Here鈥檚 a quick roundup of today鈥檚 top stories:
Quiboloy, 4 others to stay at PNP custodial center 鈥� Fajardo
Apollo Quiboloy and his four co-accused will remain at the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial center in Camp Crame, Quezon City despite a court order for their transfer to the Quezon City Jail.
The PNP cited concerns that the transfer might lead to 鈥渞isk鈥� and bail posting.
DND opposes Quiboloy鈥檚 plea for military custody before Pasig court
The Department of National Defense (DND) filed a motion to oppose the camp of detained Pastor Apollo Quiboloy鈥檚 petition to transfer his custody from the police to the militia.
The motion was filed before Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 159 on Tuesday afternoon.
OVP鈥檚 2025 budget talks deferred anew; panel terminates hearings
Deliberations on the Office of the Vice President鈥檚 (OVP) proposed allocations for 2025 have been deferred again by a House of Representatives panel after no one from the office showed up to defend their budget request.
At the tail-end of the four-hour hearing on Tuesday, appropriations vice chair and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon moved to defer the OVP proposed budget out of disappointment with Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 absence.
The Philippine Navy on Tuesday reported the largest ever presence of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea, recorded for three consecutive weeks.
A total of 207 China Coast Guard (CCG) ships, People鈥檚 Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) warships and Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels were logged from Sept. 3 to 9.
VP Duterte says Romualdez, Co 鈥榤anipulate鈥� national budget allocation
Vice President Sara Duterte accused Speaker Martin Romualdez and House committee on appropriations chair Zaldy Co (Ako Bicol Party-list) of controlling and manipulating the allocation of the national budget.
In a video of an interview shared with members of the media by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Tuesday, Duterte said:
鈥淎ng budget ng Pilipinas ay hawak lang ng dalawang tao. Hawak lang siya ni Cong. Zaldy Co at ni Cong. Martin Romualdez. 鈥榊an ang katotohanan.鈥�
Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co and other House of Representatives lawmakers have disputed Vice President Sara Duterte鈥檚 claims that only two officials control the national budget, noting that decisions come from a collegial body.
Instead, Co said on Tuesday that Duterte鈥檚 statements are nothing but another scam attempt, which he believes Filipinos would not fall for.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) on Tuesday filed qualified human trafficking charges against Cassandra Li Ong and 51 others.
The charges, filed at the Department of Justice, are related to their alleged involvement in the Lucky South 99 scam farm in Porac, Pampanga, according to PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio in a post on 鈥淴.鈥�
Direct flights between the Philippines and France will be available starting December 8, said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Tuesday.
Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista announced in a Palace briefing that these direct flights represent the first direct connection between the Philippines and Europe since the COVID-19 pandemic.