Author: gqSbgCfmna

November 22, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will rule next week on the appeal filed by the camp of former president Rodrigo Duterte on his plea for interim release.

A scheduling order released on Thursday night showed that the judgment on the appeal will be made in open court on Nov. 28 at 10:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. in Manila).

The appeals judges will decide on the appeal filed by Duterte’s defense lawyers, who challenged the Sept. 26 decision issued by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I.

In an earlier message to reporters, Duterte’s lawyer, Nicholas Kaufman, described the decision as “erroneous.”

He noted that the ruling rejected “unprecedented State guarantees for a debilitated and cognitively impaired 80-year-old, (who has been) kept from the public eye for more than six months.”

In its 23-page decision, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I said Duterte should remain in detention to ensure that he would not obstruct or endanger the investigation and the proceedings.

It outlined why Duterte remains a flight risk and how he could pose a threat to potential witnesses.

The pre-trial judges also rejected the defense’s arguments that Duterte should be released on the basis of humanitarian conditions.

“The Chamber notes that the Defense limits itself to argue that ‘Mr. Duterte is 80 years old and medical reports’ … without substantiating how detention is so detrimental that it justifies his release,” read the ruling.

It stressed that Duterte enjoys the right to medical treatment while in detention, including access to a qualified medical officer with experience in psychiatry and a nurse assigned at the ICC Detention Center.

Both the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and the Office of the Public Counsel for Victims (OCPV) urged the appeals chamber to reject the appeal.

“The decision is reasonable and correct,” ICC deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said in a 20-page submission dated Oct. 31.

“Mr. Duterte’s three grounds of appeal fail to establish any legal or factual error. Rather, the Defense repeatedly expresses its mere disagreement with the decision, mischaracterizes and ignores the Chamber’s reasoning and misstates and misunderstands the applicable law. The appeal should therefore be dismissed,” he added.

Paolina Massidda, OCPV principal counsel who represents victims in the proceedings, said the defense “misrepresented” the decision of the pre-trial judges.

“The Defense, first, indicates that Mr. Duterte is 80 years old, infirm and debilitated, and it is quite cruel to detain him while he enjoys the presumption of innocence,” she said in her submission.

“In this regard, the presumption of liberty does not mean that detention cannot be imposed where there exists a legal basis for doing so and, while the person subject to criminal proceedings shall enjoy the right to liberty, he or she may be deprived of that right as prescribed by law in a manner which is strictly necessary under the circumstances,” she added.

Christmas with Rody?

There are reports that Duterte’s family plans to spend Christmas in The Hague with him.

Duterte has been detained in The Hague since March 11 when he was flown there by Philippine authorities.

If true, Duterte and his family will miss the annual “Pahalipay sa Pasko” gift-giving activity, a decades-long tradition of the Dutertes at their former house in Davao City, which is attended by thousands of residents who gather as early as midnight before the event.

However, some family members may still carry on the activity. — Edith Regalado

November 22, 2025 | 12:00am

Mark Striegl has received newfound payment and recognition after an impressive performance on the Netflix reality series “Physical: Asia.” The longtime mixed martial artist, and Philippine sambo athlete caught the attention of the public with two wins in the series. Still, he remains unaffected and unaltered, generous with his time and accepting requests for interviews and photographs.

“At first, when they first contacted me, I thought it was a joke,” Striegl laughs. “I actually thought maybe it’s a scam or something. Because I was a fan of the first two seasons. Once I started talking to them, I was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s real.’ So it’s game on, and I gotta prepare.”

All contestants were brought to South Korea earlier in the year, and were dismissed once their teams were eliminated. Everyone signed a non-disclosure agreement, requiring them not to discuss any aspect of the competition. In addition, they produced promotional content for Netflix.

The most difficult part was not knowing what to prepare for, since the challenges were not immediately made known. Mark simply decided to get in the best shape he possibly could, knowing that the exercises would push everyone to their limits. He counts the ball wrestling event against Thailand’s Sunny Wechokittikorn as the toughest challenge, wherein both of them nearly passed out due to exhaustion. 

The combat sambo fighter was also pleasantly surprised to see a lot of the athletes that he looked up to in the competition itself. 

“It was totally a trip,” says Striegl, who was born in Japan and has been in combat sports since he was eight. “Robert Whittaker is here, all of these star athletes. Yushin Okami, the team captain of Japan. I trained with him years ago when I was 17 years old. He gave me my first black eye.”

While making the rounds of various media. Striegl is now training in Metro Manila for the Asia Oceania Sambo tournament mid-2026. He enjoys all the creative content online after he won the hanging challenge. He cites the artwork of him dangling in a jeepney and MRT train car as his favorites. For his part, he constantly posts videos of scam combat coaches, which he calls “bullshido,” putting a humorous take on all the fake masters online. He remains the chill, friendly guy who enjoys life, and always gives it his best. 

November 22, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Former ombudsman Samuel Martires’ wealth grew by 87 percent or P36.464 million in his seven years in office, according to his statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs).

Based on Martires’ entry SALN filed before the ombudsman on Sept. 5, 2018, he started his term with a net worth of P41.728 million, composed of P13.190 million in real properties and P28.538 million in personal properties. He declared zero liabilities.

Meanwhile, based on his exit SALN filed on July 28, Martires officially ended his term with a net worth of P78.192 million, composed of P1.558 million in real properties and P76.634 million in personal properties.

Martires’ personal properties included jewelry worth P1.650 million, vehicles (P1.538 million), paintings and antique collections (P500,000), furniture and fixtures (P75,000), appliances (P350,000), firearms (P350,000), cash on hand, bank deposits, bonds and mutual funds (P48.300 million), foreign currency ($7,000 or approximately P371,000) and inherited corporate shares (P23.500 million).

His real properties meanwhile included a house and lot in Quezon City acquired in 1983 for P1 million; another house and lot in Quezon City acquired in 1979 for P408,000; a residential land in Rizal acquired in 1996 for P150,000 and three inherited properties which included an agricultural land in Samar and two residential house and lots – one in Northern Samar and another in Baguio City.

His entry SALN computed the total amount of his real properties based on their current fair market value.

His succeeding annual SALNs as well as his exit SALN declared his real properties based on their total acquisition cost, which was at P1.558 million.

In his first five months in office, or from Aug. 6 to Dec. 31, 2018, Martires’ net worth grew to P57.064 million, .

By the end of 2020, Martires’ net worth grew to P65.454 million. It subsequently grew to P66.157 million by the end of 2021, P70.075 million by the end of 2022, P75.746 million by the end of 2023 and finally P78.192 million by the end of 2024, his last full year in office.

Martires’ net worth remained the same from Dec. 31, 2024 up to the end of his term on July 27.

In all his filed SALNs, Martires declared zero liabilities.

November 22, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has appointed Commodore Andro Val Abayon as the new acting head of the Presidential Security Command (PSC).

Presidential Communications Secretary Dave Gomez confirmed Abayon’s appointment yesterday.

Before this post, Abayon served as commander of the Naval Special Operations Command of the Philippine Navy.

He replaces Maj. Gen. Peter Burgonio, who has been reassigned as acting division commander of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, Gomez said.

PSC, formerly known as the Presidential Security Group, is tasked with providing security to the President, the First Family and visiting heads of state.