MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) may have had P157 million more in operational budget for 2016 than in 2015, but its audit showed they recorded a lower performance rate in anti-drugs operations for 2016.

According to the Commission on Audit's (COA) annual report on PDEA, even though the agency conducted more anti-drug operations in 2016 – 1,668 compared to 1,391 in 2015 – only 16.37% were marked by PDEA itself as "successfully conducted."

This is lower than its 18.9% mark for successfully conducted operations in 2015.

PDEA, however, put 102% as its percentage of accomplishment for 2016. The agency targeted to have ony 16% in successful operations.

In 2015, they also targeted 16% but achieved 18.9%.

PDEA recorded a lower performance despite the higher budget, an increase from P1.07 billion in 2015 to P1.227 billion in 2016.

PDEA's 2016 audit showed the bulk of its expenses went to the salaries and benefits of personnel. A total of P861.638 million  was spent for compensation of their 1,887 staff, while P331.163 million was allotted for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

More arrests

There were, however, more arrests in 2016.

PDEA arrested a total of 3,180 people in 2016, and of that number, 1,723 were subsequently charged. The ones charged are also considered high-value targets.

In 2014, only 2,161 arrests were made by PDEA, with 1,050 being charged as high-value targets.

COA also flagged some inconsistencies in PDEA's financial records.

For example, in PDEA's Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) accounts, there is P6.8 million worth of unreconciled amount due to the absence of PPE ledger cards.

COA directed PDEA to conduct an investigation on the unaccounted properties.

COA also said PDEA's accounting team did not submit to them official receipts, reports of collection and deposits, and deposit slips, which led the COA to say P54.39 million worth of collections and deposits could not be validated. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Education(DepEd) is asking for a budget for school buildings P3 billion lower that what was appropriated this year.

At present, DepEd has P109.31billion to spend for its Basic Education Facilities Fund (BEFF). For 2018, DepEd's proposed budget for school buildings is down to 106.08 billion.

Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla said DepEd proposed a higher appropriation for the BEFF, but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) made budget cuts when it finalized the 2018 National Expenditure Program it submitted to Congress.

“Syempre [dahil ito doon sa] available amount ng DBM. May Build, Build, Build, 'di ba? Most likely, napunta sa Build, Build, Build,” said Sevilla, referring to the Duterte administration’s ambitious infrastructure program. 

(Of course, it was based on how much DBM could spare. There’s a ‘Build, Build, Build’ program, right? Most likely the money went there.) 

Sevilla made the explanation on the sidelines of the DepEd's budget hearing before the House of Representatives appropriations committee on Tuesday, August 12. DepEd is proposing a 2018 budget worth P612.117 billion.

The decrease in DepEd's 2018 BEFF was mainly caused by the lowering of the proposed budget for the construction of school labs and workshops from P43.9 billion in 2017 to P34.6 billion in 2018.

But there were increases in other items under the BEFF as well. The proposed budget for the construction and replacement of classrooms was raised from P64.3 billion to P70.5 billion, while money for the purchase of school desks was raised from P2.5 billion in 2017 to P3.5 billion in 2018. The funds for providing electricity to schools was also raised from P300 million to P2.9 billion in 2018.

All these budgetary changes resulted to the P3-billion budget cut for the DepEd’s school buildings fund. 

ACT Teachers Representative France Castro said in a statement that he opposed the budget cut. 

“Teachers and students in the field will profoundly feel the loss of this P3.245 billion worth of schools and classrooms. It will mean more congested rooms, more students pushed to hold classes in makeshift spaces even under trees,” said Castro.

Sevilla, however, is not concerned over the fund decrease. She said the DepEd prefers to handle a lesser amount of new construction projects since there is still a good number of pending projects from 2014 to 2016. 

“Right now, ayaw namin sana na maging mas marami para matapos namin ‘yung mga outgoing. There’s a lot of ongoing projects. Mas maganda kung maayos namin itong lahat…. ‘Yung mga nakatenga na construction, ‘yun ‘yung inuuna namin ngayon,” said Sevilla. 

(Right now, we're hoping that there won't be too much new projects so we can finish the outgoing ones. There's a lot of ongoing projects. It's good if we finish everything... The pending construction projects are on top of our list.)

Backlog in new classrooms

For 2017 alone, around P95.798 billion allotted for the construction of new classrooms remained untouched.

Construction of new classrooms and replacing old buildings is under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), while DepEd is in charge of repairs, buying furniture, and providing electricity to schools.

Undersecretary Alain Pascua previously said the delay in the building of new classrooms was caused by the intensive pre-construction assessment that the DepEd and DPWH conducted on the areas where the new classrooms are set to be built.

From January to April, they determine whether or not the areas have buildable spaces– how many classrooms are needed per building, and what type of soil the foundation will be built upon. 

The DepEd also proposed several designs to make the school buildings more resistant to natural disasters and other effects of climate change.

DPWH, however, already committed to allocate the unused funds by November. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The United States called for "full accountability" in the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, as Philippine authorities probe his death at the hands of the Caloocan City police.

"My condolences go out to the family and friends of Kian," US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said in a tweet on Tuesday, August 22.

Kim said he hopes "that the investigations lead to full accountability."

