Senator Panfilo Lacson reminded President Rodrigo Duterte that the Congress is the one that should decide on the fate of television network ABS-CBN’s franchise.

In a radio interview, Lacson said that Congress has the authority to give legislative franchises to a corporation and public utilities like ABS-CBN.

He also expressed his opposition to the move of Solicitor General Jose Calida who reportedly planning to file a Quo Warranto petition against ABS-CBN calling the move unnecessary.

“Ang renewal ng franchise, ayon sa Constitution, nasa Kongreso yan. Kami ang magde-deliberate, at ang mag-a-approve niyan, Pangulo,” Lacson said.

“I think parang superfluous ang mag-quo warranto pa para pigilan ang pag-renew ng franchise, kasi power ng Congress ‘yan… Kami ang dapat masusunod kung mare-renew ba ng another 25 years ang media outfit…So I think medyo duplicitous ang move para pigilan, kasi hindi talaga kayang pigilan ang Kongreso,” he added.

Lacson also warned of a constitutional crisis if Supreme Court sided with the petition of Calida against ABS-CBN.

“Baka magkaroon tayo ng constitutional crisis. Kasi halimbawa, kung mag-grant ang SC ng quo warranto at kasalukuyang nagsasagawa kami ng plenary deliberation sa renewal ng franchise ng ABS-CBN, ano ang mananaig doon? Of course sabi nila, pag sinabi ng SC ganito, it becomes part of the law of the land, pero Constitution itong pinag-uusapan natin. ‘Di pwedeng sabihin ng SC na unconstitutional ang ginagawang deliberation ng Congress sa pag-renew ng franchise kasi maliwanag sa Constitution na sa amin ‘yan,” he said.

As a response, the Palace said that Lacson should consult a lawyer first before talking about a constitutional crisis.

“With due respect to my good friend Senator Lacson, he is not a lawyer. Yung portion na yun siguro ikonsulta niya muna,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said.

ABS-CBN’s franchise is set to expire in March 2020 and until now President Rodrigo Duterte is still opposing its renewal.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa who’s a known motorcycle enthusiast announced that he’s no longer taking part in the 2020 Ironman motorcycle challenge because of an unfortunate incident.

On a Facebook post, Dela Rosa said that he crashed while traveling to a wet and glossy asphalt road in Cagayan Valley.

He also posted his picture to show the aftermath of the incident, showing that he’s wearing arm string.

“Sh*t happens! And it really happened when I crashed along the wet and glossy asphalt road of sanchez mira, cagayan valley. I can no longer finish the 2020 boss ironman motorcycle challenge supposedly this afternoon,” said Dela Rosa.

Before the incident, Dela Rosa showed a photo of him being swarmed by fans in Vigan City.

His supporters are praying for his quick recovery as he’s still needed to work at the Senate.

The lawyer who filed a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte to the ICC, and withdrew a few days ago revealed that he was hired by some members of the opposition to help them make Vice President Leni Robredo the chief executive.

At a press conference, Atty. Jude Sabio revealed the plan of the opposition to oust Duterte to give Robredo the presidency.

According to him, until now he was still not being paid for his service for self-confessed DDS member Edgar Matobato, and they also attempted to hire him as the lawyer of Peter Joemel “Bikoy” Advincula.

“They had the gall and temerity to recruit me as lawyer for alias Bikoy in order to achieve their political agenda, which is to undermine and topple President Duterte so that Vice President [Leni] Robredo would become President, and yet earlier for the cases of Matobato, I was the victim of ‘lingla’ or fraud, leaving my professional billing unpaid by them up to now…” said Sabio.

“In my 25 years of practice, trabaho kong maghanap ng hustisya pero wala na akong balak diyan sa kaso na ‘yan kung ang nandiyan pa rin itong sila Trillanes at ang oposisyon na ‘yan. Wala na akong balak diyan kasi nga ang ginagawa nila nakasisira lang sa kasong iyan,” he added.

Sabio said that he’s already done in participating to the plans of the opposition that’s why he decided to withdraw the complaint he filed to the ICC.

“Gumawa sila ng mga kalokohan laban kay Pangulong Duterte at nakita ko na ginagamit lang nila ang kaso sa ICC para sa kanilang politika at ayaw ko nang maging kasali sa ganyang katarantaduhan,” the lawyer said.

Sabio also denied that he was paid by the allies of President Duterte to withdraw the complaint to the ICC.

“I will deny categorically any insinuation that I received any amount for this withdrawal. To tell you honestly, I am not for sale,” he said.

“Puro na lang pera. Kapag mayroon kang ginawa na nakakagimbal laging sinasabi nagkakapera ka. Huwag naman tayong ganiyan. Hindi naman tayo for sale,” he added.

Because of the pouring donations for the people affected by Taal volcano, some evacuees found unusual clothing like a wedding dress, school uniforms and even wear for detainees.

