MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) –  The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 on Friday, September 28, deferred its decision on the Department of Justice (DOJ) request to issue an arrest warrant against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV over his previously dismissed coup d’etat charges.

Makati RTC branch 148 Judge Andres Soriano set another hearing at 9 am on October 5, Trillanes' lawyer Rey Robles confirmed.

“The resolution of the Very Urgent Ex-parte Omnibus Motion for the issuance of  Hold Departure Order (HDO) and Alias Warrant of Arrest against Antonio Trillanes IV is DEFERRED,” the court said.

The DOJ motion for a warrant of arrest was originally submitted for resolution as early as Wednesday, September 26.

On Tuesday, September 25, another Makati court, Makati RTC Branch 150, ordered Trillanes' arrest based on a separate DOJ request over rebellion charges.

While Branch 150 Judge Elmo Alameda issued an order a day after it was submitted for resolution, Soriano chose to set it for another hearing.

Soriano left his office past 2 pm on Friday. Just before 4 pm, a sherriff entered his courtroom bearing an order. Shortly after, Robles announced Soriano’s order. 

Soriano will decide on the same issues as Alameda. Soriano will also tackle the factual issues of the case, particularly whether Trillanes really filed an application form, and if there was an admission of guilt at the time he applied and was granted amnesty.

In his arrest order, Alameda said that without the actual copy of an amnesty application form, Trillanes was deemed to have failed to file it.

Alameda disregarded sworn affidavits of military officials who certified that they received and process Trillanes’ application form.

Trillanes will submit the same affidavits to Soriano. 

Soriano's decision would ave implications on jurisprudence, especially on the issues of double jeopardy and rules on evidence.

'Big relief'

 Trillanes said that the deferment of the decision was a "big relief" for him. He said that he was grateful to Soriano, a "man of integrity," for following the process.

“It’s a big relief not only for me but more importantly for the whole justice system [and] democratic institutions na in-uphold ng isang Judge Soriano, na despite all the pressures, ay pinanindigan niya kung ano ang tama at nararapat at dinaan niya sa proseso,” he  said.

(It’s a big relief not only for me but more importantly for the whole justice system and democratic institutions that Judge Soriano upheld, despite all the pressures, he stood for what is right and just, and followed the process.)

With the order, Trillanes was finally coming home after 3 weeks of being holed up in his office at the Senate.

Robles said the decision was just a "temporary sigh of relief" for the Trillanes camp as there would be no basis for an arrest warrant  from then until the petition was up for resolution.

“I wouldn’t call it a victory. I would say this is in compliance with the rule of law. There was no rush to grant an order which would overturn decades of jurisprudence in the country,” Robles said.

The coup d’etat charges stemmed from the 2003 Oakwood mutiny, while the rebellion charges were due to Trillanes' role in the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege, both under the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Coup d’etat is generally a non-bailable offense if the judge finds the evidence strong.

Alameda, who was the first one to order Trillanes’ arrest, set bail at P200,000. This is because when the case was still ongoing, even before he was granted amnesty, Trillanes filed and won a petition for bail in that court. (READ: EXPLAINER: Why Judge Alameda disregarded affidavits in Trillanes case)

There was no similar bail grant for the senator at Branch 148, thus the non-recommendation of bail.

The coup d'etat charges were dismissed in September 2011 pursuant to the amnesty, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that since President Rodrigo Duterte had voided the amnesty grant to Trillanes, the dismissal is also null and void.

Both Duterte's proclamation voiding the amnesty, as well as the reopening of dismissed cases at the lower courts, have been slammed by law experts as unconstitutional and a blatant violation of a person's right against double jeopardy. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte admitting that his only "sin" was extrajudicial killings was only a statement born out of frustration, police chief Oscar Albayalde explained on Friday, September 28.

"The President said that out of frustration, kasi wala nang maibato sa kanya, kung anu-anong issue, so parang ang sinabi na lang niya 'O sige, inaamin ko na lang.' So out of frustration sinabi niya," Albayalde said in a Camp Crame press briefing especially called just to address Duterte's remark.

(It's because there are no issues that could be thrown at him so it's as if he said 'Alright, I'll just admit.' So he said it out of frustration.)

Why the press conference? The PNP is especially sensitive with remarks on extrajudicial killings as it is the organization accused of performing them amid the intense anti-illegal drug campaign which has been branded by the government as an unrelenting "war" against illegal drugs.

Albayalde himself was Metro Manila police chief when the incidence of drug-related killings, and killings during police anti-drugs operations intensified in the capital region.

As of August 31, 2018, the government through its #RealNumbersPH counting initiative has counted 4,854 drug suspects who have allegedly fought back and got killed in a police operation. Human rights groups, however, estimate that 20,000 have been killed in line with Duterte's anti-drug campaign, which includes killings with drug-related motives.

PNP's admission: Albayalde admitted during the briefing that there are indeed cops who have gone rogue and killed drug suspects, but he emphasized that these killings are only few and not government-ordered and sanctioned. (READ: Policing the PNP: Scalawags spoil Duterte vow to end crime)

"Wala pong binigay sa amin na order whatsoever na para pumatay even sa mga suspects (There is no order given to us whatsoever to kill even suspects)," Albayalde said.

He added in a mix of English and Filipino: "We admit that there are a few who were involved."

He said that these few have faced administrative charges. There are cops implicated in these illegal killings, however, that have been "recycled"—those who returned to service and even got promoted. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The University of the Philippines on Friday, September 28, announced the new schedule of its annual entrance examinations.

The UP College Admission Test or UPCAT 2019, which was originally scheduled nationwide on September 15 and 16, had been postponed due to Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut). Ompong is considered the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines so far this year.

According to UP, its admission test will take place on October 27 (Saturday) and 28 (Sunday).

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UPCAT Advisory as of September 28, 2018 from the Office of Admissions (via UPCAT-UP System Facebook page): <a href="https://t.co/LfN8h5rGlS">pic.twitter.com/LfN8h5rGlS</a></p>&mdash; UP System (@upsystem) <a href="https://twitter.com/upsystem/status/1045574288600752128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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"Please hold on to the test permits that were issued to you by the UP Office of Admissions," the university told UP hopefuls.

UP recorded a spike in student applications last July, following the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or the free college tuition law.

In July, the university estimated that the number of applicants increased from 103,000 in 2017 to 167,000 in 2018. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – As the House of Representatives and the Senate committees continue probing the missing P6.8-billion shabu (methamphetamine) allegedly packed inside magnetic lifters and spirited out of the Customs area, it has become apparent that no less than personnel inside the government’s anti-drug agencies could be involved.

From the simultaneous probes, former and current officers from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Philippine National Police (PNP), and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have been implicated in facilitating the shipment of the lifters.

House committee on dangerous drugs chairperson Representative Robert Ace Barbers called them a “triumvirate”: Resigned Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban, sacked PDEA deputy chief Ismael Fajardo, and dismissed PNP Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto.

 All were in active service when the controversial shipment arrived in Manila.

Here’s what has been established so far from the probe.

