Latest news with #RodrigoDuterte
GMA Network
16 hours ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
Dad Rodrigo Duterte in good condition under ICC custody, says Baste
Former President Rodrigo Duterte is currently in good condition while remaining under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention facility in The Hague, Netherlands, acting Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte said Tuesday. The younger Duterte said his 80-year-old father is in sound mind but has since gotten thinner due to loss of appetite. "Any other person that would be in detention would be depressed and you would have trouble eating because you won't want to eat. You would lose your appetite," the acting mayor said. "But cognitively, he's okay, but he's not a young person, he's old. He is ok physically but he has lost weight because, as how I see it, he hasn't been eating properly due to lack of appetite," he said. The younger Duterte also said he is set to fly to The Netherlands to visit the ex-Philippine leader in detention. "What's being done to him now is very unjust. But, it's ok. He is still our mayor," he said. "I am the acting mayor. He has been mayor here for several years already. Let's just follow his direction as we have done so in the past. That's what being a Davaoeño is," he added. Duterte was arrested in the Philippines by local authorities on March 11 based on a warrant issued by the ICC. He is currently detained at the Scheveningen Prison in The Hague on crimes against humanity charges in connection with the killings under his war on drugs when he was mayor of Davao City and when he was president of the Philippines. Earlier this month, his defense team has asked the Appeals Chamber of the ICC to disqualify Prosecutor Karim Khan from the case on the ground that he "failed to disclose a grievous conflict of interest." Government records showed that there were over 6,000 drug suspects killed in police operations during the previous administration's drug war. Human rights organizations, however, said that the death toll may have reached 30,000 due to unreported incidents. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
2 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
DOF working on General Tax Amnesty
The Department of Finance (DOF) is now looking into the possibility of implementing a General Tax Amnesty program, and another measure to curb e-gambling through preventing government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) from investing in online gaming firms. According to Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, the DOF is now working on drafting a bill for the possible General Tax Amnesty, with a similar measure vetoed by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019 for being 'overgenerous and unregulated.' 'While no new tax proposals are on the table, refined measures—such as the Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime—are awaiting enactment, we are also studying the possibility of enacting General Tax Amnesty and Online Gambling Tax laws,' he said in a speech during the EJAP Economic Forum 2025. 'It's not gonna be the same bill as passed by Congress then that was vetoed. Ito, just general tax amnesty, simple — simple Amnesty Bill lang 'to,' he told reporters in Manila. Sought for the timeline, Recto said the measure could be passed this year, but it will still have to undergo consultations with the Office of the President, and other Cabinet Secretaries. 'We'll have to have it approved with the President and with the Cabinet,' Recto said, adding that he bill is expected to be pushed within 2025. To recall, former President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019 rejected the general tax amnesty for all unpaid internal revenue taxes including income tax, withholding tax, capital gains tax, donor's tax, value added tax, documentary stamp tax, and other percentage taxes and excise taxes collected both by the Bureaus of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Customs (BOC) for taxable year 2017 and prior years. Recto said the measure could also possibly include provisions on the estate tax amnesty, given appeals to have this extended. Under Republic Act 11956, which amended the original Estate Tax Amnesty law, heirs of those who died on or before May 31, 2022 were allowed to pay a flat 6% estate tax rate without surcharges, penalties, or interest. This program expired on June 14, 2025. Online gambling Meanwhile, Recto said the DOF is also working with other agencies for a whole-of-government approach to address online gambling, which the Department of Health (DOH) flagged as a 'public health concern.' According to Recto, government employees should also be banned from online gambling, as they are in brick and mortar casinos. 'Dapat lang (It should be), and the reason for that is simple — when you enter a brick and mortar casino, bawal 'pag below 21, bawal pagka government employees (prohibited if below 21 and if one is a government employee) … Similar, I think we should do that for online gambling,' he said. Recto said GOCCs should also be prevented from investing in online gambling firms, as seen when the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) was reported to have invested P1 billion into online gambling platform DigiPlus. 'We'll look into it. I agree. Ang Maharlika hindi magiinvest doon (Maharlika won't invest there),' he said, referring to the country's sovereign wealth fund Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF). Recto earlier said the government is looking to increase revenues from the industry, with the possibility of charging firms up to 45% of their gross gaming revenues (GGR), from the current 25%. A number of lawmakers have pushed for a ban given worries that addiction is soaring, with more gamblers drawn to online, even accelerated further by advertisements on social media and e-wallet platforms. Several lawmakers have also proposed stricter regulations for online gambling, as they said a total ban would only lead to the public heading to illegal operations. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
New York Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Philippine Senate Shelves Impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte
Vice President Sara Duterte of the Philippines moved one step closer to defeating the impeachment case against her on Wednesday, after the Senate voted to put on hold a trial that could have led to her removal. The Senate voted 19-4 to archive the impeachment complaint against Ms. Duterte, which had been approved by the lower house. Though the Senate can still hold a trial later, the possibility is diminishing. Last month the Supreme Court found the impeachment proceedings were unconstitutional, which influenced the Senate vote. In a statement last week, Ms. Duterte called the charges an abuse by the House. It was the latest sign that Ms. Duterte, who was impeached in February, and her party, once led by her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is emerging from this political storm stronger than most experts expected. In May elections, candidates endorsed by the Dutertes won more seats in both chambers of Congress. That was a show of strength for Ms. Duterte, who has made no secret of her intention to succeed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., her former ally. In the Philippines, as in the United States, the Senate tries and convicts an official impeached by the House of Representatives. The House voted in February to impeach Ms. Duterte and accused her of misusing public funds and making threats to assassinate Mr. Marcos, his wife, and Speaker Martin Romualdez of the House. Ms. Duterte and Mr. Marcos, also the child of a former president, ran on the same ticket in 2022, winning in a landslide on the combined popularity of their two families. Their alliance quickly crumbled as the House, where allies of Mr. Marcos hold a slim majority, opened probes into the vice president's budget. The feud reached a peak in March, when the Marcos administration arrested Mr. Duterte and handed him over to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity for thousands of deaths during his war on drugs. Mr. Duterte is in prison awaiting trial at The Hague. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Russia Today
