Daily News Highlights – September 17, 2015 Edition

Senator Grace Poe, in the past months the front runner in presidential preference surveys, announced on Wednesday night, September 16, her bid for the highest post in the 2016 elections. Poe, in her declaration speech, mentioned her 20-point general plan of action. The plan is practically similar to the policies and programs of Aquino. They shared the similar views on infrastructure, issues on the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), tourism, and climate change. Poe, however, took the popular route and pushed for lower income tax rates for citizens, something that the President himself opposed. The senator also pushed for the FOI measure, which Aquino promised in 2009 during his campaign but remained languishing in Congress to date.

Read the full story on Rappler. 

Read Grace Poe’s Speech in Filipino and English on Rappler. 

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero accepted the “challenge” to be the running mate of declared presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe on Thursday, September 17, reiterating that they would remain without a political party. He said a Poe-Escudero tandem will establish a “Gobyernong may Puso” (Government with a Heart), a play on the his standard-bearer’s initials. At Thursday morning’s event, Escudero ended his speech the same way Poe did when she declared her presidential bid the day before, September 16: “Ako si Chiz Escudero. Buong pagpapakumbaba ko pong inaalay ang aking sarili bilang inyong ikalawang pangulo.” (I am Chiz Escudero. I humbly offer myself as your vice president.) 

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Vice President Jejomar Binay laughed away the roasting he got from University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) students, and netizens’ criticism of his answers at the UPLB forum held on Tuesday, September 15. A day after the event, the opposition leader clarified that he was not offended even if students shot back at him, and challenged his response to hard-hitting questions. The premier state university is known as a hotbed for activism and critical thinking. True to form, students asked Binay to explain the presence of informal settlers in Makati, corruption allegations against him, and his stand on agrarian reform, labor, political dynasties and human rights violations.

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A strong 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the center of Chile on Wednesday, September 16, US seismologists said, triggering a tsunami alert that stretched to Peru and the evacuation of coastal areas. There were no immediate reports of injury or major damage, a government emergency agency said. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) put the shallow quake at a magnitude of 7.9 and said it hit just 228 kilometers (about 140 miles) from the capital Santiago. It had a depth of 8 kilometers and hit at 7:54 pm (2254 GMT), USGS said, also reporting two aftershocks, both above 6.0.

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Malaria deaths worldwide have fallen by 60% since 2000, the UN said Thursday, September 17, with improved diagnostic tests and the massive distribution of mosquito nets aiding dramatic progress against the disease. Fifteen years ago, an estimated 262 million malaria cases killed nearly 840,000 people. Projections for 2015 indicate that some 214 million cases are likely to cause 438,000 deaths, according to a joint report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF). Had malaria infection and death rates remained unchanged since 2000, another 6.2 million people would have died, according to the report.

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President Muhammadu Buhari told Agence France-Presse on September 16 that Nigerian authorities were talking to Boko Haram prisoners in their custody and could offer them amnesty if the extremist group hands over more than 200 schoolgirls abducted last year. The Nigerian leader added that he was confident “conventional” attacks by the group would be rooted out by November – but cautioned that deadly suicide attacks, some of them waged by children, were likely to continue. “The few (prisoners) we are holding, we are trying to see whether we can negotiate with them for the release of the Chibok girls,” Buhari said in an interview in Paris during a 3-day visit to France. “If the Boko Haram leadership eventually agrees to turn over the Chibok girls to us – the complete number – then we may decide to give them (the prisoners) amnesty.”

Read the full story on Rappler.

Rules covering minimum speeds for services advertised as “mobile broadband” will be released by November, the Philippines’ telecommunications regulator said on Tuesday, September 15, as it finalizes a draft that will integrate feedback from several groups. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is looking at a minimum advertised speed “slower than fixed broadband’s 256 kbps (kilobytes per second)” for mobile broadband services, its regulations director Edgardo Cabarios said on the sidelines of a public hearing in Quezon City on Tuesday. These draft rules came after the NTC on August 13 signed Memorandum Circular No. 07-08-2015, stating that “fixed-line broadband,” such as DSL, fiber, and cable must have data connection speed of at least 256 kilobits per second (kbps) – the standard of the International Telecommunications Union.

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The UN Security Council strongly condemned the detention of Burkina Faso’s interim president and prime minister by the presidential guard Wednesday, September 16, and demanded they be released. Presidential guard members linked to ex-leader Blaise Compaore burst into a cabinet meeting and seized President Michel Kafando, Prime Minister Isaac Zida and two ministers. The council “condemned in the strongest terms” the forceful detention and “demanded that they be released safely and immediately.” Council members expressed their strong support for the interim president, the prime minister and the transitional government. The interim administration has been charged with running the poverty-stricken Sahel nation until presidential and legislative elections are held, the first round of which is to take place on October 11.

Read the full story on Rappler.

A Muslim teen was led out of a Texas school in handcuffs after a teacher mistook his homemade digital clock for a bomb, prompting accusations of Islamophobia and an online backlash Wednesday, September 16. A photo of Ahmed Mohamed, 14, standing in handcuffs while wearing a T-shirt with the US space agency NASA’s logo was retweeted thousands of times. Mohamed told The Dallas Morning News that he was just trying to impress his teachers when he brought the clock to MacArthur High school on Monday. “My hobby is to invent stuff,” he said in a video posted on the paper’s website that was filmed in his electronics-filled bedroom. “I made a clock. It was really easy. I wanted to show something small at first… they took it wrong so I was arrested for a hoax bomb.”

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The iconic musical Les Miserables is coming to Manila, and the Philippines’ very own Rachelle Ann Go will return home to star as the hapless, tortured soul Fantine. The show will begin its run March 2016. Rachelle made her debut as Fantine on the West End stage in June 2015. Rachelle was previously in West End’s Miss Saigon, where she played Gigi Van Tranh, a role which has earned her a number of accolades. Joining Rachelle Ann, following a recent Australian Helpmann Award win as the iconic Jean Valjean is Simon Gleeson. Opposite him, Javert will be played by Earl Carpenter, directly from his performance of the role in the Broadway company of Les Mis.

Read the full story on Rappler.