Wednesday, June 07, 2006 (Philippines)

Swat team members of the Cebu City police show to visiting officials of Haarlemmeermer led by Mayor Fons Hertog (second from right, background), techniques in making arrests. Haarlemmeermer in The Netherlands is a sister city of Cebu City. (Sunstar Cebu photo/Amper Campaña) MANILA - The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), granted the petition of former senator John Osmeña to withdraw his election protest against Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, who won against him over the 12th slot in the 2004 senatorial race. In a three-page resolution, the tribunal declared “closed and terminated” the electoral protest filed by Osmeña against Biazon and the counter-protest filed by Biazon against Osmeña. The SET, chaired by Senior Associate Justice Reynato Puno, gave merit to Osmeña’s petition stating that his protest will lead to nowhere because his main evidence “has already been tampered with and/or destroyed.” [full story]