Delos Santos was a Grade 11 student killed in a drug raid in Caloocan City last August 16. Police claimed Delos Santos fought back using a gun, but witnesses said the student was a victim of a police frame-up. (READ: 'Nakaluhod tapos nasubsob': How Kian was shot, according to PAO) 

The US ambassador made his remarks even as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte slams the US for supposedly interfering in his war on drugs. 

Kim spoke, however, after Duterte himself also backed an investigation into Delos Santos' death. 

Duterte said on Monday, August 21, that if the investigation proves police murdered Delos Santos, the cops involved will "rot in jail."  

Delos Santos' death has fueled outrage against the killings in the President's drug war, with protesters gathering at the People Power Monument on Monday to condemn drug-related killings under Duterte. (READ: After Kian delos Santos slay, OFWs urged to 'reflect on Duterte's flaws') – Rappler.com

SINGAPORE –  Divers searching for 10 missing sailors on a US destroyer that collided with a tanker off Singapore have found human remains, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet said Tuesday, August 22.

The US Navy has announced a fleet-wide global investigation following the latest deadly warship collision, the second in two months.

"The divers were able to locate some remains in those sealed compartments during their search today," Admiral Scott Swift told reporters, referring to a search by divers of compartments of the damaged warship USS John S. McCain.

He said Malaysian authorities, involved in the 3-nation air and sea search for the sailors, had also found a body and it was being transferred to the US Navy for identification.

Apart from the missing, 5 sailors were injured.  

The latest accident happened before dawn Monday in busy shipping lanes around the Strait of Singapore, with water flooding into the vessel after the huge hole was torn in the hull.

It was the second fatal collision in two months – after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a Philippine-flagged cargo ship off Japan in June and left 7 sailors dead – and the fourth accident in the Pacific this year involving an American warship.

The incidents have sparked concerns that the US Navy could be overstretched in Asia -- both ships were from the Japan-based Seventh Fleet -- as they tackle China's rising assertiveness and North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

The McCain had been heading for a routine stop in Singapore after carrying out a "freedom of navigation operation" in the disputed South China Sea earlier in August, sparking a furious response from Beijing.

On Monday the Chief of US Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson ordered commanders within a week to set aside time, perhaps "one or two days", for crews to sit down together for discussions.

A "comprehensive review" of practices would also begin. 

"As you know, this is the second collision in three months and the last of a series of incidents in the Pacific theatre," Richardson said.

"This trend demands more forceful action. As such, I have directed an operational pause be taken in all of our fleets around the world."

The admiral did not rule out some kind of outside interference or a cyber-attack being behind the latest collision, but said he did not want to prejudge the inquiry. His broader remarks suggested a focus on "how we do business on the bridge."

The damaged vessel is named after US Senator John McCain's father and grandfather, who were both admirals in the US navy.

The tanker involved in the collision, which was used for transporting oil and chemicals and weighed over 30,000 gross tonnes, sustained some damage but no crew were injured, and Singapore said there was no oil pollution. – Rappler.com

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The otherwise placid lives of Baguio taxi drivers were shattered recently by a couple of deaths by holdups.

Roberto Albino, 47, a taxi driver staying in Km 4, Asin Rd, was killed on Monday night, August 21, in Badiwan, Tuba, Benguet.

According to a security guard in one of the buildings there, he heard the sustained honking of a car which then stopped in front of him. The guard went near the taxi and saw the driver bleeding and already slumped on his seat.

He called the police who said that the driver, later identified as Albino, was stabbed in the neck. They said his money and other belongings were not touched.

The assailant remains at large.

Police are trying to find a connection between Albino’s death and that of another taxi driver, Angel Umali Sarmiento, who was stabbed around the area where Albino lived. The common nature of both crimes was uncanny.

On the midnight of August 18, Elmer De Guzman, a resident of No. 331 Mulberry Alley in Km. 3, Asin Rd. was in his house when he heard the sustained blowing of a horn and loud voices from the road. He went outside and saw the taxi and sensed some commotion inside.

He shouted for help from the neighbors and De Guzman saw some men fleeing towards a dumpsite.

Responding police saw the body of taxi driver Sarmiento sprawled on the ground of a house being constructed. He was reportedly stabbed several times and his money was missing.

Emergency medical services declared Sarmiento dead in the scene. His killers also remain at large. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel III talks to Rappler about the death of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos, the impending Senate probe into the new wave of drug-related killings, and the future of the ruling party, PDP-Laban, in 2019.

Watch Pimentel's interview here.  – Rappler.com

NEW YORK, USA – Donations to the Anti-Defamation League, one of the oldest anti-discrimination, anti-Semitic organizations in the United States, have spiked sharply since the violence in Charlottesville, the group said Monday, August 21.

ADL spokeswoman Betsaida Alcantara said donations like the one from James Murdoch – the chief executive of 21st Century Fox, who last week announced a million-dollar donation– as well as those from corporations like Apple, Uber and MGM Resorts yielded a rise of "1,000%" last week, compared to the weekly average donations since the beginning of the year. 

The ADL, headquartered in New York, did not specify to which dollar amount this surge had led.

