tapos ayaw na bitawan.”

(They told us that the bodies were already processed and had undergone autopsy. We didn’t give our consent. That’s why the price went up and they wouldn’t let go of the bodies.)

The two were eventually able to negotiate and lower the “downpayment” to P3,000. But if it was up to them, they would have preferred to go to another funeral parlor, which charged only P25,000.

Move by the government

There have been several moves in the government to protect those who are grieving “against potential abuses by funeral homes.”

House Bill 5036 or the Grievers Protection Act seeks to criminalize and punish the harassment or exploitation of families. These include:

• Compelling by force, intimidation, deceit, or any other means, a person to undertake the services of a morgue, crematorium or any other death care provider

• Charging excessive fees for services rendered by those in the death care sector that are well above the “fair value” or average amount charged by those providing the same services in the same city or municipality

• Failure to provide the nearest kin of the deceased prior written notice of the cost of services

In May 2017, meanwhile, Senators Risa Hontiveros and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV called for an inquiry into “alleged exorbitant charges” imposed by government-sanctioned funeral homes on families of victims killed in the drug war.

"This is morally reprehensible,” Hontiveros said in a statement. “The victims of the families affected by these ruthless killings are already suffering from shock and trauma, yet they are made to deal with the stress of cobbling together the funds necessary to provide a decent burial for their loved ones.”

Seven months since the issue was brought to light, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has returned to the drug war.

While the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency remains to be its lead implementer, human rights organizations fear that the PNP’s return may lead to “more bloodshed and deaths.”

Meanwhile, no inquiry has been made into the allegations of abusive funeral homes.  – with reports from Rambo Talabong/Rappler.com

*1 USD = P50.7
*Names have been changed to protect their identities 

MANILA, Philippines – Among the issues raised during the impeachment hearing against Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno were the alleged flaws of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC).

In his impeachment complaint, lawyer Larry Gadon, accused Sereno of manipulating the JBC short list to exclude former solicitor general Francis Jardeleza and the short list for Sandiganbayan nominees. Jardeleza was eventually appointed to the Supreme Court by former president Benigno Aquino III.

House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, meanwhile, pointed out the “problems” with the JBC – saying that it had only two elected officials as members and was vulnerable to politics and a “palakasan (patronage)” system. (READ: At Sereno impeachment hearing, Fariñas brings up flaws in JBC)

Created through Article VIII, Section 8 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the JBC is the one in charge of screening and scrutinizing court aspirants. Before its creation, how were justices chosen?

Non-transparent process before

The JBC did not exist prior to the 1987 Philippine Constitution. 

The 1899 Malolos Constitution allowed a National Assembly to choose who would lead the High Court, with the approval of the Philippine president. From 1902 to 1935, the chief magistrate was appointed by the United States president.  

Under the 1935 Constitution, meanwhile, the president appointed all members of the Supreme Court and inferior courts “with the consent of the Commission on Appointments (CA) of the National Assembly.” 

The president chose from a list prepared under the supervision of the justice secretary. Many had criticized this process, pointing out that it led to the selection of individuals who were not fit to join but were included because of “connections”. 

The list, according to former associate justice and JBC member Regino Hermosisima Jr in 2006, often included “those within the Department of Justice whom the Secretary believes would make good judges, as well as those without the department who are proposed by leaders of the political party to which the President belongs or by other persons who possess a strong influence over the President or the justice secretary.” 

Unlike the JBC which publishes the list of candidates for interview and eventually the short list, the prior process did not require the public release of the final list and nominations to the Supreme Court.

While the Supreme Court existed when Martial Law was declared by then president Ferdinand Marcos, the 1973 Philippine Constitution changed the process of selection and eventual appointment of aspirants.  

The appointment was left in the hands of Marcos and did not require the approval of other government bodies such as the legislative. This move was highly criticized due to its lack of transparency and independence – a staple under the dictatorship. 

