Here are today's headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
- 'Garma, Leonardo ordered me to kill a PCSO exec' – anti-drug cop
- Filipino owners of Bamban POGO offer to be state witnesses
- Meralco's 25-year franchise renewal passed on 2nd reading amid overpricing concerns
- Russian resort owner faces complaints for defacing riverbed in Negros Occidental
- PBA player John Amores, brother charged with attempted homicide, freed on bail
https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/september-27-2024/
- 'Garma, Leonardo ordered me to kill a PCSO exec' – anti-drug cop
- Filipino owners of Bamban POGO offer to be state witnesses
- Meralco's 25-year franchise renewal passed on 2nd reading amid overpricing concerns
- Russian resort owner faces complaints for defacing riverbed in Negros Occidental
- PBA player John Amores, brother charged with attempted homicide, freed on bail
https://www.rappler.com/video/daily-wrap/september-27-2024/
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NewsTranscript
00:00Today on Rappler
00:12An anti-drug police officer claims NAPOLCOM Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo and former
00:17PCSO General Manager Royine Garma ordered him to kill a PCSO executive.
00:22Filipino incorporators of the Zuniwan Pogo in Bambantarlac want to turn state witnesses.
00:27Supporters approve on second reading the bill renewing the franchise of Meralko for another
00:3125 years.
00:32A Russian resort owner in Negros Occidental is in hot water for defacing a riverbed.
00:38And PBA player John Amores and his brother John Red are freed on bail.
00:44Anti-drug police officer Santi Mendoza claims he was ordered by NAPOLCOM Commissioner Edilberto
00:49Leonardo and former PCSO General Manager Royine Garma to kill PCSO Board Secretary Wesley
00:54Barayuga in 2020.
01:11At the House Quad Committee hearing Friday, September 27, Mendoza says Leonardo told him
01:15about an operation against a high-value individual allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.
01:20He says he was told the intelligence information came from Garma.
01:23Mendoza adds Leonardo told him Garma gave 300,000 pesos as payment.
01:28Former Police General Barayuga was killed on July 30, 2020 while aboard a vehicle in
01:33Mandaluyong City.
01:34Garma was the PCO General Manager when Barayuga was killed.
01:38Garma and Leonardo are allegedly former members of the Davao Death Squad.
01:44The two Filipino incorporators of the Zuniwan Pogo in Bambantarlac, Roderick Pujante and
01:49Juan Miguel Alpas, want to turn state witnesses.
01:52The offer is being assessed by the Department of Justice.
01:55To qualify as state witness, they must not appear to be the most guilty.
01:59Pujante and Alpas were among the three incorporators of the Zuniwan Pogo, which was set up in June
02:042023.
02:05They said they were misled by the brother of their co-incorporator, Jemilyn Santos Cruz.
02:09The three, as well as dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, pleaded not guilty to a charge
02:13of human trafficking before a passing city court.
02:16Cruz, on the other hand, maintains that Zuniwan's business was legal.
02:20The raid on Zuniwan in March 2024 found evidence of scamming operations and torture.
02:27The House of Representatives approves on second reading the bill renewing the franchise of
02:31Meralco for another 25 years.
02:33Meralco's current franchise is set to expire in 2028, but lawmakers aim to finalize its
02:38renewal ahead of the deadline.
02:40Meralco services around 25 percent of the Philippine population.
02:45The electricity distribution giant operates under a congressional franchise, which covers
02:49distribution to Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and parts of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon,
02:54and Pampanga.
02:55At the House hearing, ACT Teacher's Party Representative Franz Castro asks whether Meralco
02:59has settled complaints of overpricing.
03:02Meralco will continue to use its current distribution rates until June 2026, the next scheduled
03:07review by the Energy Regulatory Commission.
03:10Suspended ERC Chair Mona Lisa de Malantas said that if the ERC allowed the rate reset,
03:14the commission may lower the rates, which will lead to lower electricity bills for consumers.
03:21A Russian resort owner in Murcia, Negros Occidental, is in hot water for defacing a 40-meter stretch
03:26of riverbed to make the area colorful.
03:29Authorities are preparing complaints against Ivan Orlov for violation of the Clean Water
03:33Act of 2004, vandalism, and malicious mischief.
03:37Orlov reportedly painted a 40-meter stretch of the riverbed, including many boulders,
03:41rocks, and stones, along the Asea River.
03:44The river is the main source of the Sixth and Seventh Waterfalls at the provincial government-run
03:48Mambucal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary.
03:51Authorities say the paint caused environmental damage.
03:54Attempts to contact Orlov have been unsuccessful.
03:57His staff claimed he was abroad for business.
04:00The defacing of the riverbed not only caught the attention of local authorities, but has
04:03also sparked outrage online.
04:06EBA player John Amores and his brother John Red are freed on bail Friday, September 27.
04:13They paid P24,000 and P10,000, respectively.
04:16They were both charged with attempted homicide for their involvement in a shooting incident
04:20in Lumban, Laguna.
04:22Amores allegedly shot at a certain Lee Cacalda on September 25, following a heated exchange
04:27in a basketball game.
04:28CCTV footage showed Amores alighting from a motorcycle before firing at Cacalda using
04:33an unidentified firearm.
04:34Cacalda sustained no injuries.
04:37The two surrendered to the police on Thursday after allegedly receiving death threats.
04:41The incident is the latest chapter in Amores' controversial career, marked by several acts
04:45of on-court violence.
04:47He infamously ran amok during an NCAA game in 2022 and punched four St. Benilde players.
04:53That led to him being suspended by the league and expelled from Jose Rizal University.
04:59And that's today's wrap.
05:00I'm JC Gotinga.
05:02Click the link below for the full story.
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05:12See you next time.
05:13Bye.