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Hello Rappler readers,
President Rodrigo Duterte is now facing his first impeachment complaint, filed by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano at the House of Representatives on Thursday, March 16.
This comes after key House members were removed from their committee posts by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, for voting against the death penalty bill. The move came days after the ruling coalition in the Senate ousted the opposition Liberal Party from leadership posts.
Meanwhile, President Duterte’s fiercest critic, detained Senator Leila de Lima, won some backing from European lawmakers who on Thursday are expected to vote on a draft resolution calling for her immediate release.
Also in Europe, The Netherlands voted against the wave of populism sweeping other countries as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte appeared to have easily defeated a strong challenge by far-right rival Geert Wilders.
A federal judge in Hawaii, meanwhile, halted President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.
Below are the big stories you shouldn’t miss.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was slapped with an impeachment complaint filed by Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano, accusing Duterte of culpable violation of the Constituton, engaging in bribery, betraying public trust, committing graft and corruption, and other high crimes.
The complaint cites the President’s alleged involvement in the creation of the Davao Death Squad when he was mayor; his war on drugs since he became president, which has led to the alleged summary killing of thousands of Filipinos; and his supposed unexplained wealth in the form of bank deposits and undeclared properties, among others.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez stripped 12 lawmakers, including former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, of their leadership titles. The 12 did not vote in favor of the controversial death penalty bill.
A federal judge in Hawaii halted President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban hours before it was due to take effect, court documents showed.
US District Judge Derrick Watson ruled that the state of Hawaii, in its legal challenge to Trump’s executive order, had established a strong likelihood that the ban would cause “irreparable injury” if it were to go ahead.
The US Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate a quarter point, amid rising inflation. This is the second increase since President Donald Trump’s election and only the third in a decade.
European lawmakers proposed a draft resolution calling for the “immediate release” of Philippine Senator Leila de Lima, who is detained on drug charges filed by the Duterte administration. The European Parliament is scheduled to discuss and vote on De Lima’s case on Thursday, March 16.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte appeared to have easily defeated a strong challenge by far-right rival Geert Wilders. Following last year’s shock Brexit referendum and Donald Trump’s victory in the US, the Dutch vote was being closely scrutinized as a gauge of the rise of populism on the continent ahead of crucial elections in France and Germany. The Netherlands “said ‘stop’ to the wrong kind of populism,” Rutte told cheering supporters.
Cash remittances coursed through banks by overseas Filipinos hit $2.169 billion in January, based on preliminary data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
January’s figure is 8.6% higher than the $1.997 billion seen in January 2016, although it is down from the $2.559 billion in December 2016.
The US Justice Department announced two agents of Russia’s FSB spy agency and two “criminal hackers” were indicted over a cyberattack affecting 500 million Yahoo users.
The officers, Dmitry Dokuchaev and Igor Sushchin, “protected, directed, facilitated and paid criminal hackers to collect information through computer intrusions in the United States and elsewhere,” acting assistant attorney general Mary McCord explained.
In the first extrajudicial killing case with the Ombudsman, a family from Caloocan City filed administrative and murder complaints against a police official and his men for their alleged involvement in the killing of a father and son suspected of being drug dealers. The police official is a Duterte – though it’s not clear if he’s related to the Philippine president.
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