Daily News Highlights – August 26, 2015 Edition

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong dissolved parliament on Tuesday, August 25, paving the way for a snap election on September 11. Lee and his ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is seeking a new mandate from voters. The PAP is largely expected to retain political control of the government, but faces challenges from an invigorated opposition. The PAP is betting its chances on the high public satisfaction of the current government, particularly following the celebrations of Singapore’s 50th founding anniversary, and the weakness of the fragmented opposition. All eyes will on whether the opposition can gain more than the seven seats it currently holds.

 Read the full story on Rappler.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said Tuesday, August 25, it will follow the orders of President Benigno Aquino III to stop the physical inspection of balikbayan boxes and instead subject all boxes to x-ray scans and K-9 examination. Aquino issued the directive on August 24 in response to public outrage and criticism of the government’s seemingly arbitrary approach to taxing the contents of balikbayan boxes. In a statement on Tuesday, Customs Commissioner Alberto “Bert” Lina said the BOC will ensure the “necessary checks, balances, and [make sure] witnesses are present in the event that a physical inspection is made.” Lina earlier appealed to the public to honestly declare the content of boxes and parcels so the government could levy the correct taxes. But the public has hit back saying that customs and postal officials routinely open balikbayan boxes and even pilfer items inside. 

Read the full story on Rappler.

A word war of sorts has erupted within the halls of the Supreme Court (SC) as Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin continued his attack against Justice Marvic Leonen on Tuesday, August 25. In his 5-page rejoinder submitted to the SC en banc and leaked to the media, Bersamin said that Leonen violated the Court’s Internal Rules when he disclosed the “confidential” deliberation of the justices on Enrile’s plea for bail, which the high court granted. A day earlier, Bersamin filed a complaint against Leonen over the same incident. “He was a member of the minority. He should have stayed there. He should have confined himself to expressing his losing views. He should not fret and assail the process that he could not control from his side of the vote,” Bersamin stressed in bold and capital letters in his rejoinder. In his dissenting opinion posted on the Court website on August 19, Leonen narrated how the justices ended up voting on a draft decision different from what had been the subject of their previous deliberations.

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Motorists caught in traffic may have a new ‘patron saint’ to guide them home. On Sunday, August 23, former Manila archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales single-handedly untangled a traffic jam in Sto. Tomas, Batangas during a typhoon. After being trapped for over an hour, the retired cardinal took matters into his own hands and walked nearly a kilometer to find out what was causing the nearly two kilometer traffic jam. He found 6 cars fighting over two lanes. “I said to myself: ‘we cannot take this anymore,’” Rosales told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday, August 25. The 83-year-old cleric then proceeded to direct the cars and force them to back up, clearing the jam. The drivers of the vehicles later spotted the crucifix sticking out of his raincoat and got out of their vehicles to kiss his ring – a sign of respect for Catholics. Needless to say, the traffic sinners sought forgiveness.

Read the full story on Rappler.

The fundamentalist Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, released images on Tuesday, August 25 of its destruction of the Baal Shamin temple in Palmyra, an ancient city in Syria and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The series of images show militants placing barrels and small containers, presumably containing explosives, into the temple. According to various sources, the temple was reportedly destroyed on Sunday, August 23. News of the destruction sparked international condemnation. ISIS fighters regularly destroy ancient works of art or artifacts believing that preserving them is a form of idolatry, banned by the Muslim faith. ISIS also beheaded the retired ex-antiquities chief in Syria’s Palmyra.

 Read the full story on Rappler.

Typhoon Goni slammed into the Japanese mainland on Tuesday, August 25, leaving 13 people with minor injuries and disrupting rail and flight services, as the government issued an evacuation advisory for more than 100,000 residents. The powerful storm, which killed at least 26 people in landslides and floods in the Philippines, hit southwestern Kumamoto prefecture at about 6 am local time (2100 GMT Monday), Japan’s weather agency said. Goni was moving just north of Kyushi, one of Japan’s 4 main islands, packing gusts of up to 198 kilometers. At the weekend, Goni hit parts of the northern Philippines hard, destroying nearly 1,000 houses and forcing more than 12,000 people to flee, the country’s civil defense office said.

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Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday, August 25, she was confident her opposition party would win Myanmar’s landmark elections if they are free and fair, but raised concern at the country’s overall progress towards democracy. It will be the first nationwide poll the National League for Democracy (NLD) has contested for 25 years in a country strait-jacketed for almost half a century under army rule. The party won by a landslide in 1990 but was barred by the military from taking power. But the veteran campaigner, who was held for years under house arrest by the former junta, said she was also “very concerned” about irregularities in the run-up to the polls, stressing that the long-cloistered country still has a long way to go before it can be called democratic. But she was clear the party, which is fielding over a thousand candidates across the country, would not “step back” from the elections. Suu Kyi, who turns 70 this year, is constitutionally barred from seeking the presidency.

Read the full story on Rappler.

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Tuesday, August 25 halted trading for 5 hours due to a technical glitch, the longest stoppage in the PSE’s history. Trading was stopped from 10:02 am to 2:55 pm. PSE President and CEO Hans Sicat however said that the stoppage had nothing to do with the global fall of stock prices. He added that a computer glitch that caused some terminals to receive information slower than other made it necessary for the PSE to halt trading. Despite the glitch, the Philippine peso gained 20.5 centavos against the US dollar on Tuesday, as currencies in the region bounced back together with major stock markets after Monday’s blood bath.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Even boy bands need to rest. That’s what the remaining four members of British-Irish pop phenomenon One Direction (1D) are going to do in 2016 as they announced plans to take a break sometime next year. Members of the band took to Twitter to assuage fears that the group was splitting up, saying “it’s just a break, we’re not going anywhere.” Fans of the band still expressed shock and sadness over the news. While others took it in stride and even gave advice to 1D fans: “It’s ok One Direction fans, I went through this with Take That & Boyzone,” wrote Twitter user @LisforLia. The band is currently touring North America. 

Read the full story on Rappler.

Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart has kept himself busy since retiring as host. Stewart, 52, hosted World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) SummerSlam event on Monday, August 24, inserting himself into a storyline by hitting John Cena with a chair and enabling Seth Rollins to win Cena’ United States title and retain his own WWE Heavyweight championship. The next night, Cena confronted the Peabody Award winner and promptly slammed him with his “Attitude Adjustment” finishing move. Stewart took the move well. It seems like retirement is nowhere near typical for the former stand-up comedian and political satirist. 

Read the full story and watch the takedown on Rappler.