Published April 9, 2021, 1:46 PM
The Senate employees’ union is considering asking the courts or the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for legal assistance after the chief of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) linked the organization to leftist groups.
Officials of the Sandigan ng mga Empleyadong Nagkakaisa sa Adhikain ng Demokratikong Organisasyon (SENADO) disclosed such plans during a virtual press conference on Friday, April 9, as they reiterated their concerns on the government agency’s red-tagging activities on their group.
“We are already discussing our next steps after the malicious labeling of our group,” said Rosel Eugenio, SENADO president.
“We have a broad venue for redress. Aside from the courts, we can explore the possibility of elevating our concerns before the United Nations, and the CHR,” she further said.
By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, GMA News
Published April 9, 2021 1:00pm Senators could write an official communication to the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) about its move linking the Senate workers union to communist groups, Senator Aquilino Koko Pimentel III said Friday. In a virtual press conference, Pimentel said he would support if Senate President Vicente Sotto III will make an official communication to NICA director general Alex Monteagudo as well as to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). He expressed confidence that other senators would also support Sotto, who on Wednesday said he is now inclined to support the measure seeking to criminalize red-tagging after the Sandigan ng mga Empleyadong Nagkakaisa sa Adhikain ng Demokratikong Organisasyon (SENADO) was accused of having links with communist rebels.
Published April 9, 2021, 4:24 PM
Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Friday said he saw no reason why senators cannot write an official communication to the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), and ask questions about its move to accuse the Senate’s employees’ union of being linked to communist groups.
Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III
(Rio Leonelle Deluvio / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In a virtual press conference, Pimentel said he would support Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s move to send an official communication to NICA Director General Alex Monteagudo, as well as to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), about its red-tagging activities on the Sandigan ng mga Empleyadong Nagkakaisa sa Adhikain ng Demokratikong Organisasyon (SENADO).
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
Published April 9, 2021 3:59pm Business and civil society leaders have joined calls to allow the use of the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat patients with COVID-19. In a joint appeal, the business and civil society leaders called on President Rodrigo Duterte, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, and House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco “to give serious, urgent and immediate attention to Ivermectin as an inexpensive drug to prevent and treat COVID-19 during this public health crisis. The business and civil society leaders requested that the President direct the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Health (DOH), and the Department of Science and Technology to do the following:
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
Published April 8, 2021 12:26pm Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Thursday expressed alarm over the reduction of the tariff rates for imported pork meat to 5% to 20% from 30% to 40% for a year, which President Rodrigo Duterte allowed in a recent executive order (EO). In a message, Sotto tells reporters that local hog raisers will be utterly disappointed with the President s decision, not to mention the members of the Senate. That is bad news! The MAV (minimum access volume) could have been raised but not the lowering of tariff, he said. Under EO 128, the tariff rate for imported pork meat within quota or minimum access MAV whether fresh, chilled or frozen will be pegged at 5% for the first three months upon the EO’s effectivity and 10% for the fourth to 12 months.