pogo vloggers Investigation nbi

the quad committee of the House of Representatives has requested the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to “identify, investigate and file charges” against “organized vloggers” who continue to malign and discredit their probe relating to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO).

Quad comm chairman Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers wrote to NBI Director Jaime Santiago on Nov. 25, requesting a probe of the “deliberate disinformation drive by the seemingly organized vloggers” that have been peddling lies in social media platforms.

He asked Santiago to help quad comm investigate and determine the identity of the persons or groups responsible for creating and posting “damaging and misleading vlogs.”

Specifically, he requested the NBI to “secure and preserve all digital evidence related to the vlog, including metadata, upload details and related activity logs.”

According to him, these vloggers have been “bend(ing) the truth, concoct(ing) lies and post them on YouTube, Tiktok and other social media platforms aimed to malign and discredit quad panel co-chairs and members,” like him and Representatives Benny Abante, Dan Fernandez and Stephen Joseph Paduano.

Barbers slammed the social media posts, saying they “not only damage the integrity of public service, but also foster an environment of confusion, distrust and deception of public perception.”

On behalf of the quad comm, he clarified that they welcome the “harshest criticisms” in handling their job, which is to uncover the truth.

He also recognized that criticism is part of the hazards of the trade, but they have to draw the line between “spreading lies, malicious and libelous vlogs” and mere propaganda.

“Clearly, these individuals are POGO-funded vloggers,” Barbers said.

He submitted to NBI evidence of malicious vlogs sourced from various social media platforms, including a derogatory vlog that originated from his province and was picked up by Manila-based “mercenary vloggers,” linking him and his brother, Surigao del Norte Gov. Lyndon Barbers, to illegal drugs.

Barbers said he trusts the NBI Cybercrime Division’s expertise and commitment to addressing cyber-related offenses, especially those that aim to disrupt and discredit lawful and transparent public processes.

NSC to Palawan fishermen: Go fish in West Philippine Sea

 The National Security Council (NSC) urged fishermen in Palawan to go beyond the municipal waters and fish in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), saying it is the right of every Filipino to utilize all the natural resources in that part of the country.

NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya assured the northern Palawan fishermen of government support during the Northern Palawan Fisherman’s Congress on Thursday in Coron, Palawan.

“The newly enacted Philippine Maritime Zones Act, UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Ruling have clearly established our legal rights in the West Philippine Sea, so I urge you to go and continue fishing in the WPS and we are here to support you,” Malaya told some 170 northern Palawan fisherfolk.

The Northern Palawan Fishermen’s Congress gathered around 170 fisherfolk from the towns of Coron, Culion, Linapacan and Busuanga, along with representatives from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units.

Malaya also told the fishermen that there is no Philippine government-imposed moratorium on fishing because of guidelines imposed by the China Coast Guard.

“There is no government-imposed moratorium on fishing anywhere in the West Philippine Sea. There are BFAR-imposed closed fishing seasons in our archipelagic waters to allow the fish to recover but none in the West Philippine Sea,” Malaya said.

He asserted that Beijing “has no legal authority to impose any moratorium or legal regulation of activities of Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea.”

“Only the Philippine government can impose that (regulation). And I’m here to tell you that you are free to fish anywhere in the WPS,” he added.

With the theme “Kaunlaran at Kapayapaan sa Kanlurang Dagat ng Pilipinas,” the event underscored the crucial role of fisherfolk in safeguarding marine resources, advancing food security and fostering maritime peace.

One of the highlights of the congress was the regional launch of BFAR’s LAYAG-West PH Sea Program, an initiative aimed at empowering fishing communities through modern technologies, livelihood support and sustainable fishing practices.

The Tagbanua fisherfolk of Barangay Lajala in Coron received fiberglass boats with engines and accessories, while select Palawan LGUs were given fishing inputs, such as nets and payaws or fish aggregating devices from BFAR.

BFAR spokesman Nazario Briguera shared the agency’s vision for empowering fisherfolk.

“Today, we have strengthened the unity and support for our fisherfolk, who are the true caretakers of our natural resources, the foundation of our economy and the provider of food security,” he said.