How they are involved

Standing at the center is resigned Customs officer Jimmy Guban, who has been cited in contempt by both the House committees on dangerous drugs and good government, and the Senate blue ribbon committee.

Guban admitted in the House probe on September 27 that he had recruited SMYD Trading to be a consignee-for-hire for the magnetic lifters. (TIMELINE: The search for P6.8-B shabu 'smuggled' into PH)

According to Guban, he was only ordered by his long-time colleague dismissed cop Eduardo Acierto, a veteran anti-drug operative in the PNP whom Guban knew supposedly from drug busts.

Asked why he looked for a consignee even as an intelligence officer, Guban told lawmakers: “ 'Yun po ay normal na nangyayari sa Bureau of Customs (That happens normally inside the Bureau of Customs).”

Without expounding, Guban then claimed that the consignee-for-hire was for “intelligence operations.” But he admitted that he received money—at least P10,000—from Acierto for helping out.

Guban said he first met Acierto through sacked PDEA No. 2 official, Deputy Director General for Administration Ismael Fajardo, who was a former policeman before joining the PDEA.

It remains unclear what Fajardo’s involvement in the shipment is, but PDEA chief Director General Aaron Aquino said his former deputy chief is already undergoing a lifestlyle check.

Aquino believes that Fajardo holds “information” about the alleged smuggled shabu.

Acierto has also yet to explain his side of the story as before he could explain himself at the probe of the Senate blue ribbon committee, the hearing was adjourned because the Senate's session was about to begin.

X-rays manipulated?

At the Senate probe, meanwhile, no less than the BOC’s former X-ray chief Lourdes Mangaoang claimed that Customs failed to follow standard operating procedures when the magnetic lifters were brought into the country.

She added that the Customs’ X-ray operators could even manipulate the scanners to make scans less suspicious.

“It (the X-ray scan) can be darkened [to hide smuggled items],” said Mangaoang during the Senate panel probe on September 26.

Mangaoang, now a deputy collector at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, said that the X-ray operators should also have ordered examiners to open the shipment as they found that the magnetic lifters were hollow.

“It is SOP that if we see the image indicates that there are still items there (shipment) with compartments inside or hollow inside, we automatically subject it to physical examination, if they are properly trained,” Mangaoang said.

Mangaoang even showed an X-ray photo which was scanned with the pseudocolor setting of their X-ray machines. She said that the noise shown inside the magnetic lifters are items stuffed inside them. She said she does not know whether they are shabu. (READ: Empty or shabu-packed? X-ray scans of magnetic lifters revealed)

In an interview with Rappler, sitting Customs X-ray chief Zsae de Guzman disputed Mangaoang’s claims, saying that the X-ray operators did their job, and properly scanned the shipment.

De Guzman said that the noise perceived in the scan images Mangaoang presented were “distortions” caused by the pseudocolor setting. Her X-ray operators used the greyscale setting which minimized these noises, she said.

De Guzman added that their current X-ray machines are not capable of telling whether “organic” items like illegal drugs are inside shipments.

To settle the debate on the X-rays, Senate blue ribbon committee chairman Senator Richard Gordon said he will invite an independent X-ray expert to interpret the scans.

Biggest question unanswered

The elephant in the room continues to haunt the probes: Were the lifters packed with drugs or not?

Gordon has already decided that the lifters were indeed packed with shabu, backing the claim of the PDEA, and contradicting those of the BOC, the PNP, and even President Rodrigo Duterte. (READ: Gordon on magnetic lifters: 'May laman!')

“Hindi ako naniniwalang walang drugs (I don’t believe that there are no drugs inside). You can tell the President I said so,” Gordon said during an ambush interview after the panel probe on Wednesday, September 26.

Gordon’s belief is fueled by the testimony of maintenance man Eric Rodelas, who helped out Chinese-looking persons in securing the magnetic lifters inside the same warehouse where they were later found in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.

Rodelas said he saw one of the Chinese-looking men bring out a grinder just before he left. This, according to Gordon, is already a sure sign that the lifters carried something inside, which he said is logically illegal drugs.

Barbers, meanwhile said he already has “strong reason” to believe the same.

“Based on circumstances present and testimonies of vital witnesses, I have a strong reason to believe that there was shabu concealed in the lifters, similar to the 2 found in an abandoned container at the MICP (Manila International Container Port),” Barbers said in a text message to Rappler.

But Barbers also admitted that his strong belief still could not stand in court, given that they have only established circumstantial evidence, unlike in their 2017 probe of the P6.4-billion shabu found in a Valenzuela warehouse.

“On a legal perspective, if there’s no corpus delicti in the scene of the crime, therefore we cannot conclude that there was (shabu),” Barbers added.

Gordon has set the resumption of his committee’s probe on October 3. Barbers has yet to announce the schedule for his committee.– Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA (UPDATED) – Brett Kavanaugh's US Supreme Court nomination was expected to pass a first hurdle in the Senate Friday, a day after a dramatic hearing that saw the conservative judge fight off assault allegations recounted in harrowing detail by his accuser.

The Senate Judiciary Committee began meeting early Friday and was expected to narrowly vote in favor of Donald Trump's pick after key Republican Jeff Flake said he would back the judge, whose nomination would swing the high court solidly to the right.

Friday's vote – set for 1:30 pm (1730 GMT) – was taking place under an intense spotlight, following a historic day of testimony that put the toxic partisan feuding in Washington on full display.

Kavanaugh's nomination will then go to the full Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 51-49 edge.

Trump whole-heartedly reaffirmed support for Kavanaugh to join the nation's top bench after watching him furiously refute the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, 51, who delivered to a packed hearing room her stark account of what she said was an attempted rape by Kavanaugh 36 years ago.

The country's leading legal organization, the American Bar Association which initially proclaimed the conservative Kavanaugh highly qualified for the job, came out following the hearing urging a postponement until an FBI investigation could be carried out.

The appointment "is simply too important to rush to a vote," the ABA said in a strongly worded letter to the committee's top senators.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insisted Trump's man would get a vote straight away in the Judiciary Committee – which has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats – and that the full Senate would vote "in the coming days."

Democrats on the Senate committee expressed outrage and some walked out Friday morning after majority Republicans unanimously backed moving forward to a vote without further investigation of the accusations against Kavanaugh.

"I strongly object. What a railroad job," said Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono, after the decision.

In addition to the conservative Senator Jeff Flake, an outspoken Trump critic, attention has focused on two moderate Republican women senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.

Two Republicans would need to defect, with all Democrats voting in opposition, in order to sink the nomination on the Senate floor.

Unequivocal denial

Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been a swing vote on a court now divided between four conservative and four liberal justices.

The allegations by Blasey Ford, a psychology professor in California, have threatened to derail Trump's bid to tilt the court to the right.

The 53-year-old Kavanaugh came out with defensive guns blazing on Thursday, insisting the assault never happened, accusing Democrats of destroying his reputation and condemning his confirmation battle as a "national disgrace."

"I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation by Dr Ford," Kavanaugh said, his voice shaking with anger as he fought back tears.

