Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
- Plunder complaint filed vs Sara Duterte over confidential funds mess - NBI seeks Interpol Red Notice vs Zaldy Co - BIR chief Mendoza says all LOAs now require his clearance - DOJ gave Chinese fugitives asylum privileges - Meghan Markle sends letter to father hospitalized in the Philippines
00:06Vice President Sara Duterte faces a plunder complaint over the alleged misuse of her confidential funds.
00:19The NBI requests an Interpol Red Notice against former lawmaker Zaldico.
00:23Under fire for alleged extortion, the Tax Bureau says tax audits will require the approval of the BIR chief.
00:31The Department of Justice is flagged for granting refugee status to Chinese fugitives wanted for financial crimes.
00:38And Meghan Markle sends a letter to her estranged father who is in a hospital in the Philippines.
00:45Members of civil society groups and the church file a plunder complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte with the office of the Ombudsman.
00:53This over Duterte's alleged misuse of her confidential funds as Vice President and when she was Education Secretary.
01:01Apart from plunder, the complaint also includes the following allegations against the Vice President and some officials from her office and DepEd.
01:08A legislative inquiry revealed that contingent funds of the 2022 national budget were used for the OVP's 125 million peso confidential funds.
01:33Duterte's office spent it all in just 11 days.
01:37The issue of confidential funds was also one of the grounds for the ill-fated impeachment complaint filed earlier against the Vice President.
01:44The National Bureau of Investigation has requested the issuance of an Interpol Red Notice against former lawmaker Rizaldi Ko.
01:53The Bureau confirms on Friday, December 12, it has already made the request as early as November 23.
02:00In November, the Office of the Ombudsman filed graft and malversation cases against Ko and 17 others.
02:05This over an anomalous flood control project in Nauhan, Oriental Mindoro.
02:11The charges are now pending with the Sandigan Bayan, which issued warrants against all the accused.
02:16A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
02:25Although it's considered an international warrant, Interpol members can choose to act on the notice or not.
02:32Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Charlito Mendoza says all letters of authority will now require his approval before they are issued.
02:41This as part of ongoing audit reforms to prevent its misuse.
02:45The BIR is under scrutiny following reports that LOAs were used to extort bribes from businessmen and other taxpayers.
02:52Senators J.V. Ejercito and Erwin Tulfo claimed that BIR personnel kept as much as 70% from these collections.
03:00Before the announcement, LOAs, which signaled the start of a tax audit, were issued at the regional level.
03:05Right now po, when it comes to the issuance of letters of authority by the regional directors,
03:12meron po silang absolute authority to issue letters of authority.
03:16And hindi na po ito umaakyat sa commissioner for approval or prior clearance.
03:22Mendoza also says the BIR plans to limit the number of LOAs the taxpayers can receive to prevent its misuse.
03:30These improvements, many of which can be enabled with the help of an integrated digital system,
03:37will reinforce the checks and balances between enforcement and oversight.
03:42The Department of Justice is flagged for a pattern of granting refugee status to Chinese fugitives wanted for financial crimes.
03:51The office concerned is the DOJ Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit, or RSPPU.
03:57In a privileged speech Wednesday, December 10, Sen. Risa Ontiveros says,
04:01The pattern suggests either a serious failure in our screening mechanism or deliberate facilitation,
04:08whether through neglect, influence, or corruption.
04:11The DOJ, through spokesperson Polo Martinez, tells Rappler,
04:14the RSPPU would rather address the issue before the Senate Committee on Justice next week.
04:20Under the DOJ's Department Circular No. 058,
04:23a mere application for asylum triggers the suspension of any deportation proceeding.
04:28The Philippines is signatory to the United Nations Convention relating to the status of refugees
04:33and has a long tradition of protecting foreigners who are fleeing war and persecution in their home countries.
04:38This is not an isolated loophole.
04:42This is an insidious pattern, a modus, a deliberate exploitation of our asylum system.
04:51Ang nakakakaba pa, most of these bad actors are still in the Philippines.
04:57Who dropped the ball here?
05:00Meghan Markle says she managed to send a letter to her estranged father who is in a hospital in the Philippines.
05:06This despite the British tabloid The Daily Mail supposedly reporting from his bedside,
05:11which Markle's camp calls a breach of clear ethical boundaries.
05:15Thomas Markle, Meghan's father, is reported to be in hospital in the Philippines having a leg amputated.
05:21Given the reporter's presence, a spokesperson for Markle says,
05:24quote-unquote,
05:25it has been difficult for the Duchess to contact her father privately.
05:29With the support of reliable and trusted contacts, her correspondence is now safely in his hands.
05:34The Daily Mail group vehemently denies the accusation.
05:37The newspaper says its reporter, Caroline Graham, had been friends with Thomas Markle since 2018,
05:43and he had asked her to come.
05:45The accusation comes weeks before Meghan's husband, Prince Harry,
05:48starts his privacy lawsuit against the Daily Mail's publisher.
06:04The Daily Mailbook of the Daily Mail here in the Philippines.
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