Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
- Leila de Lima cleared of all drug charges
- New opposition? Romualdez wants to hear Sara declare it herself
- NPC removes Mayor Alice Guo from party
- ‘Not a misunderstanding’: PH changes tune on China’s Ayungin harassment
- Taiwan president says autocracy is 'evil' after China threatens death for separatism
- Prosecutors indict tanod who ‘killed’ golden retriever Killua
https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/june-24-2024/
- Leila de Lima cleared of all drug charges
- New opposition? Romualdez wants to hear Sara declare it herself
- NPC removes Mayor Alice Guo from party
- ‘Not a misunderstanding’: PH changes tune on China’s Ayungin harassment
- Taiwan president says autocracy is 'evil' after China threatens death for separatism
- Prosecutors indict tanod who ‘killed’ golden retriever Killua
https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/june-24-2024/
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today on Rappler
00:13Former Senator Laila de Lima is cleared of her third and final drug case.
00:17House Speaker Romualdez says he'll believe it when Vice President Sara Duterte declares
00:21herself as the leader of the new opposition.
00:24The Nationalist People's Coalition political party removes Bamban Mayor Alice Guwo as
00:29a member.
00:30The Philippines backtracks, says China's Ayungin harassment is not a misunderstanding
00:35but an aggressive use of force.
00:37Taiwanese President Lai says democracy is not a crime and autocracy is the real evil.
00:43And prosecutors file a criminal case against the Barangay Tanod who allegedly killed Golden
00:48Retriever Kilua.
00:51Former Senator Laila de Lima is cleared of the third and final drug charge filed by the
00:55Duterte administration on Monday, June 24.
00:58I am now completely free and vindicated.
01:10It's very liberating.
01:12A Muntinlupa court clears de Lima after granting her demur to evidence, which is in effect
01:17a motion for an outright dismissal.
01:20She is also cleared in her two disobedience cases by a Quezon City court.
01:24De Lima was granted bail in November 2023 after almost seven years in detention.
01:29Aside from legal charges, de Lima went through a nasty public trial, with Duterte's allies
01:34in the House making misogynistic remarks as they delved into her private life.
01:41House Speaker Martin Romualdez says he respects Vice President Sara Duterte's decision to
01:45step down from her cabinet post, but he has yet to recognize assertions that she is the
01:49new face of the opposition.
01:52This after Duterte ally Harry Roca said the vice president could be the new opposition
01:56leader after her resignation on Wednesday, June 19.
01:59Romualdez says he just has to, quote, hear it from the VP.
02:03The two hit a rough patch in the lead-up to the vice president's resignation.
02:07Duterte and Romualdez last saw each other during the 2023 budget hearings, when Duterte
02:12requested for P650 million in confidential funds.
02:16In 2023, Duterte's political allies were also demoted from their senior roles at the House.
02:22In January, Duterte claimed she was on the receiving end of, quote,
02:25"...despicable treatment from within the president's circle."
02:31Nationalist People's Coalition chairman and former senator Tito Soto orders the expulsion
02:36of suspended Bamban Tarlac mayor Alice Guo.
02:39This after Tarlac Governor Susan Yap petitioned Guo's expulsion before the NPC, saying the
02:44recent Senate investigation has, quote, "...placed in great question Mayor Guo's honesty and
02:49integrity."
02:50In a letter to Yap, Soto says the political party, quote, "...does not tolerate any unlawful
02:56acts or any appearance of impropriety by its members."
02:59The ombudsman placed Guo under preventive suspension after the Department of the Interior
03:04and local government filed a graft case against her due to her links to illegal offshore gaming
03:09operations or pogos in her town.
03:13The Philippines changes its stance on China's recent harassment of Filipino troops in Ayungin
03:18Shoal and now describes it as a, quote, "...aggressive and illegal use of force."
03:23This just days after Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, chairperson of the newly-minted
03:28National Maritime Council, called the harassment a, quote, "...misunderstanding."
03:33After our visit to our troops in Palawan yesterday, we have now come to the conclusion that it
03:40was not a misunderstanding.
03:43It was an aggressive and illegal use of force.
03:46On June 17, the China Coast Guard harassed Philippine soldiers on a rotation and resupply
03:51mission to Ayungin Shoal.
03:53It towed a Philippine ship, destroyed equipment, and seized disassembled arms.
03:58A Filipino soldier lost his thumb in the attack.
04:01What the Philippines maintains the harassment is not an armed attack and not a reason to
04:05invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States.
04:11Taiwan President Lai Ching-teh says democracy is not a crime and autocracy is the real evil
04:16after China threatens to impose the death penalty in extreme cases for diehard Taiwan
04:21independence separatists.
04:23China views Taiwan as its own territory and has made no secret of its dislike of Lai,
04:28who took office in May this year, saying he is a separatist.
04:32On Friday, China ramped up its pressure on Taiwan by issuing new legal guidelines to
04:36punish those who support the island's formal independence.
04:40Chinese courts have no jurisdiction on the island.
04:43Lai rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and says only Taiwan's people can decide their
04:48future.
04:49China says any move by Taiwan to declare formal independence would be grounds to attack the
04:53island.
04:55The government in Taipei says Taiwan is already an independent country.
05:04Camarines Sur prosecutors approved the filing of a criminal case against the Barangay Tanod
05:09who allegedly killed Golden Retriever Kilua in March.
05:12Kilua's killing went viral in March and gained widespread condemnation.
05:17The prosecutors said there's probable cause in the manner of which Kilua was allegedly
05:21killed by the Tanod.
05:23In March, CCTV footage captured the moment when Tanod Anthony Solaris chased and hit
05:28Kilua with a piece of wood.
05:30Later, Kilua's owner, Vina Rachel Mary Arrazas, found her dog's lifeless body in a sack.
05:36Solaris says Kilua bit him and attacked several others, but the prosecutor says that does
05:41not justify the dog's killing.
05:43Prosecutors say the respondent should've looked for the dog's owner and reported the incident
05:47to the Barangay.
05:49A person found guilty of animal abuse faces maximum jail time of up to two years.
05:56And that's today's wrap.
05:57I'm Cara Oliver.
05:58Thank you for watching.
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