"I've never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not in college, not ever." 

In addition to Blasey Ford, two other women have come forward with allegations of assault against Kavanaugh, against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement.

Thursday's hearing included sharp exchanges between Republicans and Democrats mirroring the bitter atmosphere in Washington.

And as the nine-hour marathon wrapped up, Trump weighed in to stand by his man. "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him," he tweeted, minutes after the hearing adjourned.

"His testimony was powerful, honest and riveting," Trump said. "Democrats' search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct and resist. The Senate must vote!"

'I am terrified'

During 4 hours of emotionally intense testimony, Blasey Ford said she was "100%" certain that Kavanaugh was the person who assaulted her at a high school party in suburban Maryland in 1982, and that it was "absolutely not" a case of mistaken identity.

She said a drunken Kavanaugh and a friend of his, Mark Judge, pushed her into a bedroom, that Kavanaugh pinned her down and muffled her cries as he tried to pull off her clothes.

She told the hearing, she feared she would be raped, or accidentally killed.

"I am here today not because I want to be," said the married mother-of-two. "I am terrified." 

"I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The lawyer of Melvin Odicta, the alleged top Iloilo drug lord who was slain two years ago, was himself gunned down on Friday, September 28, in Barangay Culasi in Roxas City, Capiz.

According to the police report, Edel Julio Romero was killed at around 12:40 pm while he was having lunch with his common-law wife Iris Tan, just before boarding a roro boat back to Manila, where he was based.

A still-unidentified gunman shot him at the back of his head and escaped through a black Nissan SUV without a plate number toward an unkown direction. Police said the gunman had two back-ups standing nearby for the ambush.

Romero was brought to the Roxas Memorial Provincial hospital for treatment by quick responders, but he was declared dead at around 1:15 pm.

Police have yet to identify the motive behind the killing.

Romero was the lawyer for alleged drug lord Melvin Odicta until Odicta was killed with his wife Merriam in August 2016.

Romero is not the first lawyer of an alleged drug lord to be gunned down under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. In February 2018, the lawyer of suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, Jonah John Ungab, was killed in an ambush in Cebu City. – Rappler.com

BAGUIO, Philippines – The mountain falling down in Ucab was heard from a kilometer but the cries were heard 200 kms. away.

Most of the 59 who died in Ucab, Itogon, because of the huge mountainslide – including the 12 missing – from 12 days ago were from Ifugao province.

Hingyon, a town in Ifugao, has about 40 dead in the Ucab landslide. The other towns with big casualties are Banaue and Lagawe. Some of the Ifugao who later migrated to Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, and Cagayan also perished in the landslide.

And their homecoming was the most painful for their province mates.

Ifugao Gov. Pedro G. Mayam-o rushed from Ifugao when President Duterte came to Baguio wanting to announce that no one in Ifugao died during the typhoon only to learn that his provincemates were killed in the Ucab landslide.

“Our ancestors handed to us a tradition where we share in the grief of our kailian. I am here to share with their grief and to check on the welfare of my people,” he said.

“They were small-scale miners while others were laborers. They are there to earn a living as miners and others to be employed even as contractuals,” said Mayor Victorio Palangdan of Itogon, Benguet.

When Benguet Corporation stopped operations, Ucab was separated into provinces so there was a portion for Kalinga, Mountain Province, Benguet, and Ifugao.

The Ifugao side was the one hit by the massive landslide.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr. had the role this time to accompany some of the dead to Ifugao.

A fundraising he started in Manila has so far reached P500,000.

He earlier talked to the survivors in Ucab and consulted them about the livelihood they wanted to pursue aside from mining. – Rappler.com

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Judge Joeffre Acebido of Regional Trial Court 41 dismissed the drug cases of a number of alleged drug runners, most notably alleged drug queen Johaira “Marimar” Macaubat.

Aside from drug charges, illegal possession of firearms charges were also dismissed against Johaira Macaubat and the following:

• Suharto Macabuat
• Sandato Santican alias Sanny
• Noraisa Mapandi.
• Mark Gerald Sindac
• Moamar Taher
• Mariano Dagandara
• Manot Dutoan
• Hezam Tambidan
• Kate Abinal

The decision, originally made public on September 11, is based on a technicality, as Acebido questioned the manner in which the search warrant was conducted. 

Acebido questioned how the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency operatives searched the house of the suspect in Ballon Compound, Barangay Kauswagan, at 9:50 am on July 23, 2016.

“The prosecution likewise failed to prove possession of the accused of the items listed in the information in all these cases at the time of their arrest,” Judge Acebido wrote in his decision.

Acebido added that at the time of the PDEA operatives conducted the searches before the arrival of the barangay officials and media representatives.

“All the accused and other occupants of the houses searched were ordered to stay in the living room and the PDEA operatives did not find any contraband on the bodies of all the accused nor was there anything unusual or suspicious  noted in their persons,” Judge Acebido wrote in the decision.

On the promulgation of the ruling, PDEA was put on the defensive, as there was speculation the evidence gathered during the search was "planted."

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 10 (PDEA 10) Director Wilkins Villanueva was angry at the decision, saying, "The reputation of the whole (PDEA) institution is at stake here. It is not acceptable. The PDEA 10 will not and will never accept the decision of Judge Acebido.”

Villanueva added, “We will assail the decision and bring it to the Supreme Court and we will not rest until justice is served."

Meanwhile, Regional State Prosecutor Merlyn Uy said the decision of Judge Acebido is a wake-up call for PDEA on following proper protocols in serving search warrants.

“This is a reminder to our law enforcers that even if armed with a search warrant, they have to comply on the rules of implementing warrants,” Uy said.

Uy said her office is currently reviewing the 25-page decision of Judge Acebido and will submit additional action and recommendation to their head office in Manila should they see something that will salvage their case against Macabuat and others. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – The Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, September 28, approved Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump's pick for the US Supreme Court, one day after he fought off allegations of sexual assault at an emotional day-long public hearing.

The panel split along strict party lines with the 11 Republican members backing Kavanaugh and all 10 Democrats voting against the president's controversial nominee.

The nomination of the 53-year-old conservative judge to the nation's highest court will now go to the full Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority.

But in a dramatic last-minute move, Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona asked for a delay of up to a week before the full vote takes place to allow for an FBI investigation into the allegations against Kavanaugh.

"This country's being ripped apart," said Flake, a vocal critic of Trump who is retiring from the Senate. "And we have to ensure that we do due diligence here."

Democrats have repeatedly demanded an FBI probe into the allegations by university professor Christine Blasey Ford that she was sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh decades ago.

Kavanaugh strongly denied the charges at a committee hearing on Thursday. – Rappler.com

CEBU, Philippines – Sitio Sindulan, one of the areas hit by the landslide in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City, Cebu, has been identified as a landslide-prone area as early as 2008, local environment officials said.

The deadly landslide, which was triggered by days of heavy rains, killed at least 65 people and injured 18 others. At least 21 people are still missing, while 1,716 families or 7,642 individuals are still in evacuation centers.

