September 18, 2013 Edition

According to the records of PDAF scam whistleblower Benhur Luy, Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile received millions in kickback money from disbursements to bogus NGOs. In the formal complaint filed by the Justice Department before the Ombudsman, Estrada received more than P183.7 million over the course of 8 years from 2004 to 2010. The money was received by his staff members Pauline Labayen and Ruby Tuason, who have also been charged for plunder. While Estrada is said to have received money most recently, it is Revilla who is said to have gotten the biggest amount in kickbacks. Revilla is reported to have collected P224,512,500 million pesos over the course of 4 years, or half the time Estrada is said to have worked with Napoles. Enrile received P172,834,500 million total through his chief of staff, Jessica “Gigi” Reyes and Tuason. All 3 senators have denied involvement in the pork barrel scam and have vowed to face the charges against them.

 

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Zamboanga City OIC police chief Senior Supt Jose Chiquito Malayo was taken hostage and later freed on September 17, Tuesday by MNLF fighters. But instead of emerging shell-shocked, the police officer returned with a group of 23 MNLF fighters. On Tuesday, Malayo and two other officers went to clear a barangay in the city of MNLF fighters when he was reportedly taken hostage. It hugely dampened a day that was otherwise upbeat due to the earlier release of over a hundred hostages. Malayo said that when he encountered the fighters, they started talking. The group of MNLF members that supposedly hostaged Malayo came from Basilan. This piece of information was a source of comfort for him, because this group is supposedly not known to be involved in terrorist acts. The surrendered fighters underwent an intelligence debrief.

 

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More than 100,000 people have been displaced by the intensified fighting between government troops and members of the Nur Misuari faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Mampang Village, Zamboanga City. Figures from a recent report by the Philippine National Police Region 9 peg the number of evacuees as of Tuesday September 17 at 126,407, spread out over 30 evacuation centers in Zamboanga City. The death toll from the week-long clashes rose to 99 on Tuesday. The figure includes 86 from the MNLF, 9 from the police and military and 4 civilians. Tuesdays clashes came a day after the military declared that 70% of the battle zone had been cleared.

 

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It will take time before the Philippines’ high economic growth can make a major dent in poverty. Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares admitted this at a conference Tuesday, September 17, as she appealed to the public to bear with government while it addresses the problem. Henares said Filipinos are an impatient people, and cited rapidly developing countries such as India and China that still need to deal with massive poverty despite their growing economies. The Palace also acknowledged the government “needs to do more” to achieve its poverty targets. Latest government data showed poverty incidence hardly improved from 2006 to 2012 despite the country’s stellar economic performance. As of the first semester of 2012, poverty incidence was at 27.9%. The Aquino government has set a target of cutting the number of people living in poverty to 16.6% by the end of 2015, down from 27.9% last year.

 

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The operator of the leaking Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday, September 17, that it dumped more than 1,000 tons of polluted water into the sea after a typhoon raked the facility. Typhoon Man-yi smashed into Japan on Monday, September 16, bringing with it heavy rain that caused flooding in some parts of the country, including the ancient city of Kyoto. The rain also lashed near the broken plant run by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), swamping enclosure walls around clusters of water tanks containing toxic water that was used to cool broken reactors. Some of the tanks were earlier found to be leaking contaminated water. The utility said about 1,130 tons of water with low levels of radiation — below the 30 becquerels of strontium per liter safety limit imposed by Japanese authorities — were released into the ground. Strontium is a potentially cancer-causing substance that accumulates in bones if consumed. Thousands of tons of water that was poured on the reactors to tame meltdowns is being stored in temporary tanks at the plant, and TEPCO has so far revealed no clear plan for it.

 

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The Reproductive Health (RH) law, currently under debate in the Supreme Court, will certainly have many implications oh health, social norms, and the economy. Many people are concerned that the RH law will facilitate sexual initiation or the onset of first sexual experience. But according to data, Filipinos are having sex earlier than their Asian neighbors such as Vietnam and Taiwan. On average, Filipinos have their first sexual encounter a while after they turn 17. This is still older than many developed countries. This indicator is not conclusive but shows that even without the RH law and more funding for sexual education, Filipinos are generally above the regional average in terms of sexual debut. There are also other scientific studies that suggest there is no basis for the fear that sexual education will promote sex and promiscuity.

 

For the full details, read Anton Avanceña’s piece on Rappler.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday, September 17, he will press the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China to take joint action on the Syria crisis at a meeting next week. He made the announcement as UN envoys from the five permanent Security Council members failed to overcome divisions over a resolution on destroying Syria’s chemical weapons. The five major powers have been split over the Syria war ever since protests against President Bashar al-Assad started in March 2011. The UN leader said he would meet with the foreign ministers of the five key nations in New York next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit. UN officials said the meeting would be on September 25. The UN recently released a report saying there was no doubt sarin gas was used in an attack that killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children in a suburb of Damascus.

 

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A 41-year-old Filipina nurse in Riyadh died August 29 of Mers, or corona virus, a new respiratory disease monitored worldwide but has hit Saudi Arabia worst. “Mers” stands for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which has an extremely high fatality rate of more than 51%. There is still no vaccine for it. It is considered a cousin of the Sars virus that erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected 8,273 people, 9% of whom died. The World Health Organization (WHO) has monitored 49 deaths from Mers as of August, with 43 of them in Saudi Arabia, according to various reports. Another Filipina is currently confined at the same hospital after testing positive for Mers-COV but is now recovering.

 

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Parts of Luzon’s western seaboard will experience a rainy Wednesday, September 18, as Tropical Storm Odette (international codename Usagi) continues to affect the southwest monsoon. As of 4 pm Tuesday, September 17, Odette was located 815 kilometers east of Tuguegarao City (17.5°N,130.5°E), carrying maximum winds of 65 km/h and gusts of up to 80 km/h. The system is forecast to remain almost stationary in the next 24 to 36 hours, making state weather bureau PAGASA to lower the storm signal earlier hoisted over Cagayan. With the enhanced southwest monsoon, the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, Cavite, Batangas, and the island of Mindoro will have cloudy skies with moderate to occasionally heavy rain and thunderstorms, the bureau said.

 

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The billionaire media mogul who brought Miss World to Indonesia lashed out at the government Monday for bowing to Muslim hardline pressure by moving the entire beauty pageant to Bali. Hary Tanoesoedibjo, head of MNC media group, said that while the decision is final, it sends the wrong signal about Indonesia. “This will create the perception that we are not strong enough and that a decision can instantly be changed just because of some kind of pressure,” said the mogul, who has a fortune of US$1.7-B, according to Forbes. Authorities in Indonesia have changed or cancelled events in the past due to opposition from Islamic radicals — most notably in the case of pop star Lady Gaga who called off a show in Jakarta in 2012 following protests. The 47-year-old, whose empire includes TV stations and newspapers, also said the government’s decision would cause “a significant loss” to MNC.

 

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