July 11, 2013

The peace talks between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government hit a wall on Thursday, July 11, with MILF peace panel chair Mohagher Iqbal saying it was all “fruitless talk.” The entire MILF panel left the negotiating table past 5 pm on Thursday without signing any document. After a closed-door caucus with her team, government peace panel head Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said, they were “still trying.” Both parties returned to the negotiating table on July 8 and were looking forward to reaching an agreement on wealth sharing (involving taxes, grants and natural resources) and the envisioned Bangsamoro political entity. Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Teresita Deles said they remained hopeful the talks would continue as long as both sides remain in a problem-solving mode.

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The Communications office of Malacañang spent P5.58 million for commissioned surveys in 2012, according to a report released by the Commission on Audit. It was the single biggest item in the 2012 expense report of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO). It accounted for 26.71% of the P20.88-million increase in the office’s budget for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, and was an entirely new item. No such expense was reported in its 2010 and 2011 expense breakdowns. The money spent went to private survey firms Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations. PCDSPO chief Ricky Carandang said his office subscribed to the surveys only in 2012 and that it was part of his function “to know and understand public opinion.”

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“Not guilty.” This is how 19-year-old Bostom bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded to 30 counts during his arraignment in a US federal court on Wednesday, July 10 (US time). The courtroom in Boston was filled with emotional victims of the April 15 bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line and a few others who said they were friends or supporters of the teenager. The bombings left 3 dead and more than 260 wounded. The pressure cooker devices were packed with metal fragments that caused several people on the scene to lose one or two more limbs. Tsarnaev is accused of plotting and carrying out the attacks with his 26-year-old brother Tamerlan, who died in a shootout with police. The trial is expected to last 3-4 months, with the next hearing set for September 23.

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More details are available from CNN.

Additional details are available from the BBC.

President Aquino approved a P2.268-trillion budget for 2014, following Cabinet deliberations that ended at 10:30 pm on Wednesday, July 10. The proposed budget will be submitted by the President to Congress when it opens on July 22, after he delivers his State of the Nation Address. Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said the budget’s thrust remains to be “inclusive growth.” The administration is “enhancing social protections and creating opportunities for employment by focusing on job generating sectors like manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, and agriculture, among others,” according to Carandang. The budget deliberations were earlier likened to a “thesis defense” by Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

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The number of dead or missing as a result of a runaway oil tanker train in Lac-Megantic, Canada has risen to 50, police announced on Wednesday, July 10. Quebec provincial pollice inspector Michel Forget told a press conference that the number of confirmed dead stood at 20, with 30 still unaccounted for. The train crash is said to be the worst in recent Canadian history. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MMA) chairman Edward Burkhardt said firefighters had unwittingly unlocked the train’s brakes when they doused a small fire and shut down the train’s engines. But Forget said the crash was likely the result of an engineer’s failure to set the brakes. The freight train tore through homes and businesses, as it rolled downhill without a conductor towards Lac-Megantic.

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Former San Juan Rep Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito-Estrada, who shelled out a little over P10 per voter, ended up spending the most per voter. This, despite the high recall of his father’s surname. Las Piñas Rep Cynthia Villar, whose husband sought the presidency in 2010, was next with her P9 per voter expense. The 3rd highest per-vote spender was Bam Aquino, former National Youth Commission chair and a relative of the President. Nancy Binay followed suit with P7.65 per voter, and SonnyAngara with P7.51 per voter. Rappler divided the declared campaign expenses of winning senators by the number of votes they got to determine the average amount they spent per voter. Findings showed that despite popular surnames and their relatives being incumbents, first-timers in the Senate race had to spend more than P6 for every voter convinced to vote for them.

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Despite public health campaigns, smoking remains the leading avoidable cause of death worldwide, killing almost 6 million people a year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, July 10. If current trends hold, the number of deaths that are blamed on tobacco use will rise to 8 million a year in 2030, the WHO said in a briefing. About 80% of tobacco-related deaths forecast for 2030 are expected in low- and middle-income countries, the report added. Among the dead this year, 5 million were tobacco users or former users, while more than 600,000 died from second-hand smoke, according to the WHO. Tobacco use is believed to have caused the deaths of 100 million people in the 20th century.

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A judge Wednesday, July 10, found Apple guilty of a price-fixing conspiracy for electronic books, saying the company “conspired to restrain trade” with publishers to boost the price of ebooks. Judge Denise Cote, who presided over a bench trial in New York, said in her opinion that “Apple is liable here for facilitating and encouraging the Publisher Defendants’ collective, illegal restraint of trade.” She ordered a new hearing to determine damages. Apple on Wednesday said it would appeal the decision.

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Almost 6 weeks after the Two Serendra gas explosion that killed 4, unit owners at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig are now required by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to self-inspect their gas systems. On Wednesday, July 10, the BFP consulted with residents, building owners, and Bonifacio Gas Corp – the sole provider of piped-in gas in Bonifacio Global City. The BFP said it would hand out a checklist for inspection throughout the week. According to BFP office-in-charge Carlito Romero, the checklist is designed so that if there was one “yes” answer to the questions on the list, it automatically means there was something wrong with the system.

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Lady Gaga, one of the most followed celebrities on Twitter, has indefinitely shut down her account. The international sensation’s picture is now of a Twitter egg along with a bio which reads: “This interface has been shutdown temporarily. Please check back for updates.” Tweets posted afterFebruary 6 have also been deleted. Her last post refers to her upcoming album “ARTPOP,” slated for release this year. Reports by Huffington Post reveal the remaining tweets came at a time when the singer was forced to cancel her “Born This Way Ball” tour due to surgery for a hip injury. After a legal battle over who discovered the star, Gaga took legal action to prevent possibly unflattering personal information from going public.

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