Days after the September 20 landslide, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Regional Office 7 (MGB-7) released a chronology of their advisories and other communications involving the landslide area.

Here's a quick timeline of the events, according to the MGB in Central Visayas:

2008 - MGB-7 produced a geohazard map that shows the susceptibility of areas to landslide and flash flood, and gave it to the concerned local government units.

As early as 2008, Sitio Sindulan was identified as a landslide-prone area.

2018

August 28 - Naga City's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council submitted an incident report regarding cracks on the land surface in "Tagaytay/Sindulan, Tinaan, Naga City, Cebu."

This incident report prompted Naga City Mayor Kristine Chiong to issue a cease-and-desist order against Apo Land and Quarry Corporation (ALQC).

August 29 - MGB produced its technical report, which said, "The present nature, the number, and the distribution of cracks/fissures in the subject site are not considered critical and do not pose imminent danger to the neighboring community."

According to the report, the cracks were not caused by ALQC's quarrying or mining activities.

With this, the mayor eventually lifted the cease-and-desist order, but ALQC had to comply with certain conditions, such as the submission of monthly written reports.

Chiong later wrote to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, asking the agency to further evaluate the site after the ALQC reported that a 3-millimeter crack on August 31 became 35 millimeters by September 11.

September 18 - City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Jehan Repollo and ALQC representatives joined MGB in its site assessment.

"Our geologists asked repeatedly if there are other areas that need investigation…. It was never mentioned that there are instability problems in Sitio Sindulan," said MGB-7 information officer Marian Codilla said.

But Repollo said they only requested for an assessment of Sitio Tagaytay because there were no cracks in Sitio Sindulan.

The MGB later recommended to the city government to implement a forced evacuation because major cracks became visible in Sitio Tagaytay.

Repollo told the MGB to provide the city with an official assessment so that the forced evacuation would be deemed more credible.

"The September 19 memo was not furnished to the LGU of Naga, as it was supposed to be sent September 20, when the landslide happened…. However, acknowledging the fact that there was an imminent danger found during the second investigation, the recommendations were made during the exit conference so the LGU won't have to wait for the final investigation report," Codilla explained.

Prior to the site assessment, geohazard threat advisories were supposedly sent to Chiong's office on November 27, 2017, August 13, 2018, August 22, 2018, and September 13, 2018 – days before the landslide happened.

"The only advisory received by my office from MGB-7 was the letter dated November 27, 2017, which was a standard, routinary, and generic advisory regarding the La Niña starting in the month of December 2017," Chiong told Rappler in a text message.

Chiong said she hopes that with a newly-appointed MGB-7 regional director, "we can strengthen the inter-agency coordination between MGB and the local government units."

A day after the landslide, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu suspended quarry operations in Central Visayas and 7 other regions, pending their safety assessment.

The ALQC said it intends to fully comply with the environment department's cease-and-desist order.

The landslide in Naga City came just 5 days after the massive landslide in the mining town of Itogon, Benguet, which was triggered by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut). – Rappler.com

Read more stories from Rappler's coverage of the Naga, Cebu, landslide:

• DENR suspends quarry operations in 8 regions after Naga, Cebu, landslide
• LIST: Deadly landslides in the Philippines
• Naga, Cebu, landslide: Did authorities ignore signs of danger?
• Naga, Cebu, landslide: At least 897 families affected
• Twin tragedies: How Itogon and Naga landslides are alike

Being depressed can negatively affect your appetite and what you eat, but can bad eating habits bring your mood down? Our latest study, a systematic review of the best available evidence, found a clear link between the quality of a person’s diet and their risk of depression. And it goes beyond the effect of diet on body size or other aspects of health that can affect mental health.

We took extra care in including only studies that took age, sex, income, body size, general health, smoking and physical activity into account in their analyses. That way we could be sure that the associations between diet and the risk of depression are independent of these factors.

We aggregated the results of several studies and found a clear pattern that following a healthier, plant-rich, anti-inflammatory diet can help prevent depression. Of the 41 studies in our review, 4 specifically looked at the link between a traditional Mediterranean diet and depression over time on 36,556 adults. We found that people with a more Mediterranean-like diet had a 33% lower risk of developing depression than people whose diet least resembled a Mediterranean diet.

Following a traditional Mediterranean diet, that is avoiding processed foods and foods that are high in saturated fat and sugar (pro-inflammatory foods) and favoring foods rich in omega-3, fiber, vitamins, magnesium and polyphenols, can reduce the risk of depression.

Biological explanation

Diet can influence mental health by causing damage to the brain. This can be due to oxidative stress (a harmful chemical process), insulin resistance, changes in blood flow, and inflammation. A diet rich in anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant components, commonly found in fruit, vegetables, nuts and wine (which should be drunk in moderation), can directly affect the brain by protecting it from oxidative stress and inflammation. Inflammation can also affect the neurotransmitters (the brain’s messenger molecules) responsible for regulating emotion.

Recent research in humans also suggests that diet can affect the formation of brain cells (neurons), particularly in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is associated with mood regulation.

There is also new evidence regarding the microbes in your gut, known as the gut microbiota. These microbes can break down the nutrients we eat and create molecules that may be inflammatory or that stimulate neural activity. They communicate with the gut and brain neurons and can therefore influence behavior.

Diet is a key modulator of gut microbiota. In animal studies, eating plant-based foods improves the microbial composition in the gut, whereas high-fat diets appear to disrupt the microbial balance. When there is an imbalance in the microbes in your gut, it can cause the intestines to become permeable, letting big molecules pass into the bloodstream, and these molecules can interact with brain function.

Nutritional psychiatry

The field of nutritional psychiatry has emerged recently – around a decade ago – and it is growing rapidly. But results from observational studies, despite giving us an indication on the direction of the association, can’t tell us if the link is causal – only a randomised controlled trial can do this.

The recent SMILES trial was the first study to provide evidence that diet can affect depression. People allocated to the Mediterranean diet group improved their depressive symptoms after 12 weeks, compared with the control group who received social support.

The growing evidence for nutritional psychiatry suggests that GPs and mental health professionals should now seriously consider including dietary counseling for patients who are at risk of depression. – The Conversation | Rappler.com

Camille Lassale is a Research Associate at UCL

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

WASHINGTON D.C., USA – US President Donald Trump ordered a new FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against his Supreme Court pick Friday, September 28, as the Senate delayed a vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to make way for the probe.

After a dramatic day-long hearing at which a university professor accused Kavanaugh of pinning her down and assaulting her at a party in the 1980s, the Senate Judiciary Committee  earlier Friday approved his nomination in a preliminary vote along party lines.

But committee chair Chuck Grassley then bowed to intense pressure from inside and outside Congress and announced he was asking Trump to order the new background review that "must be completed no later than one week from today."

Trump, who repeatedly blasted Democratic opposition to Kavanaugh as a political "con-job," agreed.

"I've ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week," the president said in a statement.

Threat to break ranks

Trump's order and the decision to put off a final vote came after a key Republican senator, Jeff Flake, threatened to break ranks with his party because of the clouds hanging over Kavanaugh's head.