“The Constitution and the law then had not improved the method by which justices, judges and prosecutors were selected or promoted and were not encouraged to maintain the quality of their work,” Hermosisima said. “The law functioned negatively, not positively, that is, it was designed to keep unqualified misfits out, not to bring the best and the brightest lawyers into the judiciary.”

More ‘transparent’ under the JBC

Responding to the flawed system, members of the Constitutional Commission made sure to improve the selection process in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. 

The JBC is “vested with great responsibility” to ensure that the applicants possess the necessary qualifications for positions as identified in various laws, specifically the Constitution. (READ: EXPLAINER: How the Judicial and Bar Council works)

The council, however, also screens individuals aiming to lead the office of the Ombudsman, Deputy Ombudsman, Special Prosecutor, and the offices of the Chairperson and Regular Members of the Legal Education Board.

The council meets, usually months in advance if the retirement is expected, to discuss proceedings and deadlines as any vacancy in the judiciary needs to be filled within 90 days, by virtue of Article VIII, Section 4. 

A list containing all candidates is then published after the deadline of applications. To further push for transparency, the JBC encourages the public to report information about the candidates that could help the council in screening the applicants.

The council then comes up with a list of individuals who will go through a public interview. To be considered for nomination to the short list that will be submitted to the President, an applicant should obtain an affirmative vote from at least 4 members of the JBC. 

It is from the short list where the President will choose the new justice. Unlike the system under the 1935 Philippine Constitution, the Commission on Appointments does not need to confirm the appointees because they already went through the JBC process. 

While there have been controversies in the past concerning the JBC – such as when presidents aired sentiments against the short list – the process definitely improved compared to the time when there was a lack, if not absence of, transparency prior to the 1987 Philippine Constitution. – Rappler.com 

Was the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) not informed, or did he simply forget?

It could also be a case of jetlag.

At a news briefing on Tuesday, December 12, PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa could not recall the time period that the PNP had recommended for the extension of martial law in Mindanao.

He was asked about it just a day after President Rodrigo Duterte took the advice of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and asked Congress for one more year of martial law in Mindanao.

"Kararating ko lang, Henry. Hindi ko pa alam kung ilang years ba 'yung kwan (I just arrived. I do not know how many years [we recommended])," a visibly fazed Dela Rosa replied when dzMM radio reporter Henry Atuelan asked him why the PNP was in favor of extending military rule.

Dela Rosa had just come back from a trip to New York City, where he attended an anti-terrorism conference. He went abroad on December 4 and was supposed to have returned just that day.

The PNP submitted its recommendation to Malacañang for  a one-year martial law extension on December 7, while its chief was abroad. The Department of the Interior and Local Government endorsed the recommendation.

The PNP chief then got back on his feet and said in the news briefing that the threat of terrorism remained in Mindanao. (READ: Duterte names obscure terrorist to justify extended martial law)

"'Yung threat of terrorism really is it's not that simple, very complicated.Kahit na patay na lahat ng mga miyembro ng Maute-ISIS, still nandiyan pa rin ang ideology," said Dela Rosa, echoing Duterte.

(The threat of terrorism really is not that simple, it's very complicated. Even though all members of the Maute-ISIS are dead, the ideology remains.)

Dela Rosa added that terrorists have also intensified their recruitment online, using underground social media sites to add members among their ranks as they regroup and prepare to attack again.

The Marawi siege, the basis for the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, was declared over on October 17 after more than 5 months of fighting that reduced much of Marawi City to rubble.

The government has since shifted to rehabilitation. The police and the military cited the need for an extension of martial law in the region to speed up the recovery efforts. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – One thing is clear as far as the impeachment proceedings at the House of Representatives are going: there are cracks in the Supreme Court (SC).

It's been a long-time open secret, exposed on Monday, December 11, in a single statement by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro: "Hanggang kailan kami magtitiis? (Until when will we suffer?)"