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
ICC has no authority to probe ex-Philippines president – Duterte's daughter
Sara Duterte, the daughter of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, has condemned the International Criminal Court (ICC) for keeping her father in prison, saying it has no authority to investigate his alleged crimes. Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in March 2025, six years after the Philippines withdrew from the ICC, and was extradited to the Netherlands on charges of crimes against humanity linked to his anti-drug campaign, which some claim led to extrajudicial killings. He remains in detention in The Hague, denying the allegations and calling his arrest unlawful. 'They started investigating more than a year after we had withdrawn from the ICC,' Sara Duterte said at a rally of Philippines expats in Seoul, South Korea on Sunday. 'That means they shouldn't have investigated at all, there's only limited time during which they can act.' She argued that the ICC had no right to intervene beyond one year after withdrawal. 'Otherwise, what's to stop them from investigating cases a hundred years later? That's not acceptable. That's why the lawyers are asking for the case to be dismissed – because the court no longer has jurisdiction.' The ICC insists it has jurisdiction, saying the alleged crimes occurred while the Philippines was a member from 2011 to 2019, and has set the trial for September 23. Despite her criticism of the court, Duterte said her father would not flee or interfere with the investigation if released. 'He won't run. He's 80 years old and ill. If the ICC looks for him, they know where to find him. He'll just be in Davao City,' referring to Duterte's home city, where he was reelected mayor this spring while still in ICC detention. Critics have accused the ICC of neo-colonial bias for primarily prosecuting individuals from the Global South while not holding Western leaders accountable. The vast majority of criminal cases involve individuals from Africa. Sara Duterte, now the Philippines vice president, is facing impeachment on charges ranging from misuse of public funds to plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Arab News
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Confronted by crises, Philippine president delivers state of the nation speech
MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is delivering his state of the nation speech while confronting diverse crises midway through his six-year term, including recent deadly storms with more than 120,000 people encamped in emergency shelters, turbulent ties with the vice president and escalating territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea. About 22,000 policemen were deployed Monday to secure the House of Representatives complex in suburban Quezon city in the capital region before Marcos' address to both chambers of Congress, top government and military officials and diplomats. Thousands of protesters staged rallies to highlight a wide range of demands from higher wages due to high inflation to the immediate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over a raft of alleged crimes. Marcos' rise to power in mid-2022, more than three decades after an army-backed 'People Power' revolt overthrew his father from office and into global infamy, was one of the most dramatic political comebacks. But he inherited a wide range of problems, including an economy that was one of the worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, which worsened poverty, unemployment, inflation and hunger. His whirlwind political alliance with Duterte rapidly floundered and she and her family, including her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, became her harshest critics. The former president was arrested in March in a chaotic scene at Manila's international airport and flown to be detained by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands for an alleged crime against humanity over his deadly anti-drugs crackdowns while still in power. Sara Duterte became the first vice president of the Philippines to be impeached in February by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Marcos' allies, over a range of criminal allegations including largescale corruption and publicly threatening to have the president, his wife and Romualdez killed by an assassin if she herself were killed during her disputes with them. The Supreme Court ruled Friday that the impeachment case was unconstitutional due to a key procedural technicality, hampering Duterte's expected trial in the Senate, which has convened as an impeachment tribunal. House legislators said they were planning to appeal the decision. Unlike his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, who nurtured cozy ties with China and Russia, Marcos broadened his country's treaty alliance with the United States and started to deepen security alliances with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada France and other Western governments to strengthen deterrence against increasingly aggressive actions by China in the disputed South Chin Sea. That stance has strained relations between Manila and Beijing. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the Marcos administration would continue to shift the military's role from battling a weakening communist insurgency to focusing on external defense, specially in the disputed South China Sea, a vital global trade route where confrontations between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces have intensified in recent years. 'The president's statements were, we would be unyielding and resistant to Chinese aggression in the West Philippines Sea,' Teodoro said in an interview by the ABS-CBN TV network, using the Philippine name for the stretch of disputed waters off the western Philippine coast. 'We've been gearing up toward that mission.' Last week, US President Donald Trump hosted Marcos in the White House for talks on tariffs, trade and further boosting their countries' treaty alliance. After returning to Manila, Marcos traveled to an evacuation center outside Manila to help distribute food and other aid to villagers displaced by back-to-back storms and days of monsoon downpours that have flooded vast stretches of the main northern Luzon region, including Manila. More than 6 million people were affected by the onslaught, which left more than 30 others dead, mostly due to drownings, landslides and falling trees.