At least 3 women have now accused the 53-year-old conservative judge of sexual misconduct while drunk, as a high school and later a university student.

Democrats have repeatedly demanded those charges be assessed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine if he is suitable for the lifetime high court appointment.

Flake's stunning 11th-hour move played out on national television amid heated partisan debate and raucous protests in the halls of the Capitol, where one woman cornered the Arizona senator in an elevator demanding he oppose Kavanaugh, citing her own experience with sexual assault.

"This country's being ripped apart," said Flake. "And we have to ensure that we do due diligence here."

His move earned the endorsement of another Republican seen as wavering on the nomination, Lisa Murkowski.

With the Republicans holding a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate, that placed pressure on Trump to order the FBI probe.

Tense showdown in Congress

Republicans see Kavanaugh as pivotal to their gaining control of the 9-member Supreme Court bench.

Trump nominated him to replace Anthony Kennedy, who for years was a swing vote between 4 conservative and 4 liberal justices.

Some conservatives hope Kavanaugh's appointment could lead to a reversal of the court's protection for women's abortion rights and for "affirmative action" programs supporting minorities in schools and jobs.

With the stakes so high, the Judiciary Committee's preliminary vote took place amid extraordinary tension. Kavanaugh's supporters and opponents squared off furiously in hearing rooms and protestors crowded the hallways of Congress chanting "November is coming!" – a reference to the upcoming midterm elections.

"Don't look away from me! Look at me and tell me that it doesn't matter what happened to me, that you'll let people like that go to the highest court in the land," one weeping woman berated Flake as he made his way to the committee room.

The panel vote split along strict party lines with the 11 Republican members backing Kavanaugh and all 10 Democrats opposing him.

Emotional hearing

The vote came a day after 51-year-old university professor Christine Blasey Ford described over 4 hours how she says Kavanaugh assaulted her 36 years ago and how it traumatized her for decades after.

Blasey Ford said she was "100 %" certain that a drunken Kavanaugh, along with his friend Mark Judge, were the ones that attacked her at a high school party in suburban Maryland in 1982.

After Blasey Ford's testimony, Kavanaugh hit back furiously, categorically denying the assault took place and accusing Democrats of destroying his reputation for political reasons.

"This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election," he said. "This is a circus."

The new FBI probe will likely include interviewing accusers and witnesses that the committee had refused to hear. The other person named by Blasey Ford as having taken part in her attack, Kavanaugh's school friend Judge, said Friday he was willing to be interviewed by the FBI.

Kavanaugh meanwhile issued a statement saying he had done "everything" requested of him and would "continue to cooperate."– Rappler.com

NEW YORK, United States – China and Russia denounced the use of "blackmail" Friday, September 28, in thinly-veiled rebukes of President Donald Trump, highlighting the chasm between the US and its rivals on issues ranging from trade to the war in Syria.

Days after Trump slapped $200 billion in tariffs and vowed to press on until China buckles, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN General Assembly that Beijing would not be bowed.

"China will not be blackmailed or yield to pressure," Wang told the chamber amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing.

Russia's foreign minister took to the same stage, condemning countries that resort to "political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force" in a bid to prevent the emergence of rival global powers.

Trump forged initial bonhomie with Chinese President Xi Jinping after his unexpected election victory, but has often had to fight off accusations that he is too soft towards his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Nevertheless, relations between Washington and both Beijing and Moscow have plummeted in recent months and the General Assembly, the world's biggest annual diplomatic gathering, has if anything witnessed a deepening of divisions since it opened on Tuesday.

Wang did try to play down the spurt in tensions as natural between two major countries and also insisted that China had no ambitions to replace the US as the world's pre-eminent power.

"Various frictions may ensue and this is not surprising, and it is also no cause for panic," Wang said in a separate speech to a New York think tank.

But his speech to the General Assembly contained multiple repudiations of Trump's "America First" foreign policy, which the US president again championed in his own combative speech at the UN this week.

Championing multilateralism

"China will keep to its commitments and remain a champion of multilateralism," he said.

"We must pursue win-win cooperation.... We need to replace confrontation with cooperation and coercion with consultation. We must stick together as a big family as opposed to forming closed circles."

With characteristic bluntness, Trump this week said his friendship with Xi may be over  and accused China of interfering in midterm US elections to punish him for his tough trade stance.

US tariffs on another $200 billion of Chinese imports took effect earlier this week, bringing the total amount of goods hit by duties to more than $250 billion, roughly half of China's exports to the United States.

Wang flatly denied a key charge behind Trump's hard line on trade – that China is stealing US technology to boost its own companies.

"This is simply not true. We hope that such untrue allegations will stop," he told the Council on Foreign Relations.

US officials say China seizes the technology indirectly by requiring foreign companies to ally with local firms to enter the world's most populous market, with the partners then seizing the know-how for themselves.

Like Wang, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did not mention Trump by name, but there was little doubt about whom he meant when he denounced leaders who make "loud statements" that pursue "self-serving unilateral approaches."

'Brute force'

"These powers do not hesitate to use any methods including political blackmail, economic pressure and brute force," Lavrov told the assembly.

Lavrov lamented that "attacks" were being launched against the Middle East peace process, the Iran nuclear deal, trade agreements under the World Trade Organization and the Paris climate accord.

"We are observing an onslaught of belligerent revisionism against the modern system of international law," he said.

Relations between Western powers and Russia have been tense over the war in Syria, where Moscow is supporting President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Lavrov said the international community and UN agencies must make the return of refugees to Syria "a priority" as Russia pushes for reconstruction aid for its ally.

Russia and the United States are at odds over the Iran nuclear deal, although key US allies France and Britain have also vowed to defend the agreement that Trump ditched in May.

Relations with Germany – another key ally which is a signatory to the Iran accord – have also been strained in recent months.

In his speech to the chamber, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also took an apparent swipe at Trump's "America First" foreign policy.

The United Nations "thrives on our common pledge of 'together first'," said Maas, whose center-left Social Democratic Party is a junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition.– Rappler.com

For ferrets, sex is a prolonged affair. In total, the act of mating might last up to 3 hours. Fortunately for the males of the species, they are packing a secret weapon to help them through this daunting task. Some modern mammals (including ferrets, mice, dogs and even apes) have a bone inside their penis, called the baculum.

The bones have evolved different shapes and sizes, from the ice-cream scoop form of the honey badger to the long thin osseous bone of a black bear. It has always been a bit of mystery as to why some species of male mammals evolved bones in their penises. Humans are actually unusual in this respect, as our species has lost the mineralized bone in place of a small ligament in the tip of the penis.

In animals possessing a baculum, males with wider penis bones have been shown to father a larger number of offspring. Yet exactly how the penis bone impacts on male fertility has remained a puzzle.

Protecting the urethra

However, our new research– which used innovative 3D scanning and engineering-inspired computer simulations – has revealed that in carnivores (the group including cats, bears, dogs and weasels), the baculum may help males breed for extended periods of time. The "prolonged intromission" hypothesis suggests that the penis bone has evolved to protect the urethra (the tube responsible for delivering sperm) when sex becomes a lengthy endeavor.

