News Update
As of October 12, 2017 (Thursday)
1. Manila Bulletin
US bombers overfly Korean peninsula in show of force
The US has flown two supersonic heavy bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force against Pyongyang, staging the first night-time joint aviation exercises with Japan and South Korea. Two B-1B Lancers based in Guam flew a mission in the vicinity of the Sea of Japan late Tuesday, the US Pacific Air Forces said in a statement.
The four aircraft then flew across the peninsula and staged another round of a firing exercise over the Yellow Sea before the two B-IBs returned home, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. “This drill was part of a routine deployment training aimed at enhancing deterrence” against the North’s nuclear threats, the JCS said in a statement.
https://news.mb.com.ph/2017/10/11/us-bombers-overfly-korean-peninsula-in-show-of-force/
2. Philippine Star
PDEA takes lead from PNP in drug war
Amid criticisms of police abuses and accusations of extrajudicial killings related to the drug war, President Duterte has ordered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to take the lead in the administration’s anti-drug campaign.
President Rodrifo Duterte directed the Philippine National Police (PNP), along with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as well as the Bureau of Customs, Philippine Postal Corp. and all other agencies to refrain from spearheading drug operations to avoid conflict. Duterte has ordered the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to take the lead in the administration’s anti-drug campaign to bring “order to the operation/campaign against illegal drugs, thus pinpointing precise accountability.”
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/12/1747960/pdea-takes-lead-pnp-drug-war
3. Daily Inquirer
House impeaches Comelec chief after he said he was resigning
Hours after Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Andres Bautista announced on Wednesday his plan to resign on Dec. 31, the House of Representatives voted 137-75-2 to impeach him. Members of the House justice committee, who earlier dismissed the impeachment complaint against Bautista for having a defective verification form, were outvoted in the plenary.
Bautista is accused, among other alleged offenses, of amassing ill-gotten wealth and receiving “referral fees”
from election technology contractor Smartmatic. “If the House transmits the impeachment case to the Senate, we have to act on it,” Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said on Wednesday night.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/937046/metro-manila-classes-suspended-nov-16-17-for-asean-summit
4. Manila Times
De Lima to appeal SC decision
Sen. Leila de Lima on Wednesday said she will appeal the decision of the Supreme Court denying her petition to dismiss the drug-related charges against her and to nullify her arrest warrant.
The senator maintained that she was a victim of the strong arm of the State and the “deeply-rooted vengeance”
of President Rodrigo Duterte.
http://www.manilatimes.net/de-lima-appeal-sc-decision/355988/
