Leni asks PET to resolve election protest
The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday petitioned the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to “immediately resolve” all pending issues regarding the electoral protest filed by losing vice presidential contender and former Sen. Bongbong Marcos Jr. in the 2016 polls. In an urgent motion, Robredo, through her lawyer Romulo Macalintal, said there was a need to resolve the pending issues because her vote lead over Marcos even increased by more than 15,000 after the revision, recount and reappreciation of the ballots in the three pilot provinces of Iloilo, Negros Oriental and Camarines Sur. Marcos earlier said he could prove that there were irregularities in the 2016 elections through the results from three pilot provinces. Sought for comment, Marcos’ lawyer and spokesperson Vic Rodriguez belittled Robredo’s claims, describing them as “self-serving assumptions” and part of her alleged delaying strategies. Robredo was proclaimed winner of the 2016 vice presidential race with 14,418,817 votes, or 263,472 more than Marcos’ 14,155,344 votes. —JEROME ANING
Police hit anew on latest EJK
Detained Sen. Leila de Lima has extended her sympathies to Cristina Ocdin, a mother in Navotas City who lost her second son to extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in a police operation earlier this month. “How can the authorities bear to kill the powerless, those begging for their lives? Can they kill because they are protected and won’t be punished? Don’t they ever think that those they kill also have families?” De Lima said in a statement. Last June 5, Ocdin’s 21-year-old son, Jay-Ar, was killed with two other drug suspects in a shootout in Navotas City. A witness claimed that Ocdin’s son was seen begging for his life and even cried out to his mother for help. —JULIE M. AURELIO
Gun ban yields over 6,000 violators
The Philippine National Police has arrested over 6,000 violators of its nationwide election gun ban, which was lifted on Wednesday. At a press briefing on Thursday, PNP spokesperson Col. Bernard Banac said the police alert status has generally reverted to normal from full, except in areas where the presence of threat groups was noted. Banac said that with the lifting of the Commission on Elections firearm prohibition, which ran from Jan. 13 to June 12 for the May midterm polls, checkpoints have shifted back to regular operations. He added that as of Wednesday midnight, police units have arrested a total of 6,362 people in 838,133 operations nationwide as part of the enforcement of the gun ban. —JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE
Suspected Indonesian drug mule arrested
Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) on Wednesday an alleged Indonesian drug mule who tried to smuggle in 1.6 kilograms of high-grade cocaine. The Manila International Airport Authority (Miaa) identified the suspect as Agus Burhan, 62, who arrived at Naia Terminal 3 from Doha, Qatar, at around 6 p.m. via Qatar Airways flight QR-932. The Miaa quoted PDEA head agent Herald Javier as saying that the cocaine cache, worth around P8.8 million, was discovered inside Burhan’s luggage during a random inspection using drug-detection canines at the arrival area. According to Javier, Burhan had come from Lima, Peru, where he picked up the cocaine from a source. He then took connecting flights in Madrid, Spain, and Doha. Upon interrogation, Burhan claimed that he was unwittingly used as a drug mule. He said he was asked to bring the luggage, which he was told contained gifts, to the Philippines. —JEROME ANING
1,800 new lawyers take oath
Passers of last year’s bar exams took their oath as new lawyers before the Supreme Court on Thursday. Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, chair of this year’s bar examination committee, called on the 1,800 new lawyers to make use of technology “to influence society in a good way and to improve the legal field.” Perlas-Bernabe also asked them “to uphold the ideals of truth and justice and to be lifelong disciples of the law.” The latest batch of bar passers will officially become lawyers upon signing the Roll of Attorneys at the Supreme Court starting today, when each of them will be given a bar roll number. —JEROME ANING