Rappler Newscast | March 12, 2013

Story 1: CARDINALS IN VATICAN FOR HISTORIC CONCLAVE
Cardinals gather in the Vatican Tuesday for the conclave that will elect the next leader of the Catholic Church.
The 115 cardinal electors assemble in the Sistine Chapel, where they will be completely cut off from the outside world until they find the 266th pope.
The prayers begin with a special mass in St Peter’s Basilica.
In the homily, Dean of Cardinals Angelo Sodano calls for Church unity and cooperation.
He says the last popes have been “tirelessly promoting justice and peace” and hopes the future Pope will continue the work “on the world level.”
He adds, “Let us pray the Lord will grant us a Pontiff who will embrace this noble mission with a generous heart.”
The cardinals will hold a first round of voting later on Tuesday, but the Vatican said it expects the smoke from the burning of the ballots to be black, indicating there has been no decision.
The smoke turns white if a pope is elected and the cardinal has accepted his nomination.
At least 77 votes or a two-thirds majority is needed to elect a pope.
Vatican observers say there is no clear frontrunner to succeed Benedict, though three candidates emerge as favorites: Italy’s Angelo Scola, Brazil’s Odilo Scherer and Canada’s Marc Ouellet, all of them conservatives in the same mold as Benedict.
But the Vatican rumor mill also cites cardinals from Austria, Hungary, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa and the United States– many of them inspiring pastoral figures in their communities.

Story 2: TAGLE’S INFLUENCE EVIDENT IN HOMETOWN CAVITE
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is seen as a remote contender in the search for a new pope.
As Cardinals go into conclave, Katherine Visconti travels to Tagle’s hometown and files this report.

Luis Antonio Tagle — called the “great Asian hope” for the papacy — is in Vatican City to elect a new pope in the conclave.
In his hometown of Imus Cavite, you don’t have to look far for traces of Tagle – the priest and the person.
Here in the town center there is a monument showing his father’s long lineage in Imus.
Tagle and politician Dick Gordon share a common ancestor — General Jose Tagle.
Like the cardinal, the general was described as a man who came from a good family but lived a simple life.
Tagle grew up about a block from the town center.
He was raised in this house by middle-class parents who worked in a bank and were devout catholics.
Tagle’s parents are not there when we visit.
His aunt’s house looks empty.
And many of those who worked with Tagle at the parish refuse to talk.
Staff at the cathedral where Tagle served as Bishop say Tagle ordered them to refuse media interviews until a new pope is named.
The church frowns upon speaking to media before the conclave and overtly campaigning for the papacy.
Tagle– known for being an approachable and modest pastor– is a local legend.
He once rode a tricycle at dawn to deliver Simbang Gabi mass after the priest who was supposed to say mass got sick.
Tagle’s photo is everywhere at the local Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic school — proof of his support for children.
The principal says it is thanks to Tagle’s influence that a wealthy patron donated the lot where the school now stands.
The most intimate view about the Philippines’ top catholic leader comes from his old friend.
He says that even as a teenager Tagle was disciplined.
Tagle is known in Imus for his baritone voice at mass.
As a teenager, he loved music.
Tagle had simple tastes.
It is clear that the simple, disciplined and kind cardinal has endeared himself to Imus.
Will the Vatican will love him as much?
Katherine Visconti, Rappler Imus Cavite.

Story 3: PINOYS FLEE SABAH
Government prepares to assist refugees from Sabah following the standoff between Malaysian security forces and Filipino gunmen.
Officials from the departments of social welfare, agriculture, trade, and interior and local government meet in Camp Crame as they expect the return of thousands of Filipinos to the country.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas says 1,500 have returned.
He adds, “We don’t know when evacuees will flock back…It’s possible that tomorrow, there will be 10,000 right away.”
DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman says there are teams in Lahad Datu, Sabah to check on Filipinos in evacuation centers there.

Story 4: ARMM MANAGING ARRIVALS OF FILIPINOS FROM SABAH
The ARMM rushes to remedy the situation as supplies run short in Tawi Tawi and more refugees from Sabah arrive.
Angela Casauay reports.

Congestion is not a problem in Tawi Tawi evacuation centers.
Evacuees from Sabah choose to go back to their hometowns as soon as they can.
The situation calls for a different form of crisis management.
The provincial government provides them with a meal upon arrival and then gives the returnees cash for their travel back home.
Of the estimated 1,500 Filipinos who fled Sabah, about 250 are in Tawi-Tawi.
Some 500 evacuees from Taganak Island are also expected to arrive in Bongao this week.

