Rappler Newscast | November 12, 2012

Today on Rappler.

• Senator Sotto says there is no need to apologize after he used the Filipino translation of a Robert Kennedy quote without attribution. 
• The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front resume peace talks.
• The Supreme Court reverses its earlier decision allowing the live broadcast of the Ampatuan trial.

Story 1: ‘DAMNING EVIDENCE’ VS SOTTO: KENNEDY REBUKE
Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto says there is no need to apologize for using the Filipino translation of a Robert Kennedy quote without attribution.
Ayee Macaraig reports.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto laugh off renewed plagiarism complaints against the Majority Leader.
Academics plan to file an ethics complaint against Sotto Tuesday for 9 instances of plagiarism in his speeches against the Reproductive Health bill..
A letter from the daughter of former US Senator Robert F Kennedy released over the weekend forms part of the complaint.
Kerry Kennedy says Sotto’s translation of her father’s speech is a clear case of plagiarism.
She demands an apology but the senator says he got no official word about the complaint.

VICENTE ‘TITO’ SOTTO III, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Anong rereactan mo, baka imbento lang iyan ng mga aficionado na professional manipulator sa Internet.
Q: Will you issue a public apology? Huh, for what?

Professors from Ateneo, La Salle and UP want the Senate to acknowledge that Sotto made a mistake in plagiarizing online works.
But Sotto dismisses the case by invoking parliamentary immunity.
His ally, Enrile, backs him up.

VICENTE ‘TITO’ SOTTO III, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Wala iyan eh. Ano iyan eh, rehash. Pinag-usapan na natin ng September iyan eh.
JUAN PONCE ENRILE, SENATE PRESIDENT: How can they question you when you say anything here. Constitutional law iyon eh. I said that before not because of any arrogance of power. Those people who do not understand it, they’re ignorant of Constitutional law.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano says his Ethics Committee will still have to finalize rules for handling complaints by next week.

ALAN PETER CAYETANO, CHAIRMAN, SENATE ETHICS COMMITTEE: In any collegial body, that’s the balance, the balance that you’re not above the law and you cannot be arrogant with power but the balance also that you need a certain degree of statesmanship.

Committee member Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is open to looking into the case.
But for Sotto, it’s just the continuation of personal attacks against him.

AYEE MACARAIG, REPORTING: Will the Senate clear Sotto or not? Ultimately, it’s a numbers game. But even his colleagues admit accountability is at stake, and that is no laughing matter.
Ayee Macaraig, Rappler.  

Story 2: GOV’T, MILF RESUME PEACE TALKS
The peace panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front return to the negotiating table Monday for the 33rd round of Formal Exploratory Talks.
In a week-long session in Kuala Lumpur, the peace panels will flesh out details of the Three Annexes on Power-Sharing, Wealth-Sharing and Normalization of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
Government peace panel chair Marvic Leonen earlier said he is positive all three annexes will be finished before the end of the year.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal says the provisions on policing was the most difficult part of crafting the Framework Agreement.

Story 3: NO MORE AMPATUAN TRIAL LIVE BROADCAST
The Supreme Court reverses its June 2011 decision allowing live media coverage of the Ampatuan massacre trial.
The resolution, dated October 23 and released Monday, is due to a motion for reconsideration filed by Andal Ampatuan Jr.
He is one of the suspects in the killing of 58 people in Mindanao.
Ampatuan says a public trial will be a breach of his rights to equal protection and presumption of innocence.
The court says instead of a live broadcast, media can still monitor the proceedings via closed-circuit television.

Story 4: ‘PINOY’ KILLED IN RIYADH BLAST WAS SYRIAN
A Filipino driver initially identified as one of 22 people who died in a truck explosion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia turned out to be a Syrian national.
On Monday, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez says DNA tests will be conducted on two unidentified bodies to confirm if one of them belongs to Filipino driver Florentino Santiago.

RAUL HERNANDEZ, FOREIGN AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN: We just received a report last night by Ambassador [Ezzedin] Tago that the remains of the body that was identified by his brother-in-law turned out to be not him but that of a Syrian national.

Of the 11 Pinoys injured in the blast, only two remain in critical condition in the hospital.

Story 5: POVERTY A PRESSING ISSUE IN CAMSUR
In Camarines Sur, a successful city is an exception rather than the rule. The province is among the poorest in the country, providing a challenge for its next leader.
Natashya Gutierrez filed this video blog.

