Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
- Duterte remains in jail, loses ICC appeal - Ex-DPWH engineer Henry Alcantara surrenders P110 million to government - Marcos orders DOTr to secure Zaldy Co’s air assets in Malaysia, Singapore - Trump says US will permanently pause migration from 'Third World Countries' - Hong Kong tower fire toll rises to 128, 200 remain missing
00:06Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte loses his appeal for temporary freedom and will remain jailed in The Hague.
00:20Dismissed Bulacan 1st District Engineer Henry Alcantara surrenders over 110 million pesos to the government.
00:26President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. orders authorities to secure the AR assets of former lawmaker Zaldi Ko.
00:34U.S. President Donald Trump says his administration will work to permanently pause migration from all third-world countries.
00:41And the death toll in Hong Kong's worst fire in nearly 80 years rises to at least 128.
00:47Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will remain detained at the International Criminal Court prison in The Hague, Netherlands.
00:57The court's appeals chamber denies his appeal for interim release Friday, November 28.
01:02It upholds entirely the decision of the pretrial chamber, saying Duterte's defense team failed to point out errors in the earlier decision.
01:09Judge Luz del Carmen Ibañez Carranza, a Peruvian jurist who heads the five-person chamber, reads out the decision.
01:17In the present case, having rejected the three grounds of appeal presented by the defense in the appeal brief,
01:25the appeals chamber unanimously confirms the impugned decision.
01:31Carranza previously also ruled against Duterte in June 2023, when the chamber allowed the continuation of the investigation.
01:38The appeals chamber's decision is final, since there is no higher court in the ICC beyond it.
01:44Duterte is facing three counts of crimes against humanity of murder.
01:48These cover 49 incidents of killings, involving 78 victims of the war on drugs and the Davao death squad.
01:55Duterte did not appear at his hearing, waiving his right to be there.
01:59Dismissed Bulacan 1st District Engineer Henry Alcantara returns over 110 million pesos to the government on Friday, November 28.
02:09Justice Secretary Frederick Vida says Alcantara has promised to return a total of 300 million pesos to the government.
02:15Alcantara will surrender the money in tranches because he is currently detained in the Senate for contempt.
02:21Meanwhile, former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo has pledged to return 7 million pesos.
02:26The amounts being surrendered were earned from kickbacks tied to the broader corruption of the national government budget.
02:33A Senate probe revealed that Alcantara and other dismissed DPWH engineers in Bulacan laundered millions of pesos in casinos using aliases.
02:41Alcantara's former colleague Bryce Hernandez previously handed over two of his luxury vehicles to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure.
02:49President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. orders the Transportation Department and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to secure former lawmaker Zaldico's air assets believed to be in Malaysia and Singapore.
03:02You cannot steal from Filipino people and expect to hide or fly away on your private jets.
03:10You have the money to run, but you cannot outrun the Republic of the Philippines.
03:14Marcos says this Friday, November 28, with the latest presidential update on government actions in relation to the flood control corruption scandal.
03:22He also notes, since the Anti-Money Laundering Council already issued a freeze order on COS assets, all movements and disposition of the aircraft are prohibited.
03:30Kaya kayo mga pugante, umuwi na kayo. Ang payo ko sa inyo, hindi na kayo turista. Pinahabol na kayo ng batas.
03:38Marcos said last week, the anti-graft court Sandigan Bayan had issued an arrest warrant against COS and 17 others from DPWH Mimaropa and SunWest Corporation.
03:49U.S. President Donald Trump says his administration will work to permanently pause migration from all third-world countries.
03:57He says this is to allow the U.S. system to fully recover.
04:01Trump did not identify any countries by name or explain what he meant by third-world countries or permanently pause.
04:08Posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump adds, he plans to terminate all of the millions of what he calls illegal admissions approved under former President Joe Biden.
04:18He also plans to end all federal benefits and subsidies for non-citizens and denaturalize migrants who he says undermine domestic tranquility.
04:27Trump's comments come after the death of a National Guard member who was shot near the White House on Wednesday, November 26.
04:34Investigators say the shooting was carried out by an Afghan national.
04:37The alleged gunman was granted asylum this year under Trump.
04:41The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Wednesday stopped processing all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals indefinitely.
04:50Hong Kong's deadliest fire in nearly 80 years tears through a massive apartment complex on Wednesday, November 26, killing at least 128.
05:00200 people are still missing.
05:01The 8-hour estate, housing more than 4,600 people, had been undergoing renovations and was wrapped in bamboo scaffolding when the fire broke out.
05:10Soon after dawn on Friday, November 28, Hong Kong fire authorities said they had mostly contained the blaze.
05:16Police say they had already arrested three construction company officials on suspicion of manslaughter following the incident.
05:22This for allegedly using unsafe materials, including flammable foam boards that were blocking windows.
05:29Hong Kong's chief executive, John Lee, said the government would set up a $300 million Hong Kong dollar fund to help residents affected by the incident.
05:36And that's today's wrap. I'm JC Gutinga. Thank you for watching.
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