De Castro is described as the nemesis of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Just before the impeachment complaint was filed, her last action against Sereno was sending a memorandum to the en banc asking for a reassessment of the Chief Justice's actions on many internal matters.

As De Castro said so herself: "Lagi ko siyang kinokontra (I'm always opposing her)."

And it's not something unique to her only, as it turned out. (READ: Impeachment committee question: Is Sereno still fit to hold office?)

Justices vs Sereno

It's public record that retired justice Arturo Brion also has a bone to pick with Sereno. 

In his concurring opinion in the en banc decision that overturned then solicitor general Francis Jardeleza's exclusion from the short list when the latter was applying for SC justice, Brion accused Sereno of "manipulation" and engaging in a "purposive campaign" to discredit the former solicitor general.

"Sasabihin ko sa kanya, wala namang ganyanan (I would tell her, don’t go that route). You are getting what you want through these devious means that are not right,” Brion said during the hearing.

After 12 long hours of hearing on Monday, De Castro had not run out of strong words for the Chief Justice: "Whoever disagrees with her is crazy, that is her frame of mind."

In a rare display of emotion, De Castro admitted she was disappointed when Sereno was appointed Chief Justice in 2012, bypassing her and other more senior justices.

Associate Justice Noel Tijam even egged the Chief Justice to face the House committee: “If she continues to refuse, if she continues to ignore participating in this committee, that would show disdain, that would show contempt to this committee and it’s a constitutional process.”

Jardeleza's wounds

Jardeleza's statements also show that time has not healed wounds.

Explaining the Itu Aba issue which was Sereno's basis for questioning his integrity and loyalty to the country, and the reason for his exclusion in the short list, Jardeleza accused Sereno of committing an act of treason.

"Until now, I still don't know why it was done to me. In my view, what was done to me was inhuman," Jardeleza said. 

Before it reached the judiciary, the Itu Aba issue caused quite a stir among the Philippine legal team handling the arbitration case over the West Philippine Sea.

Jardeleza did not want to include Itu Aba in the Phiippines' official memorial to the arbitral tribunal, because for him, the move would have been too risky. Rappler's sources said that Jardeleza argued the Itu Aba exclusion would have appeased China and helped restore normal ties with the regional super power. 

In the end, American lawyer Paul Reichler prevailed in his strategy to include Itu Aba – but not without getting key members of the team to first step in, the most crucial of whom was then justice secretary Leila de Lima who eventually convinced former president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino to go with Reichler's version.

Justice Carpio

This is where another member of the Court comes in: Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

Sereno's spokesperson Carlo Cruz said it was Carpio who brought the Itu Aba issue to the attention of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), which was then vetting Jardeleza for a Supreme Court post.

"What the JBC did was simply to heed Justice Carpio's concerns," Cruz said.

In his testimony, Jardeleza accused Sereno of illegally obtaining the "top secret" memorandum written by Reichler to use it against him.

"We're not certain as to what memorandum Justice Francis referred to yesterday. I personally believe (Justice Carpio) did not need to refer to anyone else's 'memo.' We are all aware of Justice Carpio's expertise on this matter," Cruz said.

Of course in the end, it was the decision of the JBC, which does not include Carpio as member.

Cruz said that apart from Sereno, there was another JBC member who invoked the unanimity rule.

Under JBC rules, if the integrity of the applicant is raised, there has to be a unanimous vote for that person to be on the short list.

A source close to the Sereno team said there was initial concern over what Jardeleza would say in the House, causing some to worry that sympathy would be on his side.

"But by going overboard and accusing Sereno, the camp feels relieved. 'Pag nag-sobra ka na, hindi na credible (If you go overboard, it's no longer credible)," the source said.

The House justice committee had to end the hearings for the year, but when it comes back on January 15, other justices are expected to testify.

They are Associate Justices Samuel Martires and Mariano del Castillo.