SADIKUL SAHALI, TAWI-TAWI GOVERNOR: Ngayon kako kayang-kaya pa naming pero kung tuloy-tuloy ito, maybe makarating tayo sa number na hindi na natin kaya, we request the national government to come and rescue us. (Now, we can still accommodate the returnees but if this continues, maybe if we arrive at a number we can’t handle, we request the national government to come and rescue us.)

A week after the first batch of evacuees arrives in Bongao, the crisis management team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao consolidates efforts to manage arrivals.
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov Mujiv Hataman flies in.
The Interior & Local Government and Social Welfare departments take turns tracking the arrivals and assist the evacuees.
The government wants to closely monitor prices.
Prices are rising in Tawi Tawi after being cut off from Sabah — its most accessible source of supplies.
To mitigate the price increase and prevent a food shortage, the National Food Authority will monitor rice and food consumption and augment the shortfall.

MUJIV HATAMAN, ARMM GOVERNOR: Ano ang actual consumption and requirement given the crisis dahil ‘yun ang gusto nating bunuan para hindi tayo magkaroon ng food shortage dito sa Tawi-Tawi. (What is the actual consumption and requirement given the crisis because this is what we want to augment so we will not have a food shortage here in Tawi-Tawi.)

The provincial government says there is no food shortage in Tawi-Tawi.
Not yet anyway, They also say there is no need to declare a state of calamity.
But they also know the government needs to act fast to prevent these fears from becoming a reality.
Angela Casauay, Rappler, Tawi-Tawi.

Story 5: MALAYSIAN SOLDIER SHOT DEAD IN SABAH CLASHES
Filipino gunmen in Sabah shoot a Malaysian soldier Tuesday, the first military casualty since security forces launched an attack a week ago to end the standoff between Malaysian security forces and the Filipino group claiming Sabah.
The Malaysian armed forces chief says three gunmen also died in the shootout.
Malaysian police also confirm, one of the leaders of the Filipino claimants, former Moro National Liberation Front commander Haji Musa, was killed in earlier clashes.

Story 6: ‘TEAM PATAY,’ ‘TEAM BUHAY’ TARPS NOW IN CEBU
The controversial “Team Patay” and “Team Buhay” posters are now in churches in Cebu, the largest diocese in the country.
The posters campaign against pro-reproductive health law senatorial candidates.
The diocese denies it is responsible for the tarpaulins.
Witnesses say a group of laymen distributed the posters in several churches over the weekend.
Cebu has two versions of the posters: one that lists pro-RH and anti-RH candidates, and another that urges voters to reject pro-RH candidates who –quote —
“voted for the controversial RH Bill that is unconstitutional, immoral and promotes a culture of death.”
Aside from Cebu, 5 other dioceses followed the Diocese of Bacolod in distributing the posters.

Story 7: NORTH KOREA PLACES SOUTH KOREAN ISLAND IN CROSSHAIRS
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un threatens to “wipe out” a South Korean island.
Military tension on the Korean peninsula rises to its highest level for years with the communist state threatening nuclear war in response to UN sanctions imposed after its third atomic test last month.
North Korea also announces it’s unilaterally ending the 60-year-old Korean War armistice and non-aggression pacts with Seoul in protest of a joint South Korean-US military exercise that began Monday.
The latest threat to the border island of Baengnyeong, which has around 5,000 civilian residents, appears credible and carries the weight of a previous incident.
In 2010, the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan was sunk in the area of Baengnyeong killing 46 on board.
Later that year, North Korea shelled the nearby island of Yeonpyeong, killing four people.
An administrative official on Baengnyeong says civilian emergency shelters on the island have been fully stocked and all village councils put on high alert.

Story 8: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 5, Falkland Islanders on Monday vote overwhelmingly in favor of remaining a British overseas territory.
Some 92% of the islands’ 1,672 eligible voters turn out to deliver a 98.8% “yes” vote.
Some say the vote sends a strong message to Argentina, which earlier derided the poll as illegal.
Argentina, which invaded the islands in 1982 before its troops were ousted by a British task force, maintained its dismissive line on the vote.

At number 7, Venezuela faces a bitter election fight, with acting President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles in a flurry of name-calling.
On April 14, Venezuelans will vote for the successor of the late Hugo Chavez.
Thousands of Chavez’s supporters turn out to as Maduro officially registered his candidacy.
Chavez picked Maduro as his successor in his last public appearance before his cancer surgery in December.

And at number 8, In a report Tuesday, inspectors say British police ignored evidence of sex abuse by late TV presenter Jimmy Savile for 50 years.
A police investigation in January said Savile was a predatory sex offender who hid –quote– “in plain sight” behind his fame to rape and assault victims.