Other studies have found mixed evidence in support of this idea, some in favor and some against. In part, this might be due to important features of the baculum previously being ignored. Penis bones are notable for being extremely diverse in shape, with species being distinguished by possessing bizarre tips, ridges and grooves. Yet in the past, biologists have only included the most basic metrics (bone length and diameter) into their models of baculum function.

Virtually 'crash-testing' the penis bone

To address this oversight, we used a digital modelling technique more familiar to engineers and physicists. In "finite element analysis" (FEA), a 3D computer model is virtually "crash-tested" in order to calculate how strong the object is. The method is more commonly applied to structures such as bridges or race cars, as a way of predicting their performance without physically damaging the object.

The major benefit of FEA is that the whole 3D shape of the baculum can be incorporated into our estimates of bone strength. Our results suggest that animals breeding for very long durations typically have penis bones that are much stronger than their fast-mating relatives.

Where are all the females?

Previous research, including our own study, has tended to focus heavily on male anatomy, to the exclusion of females. In mammals, less than a quarter of all studies investigating the evolution of genitals have included both sexes. This bias may partly stem from practical issues – male genitals are often made up of rigid hard parts sitting outside the body, making them easier for scientists to study. But it may also reflect a historic misconception of the female reproductive system as being a "passive" vessel, compared to more "active" male structures.

This means we have potentially overlooked important interactions between the sexes. Thankfully, with the application of new X-ray imaging techniques and computer modelling, our awareness of female genital anatomy is beginning to catch up. We are now extending our study to also include the size and shape of the vaginal tract and to capture the live motion of the genitals during mating, as a more holistic approach to studying animal reproduction. – The Conversation | Rappler.com

Charlotte Brassey is a Research Fellow in Animal Biology at the Manchester Metropolitan University.

James Gardiner is a Research Associate in Musculoskeletal Biology at the University of Liverpool

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

NEW YORK, USA – The Philippines joined countries around the world in approving the first-ever United Nations declaration committing to treat 40 million people with tuberculosis (TB) within 4 years and end the global health epidemic by 2030.

The political declaration,  approved at the recently concluded UN High Level Meeting on TB on Wednesday, September 26, is the world’s most ambitious target to date, committing to treat 40 million people with TB by 2022 in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of ending TB worldwide by 2030.

TB, a bacterial infection that primarily attacks the lungs, was first discovered in 1882.  Despite being preventable, treatable and curable, TB persists to be the world’s leading infectious disease killer. In 2017, TB claimed about 1.7 million lives worldwide. 

“Of these (1.7 million), roughly 25,000 are Filipinos – enough to fill Madison Square Garden to full capacity,” Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III,  said at the UN High Level Meeting (UN HLM) on TB.

“This is unacceptable. Not only does this jeopardize the Philippines’ vision to be among the healthiest nations in Asia, but also compromises the country’s goal of attaining middle income status by 2040,” Duque added.

The Philippines commitment to end TB

An estimated one million Filipinos are infected with TB. The Philippines is listed among the top 8 countries in the world with the most number of TB cases. (READ: Philippines Tuberculosis profile)

At the UN HLM, Duque committed that the Philippines would take 3 primary approaches to address its TB epidemic:

• Address the socio-economic determinants and health determinants that drive TB by implementing a High Level National Coordination Committee comprised of various multi-sectoral government and private organizations.

The 2017 Global TB Report shows that not enough progress has been made in eradicating TB  since 2007 owing to factors that also drive TB such as undernutrition and poverty conditions that have remain unchanged.

• Improve TB screening, diagnostics and treatment by scaling up rapid molecular tests and one-stop solutions.

This, in addition to including TB in PhilHealth’s list of reimbursable services, is seen to reduce the catastrophic costs of TB among those infected with it. Studies show that 35% of TB-affected households spent at least 20% of their household income on costs related to TB, rising to 67% for those with drug-resistant TB.

• Enforcing mandatory notification of TB by all care providers as provided for in the 2016 TB law and publication of performance reports on public domains.

About one-third of TB care in the Philippines is rendered by the private sector. However, unstandardized reporting mechanisms have resulted in reporting gaps.

More than 240,000 people with TB in the Philippines are “missing” or have gone undiagnosed or are diagnosed but are not reported to public health surveillance systems.

Duque also committed to provide adequate social protections to those living with TB as as well as platforms that would encourage patient groups to speak up about their experience and help in addressing stigma and discrimination faced by people with TB.

“With these, we are confident and hopeful that we can find and treat at least 2.5 million Filipinos with TB by 2020, reaching our target of 90% treatment coverage rate and contributing to the attainment of the SDG 2030 goal for TB,” said Duque. (READ: U.S. and Philippines: Friends, partners, and allies)

Advocates say TB response is insufficient

Advocates attending the UN HLM pointed out that gaps remain in the Philippines' reponse to TB.

“This highly medicalized approach to the TB response will not address social determinants of TB and might actually run the risk of violating the rights of the community in its need to meet targets on number of people tested and treated,” said Mara Quesada Executive Director of ACHIEVE (Action for Health Initiatives, Incorporated), a non-governmental organization working on public health issues in the context of human rights.

“The approach of the TB response in the Philippines has neglected to enable communities vulnerable to and affected by TB to be equal partners in the response. There is very limited civil society organization (CSO) engagement,” said Quesada.

Additionally, Quesada pointed out, the Philippines needs to think about addressing financing mechanisms apart from PhilHealth to soften the economic cost of TB on those affected by it. At the moment, PhilHealth coverage does not include multi-drug resistant TB (MDR TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), a rate type of multi-drug resistant TB.

“There is no strategy to address the social issues like poverty, inequality, stigma, and even criminalization that make people vulnerable to TB,” said Quesada. – Rappler.com

Ana P. Santos is currently in New York covering the UN High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis with support from the Stop TB Program.

MANILA, Philippines – A simple smile can mean much for a child – it gives him a chance to gain a friend, to confidently stand up and recite in class, and even have the courage to say hi to his crush. 

But children who suffer from cleft lips and palates – birth defects that occur when a baby’s mouth or lip does not form properly in the womb – do not get the chance to do these simple things. (READ: ABCs of pregnancy and nutrition) 

And this is why Benedict Edward Valdez, a doctor from Davao City, has made it his life’s mission to give children with cleft lips and palates a chance to smile again. The missionary doctor is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Ramon Aboitiz Award for Exemplary Individual. 

Valdez looks at cleft surgeries as a second chance for young people who suffer from the birth defects. He explained that cleft patients often avoid going to school – or going out of the house altogether – out of fear of being bullied for their appearance.  

“It is pretty much important because we have that particular dignity. What is the primal and the first thing that we should see? It's ‘I should have a normal face so I can go to school.’ So education is secondary,” Valdez told Rappler. 

“Now if you are a mother and [you have] a kid like that, how would you feel? You feel [a] deeper, a more well-entrenched, unconceivable sadness for your kid. But he or she doesn't realize this,” he added. 