Instead of not accepting those donations, the good people of Batangas wear it with a smile on their face and it gave laughs to thousands of netizens on social media.

However, a group that’s participating in the relief efforts in Batangas reminded the netizens, especially those who are planning to donate their used clothes to treat the evacuees with dignity.

In a statement, the group “Citizens’ Disaster Response Center” asked the netizens to donate clothes that can be used by evacuees every day.

“A gentle reminder. To those who are donating, please donate clothes that other people can still use. To those who are accepting donations and distributing them, please sort the donations before distribution, and make sure that the clothes are appropriate for those who will receive them,” the group said.

“Let us treat the survivors with dignity,” they added.

A netizen who followed the group on social media also expressed the same thoughts, saying that some people are only donating some of the clothes as a way to dispose it.

“I agree with this. Yung iba maka-donate lang ng ididispose nilang items. Yung ibang damit parang pwede
nang gawing basahan. Nagiging burden pa sa magttransport ng donations,” netizen Dianne Peralta Banares.

As of writing, evacuees are still not allowed to go back to their homes as the authorities still kept alert level 4 in the Taal volcano.

The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) is experiencing traffic this weekend as hundreds of volunteers are traveling to Batangas to help the people affected by Taal volcano erption.

On a Facebook post, it can be seen the vehicles in SLEX are having difficulties in traveling to their destination because of the traffic.

Authorities said that the traffic was caused by people who wanted to help the people of Batangas but only have free time during weekends.

Some vehicles put “Taal Volunteer Relief Goods” to their windshield to avoid getting delayed from their destination.

Netizens expressed their happiness after they saw the ‘Bayanihan spirit’ of the Filipinos.

“Grabe nakakataba ng puso makita sa daan yung mga ganito. Maluluha ka nalang talaga, hindi dahil sa traffic kundi dahil sa mga taong gustong tumulong sa mga victims of Taal Eruption. Konti lang yung napicturan ko. Pero 80% ng mga bumabyahe sa slex puro papuntang batangas para magdala ng tulong,” netizen Jamie Mancion said.

Some netizen even asked the owners of SLEX to give free toll to the vehicle owners who are traveling to Batangas to send relief goods.

“Wala bang free toll diyan sa mga naghahatid ng relief goods?” KpBlaze Kevin commented.

Some netizens also revealed that some people from Batangas were placed in some evacuation centers in Cavite and asking for relief goods.

“May mga evacuees din po dto sa Pasong kawayan 2, Belmont subdivision,Castillon Pamayanang Maliksi,Heneral Uno,Kaia sana mabigyan din po sila ng relief goods.God Bless po,” netizen Yrman Dauby said.

This is the 6th day since Taal Volcano heightened its activity which resulted in the evacuation of thousands of families.

Atty. Jude Sabio, the lawyer who filed a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte against the ICC, filed an affidavit for withdrawal on Tuesday.

According to Sabio, who’s the lawyer of a self-confessed member of DDS Edgar Matobato said that he was done with joining politics.

“Nakita ko na ginagamit lang nila ang kaso sa ICC para sa kanilang pulitika. Ayoko nang maging kasali sa ganyang katarantaduhan.” Sabio said when asked why he withdrew his complaint against Duterte.

The lawyer also wrote a letter to the ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda requesting his communication to be erased from the record.

“It should be set aside and thrashed for being just part of the political propaganda of Senator Trillanes, Senator De Lima, and their LP-led opposition which I do not wish to be part,” the letter read.

Sabio was accompanied by Atty. Larry Gadon while signing the said affidavit.

It’s not yet known how Sabio’s latest action would affect the ongoing preliminary examination by ICC.

The opposition is not yet releasing a statement on the latest action of Sabio.

In September 2019, Atty. Jude Sabio said that he already left the camp of Sen. Trillanes after not receiving enough money to fund the ICC complaint he filed against Duterte.

ABS-CBN also contacted Jude Sabio and confirmed that he’s considering to testify against Trillanes over his involvement in producing the “Bikoy” videos.

During the interview, Sabio who’s having financial problems, claiming that Trillanes stopped sending monthly allowance to him which amounted to 50,000-100,000 pesos since the former Senator left his office.

Sabio takes offense at Trillanes' claim the then-senator was merely giving him "aid" insisting that the money he received were monthly retainers for professional services rendered in various cases. pic.twitter.com/vEj3FxF9Te

— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) September 6, 2019

“Kailangan ko yung pera eh, 700,000 (pesos) para maka survive ako… paano ako maka recover nito? for the past two years, limitado ang movements ko… hindi ako makapag practice ng pagka abogado ko for a long time,” Sabio said.

However, Trillanes denied the accusations of Sabio, saying that the lawyer offered his service for free.