Current Events in the Philippines 2019

June[edit]

F/B Gem-Ver's truncated stern is evident in this image taken after the incident

 June 8 – Religious corporation Kapa-Community Ministry International was shut down by the authorities
under the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte over the allegations of Ponzi scheme.[100][101][102][103]
 June 9 – A fishing boat F/B Gem-Ver sank at Reed Bank after the Chinese vessel rammed the
boat.[104][105][106][107]
 June 10 – Dr. Brian Sy, owner of the WellMed Dialysis Center in Quezon City who were accused of
making "ghost" claims with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PhilHealth) is arrested by the National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the charges of estafa, falsification of public documents, and violation
of the PhilHealth law.[108]
 June 17 – The Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 14 has found John Paul Solano, a member of the
Aegis Juris Fraternity, guilty of obstruction of justice in connection with the Atio Castillo hazing case.[109]
 June 21 – Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has been denied entry to Hong Kong due
to known reasons even if he carried a valid diplomatic passport.[110][111]
 June 27 – Several opposition groups began to file the impeachment complaints against Rodrigo
Duterte due to Reed Bank incident and his subsequent policy of "allowing China to fish in the Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea".[112][113][114]
 June 28 – Two suicide bombers detonate their devices in Indanan, Sulu, killing four soldiers and two
civilians.[115][116] ISIL claims responsibility.[117]
 June 29 – Tons of Canadian garbage left in the Philippines in 2013 and 2014, has finally docked in a
port on the outskirts of Vancouver and putting an end to a festering diplomatic row that highlighted
how Asian nations have grown tired of being the world's trash dump.[118]
July[edit]

 July 8 – President Rodrigo Duterte has awarded a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN)
to Dito Telecommunity, the consortium of Davao City-based businessman Dennis Uy and allowing it to
operate.[119][120][121][122][123][124]
 July 11 – A resolution initiated by Iceland was adopted by the United Nations Human Rights
Council calling for an investigation on the human rights situation in the Philippines including deaths
linked to President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against drugs in the country.[125][126][127][128][129][130]
 July 13 – Father Gerard Francisco Timoner III from Daet, Camarines Norte is elected the Master of the
Order of Preachers, the head of the Dominican Order, for a nine-year term.[131] Timoner is the first
Filipino, as well as the first Asian, to be elected as such.[132]
 Since July 18 – A series of killings occurred in Negros Oriental when four police officers were killed by
the suspected communists groups.[133][134][135][136][137][138][139][140]
 July 18 – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed a sedition complaint against Vice President Leni
Robredo, several senators and opposition personalities in connection with videos annotated by a certain
Bikoy, who linked members of the Duterte family to illegal drugs.[141][142]
 July 26 – President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a halt in all gaming operations with franchises, licenses
or permits granted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), citing corruption.[143][144] On July
27, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has began shutting down lotto kiosks and other gaming outlets
nationwide, after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the suspension of gaming schemes authorized by
the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).[145] On July 30, President Rodrigo Duterte lifts the
suspension of operations of lotto game.[146] On August 22, President Rodrigo Duterte lifts the suspension
on the operations of Small Town Lottery (STL) in the country.[147] On September 28, President Rodrigo
Duterte lifts the suspension on the operations of Keno Game and Instant Sweepstakes Scratch-It
schemes.[148]
 July 27 – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck Batanes.[149] It was preceded by a 5.4
magnitude foreshock.[150] Nine people were killed by the combined effects of the earthquakes.[151] A state
of calamity was declared in the whole province.[152]
August[edit]

New Bilibid Prison where both Antonio Sanchez and the suspects of Chiong sisters murders are incarcerated