On Monday, the big bank J.P. Morgan also joined the ranks of the donors, Alcantara said.

The bank announced a million-dollar gift to be shared by the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center, a center for studies of extremist movements, according to US media.

Donors have shown greater interest in supporting the ADL since the August 12 violence at a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

A woman was killed and 19 people injured during those clashes between anti-racism demonstrators and white supremacists. President Donald Trump was the target of fierce criticism for not clearly condemning the extreme right. 

Another organization to combat racism and anti-Semitism, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, has also recorded major donations since then. One came from California actor and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

An estimated 40,000 anti-racism demonstrators flooded Boston on Saturday to counter another rally by far-right groups.  – Rappler.com

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia detained and charged on Tuesday the theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov with fraud in a move that critics denounced as the latest sign of increasing censorship of the arts.

Serebrennikov, 47, is the artistic director of Moscow's Gogol Centre theatre and has staged productions at the legendary Bolshoi Theatre. His films have been shown at the Cannes and Venice film festivals.

But in recent years Serebrennikov has fallen out of favor with the authorities and has criticised a government clampdown on artistic works, warning last year that "everything is returning to the most pathetic Soviet practices".

The Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said in a statement he has been charged with defrauding the state of at least 68 million rubles ($1.15 million, 977,000 euros) in arts funding over 3 years from 2011 to 2014. 

Serebrennikov has denied any fraud, insisting that the charges are "absurd" and that the money went into stage productions, his lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov said as he emerged from the Investigative Committee building after hours of questioning.

A court will now decide whether or not to put him behind bars on Wednesday, until then Serebrennikov will be held at a Moscow jail, he told journalists.

Serebrennikov has been shooting a new film in Saint Petersburg, where he was detained and driven to Moscow, the lawyer added.

'New red line'

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Serebrennikov's detention was a warning to other arts figures that the Kremlin expected absolute loyalty ahead of next year's presidential election, in which Vladimir Putin is expected to run.

"They're drawing a new red line: your creative work must glorify (the authorities) -- and with your friends, you should hold your tongue," he wrote.

Novelist Boris Akunin likened Serebrennikov's detention to the Stalin era, saying the order could have come only personally from the Kremlin chief.

"It wasn't the Investigative Committee that arrested the director Serebrennikov -- it was Putin," he wrote on Facebook.

Serebrennikov could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Investigators had raided the director's flat in Moscow as well as the Gogol Centre theatre in May, prompting protests from leading arts figures, including Vladimir Urin, director of the Bolshoi Theatre.

"This is a very gifted and talented person. The Bolshoi sees him as a great artist," Urin told the Interfax news agency.

Contested works

Putin himself criticized the heavy-handed raids on Serebrennikov's home and workplace, telling the independent Dozhd TV channel they were "just ridiculous".

He said the case was opened because "suspicions arose that there were financial violations".

Police have already arrested three people in connection with the inquiry, two of whom are in custody and the other under house arrest.

The case concerns alleged theft of state money given to a theatrical project set up by Serebrennikov called Platform, which staged shows in Moscow.

The director believes that "the Platform project happened and it spent the money that was allocated to it by the state," Serebrennikov's lawyer Kharitonov said.

A former accountant who is in jail awaiting trial has testified against Serebrennikov, investigators said this month.

Serebrennikov was appointed in 2012 to head an ailing and unpopular Soviet-era theatre, remaking it into a contemporary venue now called the Gogol Centre, where he put on his own radical stagings as well as hosting film and dance festivals.

The center has been targeted by conservative activists, some of whom even installed a naked cutout of Serebrennikov outside.

At the Bolshoi, Serebrennikov has staged the Rimsky-Korsakov opera "The Golden Cockerel" and a ballet based on Mikhail Lermontov's novel "A Hero of our Time", which won a prestigious Golden Mask award last year.

But he recently ran into trouble with plans for a controversial staging of a new ballet for the Bolshoi based on the life of star dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who defected to the West. 

The Bolshoi pulled the show three days before its scheduled premiere in July, saying it was not ready, in a move critics called unprecedented.

Urin, the Bolshoi director, had said the ballet would be staged in May next year, but Serebrennikov's detention raises fresh doubts about its eventual production. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Cebu Pacific announced late Tuesday night, August 22, the cancellation of a number of next day's flights to and from the Philippines and Hong Kong due to Tropical Storm Isang (international name Hato).

The airline said the following August 23 flights would be cancelled:

• 5J108 – Manila-Hong Kong – 5:30 am to 7:40 am
• 5J109  – Hong Kong-Manila  –  8:25 am to10:35 am
• 5J110 – Manila-Hong Kong – 7:10 am to 9:25 am
• 5J111 – Hong Kong-Manila  – 10:40 am to 12:55 pm
• 5J150 – Clark-Hong Kong – 7:00 am to 8:55 am
• 5J149 – Hong Kong-Clark  – 9:45 am to 11:45 am
• 5J240 – Cebu-Hong Kong – 6:15 am to 8:55 am
• 5J241 – Hong Kong-Cebu – 9:40 am to 12:55 pm

Cebu Pacific said guests on the affected flights are advised to contact the company's hotlines at (+632) 702-0888 or (+6332) 230-8888 for further information and inquiries.

