NATIONWIDE ROUND-UP
Duterte chides UN for meddling
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday said anyone found to have “acted beyond bounds” in his campaign against illegal drugs would be held accountable, while appearing to brush off an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation.
In a video address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the tough-talking leader said he had ordered a review of the conduct of the campaign, and the Justice department was looking at the files of drug dealers.
Mr. Duterte’s speech to the UN General Assembly comes just days after the ICC allowed an investigation into alleged “crimes against humanity” in connection with his war on drugs that has killed thousands.
He said his government was working with the UN Human Rights Council to look into the cases.
Mr. Duterte’s speech was “a clear directive to pursue with greater vigor the ongoing review of drug death cases and to commence legal actions if found warranted,” Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra told reporters in a Viber group message on Wednesday.
He said they had submitted two reports to Mr. Duterte, adding that it would first discuss these with police before releasing these to the public. “We’re not doing things in secret.”
Bill extending voter registration OK’d
THE SENATE on Wednesday passed on second reading a bill that seeks to extend voter registration for the 2022 elections until Oct. 31 amid a coronavirus pandemic.
Senators approved Senate Bill 2408 after the Commission on Elections rejected a call to extend the registration period.
About 12 million voters have yet to register, Senator Francis “Kiko” N. Pangilinan has said, citing the Commission on Elections and the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Meanwhile, Speaker Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco, Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, and Party-list Rep.
Joseph Stephen S. Paduano on Tuesday filed a similar bill to “avoid massive voter disenfranchisement.”
“We are living under extraordinary circumstances,” according to a copy of the bill’s explanatory note. “The public health crisis has been prolonged and many prospective voters have been forced to delay their registration this year and in 2020.”
Both chambers earlier adopted separate resolutions urging the election body to extend the registration period. Unlike a bill, a resolution does not have the force of law once approved. — Alyssa Nicole O. Tan and Russell Louis C. Ku