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How’s the day going, Rappler readers?
We’ve got a lot of big news in the past 24 hours. One major bombshell was the sacking of Interior Secretary Ismael “Mike” Sueno during the Cabinet meeting Monday evening, April 3, after allegations of corruption surfaced. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Philippine government and communist rebel negotiators sat down once again to resume peace talks.
Across the Pacific, a small Colombian town is still reeling from a massive mudslide, which has so far taken more than 260 lives. And in Russia, 11 people are killed in explosions at the Saint Petersburg metro.
These stories, and more, are in today’s wRap.
President Rodrigo Duterte fired Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno on Monday evening, April 3, due to “loss of trust and confidence,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said. Sueno’s dismissal came after he accused 3 of his undersecretaries – John Castriciones, Jesus Hinlo, and Emily Padilla – of being behind a letter that reached the President containing allegations he was enriching himself in office.
Eleven people were killed and dozens more injured as an explosion rocked the Saint Petersburg metro Monday, April 3, with the Kremlin saying it bore “all the hallmarks of an attack.” Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was probing an “act of terror” but added it would look into all other possible causes of the blast.
Talks to end Asia’s longest running communist insurgency re-opened in Noordwijk, The Netherlands on Monday, April 3, two months after President Rodrigo Duterte scrapped the talks. The negotiators return to the negotiating table amid pressure to forge a joint ceasefire agreement, one of the demands that Duterte set as precondition to the resumption of talks.
Rescuers clawed through mud and timber Monday, April 3, searching for survivors of a mudslide in southern Colombia that killed 262 people, including 43 children, and left relatives desperately seeking loved ones. The National Disaster Risk Management Unit raised the death toll to 262 on Monday. Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos earlier said that at least 43 children were among the dead. The Red Cross counted a further 262 people injured and 220 missing.
US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick won approval Monday, April 3, from a Senate panel, but a historic showdown loomed as Democrats secured enough votes to block the nomination. The growing opposition to Neil Gorsuch by Democrats means Republicans are likely to ram through a deeply controversial change to Senate rules in order to ensure his confirmation as the next Supreme Court justice.
There could be more resignations within the Bureau of Immigration (BI) if the government does not address the salary woes of the bureau’s workers. This comes after Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said that 32 immigration personnel have resigned since President Rodrigo Duterte slashed BI’s budget. Apart from resignations, BI workers have also filed mass leaves of absences and skipped workdays at the airport.
The presence of children as young as 4 years old did not stop President Rodrigo Duterte from issuing forceful threats of death to criminals and drug addicts on Monday, April 3, during a Boy Scouts of the Philippines event at the Palace. Despite this, Duterte apparently made an effort to modify his speech to somewhat fit his audience. Not once did he curse.
Fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corporation will finally set foot in Europe soon as it plans to open its first store in Italy. Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that its wholly owned unit Golden Plate Private Limited has formed a 75:25 joint venture partnership with Blackbird Holdings Private Limited to own and operate the first Jollibee store in Italy.
Top photo: White-collar workers enjoy their lunch break underneath cherry blossom trees at a park in Tokyo on April 3, 2017. Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP
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