They may also call the hotlines to rebook flights for free within 30 days, opt for a full refund, or place the cost of the ticket in a travel fund for future use. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said an "independent" Senate would conduct an “impartial” probe into the recent spate of drug-related killings, after the death of 17-year-old student Kian Loyd delos Santos during a drug raid in Caloocan City.

“Don’t worry about the Senate, we know what we’re doing. These are independent-minded people in the Senate right now,” Pimentel, a staunch administration ally, said in a Rappler Talk interview on Tuesday, August 22.

Amid public outcry, the majority bloc denounced the boy’s killing and called for an investigation. It was the first formal condemnation from President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies in the chamber, as some defended him and his bloody drug war during marathon Senate hearings on extrajudicial killings in 2016. (READ: Drilon to Senate majority: Be impartial in probe into Kian's death)

Asked if the majority bloc’s move was prompted by the public backlash, Pimentel said it was not the sole basis. Protesters took to the streets to express rage and indignation over Delos Santos' death.

“We were not really, we did not come up with the resolution because of public outrage, there was also outrage among senators themselves,” he said.

“What’s happening now, how many killed in 24 or in 48 hours? Plus a minor… then plus I think some senators already saw the CCTV footages, so that is why,” he added, referring to the CCTV video of Delos Santos.

Caloocan police claimed that Delos Santos was a drug suspect who, upon seeing them during anti-drug operations, fired his gun toward the direction of the cops.

But CCTV video and witnesses’ testimonies indicated otherwise. Pimentel, however, said he would want to verify the contents of the video first before judging the case.

"I could not see the shorts, I could not see the face, the shirt. If indeed confirmed, then the story is easy to piece together," he said.

Evidence

Despite Duterte’s repeated pronouncements on killings, the previous Senate hearings, headed by Senate justice committee chair Richard Gordon, ended with a conclusion that neither the state nor the President sanctioned the summary executions.

This finding, Pimentel said, does not necessarily mean that the Senate was partial for the President. He claimed they just followed the evidence presented them and not stories. 

“That doesn’t mean that was cleared that was partial. We always have impartial hearings in the Senate. We follow the evidence. Maybe in the past no evidence convince the senators to any link. Should there be any evidence, we would also come up with objective conclusion,” Pimentel said.

“We always try our best to be impartial in the Senate. We follow the evidence. Unfortunately, we don’t follow kwento (stories). Some of our countrymen, they love to follow stories, it's easy to make up stories. Those who have stories to tell should appear before us and substantiate their stories,” he said.

When asked, Pimentel said the Senate’s previous findings would not affect the results of the impending investigation and vice versa. Each killing should be treated separately, he added.

“So we cannot say just because may nadiskubre kang isang (when you discover one) summary execution that all of the other thousand deaths are also summary executions, especially with the fact that there was not only one operator, these are hundreds of police teams operating. So each case should be approached individually,” Pimentel said.

In earlier hearings, self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato and retired Davao cop Arturo Lascañas accused Duterte of masterminding killings in Davao City when he was mayor.

But administration senators then questioned the two’s credibility and removed opposition Senator Leila de Lima as justice committee chairperson for supposed lack of objectivity. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged Tuesday, August 22, that North Korea has shown a "level of restraint" in not conducting nuclear or missile tests since new UN sanctions were imposed.

And he expressed the hope that it was a sign of Pyongyang's readiness to enter peace and disarmament talks with Washington "sometime in the near future."

"I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has certainly demonstrated some level of restraint that we've not seen in the past," Tillerson told reporters in Washington.

"We need to see more on their part, but I want to acknowledge the steps they've taken thus far. I think it's important to take note of that."

Tensions between North Korea and the United States and its allies soared last month after Pyongyang tested two long-range missiles that appeared to bring US cities within its range.

US President Donald Trump vowed to respond with "fire and fury," raising fears of a devastating regional conflict, and the UN Security Council scrambled to impose new sanctions on the North.

Kim Jong-Un's regime later postponed a threat to fire missiles towards the US Pacific island territory of Guam, and Washington said it was open to dialogue if Pyongyang were to take steps to calm tensions.

On Tuesday, Tillerson suggested that progress can now be made.

"I think it is worth noting that we have had no missile launches or provocative acts on the part of North Korea since the unanimous adoption of the UN Security Council resolution," he said.

"And I want to take note of that. I want to acknowledge it."

"We hope that this is the beginning of this signal that we've been looking for – that they are ready to restrain their level of tensions, they're ready to restrain their provocative acts and that perhaps we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the near future having some dialogue." – Rappler.com

CASAMICCIOLA TERME, Italy – Eleven-year old Ciro, the last child to be pulled from the rubble on the Italian island of Ischia Tuesday, August 22, saved his little brother's life when the deadly earthquake struck, rescuers workers said.

Firefighters had to dig with their bare hands to reach the youngster, who had been buried along with his 7-year old brother Mattias and 7-month old half-brother Pasquale.

"It was Ciro who saved Mattias," said policeman Andrea Gentile. "He dragged him and pushed him under the bed with him, a gesture that without a doubt saved both their lives.