 August 2 – President Rodrigo Duterte signs Proclamation No. 781, that conferred the National Scientist
title to American-educated plant geneticist and agronomist Emil Javier, who once served as president of
the University of the Philippines.[153]
 August 3 – At least 31 were killed when strong winds capsized three boats in Guimaras
Strait.[154][155][156][157][158]
 August 5:
o COMELEC cancels the nomination of former National Youth Commission Chairperson Ronald
Cardema as representative of the Duterte Youth party-list due to
misrepresentation.[159][160][161] On September 13, Cardema formally withdraws his bid as the party-list's
first nominee.[162]
o Sandiganbayan dismisses a ₱102 billion civil case filed by the Presidential Commission on Good
Government (PCGG) in 1987 against the family of former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos and their cronies,
on the involvement of former Amb. Roberto Benedicto in the allegations of using dummies and
government corporations to obtain assets.[163][164]
 August 13 – Gretchen Custodio Diez, a 28-year-old trans woman was detained by police in Quezon City
after a scuffle with a mall staff for using ladies' restroom.[165][166]
 August 20 – News reports stated that former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, the mastermind
in the rape and murder of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez in 1993, "could have walked free in the
next two months" after spending 25 years in prison, citing "good conduct" according to the document
bearing the signature of Bureau of Corrections director Nicanor Faeldon.[167] The impending release of
Sanchez sparked nationwide outrage and condemnation.[168] However, on August 22, Justice
Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director-General Nicanor Faeldon has
announced that former Calauan, Laguna Mayor Antonio Sanchez, the prime suspect in the Murders of
Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez in 1993, is not eligible under a 2013 law (RA No. 10592), that credits
good conduct time allowance (GCTA) for an early release from prison.[169] on August 26, President
Rodrigo Duterte has ordered Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and Bureau of Corrections chief
Nicanor Faeldon not to release convicted rapist-murderer Antonio Sanchez due to his bad
behavior.[170] On September 2, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee begins its investigation on the
supposed early release of rape and murder convict fomer mayor Antonio Sanchez and the controversial
Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.[171] On same day, Bureau of Corrections Director General
Nicanor Faeldon has confirmed that George Medialdea, Rogelio Corcolon and Zoilo Ama, the three men
who were convicted for the June 1993 rape and killing of Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez were
already dead in jail.[172]
 August 22 – Former foreign affairs chief Perfecto Yasay Jr. was arrested by Manila Police District (MPD)
officers, in relation to criminal charges allegedly committed by officials of Banco Filipino.[173][174]
September[edit]