Philippine Navy Capt. Arnel Teodoro, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Malampaya, also urged the fisherfolk to fish in the WPS, underscoring the pivotal role of fisherfolk in protecting the nation’s maritime domain and reiterating their frontline role in defending marine resources in the WPS.

Malaya emphasized the critical link between maritime security and food security.

“The reason for this fishermen’s Congress is to emphasize that our national security is not separate from maritime security. Having maritime security is connected to our aim that we can have food security. That is why maritime security is also food security,” he explained.

The NSC said the congress, following the first held in Subic, Zambales in September 2024, reaffirmed the NSC’s commitment to collaborating with coastal communities in strengthening maritime security and sustainable fishing practices.

It emphasized the shared responsibility of protecting marine resources and ensuring the resilience of communities facing challenges in the WPS.

EDCA in Surigao

A senior lawmaker from Mindanao yesterday renewed his call last March for the government to designate an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) naval site in Surigao del Norte, especially in light of repeated Chinese incursions.

“These continued Chinese vessel intrusions in our eastern seaboard is one of the reasons why I’m asking the government, particularly the Department of National Defense, to put up a naval site in our province,” Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers proposed.

He pointed out that the country’s eastern seaboard, where the mineral-rich Benham Rise or Philippine Rise is located, should be protected from potential intruders, just like the WPS where China has been making repeated incursions.

In a statement, Barbers explained that his district “sits directly in the country’s eastern waters and the Pacific Ocean, facing continuing threats from drug smugglers, spy vessels and other foreign intruders.”

“The province’s distinct advantage to have an EDCA naval site is that it is openly facing the Pacific Ocean and had an outlet to the West Philippine Sea and ships can traverse the country from east to west and vice-versa without the need to circle around,” he said.

He also assailed Beijing’s continuing disrespect to the country’s sovereignty by intruding inside the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The Chinese government, according to him, has been “deploying without permission three research or probably spy vessels near Siargao Island and Davao Oriental last month.”

The Mindanao legislator also revealed he was receiving reports from the Philippine Coast Guard, where three Chinese vessels travelling together “could be documenting tides, seabed and other strategic data in said area.”

On Saturday at about 7:40 a.m., the PCG and the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea monitored the Xiang Yang Hong 3, Jia Geng and Xiang Yang Hong 10  at about 211 nautical miles east of Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte.

The three Chinese vessels entered the country’s EEZ on Nov. 20 near Siargao Island and Davao Oriental. On Nov. 17, they were spotted 257 nautical miles near Sta. Ana, Cagayan.

“Through their vessels, we firmly believe that there is more than meets the eye with regard to these ships which traveled simultaneously in a very specific area, which they did to our province. And they didn’t seek clearance from us in entering our EEZ,” Barbers said.

Barbers, together with his brother Surigao del Norte Gov. Lyndon Barbers, earlier invited Filipino and American military officials to check out their province as a possible next EDCA naval site following the building of a similar naval facility in Casiguran, Aurora to protect the Philippine Rise.

“While the Defense Department under Secretary Gibo Teodoro considers the Casiguran EDCA site to be playing an important role in guarding the country’s eastern seaboard, I think it’s not sufficient enough,” he said.

“We need another EDCA naval site in Surigao del Norte to cover and protect the vast eastern seaboard from drug smugglers and foreign intruders,” Barbers added.

There are currently five EDCA sites in the country: Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro.

12 days left to register bets’ online campaign platforms

Candidates and political parties participating in next year’s midterm elections have only 12 days left to register their online campaign platforms with the Commission on Elections.

The Comelec reminded politicians and political parties to comply with registration requirements to avoid the possibility of their online campaign platforms being taken down.

The poll body is requiring candidates and political parties to register all their social media accounts in an effort to prevent disinformation and fake news during the campaign.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the Dec. 13 deadline for registration of social media accounts would no longer be extended.

The Comelec is also set to kick off today the campaign for voter education and demonstration on the use of automated counting machines (ACMs).

The roadshow will run until Jan. 30, 2025.

The voter education campaign is part of the Comelec’s preparation for next year’s polls and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections.

In a radio interview yesterday, Garcia said the Comelec would continue preparing for the first BARMM parliamentary elections until a law postponing the scheduled polls is passed by both houses of Congress.

