News Briefs: June 8, 2019
Vico Sotto seeks dismissal of rival’s poll protest
Pasig Mayor-elect Vico Sotto has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to dismiss the poll protest filed by his rival, outgoing Mayor Bobby Eusebio, pointing out that this was “utterly flawed, deficient and defective.” In his 31-page reply to his rival’s poll protest, Sotto said that not only did Eusebio not provide “relevant admissible documentary evidence” but also relied “heavily on self-serving affidavits” of his supporters. “An examination of the affidavits of [Eusebio’s] watchers easily show that they are all merely centered on speculation. In the end, this case is nothing but an empty protest petition fueled by his bruised ego and filed not only to spite but to harass [Sotto],” the petition read. Sotto won the mayoral race in Pasig by over 86,500 votes, putting an end to the Eusebios’ two-decade hold on the fifth richest city in the country. —JOVIC YEE
Crack in rail track suspends LRT 2 operations
Operations of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) 2 were suspended for nearly two hours on Friday morning due to a hairline crack in the rail track, stranding tens of thousands of passengers, the second of such occurrence since one of its parked cars moved on its own and crashed into another coach filled with passengers on May 18, injuring 34 people. “Unlike the crash, [Friday’s glitch] is something that happens naturally [under train conditions],” LRT Authority spokesperson Hernando Cabrera said. “What’s more is that we were able to detect it early, which is a sign that our safety protocols are very much active.” The suspension was earlier attributed to a technical glitch in one of the trains. But Cabrera said they stopped operations when their railway sensors found a hairline crack in the tracks between Cubao and Anonas stations at around 9:42 a.m. on Friday. After fixing the crack, their engineers determined that it was safe to run the mainline again at around 11:28 a.m. —KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING
Swine flu outbreak to affect international trade flows
The rapid spread of African swine fever (ASF) is expected to have major implications on international trade flows, according to an interagency group under the United Nations, but the Philippines is seen to gain from it amid the expansion of hog export opportunities. Based on the latest market monitor released by the Agricultural Market Information System, there has been a global slowdown in the supply of grains like oilseed and maize—raw materials used in manufacturing animal feeds—while prices of rice, maize and wheat continue to be dynamic due to ASF and the ongoing trade war between China and the United States. In turn, the Department of Agriculture has already laid plans to boost the supply of corn by importing as much as 300,000 metric tons of the crop and increase its production by as much as 600,000 MT to sustain the “dramatic growth of the hog industry,” provided that the country would remain unaffected by ASF. This would enable the sector to raise production at a lower cost and cater to export markets. —KARL R. OCAMPO
2 ex-ABS-CBN execs face trial for sexual harassment
Two former executives of ABS-CBN will go on trial for the sexual harassment cases against them in connection with the complaint of television and radio personality Gretchen Fullido. Government prosecutors have indicted before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court former ABS-CBN executives Cheryl Favila and Maricar Asprec for violation of Republic Act No. 7877, or the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995. The complaint alleged that from 2015 to 2017, Favila and Asprec, head of ABS-CBN’s ecosystem integrated news and current affairs department and segment producer, respectively, repeatedly sought sexual favors from Fullido. Favila was described as exercising “authority, influence or moral ascendancy” over Fullido while Asprec was noted to have urged Fullido to be extra nice to them (“lambingin”). After she spurned these advances, Fullido said she experienced a “hostile working environment” to her damage and prejudice. —JEROME ANING