"Then with a broom handle he banged on the rubble so the rescuers could hear him," he explained.

Monday's 4.0-magnitude quake killed a 59-year old mother-of-6 in Casamicciola, on the north of the small tourist island, after debris fell from a church. The other victim was a 65-year old Italian tourist discovered in the rubble of a collapsed house, local media said.

But as a dusty Mattias was pulled free from the rubble, firefighters broke into applause. Ciro, rescued after 16 hours in the dark, was loaded into a waiting ambulance.

"Don't leave me, don't let me die," he had begged his saviors, Italy's AGI news agency reported.

Miraculous escape

The boys' father, his hands in bandages after a night digging through the rubble alongside the firefighters, tearfully hugged relatives as his eldest son was saved.

Earlier, after hours of digging overnight, emergency workers had recovered the baby, Pasquale. He was saved by kitchen cabinets that toppled over him, shielding him from the debris of the collapsing house, they said.

Two small communes, Casamicciola and neighboring Lacco Ameno, bore the brunt of the quake, according to the civil protection agency.

The quake hit the northwest of the island at 8:57pm (1857 GMT) on Monday, August 21, at a depth of just five kilometers (three miles).

Italian officials first put the quake at a 3.6 magnitude, but later revised it upward to 4.0 – in seismic terms, a modest event.

The main earthquake was followed by 14 smaller aftershocks. Several buildings collapsed while others had large, ominous cracks. And as well as the two deaths, 42 people were injured, one seriously.

"Italy is united with Ischia in sorrow for, and solidarity with, the victims," Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Twitter.

"We stand side-by-side with those taking part in the rescues." 

'A nightmare'

Many holidaymakers packed their bags and rushed to catch special overnight ferries back to the mainland.

The quake struck just days ahead of the first anniversary of the 6.0 magnitude quake that killed nearly 300 people in and around Amatrice in central Italy. In October 2016 and January 2017 three other earthquakes hit the same region.

Francesco Peduto, head of Italy's National Geologists Association, on Tuesday slammed shoddy construction and a lack of earthquake prevention measures, saying a 4.0-magnitude quake should not have brought down buildings.

"It's frankly extraordinary that people continue to die for earthquakes of this size," he said.

The quake response benefited from the presence of emergency responders already on the island to fight the forest fires that have plagued Italy this summer.

"I was on the couch watching TV. Blackout, shaking, something fell on my head. I scream, my mother grabs me and we ran outside," one witness wrote on Twitter.

Ischia's only hospital was also hit and had to be partially evacuated, with five patients transferred to another medical facility by helicopter.

Restaurants were packed and many stores were still open when the shaking began, witnesses said on Twitter.

"A horrible experience, everything was shaking, plunged into darkness, houses were collapsing... a nightmare," one wrote.

Ischia is often hit by earthquakes, with its worst dating back to July 1883, when an estimated 5.8-magnitude quake killed more than 2,000 people.

Italy straddles the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, making it vulnerable to seismic activity when they move. – Rappler.com

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called Tuesday, August 22, for Pope Francis's support against a "military threat" from the United States, as international pressure mounts over the deadly political crisis Caracas is facing.

"May the pope help us prevent Trump from sending troops to invade Venezuela," Maduro told a news conference. "I ask for the pope's help against the military threat from the United States."

Maduro has faced months of deadly mass protests by opponents who blame him for an economic crisis and are demanding elections to replace him.

International pressure has also grown, with US President Donald Trump even saying this month that the United States reserved the option of military intervention in the Venezuela crisis.

Maduro pointedly highlighted his alliance with Russia, which had rejected Trump's recent threat as "unacceptable."

The Venezuelan leader said he wanted to "keep strengthening the military cooperation agreement" between the two countries "for the sovereign defense of Venezuela."

Russia recently sold fighter jets and ground to air missiles to Venezuela.

"Venezuela has the full and absolute support of Russia," he said, adding that he would soon go to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Maduro has called for military drills next weekend as a show of strength after Trump's threat.

The United States has applied economic sanctions directly targeting Maduro.

He says the economic collapse that has dragged his country into crisis is a US-backed conspiracy.

The opposition blames his economic management for the crisis.

Since Maduro was elected in 2013, Venezuela has descended into chaos that has raised fears for regional stability.

The fall in world prices for its oil exports has left it short of dollars for imports of food and medicine.

Venezuela is the third-biggest seller of oil to the United States, which is the destination for 42 percent of the South American country's crude exports. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A shallow magnitude 5.1 earthquake shook parts of Leyte on Wednesday morning, August 23.

The quake's epicenter was located just northeast of Albuera, Leyte, with a depth of focus at just 5 kilometers below ground, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in its bulletin.

Intensity V was felt in Ormoc City and Albuera town; Intensity IV in Pastrana town; and Intensity III in Palo and Tacloban City, the agency said.

There are no damage expected, but aftershocks are expected, Phivolcs added. – Rappler.com

MADRID, Spain – A suspected member of the terror cell that unleashed carnage in Spain last week admitted to a judge on Tuesday, August 22, that the jihadists had planned to hit monuments in an even bigger attack.

