00:18The Supreme Court on Bank dismisses as moot petitions that question the House proceedings
00:27on Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment complaints.
00:31Inflation eases to 6.2% in July as lower transport costs tempered overall price increases.
00:38And Ukraine accuses Russia of committing a war crime after a Russian drone chased a vegetable
00:43cellar in Kherson.
00:52Witness Roderick Wamil disputes Senator Judge Amy Marcos' interpretation
00:57that Vice President Sara Duterte is not the accountable officer in relation to her office's confidential funds.
01:04Marcos claims it should be the disbursing officer during the 13th day of Duterte's impeachment trial.
01:09But Wamil says,
01:10That is not entirely correct, Your Honor.
01:13Both Wamil and Marcos cite the Joint Memorandum Circular on auditing confidential and intelligence funds
01:18to support their respective views.
01:20Ang liwanag sa inyong Joint Circular that the special disbursing officer is the one
01:27who was designated by the head of agency to have custody, di ba?
01:33And in the case of the OVP, si Acosta yun.
01:37In the case of DepEd, hindi ba si Faharda yun?
01:40Wamil says it is the responsibility of the head of the agency to approve the cash advances,
01:45oversee agency-wide utilization, and to ensure compliance with the Joint Circular.
01:50Marcos reacts and says,
01:52Mag-yes or no ka lang kanina ka pa eh, naaway mo ko lagi eh.
01:55Amid the heated discussion, Marcos' staff advises her to cite the witness in contempt.
02:00Law expert Maria Lulu Reyes says in a Rappler panel interview,
02:04none of the provisions for a contempt citation was met in the case of Wamil.
02:08Reyes also adds, Marcos should have been called out for her behavior,
02:11which the lawyer described as badgering the witness.
02:15Di ba? In the future, there should be minimum standards that they all agree on,
02:23meaning the senators, as to how they should treat witnesses.
02:27After all, these witnesses are witnesses for the people.
02:32The issue of a possible conflict of interest for defense lawyer Michael Poa
02:36is brought up during the 13th day of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial
02:41on Wednesday, August 5.
02:42Senator Judge Rafi Tulfo asks if there is a possible conflict of interest on the part of Poa
02:47as a former DepEd Undersecretary.
02:49On August 4, a witness said Poa was in the meeting between the Commission on Audit,
02:53the Office of the Vice President, and the Department of Education regarding confidential funds in 2023.
02:59Presiding Officer Cheese Escudero says there is no conflict of interest since Poa is only a counsel
03:04and the respondent to the impeachment case is not him, but Vice President Sara Duterte.
03:09Private Prosecutor Lorna Capunan agrees with the presiding officer's ruling.
03:13He is here acting in his capacity as lawyer.
03:16Meantime, law expert Maria Lulureyes says in a Rappler panel interview
03:19that Poa does have a conflict of interest.
03:22He placed himself in a position where he'll be required to testify
03:30as Chief of Staff and Undersecretary for Finance of the DepEd
03:35at the time when the Vice President was its secretary.
03:40Reyes says Poa had intimate knowledge of how the confidential funds were used.
03:44By making himself counsel of the Vice President,
03:48I think he's representing interest that is contrary to that of the Republic.
03:51If he is asked to testify on knowledge during the time that he was Undersecretary for Finance
04:01regarding the use of the confidential funds,
04:04he can simply escape and evade those answers by saying,
04:07I will not answer because it will breach attorney-client privilege.
04:11Reyes notes Poa, quote,
04:13appears to be kinder than the previous defense lawyers.
04:15We're so easily impressed by someone who does not reflect the brutish character of their client.
04:23The Supreme Court on Bank dismisses Azmuth
04:26consolidated petitions that questioned House proceedings
04:29on the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte.
04:32These petitions were filed by Duterte and allied lawyers led by Israelito Torreon.
04:37The latter petition argued the House Committee on Justice
04:40exceeded its constitutional authority in the hearings.
04:42It also questioned the House Committee on Justice's findings
04:45that the impeachment complaints were sufficient in form, substance, and grounds.
04:49The SC says,
04:51while the SC recognized that it may, in exceptional cases,
04:54decide issues that have become moot,
04:56it found that none of the recognized exceptions applied in this case.
04:59In a press briefer, the SC says the issues raised no longer required resolution
05:04because the House had already approved and transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
05:08The SC further held that the impeachment process had already moved to the Senate
05:12which had convened as an impeachment court and had begun proceedings.
05:16Meantime, House Prosecutor Terry Ridon says the SC's decision ends claims of a fishing expedition.
05:22Ibig sabihin po nito, lahat po nang usapin patungkol sa mini-trial fishing expedition
05:28na kanina nakita ho natin, inulit-ulit na naman po,
05:31ng depensa ay nagwawakas ngayong araw po na ito.
05:36The Philippine Statistics Authority reports,
05:38inflation softened to 6.2% in July
05:41as the relative slowdown in transport costs helped temper overall price increases.
05:46This is slightly lower than the 6.4% recorded in June.
05:50This also marks the third straight month of easing inflation
05:53after the rate hit a three-year high of 7.2% in April.
05:57Average inflation for January to July stood at 5%,
06:00remaining well above the government's target range of 2 to 4%.
06:05Transport was the biggest source of the slowdown,
06:07accounting for 57.4% of the decline in the headline rate.
06:12But several major expenses continued to drive inflation higher.
06:15Inflation in housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels rose to 8.2% from 8.1%,
06:23mainly due to a jump in electricity inflation to 17% from 12.3%.
06:29Electricity inflation was the fastest since March 2023.
06:35Ukraine accuses Russia of committing a war crime.
06:38This after a video was released showing a drone chasing and wounding a vegetable cellar
06:43in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.
06:45The video was released by Ukrainian police.
06:48The drone later exploded as the man dove behind his vehicle for cover.
06:52Police say the man in his 50s survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.
06:56Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says it's proof that Russia has gone mad
07:01and its soldiers take pleasure in killing and abusing civilians.
07:05He also calls for more pressure on Moscow and strong security guarantees for Ukraine.
07:11And that's today's wrap.
07:13I'm JC Gutinga.
07:15Click the link below for the full story.
07:17For more updates, download the Rappler app.
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