Which leader will solve Metro Manila’s crippling traffic problem? With traffic jams costing the country P3 billion a day and forecasts of an ‘uninhabitable’ Metro Manila in 5 years, metro traffic appears to be one of the critical challenges the next president will need to address. Experts says the problem is political will, not financing. John Forbes, a senior adviser at the American Chamber of Commerce in Manila, says “funders are ready.” The nation’s improved credit rating will allow cheaper loans, as well as expected help from the Japanese government and multilateral lenders. What is stopping many projects going ahead, experts say, is the nation’s chaotic and corrupt democratic system, as well as a strangling bureaucracy, which prevent infrastructure development.

Read: Metro Manila traffic ‘most critical problem’ of next gov’t

Japan’s aging Emperor Akihito travels to the Philippines this week to visit World War II memorials, his latest pacifist pilgrimage which appears increasingly at odds with the government’s rightward drift. Akihito, 82, has made honoring Japanese and non-Japanese who died in the conflict a touchstone of his near 3-decade reign – known as Heisei, or “achieving peace” – and now in its twilight. In the Philippines, which saw some of the war’s fiercest fighting, Akihito and Empress Michiko will visit the national Heroes’ Cemetery and a memorial for Japanese war dead during a 5-day visit starting Tuesday, January 26. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meanwhile, wants to revise Japan’s war-renouncing “peace constitution”, seeing it as an embarrassing remnant of its WWII defeat and occupation by the United States.

Japan’s Akihito heads to the Philippines

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, the representative of Pope Francis in an international conference here, slammed abortion and death penalty as he opened the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC). Bo, who is also the archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, echoed the late pope John Paul II in rejecting the “culture of death.” He also challenged Catholics to live their faith, saying “The Mass of a devotee ends in an hour. The Mass of a disciple is unending.” More on this story through the link below.

Pope’s envoy at IEC 2016 hits death penalty, abortion

A week after he was booed by Cebuanos, Vice President Jejomar Binay attended the opening Mass for a huge Catholic event that began here Sunday, January 24. Binay received communion from the Pope’s representative, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, who led the opening Mass for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC). A high-profile event, the IEC draws the biggest names in the Catholic Church to talk about the most important form of worship for Catholics: the Eucharist, better known as the Mass. A few hours before Binay received communion from Bo, Monsignor Joseph Tan of the Archdiocese of Cebu said that while the IEC is open to everyone, the Catholic Church “will make sure that the IEC will not become a political event.” Read more.

Binay takes communion from Pope’s envoy at IEC

A project to build a “Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike” (LLED) east of the shoreline from Bicutan to Los Baños, also meant to protect Metro Manila from lake floods, is very dangerous, according to a geologist at the Manila Observatory. Geologist Kelvin Rodolfo, writes that if a large earthquake on the West Marikina Valley Fault ruptures the planned expressway-dike, ‘Metro Manila would be flooded catastrophically.’ He also says if the project is constructed and protects Metro Manila from lake-water floods, people living elsewhere along the lake will suffer, simply because the flood water will have to go somewhere. Rodolfo is Senior Research Fellow at Manila Observatory and Professor Emeritus of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In the article below, he notes that the first phase of the Expressway Dike project, from Bicutan to Calamba is already “proceeding with alarming rapidity.” Contracts are to be awarded this April.

Read Kelvin Rodolfo’s article: The dangerous Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike

With 9 days to go before the Iowa caucus, US conservatives are torn between billionaire frontrunner Donald Trump and maverick Senator Ted Cruz. There are 12 Republicans still in the White House race but the two candidates are dominating the polls ahead of the February 1 caucus.  At the start of January, several polls had Cruz in first place. The latest opinion poll, conducted by CNN among likely Republican voters, shows Trump with 37% support to 26% for Cruz. Florida Senator Marco Rubio follows with 14%. The margin of error is 6 percentage points. On Saturday, January 23, Trump and Cruz both made appearances in the small heartland state which is the first to vote in the US presidential nominations process. The 69-year-old real estate tycoon Trump and the 45-year-old Texas senator refused to attack each other until just recently. But Trump now calls his chief rival “a nasty guy” and a hypocrite for slamming New York values while taking money from donors in the Big Apple.

As Trump, Cruz battle for Iowa, Republican civil war brews

How do you celebrate without making to much trash? Start by choosing the right material for decorations. EcoWaste Coalition, an environmental watchdog group, says colorful banderitas (buntings) made from plastic bags may be nice to look at during during fiestas, but they present a problem when cleanups start. The bags are not only “extremely wasteful” and they contribute to the cost of garbage disposal, according to EcoWaste. Manila’s waste disposal cost the city P512.564 million (or $11.397 million) in 2013, making it second to Quezon City’s P994.590 million ($22.115 million).  The group expressed this concern following the use of plastic bags as decorations for the Feast Day of the Holy Family on Sunday, January 24 in San Andres, Manila. This is not the first time EcoWaste expressed this concern. During the Black Nazarene procession, the group also lamented the trail of trash that was left in the wake of the event. After the Traslacion, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said there were 30 truckloads of garbage. More on this in the stories below.

Plastic banderitas ‘extremely wasteful’ – watchdog 

Tons of trash during Traslacion ‘deplorable’ – watchdog 

New Year trash in Manila: ‘Totally unacceptable’

The jailed leader of Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, Sheikh Ali Salman who is currently serving 4 years for inciting disobedience, could face new charges over messages posted on his Twitter account. Salman is the leader of Al-Wefaq, a Shiite party in the Shiite-majority but Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom. He has been referred to the public prosecution following violations posted on his Twitter account, the authorities announced Sunday on the official BNA news agency. It was unclear whether Salman was himself tweeting from prison, or how. Al-Wefaq denouncing the move for violating the Bahraini constitution as well as international covenants related to freedom of opinion and expression. The party said Salman’s tweets “focused on the values of peace and love”. It said they shared quotes by American civil rights leader Martin Luther King “about freedom and justice”. Read more. 

Jailed Bahrain opposition chief in trouble over tweets

Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach is giving Filipinos yet another reason to love her. She’s been championing HIV/AIDS awareness, fighting cyberbullying, and getting involved in disaster relief operations. Now she is pushing for one more thing – wearing Filipino designers during her reign. In an interview with the media after her grand press conference at Novotel Sunday, January 24, Pia showed off the outfit she wore by designer Albert Andrada, who made her now famous blue gown at the competition. She happily shared that she got the approval from the Miss Universe organization to wear more outfits from designers from the Philippines. Read more!

Pia Wurtzbach to wear more Filipino designs during reign

‘The Tomorrow Children,’ an open world sandbox adventure video game developed by Q-Games, ended its closed beta on on Saturday, January 23, and our reviewer says she is “still  trying to wrap my head around its strangeness.” The game carries a very Red mix of Minecraft gameplay, Pixar-like animation, and heavy Soviet Russian themes. As a result, the game’s imagery and mechanics are different from many popular games played today. The game went on closed beta online for a brief period, fromJanuary 21 to 23. For more, read the review by Rappler’s contributor, Michaela Nadine Pacis.