“As far as the Comelec is concerned, our preparation for the BARMM elections pushes through,” he said.

‘ICC prosecutor preparing for drug war trial’

  A lawyer representing some of the victims of the Duterte administration’s war against illegal drugs believes that the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is now preparing for trial of those who allegedly committed crimes against humanity.

“For me, it is highly possible that they’ve finished the investigation and are now preparing for trial,” former Bayan Muna representative Neri Colmenares, who is also with the National Union of People’s
 Lawyers (NUPL), told The STAR late Saturday.

He was reacting to the ICC prosecutor’s decision to open an online portal that would allow witnesses to directly submit information about the drug war.

The move, he said, does not mean that the prosecutor lacks evidence to pursue a case.

“The previous part of investigation is documentary and interviews. Now they’re asking those who have sent their sworn statements or allowed themselves to be interviewed if they want to become a witness,” he said.

“Additionally, they’re probably encouraging those from the police ranks to testify as witnesses. In any case, whatever the reason, the fact is that they have entered a new phase in the process of holding Duterte accountable for his crimes against humanity,” added Colmenares.

Earlier, another lawyer from NUPL — ICC assistant to counsel Kristina Conti — said the ICC’s witness appeal will allow anybody who has credible information on the matter to directly submit it to the international tribunal.

She said information “transmitted will be kept confidential, but with consent can be brought up during trial.”

The information may be submitted to appeals.icc-cpi.int.

A dropdown menu on the platform classifies possible witnesses, including former and current law enforcement officers, government officials and a victim or eyewitness of a crime related to the drug war.

It specifically identified agencies such as the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Bureau of Investigation.

The ICC said information shared on the platform will be reviewed and that they will contact those whom they have additional questions to ask.

“We will review every submission, but cannot respond to everyone. In all cases, we thank you for your submission,” it added.

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Anne Curtis suggests Regine Velasquez, Vice Ganda as next Filipino Madame Tussauds statues

 Host-actress Anne Curtis names the celebrities who she believes can follow her as the next Filipinos to get their wax figures made by Madame Tussauds.

Anne is the fifth FIlipino with a Madame Tussauds statue after Manny Pacquiao, Pia Wurtzbach, Catriona Gray, and Lea Salonga, the latter unveiled earlier this year and housed in Madame Tussauds' Singapore branch.

The rest are found in the attraction's Hong Kong branch, where Anne's will also be starting December 9, and in an exclusive interview with , Anne shared her suggestions who should be next.

"I would say we have Regine Velasquez, Sarah Geronimo, of course, my sis, Vice Ganda," Anne said, adding her fellow "It's Showtime" host would be amazing representation for the LGBTQIA community.

In terms of fellow actors, Anne suggested Coco Martin given his title as "the longest-running action star on television" and Kathryn Bernardo, who has ties to Hong Kong as her blockbuster film, "Hello, Love, Goodbye," was shot there.

Other names Anne mentioned were the Nation's Girl Group BINI and two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, "Ang daming possibilities depending on what genre."

In a separate interview with , Madame Tussauds Hong Kong's Sales and Marketing head BoBo Yu agreed that Vice, Sarah, Regine, and Carlos are all viable names to be the next Filipinos who can have their own wax figures in the famous museum.

"Yesterday, I asked Anne as well and a lot of Filipinos who they want to see and there is a huge list of names," BoBo added

Sara: 2022 presidency was mine already, but…

   As lawmakers blamed her “mistimed” ambitions for the presidency as the cause of her problems, Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday said she could have been the president today had she not prioritized “other things.”

“First of all, the presidency of 2022 was mine already. I won the surveys, all the people were solidly united for my (presidential) candidacy, but I gave it away because I had to do some other things other than being president of the Republic of the Philippines,” Duterte told reporters in a chance interview at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).

She was commenting on House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun’s remarks that she herself was responsible for the problems she is facing now.

During a press conference last week, Khonghun said the conflict between the two most powerful political families in the country was a result of Duterte’s ambitions to be president and her father former president Rodrigo Duterte’s insistence on putting her in the country’s highest office “this early.”

