US senator: Duterte gov’t should be held accountable for jailing De Lima

Metro Manila (AdChoiceTV News, October 5) — It is "right" for the United States to hold the Philippine government accountable for the "troubling" detention of Senator Leila de Lima, an American lawmaker said Friday.

Veteran US Senator Ed Markey backed colleagues who have been criticized by Philippine administration officials for proposing a ban on those involved in De Lima's imprisonment.

In a tweet, Markey said fellow Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy "are right to push for accountability in the Philippine government."

"America must continue to stand for human rights and good governance," Markey added, as he reiterated his call for De Lima's release.

"Sen. de Lima has been the target of very troubling partisan persecution. In an attempt to intimidate and silence voices critical of the government, de Lima has been jailed and not given the opportunity to defend herself," Markey said.

Markey was one of five senators who earlier filed a resolution at the US Senate calling on the Philippine government to immediately free De Lima. He was joined by fellow Democrats Chris Coons and Durbin, and Republicans Marco Rubio and Marsha Blackbur.

The resolution called De Lima a "prisoner of conscience," noting that the charges against her were filed because she repeatedly criticized President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs. Malacañang has denied going after De Lima for being a staunch critic.

De Lima has been detained since 2017 for allegedly abetting illegal drug trade in the national penitentiary during her term as Justice Secretary under the previous administration. She has maintained her innocence and accused the government of fabricating the cases against her.

A US Senate committee recently approved the proposal to deny entry to Philippine government officials behind De Lima's detention. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it was an affront to Philippine sovereignty, and even called Leahy "ignorant"of the country's laws and justice system.

Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III and colleague Christopher "Bong" Go suggested slapping US officials with a similar ban for interfering in the country's internal affairs.

Duterte said he will talk to American President Donald Trump if the controversial measure is passed prohibiting anti-De Lima officials from the US. - AdChoiceTV News

Forever 21 files for bankruptcy

(UPDATE) Fashion retailer Forever 21 Inc said on Sunday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to restructure its business, joining a growing list of brick-and-mortar players who have taken a hit from fierce e-commerce competition.

The company said it plans to exit most of its international locations in Asia and Europe, but will continue operations in Mexico and Latin America.

The retailer said it received $275 million in financing from its existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as agent, and $75 million in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners, and certain of its affiliated funds.

It lists both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to the court filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Since the start of 2017, more than 20 U.S. retailers, including Sears Holdings Corp and Toys 'R' Us, have filed for bankruptcy, succumbing to the onslaught of fierce e-commerce competition from Amazon Inc. 

AdChoiceTV Robi Chan contributed to this report.

US Coast Guard boosts operations in Pacific region

Manila Philippines - The United States Coast Guard is bolstering its presence in the Pacific region, in what could be a new tactic to counter Beijing's coast guard vessels in the South China Sea.

This comes following complaints from the Philippines and other island-nation of overfishing and dredging in the disputed waterway by China.

We obviously are aware and have been following the militia and some of the activity said Vice Admiral Linda Fagan, US Cost Guard Pacific Area Commander. This will maintain safety and security across the Pacific.  - AdChoiceTV News, June 11, 2019

AdChoiceTV News, Robi Chan reporting.

The Real Suspect of Central Park Five

New York - Netflix’s new miniseries, When They See Us, tells the story of Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, the men known as the Central Park Five. They were falsely convicted of the brutal 1989 rape of Trisha Meili, and spent between six and 13 years in prison. The identity of the real perpetrator, Matias Reyes, wouldn’t be known until 2002. Here’s the story of his crime spree, and how, years later, the truth came to light.

Who is Matias Reyes?
Reyes was born in Puerto Rico in 1971 and moved to New York City as a child, following his mother. School reports noted his IQ as being in the seventies and described him as being “emotionally disturbed.” He later told psychiatrists that he had been sexually assaulted as a small child. 

By the time he attacked Meili in April 1989, Reyes was 18 years old and working as a deli clerk in upper Manhattan. He was considered a loner, known primarily to customers at his shop. He spent his nights sleeping in a van near the store.


What crimes did he commit?
Reyes committed his first known attempted rape in late 1988, when he attacked a twenty-seven year old woman in the pews of a 90th street church. He threatened her with a knife and choked her, but she was able to persuade him not to rape her.

His next known attack occurred on April 17th, 1989. He attacked, beat, and began to rape a 26-year-old woman in northern Central Park before passersby interrupted and Reyes ran away. The woman described the man who assaulted her as having new stitches on his chin. After checking with local medical centers, a detective learned the name or Matias Reyes, who’d recently received facial stitches at Metropolitan Hospital. But the victim left the city shortly after the attack and the detective on her case was transferred away from the sex crimes unit, and the case went cold. Investigators never connected Meili’s rape to the similar attack that had occurred just two days earlier.

