SUMMARY
This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.
Dear Rappler reader,
We have a new Miss Universe – and it’s Miss France!
It was a long Sunday night as the Philippines prepared for the Miss Universe 2016 pageant and President Rodrigo Duterte announced the abolition of all anti-drug units in the Philippine National Police. On Monday morning, PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa himself said the presidential order meant a stop to all police anti-drug operations nationwide.
Also, there’s bad news for the disaster management sector as the government halted funding for Project NOAH.
Here’s the list of stories you shouldn’t miss this Monday.
Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa ordered a stop to all anti-illegal drugs operations in the PNP, several hours after President Rodrigo Duterte called for police reorganization in the wake of a scandal involving the murder of a South Korean.
Miss France Iris Mittenaere was crowned Miss Universe 2016 at the Mall of Asia Arena on Monday, January 30. The other finalists who made it to top 3 are: Colombia and Haiti. Miss Philippines Maxine Medina made it only up to top 6. Also in the top 6 are Kenya and Thailand.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday, January 29, that US President Donald Trump’s decision to ban arrivals from 7 Muslim majority countries was “a great gift to extremists”. German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed the restrictions saying it was “not justified” to target people based on their background or religion. Even British Prime Minister Theresa May, the first world leader to meet with Trump, joined a growing number of world leaders who criticized Trump’s Muslim ban. May said she does “not agree” with the restrictions and would intervene if they affected British nationals. In the Philippines, however, a spokesperson for Malacañang said the palace ‘respects’ the US immigration ban saying, ‘if they have prohibitions or they would be banning people from entering their country because that is their right.’
Canada will offer temporary residence permits to people stranded in the country as a result of US President Donald Trump’s travel ban, the immigration ministry said Sunday, January 29. Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen did not indicate how many people could be concerned by this measure, but he said that the Canadian authorities were so far unaware of anyone stranded in the country by the US order. Hussen did not condemn the US measure but stressed that Canada would continue to pursue an immigration policy based on “compassion” while at the same time protecting the security of its citizens.
In a press conference late Sunday evening, January 29, President Duterte named Superintendent Rafael Dumlao the mastermind in the abduction and murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo. Duterte initially gave Dumlao 24 hours to surrender. “If you do not come out, I will offer P5 million [for you], dead or alive,” said the President in a press conference at around 11:30 pm. As the press conference was ongoing, however, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa told Duterte that Dumlao was already back in PNP custody.
The number of cases filed by the Ombudsman against government officials went up by 267% in 2016, according to the Sandiganbayan Judicial Records Division. Based on the Sandiganbayan report, 418 cases were filed in the first half of 2016 – still under former president Benigno Aquino III – while 893 were filed from June to December 2016, mostly under the Duterte administration.
The government will scrap its flagship disaster management initiative, the Department of Science and Technology’s Project NOAH or Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards, starting March due to “lack of funds.” In an interview with dzRH on Sunday, January 29, Lagmay said the program will only run until February 28 since there are no more funds for it.
Add a comment
How does this make you feel?
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.