"Kung ako kay Justice Sereno, mag-resign na siya, dahil kung hindi pa siya mag-resign napakakapal na ng mukha niya (If I were Justice Sereno, she should just resign, because if she doesn't, some nerve she has)," complainant Larry Gadon said. 

Midas Marquez 

Another person at the center of these hearings is Court Administrator Midas Marquez.

As the hearings revealed, 3 of the charges directly involved him, or his authority being sidelined by Sereno.

For example, the Regional Court Administrator's Office (RCAO) was supposed to have been under his direct supervision. When Sereno revived it in 2012, she did so by appointing Geraldine Faith Econg as head of the office she then named the Judicial Decentralization Office (JDO).

"She deliberately omitted in the entire Administrative Order 175-2012 any reference to the Office of the Court Administrator. Kaya hindi niya tinawag na RCAO (That’s why she didn’t call it RCAO),” De Castro said.

On the issue of granting survivorship benefits to widows of retired justices and judges, instead of Marquez directly endorsing applications to the en banc, it became a 4-step process.

Inserted between Marquez and the en banc was the committee created by Sereno, Carpio, and Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr, and the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) created by the Chief Justice.

And on Monday, it turned out that when Sereno transferred the Maute cases to Cagayan de Oro, she did so, ignoring the recommendation of Marquez to transfer it to Taguig instead.

Marquez didn't want to comment on questions why Sereno was sidelining him. But court insiders said there are trust issues between the two.

By the end of the hearing on Monday, a House member asked Marquez if he would like to say something more about Sereno, given that the justices had already said so much.

"It will show that I don't have the monopoly of not being liked. May kasama na ako (I have company)," was his loaded answer.

 'Old boys club'

Legal analyst and court observer Tony La Viña is convinced that this is about Sereno being a woman.

"These are management issues, that if it were a man, it wouldn't be an issue," La Viña said. (READ: 'Do not be afraid to be minority,' Chief Justice Sereno 5 years on)

La Viña said that past chief justices made similar mistakes but were forgiven because it's an "old boys' club."

"They would just correct it. But because she's a woman, that makes them very unforgiving. All these are very correctible and have been corrected," La Viña said.

For example, although La Viña believes that while Jardeleza shouldn't have been excluded from the short list in the first place, Sereno's concern was a "legitimate policy debate."

But the fact that the en banc overturned Sereno on it means the debate had been settled, an example of a court disagreeing and resolving its problems.

Impeachable offense?

In every hearing, House members attempted to ask the justices whether they believe the so-called offenses are violations of the Constitution or constituted betrayal of public trust. No justice offered an opinion.

"They've turned all the worst possible things on the chief, even if it turns out to be true, it's not an impeachable issue," said La Viña.

But La Viña believes Sereno can learn a lot of lessons from this proceeding.

"The chief must honestly look at her way of managing, whether she has to change her tone and practices. They need to go into the process of rebuilding trust; build trust among themslelves," La Viña said.

This showing against Sereno has surely affected public trust in the judiciary, something very crucial especially in the current political climate.

But as justices and House members like to always point out, the Supreme Court is a collegial body made up of equals.

Sereno is not the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court is not Sereno.

Public trust is a challenge they all carry.

"It would take just one good decision for them to regain the trust of the public," said La Viña.

With that, 2018 will be very interesting for the judiciary. Will they rise up to the occasion? – Rappler.com

For many, President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to fire all top officials of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) came out of nowhere. 

In fact, among the officials now without a government post is a relative of none other than Honeylet Avanceña, Duterte’s partner. 

PCUP Commissioner Melissa Avanceña Aradanas is supposedly a cousin of the President’s partner and “First Lady". Duterte himself referred to her as Honeylet's cousin in a speech at the Malacañang Press Corps Christmas party on Tuesday, December 12.

“Pati siya tinanggal ko (I fired even her), but I told my wife, ‘You call your cousin and say, alis sila (they have to leave),’” said Duterte.

Sources say Aradanas has not hidden this connection, even mentioning it to those she works with.

