Sunday, October 4, 2020

Proof to indict Duque enough, says Lacson. Inquirer Newsletter October 5, 2020

IN THE SAME BOAT Masked teachers on Saturday ride a boat to deliver bagfuls of learning modules to their students in remote areas in the island of Darumawang Bucana in Lala town, Lanao del Norte, ahead of Monday's opening of classes in public schools. DIVINA M. SUSON

News

Asian American voters leaning toward Democrats, says US research center

Asian American voters are “increasingly” leaning toward and identifying with the Democratic Party in the United States, according to US analysts. But whether Filipino Americans are also voting blue is still up in the air as the analyst of Pew Research Center said there had been no in-depth study yet on their voting behavior. —STORY BY Christine O. Avendaño

Read more: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1343593/asian-american-voters-leaning-toward-democrats-says-us-research-center

Regions

Many parents ‘unprepared’ to homeschool children

Having to homeschool five children overwhelms stay-at-home mother April Rose de Jesus, 34, whose daily routine before the pandemic was mainly to keep the household running. The dilemma faced by De Jesus is similar to other parents who are not prepared to handle online learning for their children. —STORY BY Maricar Cinco

Board Talk

Face reality, get ready to bear more pain

Be a realist, focus on surviving and provide stability. These key pieces of advice are for family business owners struggling amid this pandemic, as shared by strategic advisory firm Wong + Bernstein (W+B) Advisory Group and Icon Executive Asia in the recent webinar “Leading the Family Business in Extraordinary Times.” —STORY BY Annelle Tayao-Juego

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Proof to indict Duque enough, says Lacson

By Marlon Ramos

The task force formed by President Duterte to go after officials who allegedly misused billions of pesos in COVID-19 response funds of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has found “enough evidence” to indict Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said on Sunday.

Lacson, who had exposed the massive corruption in the state health insurer along with Senate President Vicente Sotto III, said Duque and other PhilHealth officials should not celebrate prematurely after they were not named in the criminal complaint that the National Bureau of Investigation filed in the Office of the Ombudsman last week.

He said Duque, resigned PhilHealth senior vice president Rodolfo del Rosario Jr. and the others could be included in the next batch of cases that the task force, led by the Department of Justice (DOJ), would bring to the graft buster.

“In fact, (Sotto) has it on good information that the task force has enough evidence against the others not initially charged, specifically Secretary Duque,” Lacson told the Inquirer. He said the “inside information” was given to the Senate President by a “trusted source” in the task force.

Lacson also noted that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had previously said the list of people to be indicted was “not yet final” as the investigators were still reviewing evidence, including documents submitted by the Senate committee of the whole.

The task force, he said, might have just been “pressed for time” as the President gave it only 30 days to complete the investigation into fraudulent transactions that had cost PhilHealth P154 billion since 2003 and put it on the brink of financial collapse. --INQ

Editorial

Powerless‍ authority

Among government agencies, the Anti-Red Tape Authority (Arta) stands out as a regulator without the requisite powers to do so. Established as an agency with the mandate to improve the ease of doing business by cutting through irksome bureaucracy, it, however, lacks the teeth to achieve its objective. Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net