Tag Archives: Vera Files

[From the web] Jessica Soho interviews 4 presidentiables | VERA Files

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Jessica Soho interviews 4 presidentiables

There are many good things going for the three-hour GMA 7’s Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews aired Saturday night.

It started at exactly 6:15 and wrapped up at 9:15 at which time you realize you have just watched one hell of a TV interview involving at least four presidential contenders.

It was a refreshing experience because the state of the country’s talk shows has sunk so low after the disappearance ofgood TV hosts who lost the ratings war and pushed to late night slots.

For the Presidential Interviews, the subjects looked prepared- from Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Mayor Isko Moreno and Sen. Manny Pacquiao.

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[From the web] VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Pro-Duterte vlogger misleads in claiming UN resolution proves ‘no EJK’ in PH

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#HumanRights #Information VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Pro-Duterte vlogger misleads in claiming UN resolution proves ‘no EJK’ in PH

Video blogger (vlogger) Byron Cristobal, a Duterte and Marcos supporter better known as Banat By, misleadingly claimed that the adoption of a resolution calling for the improvement of the human rights situation in the Philippines by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) proved there were no extrajudicial killings in the country.

STATEMENT

In his YouTube vlog running over an hour, Cristobal cited an Inquirer.net article about the UNHRC adoption of the resolution on Oct. 7 at its 45th session. He said:

 “Ito (Here): No EJK. Oh ayan ah (There.). Ito pala iyon (This is it)...Iyan iyong (This is the) 'resolution, which was adopted by consensus (without voting) during the council’s'... 'provide support for the country in its continued fulfillment of its international human rights obligations and commitment(s).' Sa madaling salita, wala naman silang nakitang EJK (In short, they didn’t find any EJK). Yari sila (They’re finished).”

Source: Banat By official YouTube account, WALANG EJK SA PINAS-United Nation (sic) /PIRMA KAY VELASCO OLATS, Oct. 7, 2020, watch from 53:27 to 53:53

As of Oct. 15, Cristobal’s video has been viewed over 36,630 times. It could have reached more than 6.8 million social media users, with Facebook pages Mocha Uson Blog (which he co-manages), DDS News, and his own Banat By generating the most traffic for the video.

Read full article @https://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-pro-duterte-vlogger-misleads-claiming

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[From the web] ICC warrant of arrest for Duterte may be issued end of 2020 -Vera Files

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The Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court may wrap up its preliminary probe on President Duterte’s drug war sooner than expected.

And if ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda finds enough evidence – andfollowing precedents –at the earliest, formal charges for international crimes may be brought, and an arrest warrant issued, against President Duterte and key officials of his deadly tokhang campaign by the end of next year.

But it will really all depend on evidence showing that Philippine authorities failed to discharge its duty under the principle of complementarity to investigate and prosecutethose behind thousands of alleged extralegal killings connected to the drug war.

“During 2020,” said Bensouda in a December 5 Report, “the Office will aim to finalise the preliminary examination (PE) in order to enable the Prosecutor to reach a decision on whether to seek authorisation to open an investigation into the situation in the Philippines.”

President Duterte is accused of being the architect behind what is alleged to be a systematic and widespread targeting of civilians in the drug war that has claimed upwards of 30,000 people, according to human rights activists. Philippine authorities dispute both the numbers and the characterization of the deaths as extrajudicial or extralegal killings.

Read more @verafiles.org

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[Off-the-shelf] Understanding good conduct time allowance for prisoners: 4 things you should know -Vera Files

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A debate on the implementation of a law that increases the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) of prisoners ensued after the earlier reported pending release of convicted rapist-murderer former Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez. The Justice Department and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) initially identified Sanchez as among the 11,000 inmates who may walk free from prison in the next two months.

Republic Act 10592 was enacted in 2013, amending RA 3815 or the Revised Penal Code (RPC). The law increased the GCTA of prisoners to be credited in the service of their sentence. Last June, the Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the law should apply retroactively.

Some lawmakers, including Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, are calling for a review of the law.

But what exactly is GCTA? Can all prisoners benefit from it?

Here are four things you should know.

Read more @www.verafiles.org

All submissions are republished and redistributed in the same way that it was originally published online and sent to us. We may edit submission in a way that does not alter or change the original material.

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos, etc.

[From the web] Defending human rights online in the time of Duterte -VERA Files

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Defending human rights online in the time of Duterte
by Arianne Christian Tapao, VERA Files

Rights defender Rosemarie Trajano got the shock of her life when news broke that Caloocan City police got their information about Kian Loyd Delos Santos’ alleged drug running only from social media.

The 52-year-old advocate is no stranger to threats. A human rights defender (HRD) for 30 years, her name appears in police lists as a person of interest. But the fact that a 17-year-old student was killed over unfounded information gave her the chills. She calls it “disturbing, unprofessional.”

The secretary-general of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Trajano says she’s more scared about what might happen to the lesser known rights campaigners. “Kilala ako so less takot ako. Mas natatakot ako sa HRDs na hindi pa kilala (I’m a prominent defender so I’m not so scared for myself as I am for other HRDs).”

Indeed, times have worsened for rights campaigners, who have been demonized by Pres. Rodrigo Duterte himself because of their condemnation of the extra-judicial killings that have marked the government’s war on illegal drugs.

In his second State of the Nation Address, the president went as far as to call for the abolition of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), accusing it of defending criminals. (See VERA FILES FACT SHEET: The Commission on Human Rights, explained)

Read full article @verafiles.org

All submissions are republished and redistributed in the same way that it was originally
published online and sent to us. We may edit submission in a way that does not alter or
change the original material.

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and
original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the
tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc

Suspect in Gabriela leader’s slay seeks settlement- VERA FILES

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Source: Vera Files 24 March 2011
http://verafiles.org/front/suspect-in-gabriela-leader%E2%80%99s-slay-seeks-settlement/
By NESTOR B. RAMIREZ

(First of two parts)

CEBU CITY—In what could be a first in the history of extrajudicial killings in the country, a jailed suspect has offered an unusual out-of-court settlement: He pleads guilty and pays the victim’s family for damages, but the charges are downgraded to homicide which means a shorter prison sentence.

The victim was Liezelda Cuñado, women’s rights advocate and coordinator of the Gabriela Women’s Party in Candijay town in Bohol. Her alleged killer is Joel Bayron, a known member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) supervised by the 15th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Human rights advocates said the offer of settlement is a good sign, given the barely one percent conviction rate of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the country.

To read more…