Mohamed Houli Chemlal, 21, said he knew of the plans two months ago, as he, and 3 other suspects, appeared in court for the first time since twin attacks killed 15 people and wounded more than 100.

The 4 are the only surviving suspects from what was believed to be a 12-man terror cell that rammed a van into pedestrians on a tourist-packed boulevard in Barcelona on Thursday, August 17. Hours later, members of the group committed a similar attack in Cambrils further south.

After a full day hearing before the judge, Chemlal and another suspect, Driss Oukabir, 27, were remanded in custody and charged with terror related offenses.

But the third man who owns the car used in the Cambrils attack, Mohamed Aallaa, was granted conditional release, with the judge saying evidence against him was weak.

The judge gave himself 3 more days to decide if the fourth suspect, Salh El Karib – who manages a store that allows people to make calls abroad – should be remanded or released from custody.

Chemlal, a Spaniard, told the judge the cell was planning "an attack on an even greater scale, targeting monuments" using bombs, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse.

He had known of the plans for an attack "at least two months ago", he added.

'Imam wanted to blow himself up'

Chemlal, dressed in hospital pyjamas and with his right hand bandaged, was brought in after a doctor said he was fit for interrogation, a court spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

He was injured in an accidental explosion at the group's makeshift bomb factory on Wednesday evening, August 16. One of those killed in the blast was an imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, who is thought to have radicalized him and other young suspects.

Chemlal only survived because he was out on the porch when the blast occurred.

He told the judge the imam had wanted to blow himself up. The judicial source said that among the four suspects, "two blamed the imam for the plot while another two denied knowing him".

Earlier, police had revealed that the suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for "one or more attacks in Barcelona".

Details on their plans were outlined in the 14-page ruling issued following Tuesday's preliminary hearing.

Police clearing the rubble in Alcanar found "a large quantity of butane gas canisters, acetone, oxygenated water, bicarbonate, a large quantity of nails ... and detonators to spark the explosion," said the court papers.

These are among key ingredients of TATP – the explosive of choice of the Islamic State group, which has claimed the attacks.

In the rubble, police also found a sheet of paper slipped into a green-colored book, which said: "A brief letter from the soldiers of the Islamic State on the territory of Al Andalous to the crusaders, the sinners, the unjust and the corrupters".

Al Andalous is the name of the territories governed until 1492 by Muslims better known as Moors.

But the accidental explosion in their bomb factory – a house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona – forced the suspects to alter their plans.

Plan B

After losing their bombs and two of their members in the blast in Alcanar, the jihadists decided a day after to rent a van.

But they once again suffered a false start as its driver was involved in an accident, not far from Cambrils.

A second van rented by Driss Oukabir was used two hours later in the Barcelona rampage.

In court on Tuesday, Oukabir admitted renting the van but said he did so for moving purposes.

Aallaa, freed conditionally and the owner of the Audi used in Cambrils, said it was registered under his name for insurance reasons but that his brother Said, 19, used it.

The court hearing came five days after the twin vehicle assaults.

Spanish police on Monday, August 21, shot dead Younes Abouyaaqoub, the suspected Barcelona van driver, the last fugitive member of the cell.

While Catalan police say the cell has been dismantled, investigators are trying to determine if it had support from other individuals.

Questions are also arising about the group's possible international connections.

Audi in Paris, imam in Belgium

In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told Agence France-Presse that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen – next to the city's airport – between January and March 2016.

And in France, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told BFMTV that the Audi used to kill people in Cambrils had been detected by speed cameras in the Paris region while making "a very rapid return trip" days before the Spanish attacks.

Collomb is due to host Spanish counterpart Juan Ignacio Zoido on Wednesday for talks due to include anti-terrorism cooperation.

At least one of the suspects also spent a night in Zurich in December, according to Swiss police. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Will third time be the charm?

Lawmakers from the opposition block on Tuesday, August 22, filed a resolution calling for a legislative probe into the “surge of extrajudicial killings and/or summary executions” linked to President Rodrigo Duterte’s popular and bloody war on drugs.

In House Resolution Number 1222, Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat, Albay 1st district Representative Edcel Lagman, Akbayan Representative Tom Villarin, Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano, Northern Samar 1st district Representative Raul Daza, Caloocan City 2nd district Representative Edgar Erice, and Capiz 1st district Representative Emmanuel Billiones called on the lower house to probe recent killings in the drug war, including that of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos.

Delos Santos, a Caloocan City resident, was killed evening of Wednesday, August 16, during a massive police anti-drug and anti-criminality operation in their community. Police claim Delos Santos was a drug courier who ran away and “fought back (nanlaban)” when police tried to catch him.

But CCTV cameras and witness accounts tell a different story. (READ: 2 shots in the ears, 1 in the back killed Kian – PAO autopsy)

The 17-year-old was allegedly beaten up by cops and brought to a dark corner in the cramped community. He was allegedly handed a gun and told to run. He was later found dead with a gun and sachets of shabu. (WATCH: The dark alley to Kian delos Santos' death)

The outcry over Dela Santos’ death has sparked renewed indignation over thousands of deaths in the hands of police in the drug war. More than 3,000 suspected drug personalities have died in the war on drugs, according to police reports.