“All these chaos began when our Vice President aspired to be president too early, when her father aspired for her to be president immediately. Had there been no one who preemptively launched ambitions to be president, all would be quiet. We all know what caused everything happening now,” Khonghun added.

The Vice President scored lawmakers who were blaming her for the conflict, saying she was not the one who opened legislative inquiries to “politically persecute and harass” personnel of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“So, don’t they dare gaslight me into saying I’m the reason for all these chaos. These all started from their terrorism, harassment and threats against OVP personnel,” she said.

Asked about President Marcos’ plea to lawmakers to delay impeachment proceedings against her as it was “not important,” Duterte said she would no longer be commenting on statements by the President for a while.

Since 2023, lawmakers have been scrutinizing the OVP’s use of confidential funds, which has since triggered the soured relations between the Duterte and Marcos families.

The series of tense verbal exchanges between the two families led to the Vice President’s midyear resignation from the Cabinet as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

After her resignation, Duterte has been speaking against the Marcos family, particularly against the President, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez – the subjects of her recent expletive-laden press conference that has since brought her under Investigation for grave threats and violating the anti-terrorism law.

Last week, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) issued a subpoena directing her to appear at its office last Friday to explain her side amid its investigation on grave threats and violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act over her remarks about having Marcos killed if she gets killed.

Despite the cancellation of the House of Representatives inquiry last Friday, the Vice President asked the agency to reschedule the meeting due to appointment conflicts, but said over the weekend that she was still uncertain whether her schedule would align with the NBI’s new date, Dec. 11.

“I’ll have to run my schedule day-by-day because it changes every day due to unforeseen circumstances, and I can’t plan ahead. So I can’t answer if I could appear on Dec. 11. And I’d need to wait for my lawyers’ instructions. Whatever they say, I will follow,” Duterte said, adding that the OVP would be dealing with yearend activities, including budget planning for next year.

Only herself to blame

For an administration lawmaker, Duterte has no one else to blame but herself for all her legal problems because of her vow to have Marcos killed that would logically make her take over the reins of government.

“Let’s make this very simple: when the President is killed, who will take over?” Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong asked, noting that Duterte – being the second highest elected official of the country – is the constitutional successor of the President, pursuant to the 1987 Constitution.

“It doesn’t take a scientist to make sense out of the grumblings Duterte has been making for the past week,” Adiong stressed, in reference to the Vice President’s Nov. 22 meltdown, where she unilaterally locked herself up inside House premises.

“A threat is a threat no matter what, even if it’s perceived to be conditional. The intent is there, the plan to kill the President was made in public. And she uttered ‘no joke’ not once, but twice. What can be clearer than that? Filipinos are not stupid,” Adiong pointed out.

As far as one of the leaders of the House’s “Young Guns” group is concerned, Duterte’s “problems started with herself” when she refused to leave the House premises when she visited her detained chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez.

Lopez, who was hospitalized, was released last Saturday evening after serving a 10-day contempt detention.

Duterte has been defying invitations from the House for her to explain the P612.5-million confidential funds in 2022 and 2023 of the OVP and DepEd, the latter of which  she headed from July 2022 until last July.

She specifically refused to attend hearings of the House committee on good government and public accountability, saying she has her hands full, but all of a sudden went to the House before midnight of Nov. 22 to visit Lopez, and insisted on spending the night there.

When members of the panel, headed by Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Duterte unleashed her ire, vowing to have the First Couple and the Speaker killed, according to Adiong.

Nevertheless, Adiong noticed that Marcos’ personality and that of Duterte’s are world’s apart, as the Chief Executive had shown “selflessness” in doing away with having the latter impeached for the kill threat, among many others.

Adiong said there was a “striking difference” between Marcos and Duterte’s “self-styled political drama.”

“The President is laser-focused on addressing the most pressing issues of the nation. There is a striking contrast between the character of the President, who is looking out for the welfare of the Filipino people and putting the interest of the country first, and the VP, who seems to evade accountability by threatening the security of the highest officials of government,” Adiong reiterated, even as Duterte has been taunting the government to impeach her, with repeated threats to Marcos, the First Lady and the Speaker. – jose atanacio jmnebs news