00:01Former OFW Mary Jane Veloso is free after 16 years in jail following her pardon by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
00:09Chinese maritime forces quote-unquote hindered a mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.
00:15President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs a law fixing the term of barangay officials and sangguniang kabataan members to five years.
00:23United Nations delegates walk out on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech.
00:27And Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo bags another gold medal in the Asian Games.
00:40Former overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso walks free after 16 years in jail following her pardon by President Ferdinand
00:47Marcos Jr. on Friday, September 25.
00:50She leaves the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City where she had been detained since her transfer to the
00:56Philippines from Indonesia in December 2024.
00:58She will be going home to her hometown in Nueva Ecija.
01:20Marcos announced the pardon earlier Friday.
01:26Marcos grants Veloso absolute pardon which extinguishes her criminal liability from the case.
01:32Veloso was sentenced to death in Indonesia in October 2010 over charges that she carried packs of heroin in her
01:38suitcase when she arrived at Yogyakarta in April that year.
01:42Veloso has always maintained her innocence, saying she was clueless about the contents of the suitcase her fellow townswoman and
01:48recruiter had given her.
01:49Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto agreed to transfer Veloso to the Philippines and gave Marcos the discretion to grant Veloso clemency.
01:57Her freedom comes a decade and a half after a global action to hashtag SaveMaryJane kicked off online.
02:05For the first time since Manila and Beijing signed a provisional understanding, Chinese maritime forces quote-unquote hindered a mission
02:12to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.
02:15The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea says both the China Coast Guard and the People's Liberation Army
02:20Navy interfered in the mission on September 24.
02:24PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Jay Tariela says the mission was called off at 11.08
02:30p.m. on Thursday, quote,
02:31for the safety of our personnel.
02:33The PCG's BRP Malabrigo was deployed to provide security assistance during the Navy mission.
02:39Tariela says a Chinese Navy warship issued a radio challenge, warning that it would take, quote, compulsory measures to prevent
02:46the mission.
02:46Philippine authorities also report some nine Coast Guard and five maritime militia vessels from China were in the vicinity of
02:53Ayungin during the mission.
02:54No injuries were reported by the Philippines.
02:59President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signs Republic Act No. 12326 fixing the term of Barangay officials and Sangguniang Kabataan members to
03:07five years.
03:08The new law postpones the Barangay and SK elections slated in November to the second Monday of November 2028 and
03:14every five years thereafter.
03:16Barangay officials are limited to two consecutive terms while SK officials are limited to a single term.
03:22The last Barangay and SK elections were held in November 2023.
03:26The next was supposed to be held in November 2025 but Marcos enacted a law moving the date to November
03:312026.
03:33The House of Representatives and the Senate passed their versions of the bill setting a five-year term for Barangay
03:38and SK officials in September.
03:42Delegates of the United Nations walked out of the hall as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his speech to
03:48the meeting of world leaders.
03:49In a speech Thursday, September 24, Netanyahu defended Israel's action and sought to counter growing international isolation ahead of elections
03:57he could lose.
03:58He also used his speech to berate New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for calling him a war criminal.
04:04Mamdani campaigned for office on a promise to have Netanyahu arrested for alleged war crimes should he visit New York
04:09City.
04:10Mamdani later said he realized he lacked the legal authority to do so.
04:14Several hundred protesters also gathered near the United Nations with dozens blocking traffic and chanting,
04:20Stop arming Israel, let Gaza live, and Stop arming Israel, let Iran live.
04:25Al Jazeera reports more than a hundred of the demonstrators were arrested.
04:30Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo captures a second Artistic Gymnastics gold medal for the Philippines in the 2026 Asian Games Friday,
04:38September 25.
04:39This after barely qualifying for the finals.
04:42Yulo goes on to rule the men's vault at the Nagoya General Gymnasium in Japan.
04:46He delivers a breathtaking performance when it mattered most, brushing aside his 7th place finish in the qualification.
04:52He scores 14.733 on his first vault and 14.466 on his second for an average of 14.599.
05:01With this victory, Yulo has now won gold medals in both the floor exercise and vault at the Olympics,
05:06World Championships, World Cup, Asian Games, Asian Championships, and Southeast Asian Games.
05:13And that's today's wrap. I'm JC Gutinga. Thank you for watching.
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