July 24, 2012 Edition

July 24 is Day One of the public interviews for the next Chief Justice of the Philippines’ Supreme Court. The first set of contenders are Presidential Commission on Good Government chair Andres Bautista, Prof Soledad-Cagampang de Castro; Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, De La Salle Law School dean Jose Manuel Diokno, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, and UP Prof Katrina Legarda. They face grilling by members of the Judicial and Bar Council, the body that vets the nominees to the president Aquino who will, in turn, appoint the new Chief Justice. This top post in the judiciary was vacated in May after months long impeachment trial, which led to the historic ousting of former Chief Justice Renato Corona who was found guilty of betraying public trust and committing culpable violation of the Constitution.

Follow Rappler’s blog for live coverage

For schedule of the JBC public interviews and resume of the candidates, check this Rappler piece.

For more on Rappler’s coverage of the JBC proceedings, view #SCWatch.

To review Corona’s impeachment trial, view Rappler’s coverage.

Media-savvy Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, widely considered the frontrunner in the race for chief justice, admitted she is “a little bit tense” about her public interview on Day One of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC). She told Rappler she is counting on JBC, which vets chief justice nominees, not to ask “below-the-belt” questions. The interviews are from July 24 to 27, from 9 am to 5 pm in the division hearing room of the Supreme Court building in Padre Faura, Manila. They are aired live for the first time. The The JBC will accept complaints, reports, and opposition against the above aspirants until July 20.

Read more on Rappler.

For schedule of the interviews and resume of the contenders, check this Rappler piece.

Why power rates in the Philippines is the highest in Asia according to a 2012 survey of Japan External Trade Organization is a complex story explained in a 6-minute Rappler animate project. Shown in the illustration are the policies that tried to address technical, financial, business, and political issues that ranged from reactive to populist to idealistic. The sins of the past, the capital intensive nature of the power industry, market forces, and moves for cleaner energy sources make their way into the electricy bill, which have been going up instead of becoming more affordable. The country’s high power costs have plagued the Philippines’ ability to compete in the manufacturing sector and burdened Filipinos for decades.

Watch Rappler Animate on power rates.

President Aquino trumpeted the economic gains of the Philippines in the past two years he is at the country’s helm during his 3rd State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 23. Constantly referred to as “Aquinomics,” his administration’s good governance-led economic agenda has led the country into wild economic growth swings — from 7.3% in 2010 to 3.9% in his first full year in 2011, to a surprisingly high 6.4% in the first quarter of 2012, making it the second fastest growing economy in Asia next to China. He repeated efforts to push tourism, infrastructure, agriculture as pillars of his “Aquinomics.” Overall, events under his control and beyond have made their impact on his economic performance. Most of his big-ticket infrastructure projects are delayed, in effect adding a challenge in meeting tourism targets. The local economy remains highly dependent on remittance-led consumer spending, and missed recent waves on foreign investment opportunities in auto manufacturing. President Aquino steps down in 2016.

Read more on Rappler here, here and here.

Watch President Aquino deliver his 3rd Sona speech.

The Aquino government’s target of 10 million tourists by 2016 (from 3.9 million in 2011) is dependent on the performance of airlines, which in turn need aviation infrastructure to expand. These twin factors address the fact that the Philippines is an archipelago and almost 100% of tourists arrive by air. Aside from aggressive promotional fares of local airlines to tourism destinations, competition among industry players have also led to the announcement of new deals and tricks. Philippine Airlines, now under the management of conglomerate San Miguel Corp, is planning to deploy its brand new and larger aircraft to new destinations in Canada and North America, as well as Europe, barring regulatory challenges. Budget airline Cebu Pacific announced that meals will be offered in some flights, while AirAsia Philippines said P1 fares are available again.

Read more on Rappler here, here.

Read more on Rappler

China’s state-owned firms continue to flex their financial muscles. Its biggest offshore oil producer CNOOC is eyeing to snap up Canadian rival Nexen in a US$15-billion deal, which, if approved, would mark China’s largest foreign business takeover. CNOOC is reportedly willing to pay a 60% premium per Nexen share. The ball is now with the Canadian government, which needs to clear the deal. CNOOC, which already operates a number of joint ventures with Nexen, said the deal would boost its oil reserves by 30%. This would be CNOOC’s 3rd deal in Canada, after it bought stakes in oil sand developer MEG Energy and oil sands firm Opti Canada. Philippines’ Philex Mining Corp. is also eyeing a partnership with CNOOC for the natural gas deposits in Reed Bank in the South China Sea.

Read more on BBC.

Typhoon Vicente, packing winds of over 140 kilometers an hour since July 23 midnight, has battered Hong Kong, one of Asia’s financial powerhouses. Authorities raised the typhoon warning to the most severe level of 10 for the first time since 1999. The Hong Kong stock exchange delayed the opening of trading on July 24 until authorities gave the all-clear that it was safe to go to work. The storm has since passed but in its wake are delayed flights, over 100 people hurt, trees ripped from the ground, and ferry, bus, and train services are suspended.

Read more on Rappler.

A stretch of highway in Syria is now called a “Street of Death” after months-long fighting between rebels and Bashar al Assad’s troops. The road straddles the Bab el Hawa highway, roughly halfway between the Turkish border and the Syrian commercial capital Aleppo, and where killings, torture, and infrastructure destruction have been aplenty. Meantime, in Iraq, 111 were killed on July 23, the country’s deadliest day in 2.5 years, after Al-Qaeda warned it would seek to retake territory and mount new attacks. In the deadliest incident — a string of roadside bombs and a car bomb followed by a suicide attack targeting emergency responders in the town of Taji — at least 42 people were killed and 40 wounded, medical officials said. The violence drew condemnation from the United Nations special envoy to Iraq, the country’s parliament speaker and neighboring Iran, while Washington slammed the attacks as “cowardly.”

Read more on Rappler

and CNN

London, the host of the 2012 Olympics that is only 4 days away, is trying to deal with jammed roads, creaking transport network, and packed key rail links to the park where the Games will be staged, frustrating thousands of commuters. River and canal routes are giving some reprieve.

Read more on CNN.

and Rappler.

Instagram, the mobile app used to enhance or dramatize photos, is adding the film industry in its portfolio of industries it is influencing. “Instagramers Montreal” is the new project of an advertising industry that is collating images to publicize the indie film of Montreal-based filmmakers David La Haye and Jay Tremblay called J’Espère Que Tu Vas Bien. About 87 Instagram-sourced movie “posters” taken by the app users who walk through the streets of the Canadian city will help publicize the film — an an 87-minute, single-shot journey through the same route. This “Insta-Walks” style is not new and will not likely be the last. Some brands have been tappling similar Instagram communities to publicize their products.

Read more on Business Insider.