He assaulted five more women in the following months, forcing his way into their apartments. During one attack, Reyes murdered Lourdes Gonzalez, a pregnant mother-of-three, while her children listened from the next room.

How was he Caught?
On August 5th, 1989, Reyes followed his final victim into her 91st Street apartment and raped her. She managed to escape and run for help, summoning a neighbour and her doorman, who apprehended Reyes until police arrested him.

Authorities quickly identified him as the serial criminal named the East Side Slasher for the apartment invasion rapes, and Reyes confessed to the crimes in detail under interrogation. His DNA was later found to match that of three victims, including Gonzalez. Reyes accepted a plea bargain, agreeing to serve 33 years to life in prison. At his 1991 sentencing, he punched his lawyer and had to be carried out by guards. The judge recommended Reyes be imprisoned for life. 

When did he confess to attacking Meili?
Reyes first met Korey Wise, one of the Central Park Five, when the two were imprisoned together on Rikers Island. There, they got into a fight over the television. But the two encountered each other again in 2001, in the Auburn prison yard, and had a friendly conversation. Reyes felt guilty for the fact that Wise was still imprisoned for a crime he had committed, and came forward to confess to raping and nearly murdering Meili in 1989. 

“I know it’s hard for people to understand, after 12 years why a person would actually come forward to take responsibility for a crime,” Reyes said to investigators in 2002. "At first, I was afraid, but at the end of the day I felt it was definitely the right thing to do.”

DNA evidence confirmed that Reyes had raped Meili. The Central Park Five’s convictions were overturned, and the men eventually settled a civil rights lawsuit with New York City for $40 million. Reyes is still in prison.

AdChoiceTV, Robi Chan contributed to this report

U.S. to continue West PH Sea patrols despite China's disapproval

MANILA, Philippines – The United States will continue sailing in the South China Sea despite the opposition of China, US Navy chief Admiral John Richardson said on Thursday, May 16.

Speaking to reporters in a teleconference from Tokyo, Japan, Richardson said their fleets’ freedom of navigation will continue despite opposition from China.

“The United States Navy has been consistently present in the South China Sea for 70 years. Our operations there have really not fluctuated much over those 7 decades, including in recent times. And so we'll consistently be present. We have [a] tremendous amount of national interest,” Richardson said.

This comes after the US Navy was slammed by the Chinese government for sailing in May close to Gaven and Chigua reefs in the Spratly Islands, which Beijing calls Nansha.

China also rebuked the US in February after it sent two ships through the Taiwan Strait. The pass-by was seen by China as a breach of its sovereignty. The US, however, disputed this, saying they were simply sailing through international waters.

Richardson stressed that the operations are all consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It’s under the same convention that a Hague tribunal ruled in 2016 that China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea were illegal.

“We do this around the entire world, and the operations a dozen or so of these throughout the world, including contesting the excessive maritime claims of even our allies and partners,” Richardson added.

In early May too, navies from the Philippines, United States, India, and Japan flexed their muscles in the disputed South China Sea after coming together for the ASEAN-Plus Defense Ministers' Meeting Maritime Security Field Training Exercise. 

Rest assured, Richardson said, the operations were not intended to be “provocative” to the Chinese in any way. As the US Navy and Filipino fishermen have seen, however, Chinese sea forces are easily provoked. – AdChoiceTV News

It's snowing in Colorado, just days before summer break

AdChoiceTV News - It's...[checking calendar]...the 21st of May and there is snow on the ground in Denver, Colorado. 

We're not talking a light dusting, either: Monday's record-breaking spring storm dumped three inches of snow around the Denver airport, with other parts of the state getting as much as six inches of snow. 

Look, it's practically a winter wonderland in the middle of spring:

Believe it or not, it's not unusual for it to snow in the Mile-High City this late in the season. Denver averages around one inch of snow during the month of May, and it has snowed during May in 52 of the last 70 years. 

But, this MUCH snow is certainly not the norm. The Denver area has seen 3 inches of more of snow during May only 15 times in the last 70 years, or about once every four or five years.

So yes, it's totally normal to be alarmed by a healthy blanket of snow just a few days before schools let out at the end of the month. But, it IS Colorado, so there's always a risk of a little winter precipitation sneaking into your summer.

AdChoiceTV News Robi Chan contributed to this report