African swine fever virus

 September 2 – Bureau of Corrections Director General Nicanor Faeldon has confirmed the release of 4
persons convicted for the July 1997 murder of the Chiong sisters in Cebu.[175][176] On September 6, Ariel
Balansag and Alberto Caño, the two of the four convicts of the Chiong sisters rape-slay case, who were
released by virtue of the controversial Good Conduct Time Allowance Law, has been surrendered to the
authorities.[177][178][179] On September 18, James Anthony Uy and Josman Aznar, the last two of the four
convicts of the said case, has finally surrendered to the authorities.[180]
 September 3 – The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of Atty. Jess Falcis for the removal of a
legal barrier to same-sex marriages in the Philippines, even as it said the Constitution does not restrict
marriage on the basis of sex.[181][182]
 September 4 – President Rodrigo Duterte has fired Bureau of Corrections chief Nicanor Faeldon after
the latter approved the release of several heinous crime convicts in the June 1993 rape and murder of
Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez and July 1997 rape and murder of Marijoy and Jacqueline
Chiong.[183][184] On September 5, Yolanda Camelon, wife of an inmate in NBP, testifies in the third Senate
hearing on the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law and claiming that Bureau of Corrections
(BuCor) employees asked ₱50,000 from her in a botched deal to buy her husband's early release from
prison.[185] On September 9, Ombudsman Samuel Martires has ordered the suspension for six months
without pay of 30 officials of the Bureau of Corrections in connection with the release of over 1,900
convicts of heinous crimes under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law.[186][187]
 September 9 – The first case of African swine fever has been confirmed by the Department of
Agriculture.[188][189] It was also confirmed that an undisclosed number of individual pigs were culled in
Rizal in a bid to contain a "suspected animal disease".[190]
 September 18 – The Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 15 has found, 8 Philippine Coast
Guard personnel, guilty of homicide, for the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman off the northernmost
province of Batanes in May 2013, which had sparked a diplomatic row between Taipei and Manila.[191][192]
 September 20 – The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) has confirmed that Cadet 4th Class Darwin
Dormitorio died of injuries resulting from hazing rites, supposedly at the hands of three upperclassmen
inside the military school on September 18.[193][194][195][196][197][198]
 September 24:
o Voted 17-0, the Senate has authorized the blue ribbon and justice committees to release the names
of the rogue cops involved in the so-called "Agaw-bato" scheme, in which cops allegedly sell the
illegal drugs they seized in narcotics operations.[199]
o Lieutenant General Ronnie Evangelista and Brigadier General Bartolome Bacarro were resigned to
their post in the Philippine Military Academy, following the death of 20-year-old PMA Cadet 4th
Class Darwin Dormitorio due to hazing inside the academy.[200] On October 9, Cadet 1st Class Ram
Michael Navarro is also resigned to his post in PMA.[201]
 September 25 – Sandiganbayan dismisses another civil case filed by the PCGG against the family of
former Pres. Marcos and their cronies, on the involvement of former Amb. Bienvenido Tantoco and
others on the family's hidden wealth; decision is released to the media on October 8.[202][203][204]
 September 27 – The US Senate Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment to deny entry
to any Philippine official who was involved in the two-year detention of Sen. Leila de Lima.[205][206][207]
October[edit]
 October 1 – PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde appears before the Senate’s inquiry on "ninja cops", the
police officers involved in the illegal drug trade.[208] Albayalde denied the allegations of protecting his
former subordinates who were accused of misappropriating a large quantity of illegal drugs seized in a
drug raid in 2013.[209] Albayalde was later resigned on October 14, because of the
controversy.[210][211][212][213] On October 21, the PNP–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)
has added Albayalde as a respondent in criminal charges being reinvestigated by the Department of
Justice (DOJ).[214]
 October 4 – BuCor chief Gerald Bantag orders the relief of some 300 guards at the maximum security
compound of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.[215][216]
 October 6 – Usage of the landline numbers with an additional digit from 7 digits is officially
implemented, upon the order of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).[217]
 October 8 – The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the validity of a legal provision setting the minimum
base pay for nurses in government health institutions to Salary Grade 15, but said implementing the
clause would require a law providing funds for it.[218]
 October 11 – The Supreme Court allows Filipina death row inmate Mary Jane Veloso to testify against
her alleged recruiters through deposition in Indonesia.[219][220][221][222]
 October 14 – Sandiganbayan dismisses another civil case filed by the PCGG against the family of former
Pres. Marcos and their cronies, on the involvement of Fe and Ignacio Gimenez and others on the
family's hidden wealth; decision is released to the media on October 25.[223]
 October 15 – The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has ordered
the release of the official report on the initial vote recount involved in the election protest of former
senator Bongbong Marcos against Vice President Leni Robredo.[224]
 October 16 – The 2019 Cotabato series of earthquakes begins, with a 6.3 magnitude
earthquake[225][226][227] that killed at least 5 persons and injuring more than 53
others.[228] Another earthquake on October 29 with a magnitude of 6.6[229] kills at least 9 people and
injures 200 others.[230] A third one on October 31, a magnitude 6.5,[231] not considered to be an
aftershock of the second event,[232] kills at least 6 persons and injures more than 20 people.[233] The
epicenters of these earthquakes are located near Tulunan, Cotabato.
 October 18 – The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Senator Richard J. Gordon, announced
and recommended the filing of criminal charges against former PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde and the
13 cops who were involved in an irregular drug operation in Pampanga in 2013.[234]
 October 31 – Cebu City has been selected to be part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Network of Creative Cities.[235]
November[edit]
 November 5 – President Rodrigo Duterte has designated Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chairperson
of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD), to handle the government’s war on
drugs.[236]
 November 6 – The Department of Justice (DOJ) grants refugee status to Iranian beauty queen Bahareh
Zare Bahari, who had sought asylum in the Philippines for fear of death or detention in her home
country.[237][238]
 November 8:
o The Supreme Court extends the deadline for the ruling on the cases against Datu Andal "Unsay"
Ampatuan Jr. and nearly 200 others tagged in the massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao province
on November 23, 2009.[239][240]
o President Rodrigo Duterte abolishes the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission (PRRC), after he
transferred the river's rehabilitation to the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR).[241][242][243]
 November 11 – Six soldiers were killed while 20 others were wounded in a firefight against the New
People's Army in Sitio Bangon, Brgy. Pinanag-an, Borongan City, Eastern Samar.[244][245]
 November 15 – The Sandiganbayan finds former Isabela governor Grace Padaca guilty of malversation
of public funds and graft in connection with the granting of P25 million to a private entity for Isabela's
rice program.[246][247]
 November 18 – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Phivolcs said that the
earthquake happened 9:22 pm, with the epicenter Kadingilan, Bukidnon The earthquake, which was
tectonic in origin, had a depth of 10 kilometers and was felt in the following areas.[248]
December[edit]
 December 2 – Typhoon Kammuri (Tisoy) hits the provinces in Southern Luzon, Bicol
Region and Visayas, leaving massive damage to agriculture estimated at ₱3.67-billion, and reported
death toll of at least 17 people.[249][250][251]
 December 7 – Majority of residents of the then-named Compostela Valley approve a law (Republic Act
No. 11297) changing the name of their province to Davao de Oro in a plebiscite.[252][253][254][255][256][257]
 December 8 – Pope Francis names Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the new prefect of
the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which is regarded as the second most important
position in the Vatican.[258]
 December 15 – A magnitude 6.9 earthquake hits Matanao, Davao del Sur killing 7 people and injuring
100 others. It is the 5th earthquake to hit Mindanao in the span of 3 months.[259]
 December 19 – Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes serves
her judgment on the Maguindanao massacre case at a special court session held at Camp Bagong
Diwa in Taguig City. In the verdict, the Ampatuan brothers, Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. and Zaldy
Ampatuan, and 28 co-accused are convicted of 57 counts of murder and sentenced to reclusion
perpetua (40 years) without parole; 15 are sentenced to 6-10 years for being accessories to the crime;
while 55 others are acquitted, including one of the main suspects, incumbent mayor of Shariff Saydona
Mustapha, Maguindanao Datu Sajid Islam Ampatuan.[260]
 December 24 – Typhoon Phanfone (Ursula) hits the provinces in Southern Luzon and Visayas, especially
the areas hit earlier by another typhoon, leaving damages worth at least a billion peso, and reported
death toll of 50 people (as of Dec. 31).[261][262][263]