1. NBI CHIEF’S RESIGNATION SLOWS DOWN NAPOLES PROBE FOR PLUNDER
The filing of plunder charges against businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles will be delayed because state investigators have been demoralized by the resignation of National Bureau of Investigation director Nonnatus Rojas, the Department of Justice said. Rojas resigned Monday over comments by President Benigno Aquino III that NBI personnel may have tipped Napoles off about a warrant for her arrest issued by a Makati court. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has said Rojas still has the administration’s trust although some of his deputies have “trust and integrity issues.”
2. CONGRESSMEN WORRIED OVER AGREEMENT TO BRING IN MORE U.S. TROOPS
ACT Teachers’ party-list Representative Antonio Tinio says an agreement to increase the number of U.S. troops in the Philippines could lead to the country being used as a “launching pad” against China. Pio Batino, undersecretary for legal and legislative affairs at the Department of National Defense said at a budget hearing that the agreement will not specify how many American troops can come over nor how long they can stay. Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello meanwhile said the DND should make sure nuclear weapons are kept out of the country.
3. PH MAY SEE MORE ILLEGAL DRUGS COMING IN AS SYNDICATES SEEK NEW MARKETS
The Philippines may see more illegal drugs coming in as drug syndicates look for new markets, an American anti-narcotics expert said. According to Ambassador William Brownfield of the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, syndicates will likely go to Europe and East Asia after successful U.S. government operations that have reduced the demand for cocaine and methampethamine by half. The Philippines could increasingly become a hub for the drug trade into East Asia, he said. “I am sorry to say this but I fear the problem is going to get worse before it gets better.“
4. VETERANS’ MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER READY TO HOLD NAPOLES TOO
Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, where Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is under hospital arrest, is ready to accept businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles too if the court orders it, the hospital’s director said Tuesday. Speaking before a House budget hearing, VMMC director Nona Legaspi said a Makati court can order Napoles, who is currently in Fort Santo Domingo in Sta.Rosa, Laguna, transferred. This, after Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez complained the detention of high-profile suspects in his province is degrading. “We had the former President and now the Mayor of Manila Joseph Estrada, and his son Jinggoy Estrada and Senator Gringo Honasan as previous tenants. There was also Nur Misuari, and now we have Janet Lim-Napoles,” he said.
5. TAX BUREAU TO REQUIRE DOCTORS, LAWYERS TO POST THEIR RATES
The Bureau of Internal Revenue will soon require lawyers, doctors, and other professionals to post their rates in their offices and clinics. According to BIR commissioner Kim Henares, this will help patients and clients choose where to go because some of them charge different rates. It will also help the BIR meet revenue targets. Only 22 percent of professionals filed their income tax returns in 2012 and some professionals have been criticized for misdeclaring their incomes.