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Valdez is the new president of the Maharlika Charity Foundation Incorporated, which has been providing free surgeries to disabled patients, burn victims, and other Filipinos suffering from congenital anomalies in Mindanao and Palawan since 1973. 

Before taking the helm of the foundation, Valdez spent the last 17 years as Maharlika’s missions director. Under his leadership, Maharlika was able to create 3 cleft referral centers in the Caraga Regional Hospital, East Visayas Regional and Medical Center, and the Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services Cooperative. 

Maharlika also has an existing partnership with international charity Smile Train, helping Valdez’s foundation to provide free corrective surgeries for children with cleft lips and palates across the region. Local donors and organizations also help finance Maharlika’s activities.

Passion at work

Valdez is a well-respected doctor in Mindanao, known for his love of charity and selfless service. He is a staunch advocate of effective pre-hospital care in the Philippines, explaining that proper medical care is not a mission for doctors alone.

“It is not the doctor who can save a life. It is the system that can save a life,” said Valdez.

He said that even if an excellent doctor works in a certain hospital, a patient who is not able to receive the necessary pre-hospital care will not be able to survive. 

“For instance, if there's a person who just had cardiac arrest and nobody knows how to do CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), and nobody knows how to attach the defibrillator, [the person] would die. But if a particular patient had cardiac arrest and somebody started CPR as soon [possible], the patient will live,” said Valdez.

“So it's a collaboration…. I call this as horizontal management, meaning to say, everybody collaborates. So that is part of the inclusive leadership style of having a very good system and putting in place appropriate people into particular systems,” he added.

Apart from helping cleft patients, Valdez has used his expertise in trauma and critical care to help set up Davao’s 911 Emergency Medical System (EMS). He helped mentor the EMS team members to give on-site treatment to patients.

Valdez passed the medical board examinations in 1996 and later entered the general surgery training program in Davao Medical Center, now called the Southern Philippines Medical Center. He became the chief resident of the hospital’s department of surgery as well as chief executive assistant to the chief of hospital.

Valdez is also a diplomate in the Philippine Board of Surgery and a Philippine Society of General Surgeons fellow.

“I started the emergency medicine back in Davao, so it's barely 3 years ago, and I'm pretty much aggressive [in pursuing my] specialization. So all of these things, these are my passion,” he said.

When he accepted his award from the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporated on August 31, Valdez made sure to lobby for the passage of the House bill institutionalizing a pre-hospital emergency medical care system in the country. 

Versions of the House measure remain pending with the committee on health since October 2017. 

“I am a person that cannot wait.... So my fervent request, especially for the Office of the President, is that they will be able to see where we are at and fast-track [it] so that [it] becomes law,” said Valdez. 

Obstacles for missionaries

Being a missionary doctor is not always easy, however. Valdez admits that there’s only a limited number of surgeons and anaesthesiologists who are willing to give their services for free.  

To join a foundation like Maharlika, for example, a doctor would have to give up his or her chance of earning a lot from having his or her own clinic or operating room. 

“The number of volunteers of surgeons and anaesthesiologists is really limited. You cannot just uproot them and make them do some stuff while they are not getting paid…. They’re leaving their possible incomes, especially their clinics and operating rooms. So that’s a major challenge,” said Valdez.

He said Maharlika volunteers also have to deal with geopolitics. 

According to Valdez, some residents they plan on helping outside Davao City sometimes become wary when they realize one of the volunteers is a supporter of a particular politician. 

So what does he tell the residents to convince them to allow Maharlika to do its missionary work?

“I always tell them that, ‘Sir, we are loyal to your constituents. And we are neutral and whoever invites us, we welcome [the invitation] because every person you refer, we do surgeries for free,’” said Valdez.

If they are given permission, Valdez says, Maharlika pushes through with their mission. Otherwise, they respect the wishes of the community.

Hope and charity

For now, Valdez hopes that Maharlika’s efforts would also inspire local surgeons to study and master corrective surgery for cleft patients.

He said volunteer surgeons like himself can only do so much for a certain community, saying they cannot possibly treat each and every person there.

“So we have to empower local people, local surgeons to screen and to work on the patients and the operations.... Not all surgeons do cleft. You need to study it, you need to practice it,” said Valdez.  

For all the obstacles thrown his way, what keeps Valdez going?

“The only thing that we envision [is that] if nobody will do it [and] we are capable of doing it, we feel that that is our responsibility, we have to do it,” said Valdez.

He said the fulfilment comes when the surgery is done. 

“You know, the fulfilment comes after the operation. You know these kids, they embrace you, they kiss you. And the mothers, they bless you, and then the fathers will cry,” said Valdez.

He hopes that his victory in the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Incorporation’s Triennial Awards this year will set an example for other Filipinos to do charity work for their countrymen.

“There is still hope for our country. My getting the award is just nothing, but this will set an example that there is still charity and hope for the Philippines,” he said. – Rappler.com

UNITED NATIONS, USA – Prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney appealed to Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, September 28, over a pardon for two Reuters journalists imprisoned in Myanmar, saying the Nobel laureate held the key to their release.

The two fathers, accused of breaching Myanmar's state secrets law while reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims, were jailed for 7 years earlier this month, fueling international outrage.

Clooney said the journalists' families had already submitted a request for their pardon, adding that the president can grant a pardon following consultation with Suu Kyi.

"The government can, if it wants to, end it today," the British-Lebanese lawyer told an event dedicated to press freedom on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

She held de facto leader Suu Kyi to her stated priority of releasing prisoners of conscience and of having spoken of the need for a free press if the country is to transition to a full democracy.

"She knows that mass murder is not a state secret and that exposing it doesn't turn a journalist into a spy," Clooney said.

Earlier this month, Suu Kyi defended the jailing of Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, hitting back at global criticism of a trial widely seen as an attempt to muzzle the free press.

"She holds the key, the key to their liberty, the key to reuniting them with their young children, the key to freedom of the press.

"The key to truth and accountability, and the key to a more democratic and prosperous Myanmar," Clooney said. "History will judge her on her response."

Clooney recalled that when she was a student at St Hugh's College, Oxford, the Nobel peace laureate, who studied at the same college 30 years earlier, had been "a hero to me."

"Aung Sang Suu Kyi knows better than anyone what it is like to be a political prisoner in Myanmar. She has slept in a cell at the prison where Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo now sleep," she said.

Suu Kyi, once garlanded as a global rights champion, has come under intense pressure to use her moral authority inside Myanmar to press for a presidential pardon for the reporters.

Myanmar rejects ICC

The case, which sparked an international outcry, was seen as an attempt to muzzle reporting on last year's crackdown by Myanmar's security forces on the Muslim Rohingya minority in Rakhine state.

Army-led "clearance operations" drove 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, carrying with them widespread accounts of atrocities – rape, murder and arson – by Myanmar police and troops.

The reporters say they were set up while exposing the extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya Muslims in a Rakhine village last year.

Clooney, wife of Hollywood A-lister George Clooney, announced in March that she would join the legal team representing the journalists.

