[0:00]The proposal of Davao Mayor and Vice Presidential candidate Sara Duterte to mandate military service for all Filipinos turning 18 years old gets mixed reactions. Defense Chief Delfin Lorenzana believes the proposal has merits, but he says implementing this comes with a number of huge challenges, among them, funding and the lack of resources. Lorenzana notes, implementing the Reserve Officer's Training Corps program or ROTC in private and public schools is a better alternative. The armed forces meanwhile sees Duterte Carpio's plan to be a big boost in nation building. Akbayan Party list begs to differ. It describes the proposal as absurd and irrelevant, saying the government's focus should still be on COVID response. Sara Duterte and fellow vice presidential candidate Walden Bello trade barbs over the proposed mandatory military service. Bello initially slammed Duterte's idea, calling her a dictator in waiting. The Davao Mayor hit back by calling Bello an ungrateful citizen. She said she hopes the youth do not follow his example. This was Bello's reply. If they only bothered to do their research, that I have done more for protecting the sovereignty of the Philippines than most of these generals or even her father. She owes me an apology, but I'm not going to press it.
[1:36]Meanwhile, a political and governance expert also expresses reservations on Duterte's proposal. Where will we get the money for this? This proposal while initially may sound good, upon further testing of uh and reflection, it may not be a good idea after all. The only reason why I initially thought it was a good idea is because we have an imminent national security threat, which is uh, China.
[2:13]Meanwhile, nine Philippine policemen indicted by the Justice Department for the March 2021 killing of Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino. They are to be charged with four counts of murder and one count of frustrated murder. Prosecutors determined that Aquino and three of his companions were killed in an ambush and not in a shootout as earlier claimed by the accused officers. The incident prompted a Senate probe in which a police officer revealed they conspired with the slain mayor's political rivals to kill Aquino's close allies. The delayed printing of the ballots for the 2022 Philippine polls finally gets underway. The election commission says some 60,000 local absentee voting ballots will be printed first, Thursday evening. These ballots will not contain candidate's name since local absentee voting will be done manually. Voters will have to write the names of their preferred bets. The ballot printing was originally due to begin on January 15th. It was later rescheduled to the 17th, and then to the 19th, but the Comelec postponed it yet again, citing technical issues. The poll body is optimistic printing will be completed by April 21st. ABS-CBN enters into a multi-sectoral covenant to provide a credible coverage of the Philippine elections on May 9th. Johnson Manabat reports. Different organizations in the country once again partnered with ABS-CBN for the upcoming May 9, 2022 polls. Government agencies and the private sector expressed willingness to support ABS-CBN in delivering the latest news and help ensure comprehensive, fair and accurate coverage of the next elections. This year's covenant signing was done virtually because of the pandemic. ABS-CBN officials, election watchdogs and various sectors of society signed a covenant for the 2022 national and local elections. This include, the National Movement for Free elections or Namfrel, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible voting or PPCRV, Kontra-Daya, Legal Network for Truthful elections or Lente, and members of the academe and multiple media organizations. ABS-CBN Chairman Mark Lopez said the May polls is more critical for every Filipino. The pandemic compelled us to pause and reflect and reevaluate our priorities. It also made us explore new opportunities and transform our organizations. Meanwhile, the recent devastation caused by Super Typhoon Odette reminded us that our concerns extend far beyond the coronavirus. And that makes the upcoming elections even more critical for every Filipino. ABS-CBN integrated news and current affairs head Jin Reyes said, this covenant signing is very important in ensuring Filipinos experience safe elections. I have no doubt that we as partners can work together not only to deliver election related news and fight disinformation, but to encourage discussions on relevant issues and empower Filipinos to make their choices on election day. Reyes adds, since the shutdown of ABS-CBN broadcast services in 2020, the network had fast track its transformation and constantly pursued innovative ways in gathering and delivering the news. Currently, Reyes said, ABS-CBN News have more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube and almost 23 million followers on Facebook. And the company's online news website is number one in reach, particularly at a time when Filipinos needs to have access to news and information to help them make an informed decision. Fortunately, ABS-CBN's flagship newscast TV Patrol is on free television via the A2Z Channel 11. Our current reality is this, though. This is the first time we're covering a general election with extremely limited resources that's even aggravated by a raging pandemic and possible lockdowns and related restrictions. We appreciate your vigilance and commitment to the integrity of our electoral process. Thank you, thank you for your support during this very challenging time. We will share our content and knowledge with you so that together we can better serve our fellow Filipinos. This is why for University of the Philippines Vice President Elena Perna, Media's role is crucial for an enlightened citizenry. An enlightened citizenry is key to democracy. It bears repeating that our vote is a decision on our future, that everyone needs to be educated about the value of elections, about the candidates running for national and local positions. Why? Because the persons that we are going to give our vote to will have an impact on six years of our lives, and six years is a long time. In the meantime, the Armed Forces of the Philippines commits to an honest and peaceful elections. You can rely on the Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure honest, orderly and peaceful elections and we will partner with the Philippine National Police and Comelec to ensure that the will of the people will be manifested in this coming election. ABS-CBN continues to give election related news and other stories through its different online platforms. ABS-CBN News, TeleRadyo, ABS-CBN News Channel and Kapamilya Channel. You can also visit our official website, news.abs-cbn.com/halalan2022. Johnson Manabat ABS-CBN News.
