Summaries of News Articles from the ​Philippine Daily Inquirer

For: CRML
Prepared by: Mildred Ramos
Date: June 18, 2018

PNP: Prime suspect in Father Nilo’s murder not a ‘fall guy’

PNP chief Dir. Gen. Oscar D. Albayalde assured the public that the prime suspect
arrested for the murder of Fr. Richmond Nilo is not a fall guy because the boy who
identified him was an alter server and has been under the custody of the priests. He
said the boy had identified the suspect thrice in a rogue gallery and even cried when
he saw the photo of the gunman. Fr. Nilo was the third priest and the second in
Nueva Ecija to be killed in the past six months.

Robredo opposes arming village officials

Vice President Leni Robredo has opposed the idea of arming village chiefs across
the country as a way to protect themselves amid the war on drugs and criminality
because, as she claimed, peacekeeping is not their mandate. It was President
Rodrigo Duterte who floated the idea of issuing firearms to village officials to further
maintain peace and order within their communities.

China desires to revive ancient ‘Silk Road’

China appears keen to revive the ancient “Southern Silk Road” with South Asia for
promoting trade and people-to-people exchanges with India and other South Asian
countries. China wanted Dali, the only prefecture of Bai ethnic community in China,
to again become the “bridge head” with India and South Asia. Plans were under
discussion to give a concrete shape to the proposal.

Historians say the ancient silk route, originating from China’s Chengdu city, ran
through Myanmar and then extended to India, Bangladesh and even West Asia.

3,000 ‘tambays’ arrested in public order drive in Metro Manila

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered authorities on Wednesday to get rid of people

loitering in streets especially at night. As a consequence, police arrested almost
3,000 people in Metro Manila from June 13 to 18.
Of these, 944 were arrested for violating curfew hours, 653 for drinking in public, 651
for going half-naked; 456 for smoking in public, 138 for traffic violation, and 139 for
various offenses like littering, late-night videoke and urinating in public. Policemen
only arrest nighttime idlers if they violate ordinances on drinking, smoking or
urinating in public places, illegal peddling, littering, breaching peace and order, or
concealing deadly weapons.

Pangilinan to PNP: Loitering no longer a crime

Senator Kiko Pangilinan reminded that loitering is no longer a criminal offense. The
opposition senator was referring to the Act Decriminalizing Vagrancy passed by the
15th Congress, which replaced the original stance on loitering.

However, Malacañang said that if no crime has been committed, there is no basis for
arrest. PNP also clarified that the rights of the people would still be paramount for
officers doing patrol at night.

Gatchalian seeks probe of ‘Build, Build, Build’ loans

On Sunday, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian filed Senate Resolution No. 759 calling for an
inquiry on the financial requirements of the infrastructure program, seeking a review
of the Duterte administration’s P8.4-trillion “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program
to determine the country’s debt obligations with foreign lenders, including China. The
program is heavily reliant on Chinese loans.

Gatchalian said 40 of 75 infrastructure projects that had been approved as of July

2017 would be funded through official development assistance, or loans. Currently,
the total outstanding debt of the national government as of December 2017 reached
P6.6 trillion.

DFA working with Lebanon, Saudi Arabia to probe deaths of two Filipinas

DFA has been coordinating with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
after two Filipina household workers in those countries were found dead allegedly
due to suicide. the Philippine embassies in Beirut and Riyadh are working with the
investigators to ensure that there was no foul play in their deaths. The workers hailed
from Cagayan and Agusan del Sur.

DFA consoled the families of the suicide victims, ensuring that the department will
assist them in the repatriation of their relatives’ remains.
Cops should check houses for elder abuse, lawmaker says

Senior Citizen Rep. Milagros Aquino-Magsaysay encouraged the PNP to spearhead

house-to-house surveys to find out if senior citizens are being treated well by their
families, as HB 6891 or the Anti-Elder Abuse Act has yet to become a law. Under the
bill, elder abuse can take various forms such as financial, physical, psychological,
emotional, and sexual abuse; neglect and serious loss of dignity and respect.

Man found dead with ‘pusher’ cardboard in Cavite

City police chief Supt. Reynan Patam said in a phone interview that the victim,
Ronnel Rosaldo, was found dead with a placard naming him an illegal drug pusher in
Trece Martires City in Cavite province early on Monday. a cardboard with the
message “wag tularan, pusher ako” covered the victim’s half-naked body. Rosaldo
wasn’t included in the police’s drug watchlist.

Group fears gov’t rice policy to breed smuggling

The Bureau of Customs was able to intercept the shipment, valued at P250 million,
from Vietnam on Thursday. According to Bantay Bigas, the smugglers may have
taken advantage of the entry of the rice imported by state-run grains agency National
Food Authority (NFA) from Vietnam and Thailand.

The organization said the government should prioritize the development of the
country’s own industry as a means to stop smuggling.

Pagasa monitors two LPAs; rain forecast along western PH

PAGASA says that the southwest monsoon or habagat continues to affect the
western side of Luzon. Additionally, two low pressure areas had been spotted by
Pagasa. One LPA is located east near Mindanao, while the other was last seen 675
kilometers west of Basco, Batanes.

The rest of Luzon will experience isolated rain showers but will generally have better
weather. The sun shone over Metro Manila starting 7 a.m.
Dollar outflow seen accelerating

Officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the country’s current account would
likely end the year at a deficit of $3.1 billion, equivalent to 0.9 percent of gross
domestic product. This represents a 342-percent increase over the original deficit
projection of $700 million that its economists announced in late 2017, as growth in
goods imports largely outpaces exports growth.

This year, imports are now expected to grow by 11 percent, from the December
2017 projection of 10 percent. Because of this, the BSP expects the country’s overall
balance of payments to hit a deficit of $1.5 billion by the end of 2018.

The higher projected dollar outflows means the peso will likely weaken further
against the US dollar. Already, the peso closed the trading session last Thursday at
P53.27 to a dollar—its lowest level in 12 years.