Myanmar government minister Kyaw Tint Swe told the General Assembly that his government "resolutely rejected" a decision by the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against the Rohingya.

The ICC ruled that the investigation could go ahead because Bangladesh is a signatory of the Rome statute that created the court. Myanmar has not signed the statute.

"Let me make it clear: while the government is unable to accept this legally dubious intervention by the ICC, we are fully committed to ensuring accountability where there is concrete evidence of human rights violations committed in Rakhine state," said the minister.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the fate of the Rohingya was a matter to be addressed by Myanmar and Bangladesh, suggesting that the United Nations should not intervene.

China, a supporter of Myanmar's former ruling junta, has shielded the government in Naypyidaw from sanctions or other action by the UN Security Council.– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A raiding team found P790,000 in cash stashed inside a secret room during a surprise inspection at the Manila City Jail on Saturday, September 29.

Members of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, the Manila Police District, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency conducted Oplan Linis Piitan, formerly called Operation Greyhound and Oplan Galugad, in search of illegal items inside the dormitory of inmates of the Manila jail on Saturday.

Jail Senior Inspector Jayrex Bustinera, Manila City Jail spokesperson, said the  raid was conducted inside the Dormitory 11 and 12 which houses an estimated 1,200 inmates, many of them members of the Sigue Sigue Sputnik Gang. 

The raid, aided by PDEA K9 units, did not yield illegal drugs but authorities found cash stuffed inside large plastic water and soda bottles inside a room which was supposedly no longer used and had a sealed doorway.

Prior to the discovery, the raiding team asked a Sigue Sigue Sputnik Gang member about the sealed room. He told them this was done to keep inmates from escaping.  Police then knocked down the door and found around 7 big plastic containers filled with money.

The team leader of the operation assigned female members of the BJMP to account the money, which was estimated at around P790,000.

Bustinera said the source of the money would be investigated, whether it came from  illegal transactions or just funds raised by the Sigue Sigue Sputnik gang members. Record books were found along with the money, which showed a list of items bought from the small sari-sari store inside the jail.

Authorities also recovered some sharp weapons, paddles, and other illegal electronic gadgets while sifting through the belongings of the inmates.

Here are some of the images from the early morning raid:

– Rappler.com

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested a Korean translator and a Korean tourist in his city after they sold 5 grams of shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) to its undercover agent on Friday, September 28.

In a report submitted to PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino, PDEA3 Regional Director Gil Pabilona identified the arrested suspects as Hong Da-on, female, 45; and Song Won-seok, male, 40, both temporarily residing in this city.

Glenn Guillermo, PDEA3 information officer, said the suspects were arrested after weeks of surveillance  conducted by the agency.

Late afternoon on Friday, a PDEA undercover agent was able to convince Hong and Song to meet him at a motel along Zeppelin Street in the tourist area of Barangay Malabanias where the two were staying at the time.

The agent was able to buy 5 grams of shabu from the suspects for P10,000. 

The suspects were arrested after handing over the shabu to the undercover agent and receiving the marked peso bills.

Pabilona said Hong was an English translator. He said the Bureau of Immigration issued a deportation order against her in 2016.

Song had been in Angeles City for several weeks as a tourist.

“These two would transfer from one motel to another in order to avoid detection of law enforcers,” Pabilona said in a statement.

Authorities confiscated from the suspects a small plastic bag with shabu with an estimated street value of P34,000 and the buy-bust money used in the operation. 

The PDEA3 could not establish as of posting if the suspects soldillegal drugs to other Koreans.

The two are currently detained at the PDEA3 jail facility in San Fernando City for further investigation.

PDEA said it would file charges against the suspects for violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

On September 26, immigration agents arrested another Korean, Nam Sangmin, 39, in this city for deportation to his country.   

Nam, who was on the Interpol’s Red Notice, was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by a South Korean court for allegedly defrauding victims and hacking their Instant Messenger accounts. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV finally returned home after 25 days in the Senate, which became his temporary refuge after President Rodrigo Duterte sought to void the amnesty granted to him in 2011 and to have him arrested.

Responding to questions of media who accompanied him in his homecoming on Saturday, September 29, Trillanes said he would not make any appeal to the Duterte administration in connection with his case. Instead, he posed a challenge.

"I challenge them, itodo ‘nyo na (go for broke).  Do your worst," he said.

Trillanes explained his confidence: "Hindi kayo mananalo kung kayo ang mali.... I’m not being cocky or anything. Sa kasaysayan, talagang hindi nananalo ang masama. Wala nang apila-apila. ‘Yung maiitim na balak nila, gagawin at gagawin nila ‘yan."

(You won't succeed if you're in the wrong.... I'm not being cocky or anything. History shows that evil doesn't prevail. So no appeals. They would not stop at their sinister plans anyway.)

Duterte's fierce critic also thanked the Philippine leader for "strengthening" the opposition. (READ: INSIDE STORY: How Duterte handled Trillanes fiasco from Israel, Jordan)

"Both local and national, not only Magdalo, Akbayan and other groups that comprise the opposition [are now stronger]. In that sense, we thank Duterte for making the opposition stronger," he said. 

Probes

Before he boarded his ride home, he said in a media interview in the Senate that he would focus on pursuing probes into alleged anomalies involving government officials, among them Solicitor General Jose Calida and Special Assistant to the President Bong Go, and President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

"Starting Monday, I will resume my work. I will talk to the leaders of different [Senate] committees with pending resolution for investigation on the anomalies of this administration," Trillanes said in a mix of English and Filipino.

"'Yan ang tututukan natin para mamulat ang tao. Nagpapanggap na galit siya (Duterte) kunwari sa droga para hindi siya paghinalaan ng taumbayan, pero nakikita na pumapasok dito [ang droga] through Customs. Kay Duterte 'yan eh. Kaya hindi siya nagagalit," the senator alleged.

(We will focus on that so the people will become aware. He is pretending that he is against illegal drugs so the people won't think suspect him, but we still see drugs pass through Customs unnoticed. That's Duterte's. That's why he does not get mad.)

Back to routine

Trillanes arrived in his home around noontime Saturday. He was welcomed by his family and friends.

"It's going to be a refreshing experience, being able to sleep in your own bed. I will be back to the routine that I'm used to," Trillanes said, but added he would still remain vigilant. 

The embattled senator decided to come home after the Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 148 deferred its decision on the Department of Justice (DOJ) request to issue an arrest warrant against him for the charge of coup d'etat. The DOJ request is in connection with Duterte's Proclamation No. 572 voiding his amnesty.

Earlier this week, another court where the DOJ filed the same motion, Makati RTC Branch 150, ordered his arrest for a rebellion case but he was released after he posted bail. (READ: [ANALYSIS] Philippine courts dribble, stall on Trillanes amnesty issue)

Since September 4, when Proclamation 572 was published in the Manila Times, Trillanes had stayed in the Senate halls because of the threat of a warrantless arrest. He remained in the Senate even after Duterte himself dropped his bid to arrest Trillanes without a court-issued warrant, after various groups, including lawyers' groups, assailed his order. – Rappler.com