Most, if not all, died because they supposedly put up a fight against police. Thousands more have been killed in vigilante-style killings with possible links to illegal drugs, according to police data.

House Resolution No. 1222 will be the 3rd filed in the 17th Congress to call for a legislative probe into drug war-related deaths. House Resolutions 242 and 259 – both calling for a legislative probe – have been pending in the House rules committee since late August 2016.

Senators belonging to the majoriy have expressed outrage over Delos Santos' death and have spearheaded a legislative probe into it. Both the House and Senate are dominated by allies of the President. 

Constitutional guarantees

In the resolution, the opposition bloc pointed out provisions in the Constitution that guarantee individuals due process of law, equal protection of the law, and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Critics have accused police of defying these Constitutional guarantees in the name of the war on drugs.

“News reports cited the President as having said that the Philippines cannot control the drug problem and that the country does not have the equipment or capability to address the situation,” says the resolution.

The resolution also wants the House to “review the budget of the Philippine National Police in relation to the conduct of its anti-drug campaign.”

Read the resolution in full here: 

For the year 2018, the PNP, through the Interior Department, is asking for P131.5 billion, a P20 increase from its 2017 budget.

Over P900 million, in particular, has been budgeted for Oplan Double Barrel Reloaded, the official umbrella term for all of the PNP’s anti-drug operations.

Double Barrel includes “Oplan TokHang,” a literal knock-and-plead operation meant to convince alleged drug personalities to “surrender”, and “Oplan High-Value Target”, which is supposed to target drug lords and top-level personalities in the drug trade.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, a Liberal Party member who is part of the Senate majority, had earlier called for more scrutiny of the PNP budget.

“Before such campaign is reloaded with funds, questions as to how it will be implemented must first be asked by the institution which will approve that request – Congress. It should not write a blank check,” he said in a statement released days after Delos Santos’ death.

The appropriations committee hearing for the DILG and PNP budget took place on August 17, the Thursday after Delos Santos’ death. Lawmakers in the House criticized PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa and Interior officer-in-charge Undersecretary Catalino Cuy for skipping the hearing.

The two top officials were in Ozamiz then to accompany Duterte in his audience before local police who had earlier operated against Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and his family, alleged drug personalities according to the President himself. The mayor, his wife, and 13 others died in that police operation.

House appropriations committee chairman Karlo Nograles earlier said he expects a “heated” debate over the DILG and PNP budget once it reaches plenary. The department’s pre-plenary budget deliberations are scheduled by the end of August 2017.

Ending the drug problem was among Duterte’s key promises during the 2016 elections.– Rappler.com

HONG KONG – Hong Kong raised its highest storm warning Wednesday, August 23, as Severe Typhoon Hato brought the city to a standstill, shutting down the stock market and forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights as heavy rain and winds pummeled the territory.

The weather observatory raised the storm warning to the city's maximum Typhoon 10 signal – meaning hurricane force winds are expected – at 9:10 am (0110 GMT).

It was the first such alert in 5 years and only the the third time the Typhoon 10 warning has been issued since 1997 when the former British colony was handed over to China.

The observatory also warned of possible flooding and said that sea levels could rise by one meter as the typhoon brought wind gusts of up to 168 kilometers (104 miles) per hour. 

The typhoon is expected to edge towards the Pearl River Estuary and to make landfall within around 100 kilometers to the west of Hong Kong in the afternoon.

Strong waves crashed into Hong Kong's coastline, with ferry services suspended, while the city's usually crowded streets were deserted and strewn with fallen branches.

The territory's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said almost all its flights leaving before 5:00pm (0900 GMT) Wednesday would be cancelled, with Hong Kong Airlines following suit. 

Hong Kong Airport Authorities said that by daybreak, 420 flights had already been cancelled.

The city's airport express train line was also suspended while the metro rail and buses operated on a limited service.

Hong Kong is regularly hit by typhoons between July and October but direct hits are rare. 

The city saw its strongest storm in 1962 when the eye of typhoon Wanda passed over and gusts of 284 kilometers per hour were recorded.

It killed 130 people and destroyed thousands of residential huts, leaving 72,000 people homeless.

Since then, Hong Kong has adapted to typhoons, including making sure its highest commercial skyscrapers can sway in the wind, and due to the extensive lockdown procedures they now rarely cause deaths.  – Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea (UPDATED) – North Korea revealed plans for the development of its missile program on Wednesday, August 23, as leader Kim Jong-Un ordered stepped-up production of rocket engines and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) nosecones.

Under Kim, Pyongyang has made rapid strides in its ballistic missile technology, which it is banned from pursuing under United Nations resolutions that have slapped it with seven sets of sanctions.

Last month it carried out two successful ICBM launches, overseen by Kim and apparently bringing most of its sworn enemy the United States into range for the first time.

A series of threats followed from both sides, and while the rhetoric has since eased, the US and South Korea this week kicked off their annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian military drills, which the North always condemns as dress rehearsals for invasion.

The North says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself against the US, and analysts said pictures released Wednesday of Kim's visit to the Chemical Material Institute of the Academy of Defence Science revealed major technological advances and ambitions.