Such close ties could be one reason Aradanas was even able to visit the President’s residence in Manila, Bahay Pangarap, in the week of December 4.

The intimate get-together with other Aradanases and Duterte’s staff supposedly took place on Thursday, December 7.

Melvyn Aradanas even posted a photo of him and Melissa with Duterte and Avanceña.

Interestingly, it was the day after, Friday, December 8, when Duterte announced he would “fire” an entire commission. Coincidence or not? 

There are suspicions that Aradanas had mentioned inner workings of the PCUP to Duterte during the gathering, information which eventually led the President to fire its executives.

Another piece of information indicates Duterte was told of PCUP “irregularities” informally. A Malacañang source says the Office of the Executive Secretary did not receive a formal complaint about PCUP.

But Duterte himself told Rappler that he got wind of PCUP irregularities through reports made to the 8888 complaint hotline set up by Malacañang.

Aradanas is a longtime rank-and-file PCUP employee but gained commissioner status when she was appointed to the post by Duterte. This was no joke as it would entail a significant salary raise – from around P18,000 to roughly P100,000.

It was supposedly Aradanas who had questioned PCUP chairman Terry Ridon’s alleged practice of calling en banc sessions only for policy-making decisions and not for day-to-day operational matters.

Ridon had called two en banc sessions: one in April, and another in November.

The two executive orders on the PCUP – EO 82 by Corazon Aquino and EO 69 by Benigno Aquino III – are silent on when en banc sessions are to be called.

Ridon has also supposedly gone on 6 to 8 official foreign trips, all of which had travel authority documents approved by Duterte. 

In many, if not all of these trips, Ridon was accompanied by officials from other departments, like the National Housing Authority, Office of the Cabinet Secretary, and Office of the Executive Secretary. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The whole of Mindanao will be under martial law until the end of 2018 after the 17th Congress, with both the Senate and the House of Representatives in joint session, approved on Wednesday, December 13, the request for extension of President Rodrigo Duterte. 

Aside from the extension of military rule, Congress also gave its go-signal to the continued suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. This means it will be legal in Mindanao to arrest persons of interest without a warrant for the whole of 2018.

In a letter to Congress, Duterte explained that the extension was needed "primarily to ensure total eradication of Daesh-inspired Da'awatul Islamiyah Waliyatul Masriq (DIWM), other like-minded Local/Foreign Terrorist Groups (L/FTGs) and Armed Lawless Groups (ALGs), and the communist terrorists (CTs) and their coddlers, supporters, and financiers."

After 4 hours of deliberation, 240 legislators voted to approve the extension while 27 voted against. 

The decision was made through nominal voting – one of the two main voting methods used in the legislature of the Philippine government. 

Nominal voting in Congress happens when each legislator is called one by one and is asked for his or her vote on a measure. Their votes are recorded and usually appear in the legislature's journal. 

The public and other legislators often push for nominal voting on controversial measures – the Reproductive Health bill (now law) and the restoration of the death penalty, among others – to immediately see how lawmakers voted.  

For example, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 2012 wanted nominal voting on the RH bill “to maintain transparency.”

Once all votes are in, legislators are free to take the floor to explain their vote. According to the legislative process, this voting method is usually done only when a measure is already on its 3rd and final reading. 

Viva voce

Viva voce, a latin phrase, literally means oral and not written. 

Legislators, in chorus, respond to the question put forward by the Speaker of the House or the Senate President, or whoever is designated to preside over the session. The presiding officer asks the floor the two questions separately. If they agree or approve, they will respond “aye” or “yes” and “nay” or “no”, if not. 

No records will be available on how each legislator voted unless they reveal individually through a manifestation or are asked to stand.

This was how the House voted to give the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) a measly P1,000 ($198) budget in September 2017. The budget was eventually restored after a public backlash. (READ: How the House voted for a P1,000 CHR budget)– Rappler.com