Abbey M.

The United States has imposed a travel ban on its citizens and foreigners coming from Uganda, Congo, and South Sudan.

This follows the confirmation that a US missionary tested positive for the Ebola virus in the Republic of Congo.

The said missionary and six of her companions will not be allowed to return to the US for the time being. Instead, they will be sent to Germany for treatment and recovery.

Officials assured the public that there is no cause for alarm as there are no recorded cases of the Ebola virus within their country.

"That American, as well as 6 high-risk contacts are going to be taken out of that region and taken to Germany. That is an internationally recognized location for viral hemorrhagic fever treatment. For all other Americans, we issued travel warnings. Right now there are no cases of Ebola in America, we want to keep it that way. And we want to make sure to support all Americans in that region," said Dr. Heidi Overton, Chief Policy Officer of the America First Policy Institute. 

(Ang Amerikanong iyon, kasama ang anim na high-risk contacts, ay ilalabas sa rehiyong iyon at dadalhin sa Germany — isang internasyonal na kinikilalang lokasyon para sa paggamot ng viral hemorrhagic fever. Para sa lahat ng iba pang Amerikano, naglabas kami ng travel warnings. Sa ngayon, walang naitatalang kaso ng Ebola sa Amerika at nais naming panatilihing ganoon. Nais din naming tiyakin na nasusuportahan ang lahat ng mga Amerikano sa rehiyong iyon.)

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) asserted that the arrest of Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa based on the warrant of arrest issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is legal.

It emphasized that there is no longer a need for a corresponding warrant from a local court in the Philippines in order to enforce the arrest issued by the ICC.

Based on Section 17 of RA 9851, "in the interest of justice," authorities in the Philippines may choose not to pursue their own investigation or prosecution of a crime if there is already another international court such as the ICC, or another country, currently undertaking it.

The OSG called the senator a "fugitive from justice" due to his deliberate evasion of arrest, and as such, he allegedly has no right to seek judicial relief or a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court.

It also clarified that Dela Rosa is not protected by parliamentary immunity because the crimes against humanity he is facing carry a penalty of more than six years of imprisonment.

In light of these arguments, the OSG asked the Supreme Court to dismiss Dela Rosa's motions for lack of merit.

Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano assured the public that the CCTV footages of the shooting incident at the Senate last week have been immediately secured.

According to the Senate leader, they are ready to share the said videos with authorities.

Cayetano clarified that on the very day of the shooting incident at the Senate, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla already reached out to him.

This was to ensure that the CCTV footages of the incident on the night of May 13 would be secured.

According to Senator Cayetano, he ordered the Sergeant-at-Arms to release a copy of the video.

"I'd like to clarify na agad-agad sinecure yung CCTV sa Senate. Marami pong theories, marami pong haka-haka, maraming nagpupush ng narrative. Isa sa unang sinabi sa akin ni Secretary Jonvic Remulla ay pagdating sa Senate, we will secure the Senate, we will make sure that everyone's safe. Sabi niya, Senate President, or kilala naman niya ako, so sabi niya, Alan, please make sure may access kami at na-secure yung CCTV. So as soon as I saw the Sergeant-at-Arms, sinabi ko na parating dito si Secretary Remulla, make sure that in front of them, makita nila yung CCTV, tapos may dalawang kopya. May kopya tayo, may kopya sila," Cayetano said.

("I'd like to clarify that the CCTV at the Senate was immediately secured. There are many theories, many speculations, many people pushing a narrative. One of the first things Secretary Jonvic Remulla told me was that upon arriving at the Senate, we will secure the Senate, we will make sure that everyone's safe. He said, Senate President — or since he knows me, he said, Alan — please make sure we have access and the CCTV is secured. So as soon as I saw the Sergeant-at-Arms, I told him that Secretary Remulla was on his way here, make sure that in front of them, they will see the CCTV, and there should be two copies. We have a copy, they have a copy.")

Senate President Cayetano emphasized that full transparency in the investigation is a priority of the new Senate leadership.

Because of this, he said they are ready to provide copies of the CCTV to all authorities that will request them for the investigation.

"So as far as I can recall, joint investigation ito. Kailangan full transparency. Hindi pwede natin sabihin jurisdiction natin ito, so tayo lang mag-iimbestiga. Klarong-klaro po yun na sinabi natin na to be transparent. At naibigay ka agad 'to sa PNP at DILG. So sa lahat ng humihingi ng kopya, maging sa Office of the Ombudsman, maging sa NBI," he added.

("So as far as I can recall, this is a joint investigation. There has to be full transparency. We cannot say this is our jurisdiction alone, so only we will investigate. It was made very clear that we said we would be transparent. And we immediately gave [copies] to the PNP and DILG. So to all those requesting copies, including the Office of the Ombudsman and the NBI.")

Meanwhile, Acting Sergeant-at-Arms, retired Police Major General Mao Aplasca, also issued an official statement.

The Office of the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) strongly denied the fake news circulating on social media and some media outlets claiming that no video was obtained from the second floor of the building.

In the released statement, the OSAA said that on the night of May 14, it formally turned over to the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) National Capital Region the original and unaltered copies of the CCTV footages.

The OSAA warned that the spread of unverified and fake information only damages the integrity of the ongoing investigation.

The Senate leadership thus appealed to the media and the public to be responsible and to trust only official documents.

The Visayas grid will be placed under yellow alert status starting this afternoon, based on the advisory of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

This will begin at 4:00 PM until 8:00 PM tonight.

As of now, the peak demand of the grid is nearing 2,513 megawatts compared to its available capacity of 2,676 megawatts.

The thinning of power supply is due to the forced outages of power plants and the rising demand for electricity supply.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. once again assured that the government will continue to act on the needs of the people, even amid the continuing political noise.

According to the President, his administration is ready to listen to the grievances of the public regarding the challenges they are facing.

"Asahan po ninyo na ang inyong pamahalaan ay hindi po natutulog, hindi po nagbabakasyon kung hindi walang ginawa, kung hindi mag-isip ng paraan kung ano ang pangangailangan ng ating mga – ng taumbayan, kung ano ang pangangailangan ng ating mga naghihirap na kababayan, kung ano pa ang aming magawa para makatulong. Ito po ay aming ginagawa. At bukod pa roon, kami po ay nakikinig din sa inyo. Kaya sabihin po ninyo sa amin kung ano ang mga problema, anong nahaharap ninyo, anong klaseng tulong ang kinakailangan ninyo at titingnan po natin," Marcos said.

("Rest assured that your government is not sleeping, not on vacation doing nothing, but rather thinking of ways to address what our people need, what our suffering countrymen need, and what else we can do to help. This is what we are doing. And aside from that, we are also listening to you. So tell us what your problems are, what you are facing, what kind of help you need, and we will look into it.")

The President's assurance comes as the government faces several pressing issues, including the recent commotion at the Senate, the ICC arrest of Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, the rotational brownouts being experienced in some areas, and other challenges confronting the nation.