Kim, in a black suit, was shown next to a large brown tube that Joshua Pollack of the US Middlebury Institute of International Studies said on Twitter was a "wound fibre cylinder, evidently a large-diameter solid-rocket motor casing in the making".

It appeared to be made of Kevlar or fiberglass, added independent missile and nuclear analysts George Herbert.

Other pictures carried by the Rodong Sinmun, the official mouthpiece of the North's ruling party, included missile schematics and what appeared to be production processes. 

"We have diagrams and names on two apparent new solid fuel multistage North Korean nuclear capable missiles," one of them an ICBM and the other a medium- or intermediate-range device, said Herbert.

Wound-filament casings are significantly harder to manufacture than metal ones but much lighter, giving a missile longer range and the ability to carry a heavier payload for a given distance.

Many of the elements on show were objectives rather than currently existing technology, analysts said, but even so Jeffrey Lewis, of the armscontrolwonk.com website, noted: "It's all bad." 

"If I understand North Korean propaganda, this is their way of telling us what we'll see in the air in the coming year."

Carbon compound

The Academy of Defence Sciences develops the North's missiles, and the official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim said it was "the pride of our Party to have such unassuming heroes".

"He instructed the institute to produce more solid-fuel rocket engines and rocket warhead tips," it added.

Questions remain whether the North has mastered the technology needed to ensure a ballistic missile warhead survives the intense heat generated by re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

But it says it has done so, and the KCNA report said the nosecones and engine jets were made of "carbon/carbon compound material".

The manufacturing process included carbon fibre weaving, chemical deposition and high pressure liquid deposition, it added.

In recent weeks the North has threatened to fire a salvo of missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, but has since backed away from the plan and tensions have eased.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, August 22, added momentum to tension reduction, praising the North for showing a "level of restraint" in not conducting nuclear or missile tests since new UN sanctions were imposed.

He also expressed hope that it was a sign of Pyongyang's readiness to enter peace and disarmament talks with Washington "sometime in the near future".

Wednesday's North Korean reports were largely factual and made none of their habitual threats of "catastrophic consequences" of military confrontation between it and the US.

"Through today's report, the North is touting its capability of manufacturing Hwasong-14 missile's re-entry vehicles and boasting of its preparedness to launch a submarine launched ballistic missile with a larger calibre, Pukguksong-3," Lee Chun-Geun of South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute told Agence France-Presse. – Rappler.com

MAJURO, Marshall Islands – Pacific climate change campaigner Tony de Brum, who was instrumental in forging the 2015 Paris accord on global warming, has died aged 72, the Marshall Islands government said Wednesday, August 23.

De Brum, whose tireless advocacy pricked the world's conscience over the fate of low-lying Pacific island nations threatened by rising seas, passed away Tuesday, August 22, in the Marshalls' capital Majuro after a long battle with cancer.

"He was a giant of history, a legend in every meaning of the word, and a custodian of our shared future," President Hilda Heine said.

Over a career in politics spanning more than 30 years, de Brum helped negotiate the Marshall Islands' independence from the United States and also served as a minister in portfolios ranging from health to foreign affairs.

As a child in the 1950s, he witnessed US nuclear bombs being tested in the Marshalls and campaigned throughout his life for justice for affected islanders.

As the impact of climate change became apparent, he gave voice to the remote, sparsely populated islands on the frontline of the threat, criss-crossing the globe to address international forums and push for action.

He was the driving force behind the "High Ambition Coalition" of more than 100 nations, which successfully pushed for strong aspirational goals at the UN climate talks in Paris in 2015.

"I refuse to go home from Paris without an agreement that allows me to look my grandchildren in their eyes and say: 'Papa's home, I've got a good deal for you'," he had said.

Heine said De Brum died at home surrounded by his family, including 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is investigating the bank deposits of Commission on Elections (Comelec) chief Andres Bautista that his wife, Patricia, alleged as suspicious.

AMLC executive director Mel Georgie Racela told a Senate panel on Wednesday, August 23, that the investigation of the Luzon Development Bank (LDB) was prompted by Patricia's affidavit that was transmitted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the AMLC.

“We received a referral from the NBI dated August 9 and August 16, referring to the AMLC Secretariat the affidavit of Patricia Bautista,” Racela said during a hearing of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions, and currencies. (READ: Who is Comelec chair's estranged wife Patricia Bautista)

The AMLC probe is parallel to the probe initiated by the NBI, based on the affidavit of Patricia. She executed an affidavit against her husband shortly after negotiations for an amicable separation and separation of properties collapsed. (READ: The making of a scandal: Comelec chair Andy vs Tish Bautista)

The poll chief allegedly keeps at least 35 accounts at LDB, allegedly part of the wealth that amounts to about P1 billion. (READ: Who's who in the Andy vs Tish saga?)

The poll chief is a politically exposed person (PEP), meaning banks are required to closely monitor the account. But AMLC did not get reports from LDB that the Comelec chief had suspicious transactions. 

Patricia alleged that her husband regularly deposited amounts of less than P500,000 to skirt the anti-money laundering law.

LDB lawyer Francis Lim, who was at the hearing, refused to discuss the poll chief’s bank accounts, citing the bank secrecy law. – Rappler.com