Of the 37 municipalities and cities of Camarines Sur, only one is considered urban by the National Statistical Coordination board – the independent City of Naga. Camarines Sur is very different from this city. In fact, Naga, busy, buzzing and successful is an anomaly.
The province of Camarines Sur is among the poorest in the country. Latest statistics show Camarines Sur in 2009 had a poverty incidence of 38.7%. Hardly any difference from 2003 with a poverty incidence of 38.3%. That’s a difference of only 0.4% in 6 years. In turn, health and education statistics in the province are also low. It is the 3rd province in the country with the highest number of poor families since 2003. This is what is at stake in the 2013 midterm elections. The need for poverty alleviation programs is clear. The province needs a leader that is committed to improving the poverty situation in the province or it will find itself again in the bottom of the list.
Natashya Gutierrez, Rappler, Naga City.

Story 6: AQUINO GOV’T LAUDS HISTORIC FTI DEAL WITH AYALA LAND
President Benigno Aquino witnesses the signing of a purchase agreement that seals one of the largest in the history of privatization of government assets.
On Monday, representatives of private developer Ayala Land Inc. and various government agencies complete the sale of Food Terminal Inc.
The 74-hectare parcel of agro-industrial property in Taguig City fetched a P24.3 billion price, more than double the government’s base price of P10.25 billion during the auction in August.
The government says proceeds of the sale will be used for the agriculture department’s modernization program and projects of the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Story 7: BBC CHAIR: BBC NEEDS ‘THOROUGH, STRUCTURAL, RADICAL OVERHAUL’
The chairman of BBC’s governing board says the network needs an overhaul after its chief executive resigned Saturday.
Director-General George Entwistle quit after BBC program Newsnight admitted it wrongly accused a politician of being a child abuser.
His resignation comes in the middle of ongoing probes on BBC management failings over a decision not to air a program about the sexual abuse claims involving late TV star Jimmy Savile.
BBC Trust chair Chris Patten says the network needs a “thorough, structural, radical overhaul.”
The BBC also reports its director of news, Helen Boaden, and her deputy, Stephen Mitchell, have “stepped aside.”
Reports say Boaden and Mitchell have been asked to give up their responsibilities pending an inquiry into the Savile scandal.

Story 8: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 4, It was another woman complaining about “harassing” emails sent by the biographer of the CIA’s director that tipped FBI agents chief spy David Petraeus was having an affair.
Paula Broadwell, Petraeus’ biographer, was the subject of a complaint of an unnamed woman whose relationship with the CIA director was not immediately known.
The New York Times says both women seemed to be competing for his loyalty, if not his affection.
While investigating the complaint, FBI agents discover exchanges between Broadwell and Petraeus which revealed they were having an affair.
The CIA chief, considered the most well-known and popular military leader since Colin Powell, resigned Friday.

At number 6, a moderate cleric who fled Syria now heads the opposition against President Bashar al-Assad.
52-year-old Moaz al-Khatib heads the National Coalition Forces of the Syrian Revolution led by the Syrian National Council.
Al-Khatib left for Cairo in July after being detained by Syrian authorities at least thrice since the revolution began.
In October, he called for a political solution to pave the way for the departure of the al-Assad regime with the least harm caused.
More than 35,000 have been killed in the fighting in Syria and more than 400,000 have been displaced.

At number 7, At least 12 are feared dead and dozens more injured as a result of a 6.8-magnitude quake that struck Myanmar Sunday.
A second quake of 5.6-magnitude strikes again Monday.
The strong quake caused a bridge under construction in Shwebo to collapse.
A goldmine in Sint Ku town collapsed killing 6.
The BBC reports five construction workers working on the Radana Thinga bridge in Shwebo are missing after a huge steel beam fell into the river.
Earthquakes are quite common in Myanmar.
The last strong one hit in March 2011, which left at least 75 dead.

And at number 10, Hollywood writer Michael Arndt, twice nominated for an Oscar, will write the next installment in the “Star Wars” series, according to Lucasfilms.
Arndt wrote the screenplay for “Toy Story 3” which was nominated for best adapted screenplay in 2010.
He also co-wrote the second film in the “Hunger Games” trilogy.
The BBC reports the latest installment in the “Star Wars” series will focus on a new generation of heroes.
Appearances by Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are possible, as with Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford.
In October, Disney announced its purchase of George Lucas’ Lucasfilms for over $4 billion.
The company also says it is producing 3 new films.

– Rappler.com

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• Rappler Newscast | November 9, 2012