00:01The Philippine government gives confusing accounts of the location of fugitive and gaming tycoon Atong Ang.
00:08Senator Ping Lakson calls out the Cayetano siblings for hijacking the DENR budget hearing.
00:14The Ombudsman suspends DICT Undersecretary David Almirol Jr. for six months.
00:19The Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas raises its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points.
00:24And the Department of Foreign Affairs calls out the Chinese Embassy in Manila for undiplomatic posts.
00:38After months of dead silence, the Philippine government again mentions the name of fugitive and gaming tycoon Charlie Atong Ang.
00:45Interior Secretary John Vic Remulia says Tuesday, October 20, Ang might have left the country and used a backdoor exit.
00:52But the Justice Department believes the fugitive is still in the country.
00:56Justice Secretary Frederick Vida says Wednesday, October 21, there are no records of Ang leaving the country based on immigration
01:02records.
01:03Ang has a pending warrant of arrest from a Santa Cruz Laguna court due to kidnapping with homicide cases related
01:09to missing sabongeros or cockfighting enthusiasts.
01:12He has yet to be arrested since his warrants issuance in January.
01:16In February, the DILG raised the bounty for Ang's arrest to 20 million pesos.
01:22Sen. Ping Lakson calls out the Cayetano Senators' siblings for subjecting the Laguna Lake Development Authority representative to intense questioning.
01:30During the Senate hearing on the proposed Department of Environment and Natural Resources 2027 budget,
01:35Senators Alan and Pia Cayetano took turns grilling LLDA Acting General Manager Leopoldo Parumog over what they alleged to be
01:42his special interest in Taguig City.
01:44Why do you make it appear in public that ang daming may mga sasamang nangyayari sa Taguig?
01:51And if that is not the intention, then why publicize for Taguig and you don't publicize your work in other
01:57places?
01:57According to Alan, while the LLDA issued cease-and-desist orders against projects in Angono, Rizal, and Muntinlupa City, these
02:04were not publicized.
02:06Parumog denied that the LLDA actions on Taguig projects were politically motivated.
02:11In response, Lakson calls out the Cayetanos for turning the budget deliberations into a full-blown Senate investigation.
02:17Lakson says they took turns interrogating the hapless LLDA general manager with questions totally unrelated to the agency's proposed 2027
02:25budget,
02:25as if it were a full-blown Senate inquiry in aid of legislation.
02:29The latest clash adds another layer to the feud between Lakson and Alan,
02:32which began in July when Lakson questioned the increase in the minority leaders' declared net worth in 2025.
02:40The Office of the Ombudsman orders the preventive suspension of DICT Undersecretary David Almirol Jr. for six months.
02:47This due to alleged conflicts of interest involving government contracts worth approximately 1.55 billion pesos.
02:55The complaints stem from a June 2025 report by the DICT Internal Audit Unit.
03:00It flagged possible conflicts of interest involving the hiring of former multisys personnel
03:04as well as the awarding of contracts to other related companies.
03:08According to the Ombudsman, the investigation reveals at least eight DICT contracts were awarded to companies with financial relationships with
03:16multisys.
03:17Rappler reported on this issue in December 2025, citing the Internal Audit Report of the DICT dated June 5, 2025.
03:25The audit report also said a conflict of interest may arise in hiring ex-multisys personnel in awarding contracts to
03:31EPLDT.
03:32Almirol's suspension comes after Henry Aguda resigned from his post as DICT Secretary on Saturday, October 10.
03:41The Banco Sentral ng Pilipinas raises its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 5.50 percent.
03:48This as fears of inflation and the weakening peso put pressure on the central bank to keep borrowing costs high.
03:54BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr. says the decision was based on forecasts that inflation will accelerate further in the coming
04:01months
04:01due to oil prices, transport fares, and the potential effects of El Niño on food prices.
04:06This comes after a jump in inflation from 6.1 percent in August to 7.2 percent in September, well
04:12above the BSP's target of 2 to 4 percent.
04:15Remolona says the numbers were worse than we thought.
04:19The Department of Foreign Affairs calls out the Chinese embassy in Manila for escalatory and undiplomatic tone and language in
04:26its social media posts.
04:28The DFA says the embassy's posts erode mutual trust and confidence and undermine the efforts to stabilize and improve bilateral
04:35relations.
04:36The department also reminds all diplomats accredited to the Philippines to exercise restraint and responsibility in their public statements.
04:43This is the DFA's second statement since Chinese ambassador to Manila Jing Chuan said on October 15,
04:49Filipinos should be grateful that Beijing doesn't use force in its disputes with Manila.
04:54Several legislators filed resolutions urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or the DFA to declare Jing persona non grata or have
05:02him recalled as envoy.
05:05And that's today's wrap, I'm JC Gotinga, thank you for watching, click the link below for the full story.
05:10For more updates, download the Rappler app.
