ANC Headlines (10AM) — ANC (16 June 2026)

[0:01] Good morning, I'm Stanley Palisada here. The biggest stories at this hour on ANC. [0:06] Philippine Senators now preparing for the special session of Congress. [0:10] Senator Juan Miguel Subiri says members of the Gachalian bloc welcomed the President's move [0:15] and they are ready to fulfill their mandate. [0:18] Senator Erwin Tulfo hoping there will be 13 Senators present during the meeting [0:22] so they can finally put the Senate leadership squabble to rest. [0:27] House prosecutors also hoping for a resolution to the leadership issue [0:30] so it doesn't affect the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. [0:36] Sana ma-address na yun para wala nang apprehension ng House [0:42] about another possible constitutional issue to be raised in the Supreme Court. [0:47] The chair of the Philippine Senate Blue Ribbon Committee denies reports [0:56] Hispano will hold a hearing on flood control corruption. [0:59] Senator Erwin Tulfo issued that statement after former Quezon City Congressman Mike Defensor [1:04] announced on social media that a hearing on the scandal will be held Wednesday [1:08] by the bloc of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano. [1:12] Defensor said the hearing will be held outside the Senate premises. [1:16] The former congressman is assisting 18 self-confessed bagmen of fugitive former lawmaker Zalvi Koh. [1:23] The men claim to have delivered flood control kickbacks to high-ranking officials. [1:27] Ano pong ikaw na darating na committee secretary at Pudong para mag-record ng meeting. [1:36] Pangalawa po, hindi naman na po si Dibabuba, diba na deklara na pong all seats vacant. [1:42] So, hindi na po chairman ng Blue Ribbon si Sen. Pia. [1:46] Ngayon din po si Sen. Marco Lenta. [1:50] Hindi na rin po sila mga member ng Blue Ribbon. [1:52] So, ano pa ang otoridad nila para maghandak ng Blue Ribbon? [1:55] The defense and prosecution in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte [2:09] have submitted the respective pre-trial briefs to the Senate Impeachment Court. [2:14] Now, these contain summaries of admitted facts, proposed stipulations, issues for resolution, [2:20] as well as lists of documentary evidence and witnesses. [2:24] The prosecution panel says it will present more than 30 witnesses. [2:28] Around 60-something pages, nagay na natin lahat ng ating witnesses that we are looking to present. [2:39] So, documentary evidence that we are looking to present. [2:43] So, yunang witnesses? [2:46] Medyo week-weekend. [2:47] Several. [2:49] Several. [2:49] Several. [2:50] Several. [2:50] Several. [2:50] Several. [2:50] Several. [2:50] Several. [2:50] Several. [2:51] Sa ilalim po ng ating rules, kapag ang testigo, hindi mo naisama ang pangalan doon sa pre-trial, [3:00] generally speaking, hindi po siya papayagang tumistigo during the trial. [3:06] And that is why, as a matter of rule, lahat ng testigo ang isasalang mo, dapat yung pangalan isumitin mo during the pre-trial conference. [3:15] Meanwhile, some members of the House Prosecution Panel believe the vote threshold for a conviction should be lowered from 16 Senators. [3:27] This as they argue, Sen. Ronald de la Rosa is evading an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, [3:33] while Sen. Jingoy Estrada is currently detained on plunder and graft charges. [3:38] Kung ang ating senador ay nakakulong, nagtatago, nasa ospital, or nasa abroad, [3:47] ito yung tinatawag ni Avellino versus Cuenco na beyond the coercive power of the Senate. [3:54] And having said so, plus hindi mairepresent yung interest ng taong bayan, [4:01] how are we going to consider them for the purpose of determining the threshold or the required number of votes? [4:08] We need a Senate that is functioning. [4:11] And for all of the procedures that the Senate will be doing, [4:16] we need senators who are able to do their job. [4:21] And if one is hiding, purposefully hiding, from not only his job but from the people, [4:31] then he shouldn't be included in the number when we count. [4:38] The office of the chief Philippine graft buster is looking into allegations of interference [4:46] by Senators Mark and Camille Villar in the LRT Line 1 extension project in Cavita Province. [4:52] Umbudsman Jesus Crispin Rimulia told a radio interview [4:55] that the two senators were allegedly blocking the construction of the Niyog station in the town of Bacor. [5:03] Rimulia says the Villars allegedly want to divert the railway [5:06] to pass near their properties along the C5 Road in Las Piñas City. [5:12] Now Villars have yet to reply to an ABS-CBNU's request for their comment. [5:16] We're investing infrastructure using people's money. [5:23] Ang ating budget, dapat nakasupport dyan. [5:27] Yung problema, pagka it goes against their interest, ayaw nilang suportahan. [5:30] Inaharang nila, using the rules of the Senate, the rules of the House, inaharang nila. [5:35] Yung greed, sana mamoderate naman, tama na. [5:38] President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. returns to Mindanao to visit communities affected by the 7.8 magnitude quake earlier this month. [5:49] The president inspected evacuation centers, hospitals, and damaged infrastructure in Sarangani Province. [5:55] In the town of Glan, he greeted evacuees and checked on the condition of nearly 200 families currently staying at the 10th city in the municipal plaza. [6:05] The president says government efforts are now gradually shifting from emergency response and relief operations [6:11] toward rehabilitation and relocation in hard-hit areas. [6:15] The LG executives continue to provide us with information kasi hindi pa naman, this is still a developing situation. [6:27] For example, we're still recovering mga missing. [6:31] Then of course, we have to attend to the repair of the hospitals para maibalik natin yung pasyente, makapasok nila sa loob. [6:39] And then of course, DPW, we have to do the assessment, the engineering assessment to see what is safe, what is not safe, what has to be done, and all of that. [6:50] The Office of Civil Defense estimates that around 176,000 families have been affected by the tremor. [6:59] The cost of damage to infrastructures now reached an estimated 1.1 billion pesos. [7:04] In other news, the head of the Ateneo de Manila University became emotional as he faced the public for the first time [7:13] since the deaths of student-athletes Rene Batarbonia and Divina Dili last week. [7:18] Father Robert Bobby Yap apologized to the families of the two students, as well as to the Ateneo community, during a press conference Monday. [7:28] University officials also responded to criticisms over their failure to immediately issue a public statement following the tragedy. [7:35] We are truly, deeply sorry. [7:41] We apologize unreservedly to the families and to our entire community for the agonizing pain of this tragedy. [7:49] From day one, the university reached out to provide full support to the families. [7:56] We offered to shoulder all travel costs of Rene's family from Agusan to Manila so that they could be with him. [8:03] While they chose to accept the kind and generous soup offer of the Agusan del Sur governor, our hand remained extended. [8:12] All available information and accounts on what happened on June 8 show that it was a tragic accident. [8:22] But we understand completely that for loved ones, the word accident is never easy to accept. [8:30] Ateneo de Manila is not evading accountability. [8:33] Inuna talaga ng Ateneo yung mga pamilya, admittedly. [8:41] Hindi namin pinangunahan. [8:44] Maraming lumalabas, ba't doon, ba't hindi ganyan. [8:47] Kasi nirrespeto namin yung pamilya. [8:49] A fact-finding team composed of members of independent Ateneo management has been formed to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation. [9:03] YAP also announced the university has accepted the resignations of head coach Tad Baldwin and team manager Epic Kimpo. [9:14] And those are the latest news at this hour. [9:16] I'm Stanley Palisada. [9:17] Keep it here on the ABS-CBN News Channel.