Philippine News

MANILA, Philippines - Former police superintendent Cezar Mancao, who testified that Sen. Panfilo Lacson and former President Joseph Estrada were involved in the murder of publicist Bubby Dacer, escaped from the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) before dawn Thursday.

Reynaldo Esmeralda, NBI's deputy director for intelligence services, said Mancao escaped from his detention cell at around 1:14 a.m.

MANILA, April 8, 2013— A coalition of the country’s largest Catholic groups is trying to muster millions of votes for senatorial bets who oppose the contraceptive law Congress passed last year. 

El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde said this is the first time that all organizations in the Church come together for one purpose: “unite for the good of life and the family.” 

“There were those who said that there’s no Catholic vote and I want to thank (Albay) Congressman (Edcel) Lagman for saying that because if not for him I won’t be here,” Velarde said. 

“We will prove that there’s really a Catholic vote,” he said. “It’s time to let the public know that there’s such a vote that’s coming this elections and in the future elections.” 

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan ordered anew the arrest of suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia after she failed to appear for arraignment yesterday.

Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, chair of the anti-graft court’s Second Division, also ordered the forfeiture of Garcia’s P90,000 bail bond.

Garcia, who is facing graft and malversation of public funds charges for her alleged involvement in a P98.9-million land deal anomaly in 2008, was supposed to be arraigned yesterday.

VATICAN CITY March 14, 2013 - At past 7:00 P.M. in Rome (2:05 A.M. Philippine Time), white smoke came out of Sistine Chapel's chimney signaling that one among the cardinals of the Papal Conclave had garnered the votes of at least two-thirds of the 115 Cardinal electors. 

Chants of "Habemus Papami (We have a Pope) " were heard from the thousands that gathered at St. Peter's Square.  

A well-known conservative, 76 year-old Archbishop Jorge Mario Borgoglio, emerged one hour later as the elected new Pope and assumed the name, Pope Francis, and greeted thousands of well-wishers that flocked to the St. Peter's Square from the Central Window of the balcony of the St. Peter's Cathedral. He is the successor of the resigned Pope Benedict XVI.

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday stopped the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) order to the the officials of the Archdiocese of Bacolod to remove the tarpaulin of senatorial candidates who are against and for the Reproductive Health law.

Lawyer Theodore Te, the High Court's public information office head, said the SC has issued a temporary restraining order against the Comelec directive.

Te said that the magistrates also ordered the Comelec to to submit a comment on the TRO within 10 days.

VATICAN CITY  — Pope Benedict XVI's resignation opens the door to an array of possible successors, from the conservative cardinal of Milan to a contender from Ghana and several Latin Americans. But don't count on a radical change of course for the Catholic Church: Benedict appointed the majority of cardinals who will choose his successor from within their own ranks.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is seen as a possible successor of Benedict.

There's no clear front-runner, though several leading candidates have been mentioned over the years as "papabile" — or having the qualities of a pope.

MANILA, Philippines - Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has upheld the anti-graft agency’s decision to indict suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia for graft and technical malversation of public funds before the Sandiganbayan.

The ombudsman also junked the appeals filed by Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Juan Bolo; budget officer Emme Gingoyon; Appraisal committee chairman and provincial assessor Anthony Sususco; treasurer Roy Salubre; provincial engineer Eulogio Pelayre; and private respondents Romeo and Amparo Balili.

MANILA, Philippines - Saying Filipinos are no longer second-class citizens on the international stage, President Aquino announced yesterday that he accepted the offer for the Philippines to host the East Asia Summit for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2014.

Aquino believes the Philippines is back on the radar of world business and the international community, citing the investment teams that will be sent to the country to assess opportunities after his participation in the WEF in Davos, Switzerland.

In an interview with CNN, Aquino said he was asked why the Philippines was “not in the radar’s range of so many entities for the last five years or so.”

“But now we are, so they want to know more... The praise that we’re getting from so many quarters is universal. Now, there will be substance,” he said, adding, “We had to talk to everybody practically (at) the same time.”

MANILA, Philippines - A Canadian national shot dead a pediatrician and a lawyer and injured a prosecutor inside a court at Cebu City's hall of justice on Tuesday morning.

Police identified the shooter as John Pope, 65, who is facing a case of malicious mischief before the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 6.

Initial reports said that while the hearing on the case was ongoing inside the MTCC Branch 6 on the fourth floor of the Marcelo Fernan Memorial Hall of Justice, Pope pulled out a firearm and shot the complainant, Dr. Rene Rafols, and his lawyer, Giovanni Achas.

Rafols and Achaf died on the spot.

MANILA, Philippines - Charges await the team of soldiers and policemen led by Superintendent Hansel Marantan for the killing of 13 men in Atimonan, Quezon last Jan. 6, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said yesterday.

And Malacañang is supporting her in her actions.

“By claiming that it was a shootout, the operatives/soldiers present during the incident admit that they killed the victims. The burden of proof is shifted on them to show that unlawful aggression came from (Victor) Siman et al. And that’s the function of their defense, either in the conduct of preliminary investigation and/or trial,” De Lima told reporters in a text message.

MANILA, Philippines - Witnesses of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday will try to re-enact the events during the alleged shootout at a checkpoint area in Atimonan, Quezon last January 6, where 13 people were killed, including suspected jueteng kingpin Vic Siman.

The witnesses, accompanied by DOJ officials led by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, arrived at the site of the supposed encounter in Atimonan town this morning.

De Lima said the statements of the DOJ witnesses were "highly explosive" regarding the incident, which policemen and soldiers claimed to be a shootout with gunmen inside two vehicles they stopped at the checkpoint.