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WATCH: 'Brutal' Boracay dog-catchers caught on viral video Rosette Adel (philstar.com) - October 23, 2018 - 9:21pm MANILA, Philippines— A video of men catching dogs on Boracay's beachfront recently circulated on social media prior to the island's reopening, prompting online comments against animal cruelty. In its Facebook page, animal rights advocate non-profit organization Animal Rescue Boracay by Aklan Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Center warned dog owners of Boracay of the dog-catchers by posting a video of unleashed dogs being captured. The group said the video was taken on October 20 and the dogs were brought to the public dog pound on the island. The animal advocates said it has been receiving "disturbing reports and videos of very brutal dog-catchers on the island." It added that the catchers do not just focus on strays. “Even a reporter with a her dog on the leash got warned—it is not … [Read more...] about WATCH: ‘Brutal’ Boracay dog-catchers caught on viral video

No 'La Aunor' on list of National Artist awardees Alexis Romero (philstar.com) - October 23, 2018 - 7:23pm MANILA, Philippines — Actress Nora Aunor will not be among the National Artists to be proclaimed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, the second time the movie icon has been excluded from the list of people given the honor.  A media advisory sent by Malacañang on Tuesday showed that Aunor is not on the list of artists to be feted during the conferment ceremony of this year's National Artist Awards. National Commission for Culture and the Arts project coordinator Sabrina Tan said Aunor had been automatically nominated because she was included in the previous shortlist of nominees.  In 2014, President Benigno Aquino III said he removed Aunor from the list of awardees because of issues linking her to illegal drug use. "Sa aking pananaw yung national artist binibigyan natin ng honor na ito, puri na … [Read more...] about No ‘La Aunor’ on list of National Artist awardees

Guevarra: DOJ will appeal Trillanes ruling before Makati court Kristine Joy Patag (philstar.com) - October 23, 2018 - 6:45pm MANILA, Philippines — Within hours of Malacañang saying Solicitor General Jose Calida is taking the amnesty case to the Court of Appeals, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said his department will seek a partial reversal of Makati Judge Andres Soriano's ruling before the local court. In a statement, Guevarra said that the Department of Justice will file a motion for partial reconsideration on Soriano’s October 22 ruling that junked the government's plea for a warrant against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. This is in contradiction to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo’s statement that he has talked to Calida, whom he said told him that the Office of the Solicitor General would bring the case to the Court of Appeals. Govenment executives, including President Rodrigo … [Read more...] about Guevarra: DOJ will appeal Trillanes ruling before Makati court

MANILA, Philippines — When President Rodrigo Duterte proclaimed that the amnesty granted to critic Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is void, state prosecutors sought local courts to hold the senator accountable on charges that the courts had already dismissed in 2011. They argued that while the courts did not err when they dismissed the case when former President Benigno Aquino III granted amnesty to Trillanes and other mutineers through Proclamation 75, the senator's cases should be revived since the amnesty was void from the very beginning. Makati Regional Trial Court Branches 148 and 150 received the government’s pleadings the same week that Duterte's Proclamation 572 was published. The Supreme Court later directed the two courts to determine the factual issues on Proclamation 572. Several pleadings and hearings later, the two Makati courts arrived at different rulings. Makati RTC Branch 150 Presiding Judge Elmo Alameda granted the government’s motion for … [Read more...] about Trillanes amnesty: Two courts and two rulings that may meet at SC

Sugar workers' group hits PNP for 'NPA legal front' tag (philstar.com) - October 23, 2018 - 4:16pm MANILA, Philippines — The National Federation of Sugar Workers on Tuesday said the chief of the Philippine National Police had prejudged the killing of nine of its members in Negros Occidental over the weekend when he called the group a "legal front" for communist rebels. The NFSW issued the statement in response to a claim that PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde made in a radio interview that the New People's Army uses the group to "occupy land and make money out of it." In the same interview, Albayalde said the nine sugar workers killed in Sagay City by unidentified attackers last Saturday night were not "legitimate tillers" of Hacienda Nene, the property that members had conducted their "bungkalan", or land cultivation, activity on. "That's one reason that the legitimate tillers there got angry," Albayalde also said. In … [Read more...] about Sugar workers’ group hits PNP for ‘NPA legal front’ tag