News Briefs
House OKs bill making it easier for cops to wiretap
Law enforcers may soon have an easier time to bug the phones or devices of drug suspects after the House of Representatives approved on final reading a measure seeking to amend the Anti-Wire Tapping Law to increase penalties for violators but relax rules on wiretapping of crime suspects. House Bill No. 8378 also authorized eavesdropping on individuals suspected of corruption in government, according to bill author Rep. Robert Ace Barbers. Barbers, in a statement, said the bill sought to “keep pace with advances in communications” to both protect privacy and help law enforcers run after criminals. The measure expanded the list of crimes, which would require wiretapping to include coup, piracy, robbery in band, highway robbery, syndicated illegal recruitment and money laundering. —MARLON RAMOS
Arroyo: PH should look up to China as ‘senior uncle’
Not a big brother, but a “senior uncle.” That’s how China should regard itself in dealing with “small countries” like the Philippines, according to Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo, who had developed a close relationship with China when she was President, said the maritime row in the South China Sea should not stop the Philippines and China from carrying out “joint projects” in the West Philippine Sea, waters in the South China sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone but which China claims to own. “In a family, all members have their own responsibility for the good of the family,” Arroyo said in an ambush interview after inspecting a project in her hometown Porac, Pampanga province. “That’s what should be the attitude of everybody,” she said, according to transcripts of the interview released by her office. —MARLON RAMOS
Duterte to honor Miriam with Quezon Service Cross
President Rodrigo Duterte is set to bestow on late Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago the country’s highest civil service award. In an advisory released on Friday, Malacañang said the conferment of the Quezon Service Cross to Santiago would be held on Monday at the Palace. In a letter to Congress, Mr. Duterte said Santiago “inspired generations of Filipinos to aspire for excellence and remain steadfast against any challenge and adversity.” The Quezon Service Cross was created on Aug. 2, 1946, by then President Manuel Roxas to honor President Manuel L. Quezon. Since its creation, there have only been five recipients of the Quezon Service Cross—Emilio Aguinaldo, Carlos P. Romulo, Ramon Magsaysay, Benigno Aquino Jr. and Jesse Robredo. —DARRYL JOHN ESGUERRA
Comelec ruling makes Freddie Aguilar independent bet
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) recognized the group of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III as the official Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) representative in next year’s midterm elections. The five-page decision of the Comelec en banc ended the factionalism, which has wracked the now ruling party. It said Pimentel’s group had been recognized as PDP-Laban in the 2016 elections. The ruling, in effect, declared as independent all candidates endorsed by the PDP-Laban faction headed by Rogelio Garcia. That meant folk singer Freddie Aguilar, a senatorial wannabe, is now considered to be an independent candidate. His candidacy had been endorsed by the Garcia faction and by President Duterte. —JOVIC YEE
CA won’t issue order to stop award of 3rd telco slot
The Court of Appeals (CA) has declined to stop the government’s selection process, which awarded to a consortium led by a businessman-friend of President Rodrigo Duterte the country’s third telecommunications provider slot. In a two-page resolution on Nov. 16, the CA’s Special 12th Division ordered the National Telecommunications Commission to comment in 10 days on a plea by NOW Telecom to stop the award to Mislatel Consortium of the third telco slot. The ruling was written by Justice Ricardo Rosario and concurred in by Justices Eduardo Peralta and Ma. Luisa Quijano-Padilla. —JEROME ANING
