Rappler Newscast | May 10, 2013

Rappler.com

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Team PNoy and UNA hold Miting de Avance. Comelec to follow SC stopping money ban. PH may pull troops from UN peacekeeping force in Golan Heights.
Today on Rappler.
  • Team PNoy and the United Nationalist Alliance hold their final show of force before the May 13 polls.
  • The Commission on Elections says it will follow a Supreme Court order stopping the money ban.
  • The Philippines may pull its troops from a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights.

Story 1: #PHvote: TEAM PNOY MITING DE AVANCE 2013
With three days left before the midterm elections, the two main political coalitions hold their last show of force.
Natashya Gutierrez gives the highlights of administration slate Team PNoy’s miting de avance in Quezon City.

It’s their final campaign together as a team, they will be doing their own thing for instance. Sen Alan Peter Cayetano went back to Taguig…definitely the last as a full slate, last for the president. Aquino came here, endorsed his candidates, encouraged his voters 12-0, Franklin Drilon insisted there are no cracks in the team. What stands out for me is the fact that President Aquino came out there and really came with his team in every corner of the country, as Sen Drilon mentioned he actually came to 46 of 97 sorties. President Aquino was very active, really putting his political capital on the line, “This is my team, i need them to continue the reform. Please vote for them.”

In his speech, President Benigno Aquino presents the administration’s accomplishments and says progress will be quicker if he has allies in government.
He also slams the opposition, calling its members fake allies.

BENIGNO AQUINO, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: Naisasakatuparan po natin ang lahat ng pagbabagong ito dahil totoong nakatutok na ang gobyerno sa kapakanan ng mas nakakarami. Maski nga po ang nasa kabilang panig, hindi maitago ang pagsang-ayon sa mga tagumpay natin sa tuwid na daan. Sila mismo, hindi nila magawang tawagin ang grupo nilang tunay na oposisyon. Ang estilo nila, tila pinagmumukhang kakampi natin sila pero sa kilos at mga nakakubling motibo, malinaw kung san sila pumapanig. (We are able to accomplish all these changes because this administration is focused on improving the welfare of many. Even the opposition, they cannot hide their agreement with the victories of this administration’s straight path. They cannot even call themselves a genuine opposition. Their style is to look like our allies, but their actions and hidden motives betray their true bias.)

Story 2: #PHVOTE: UNA MITING DE AVANCE 2013
The opposition United Nationalist Alliance holds its own miting de avance in Manila and Makati.
UNA’s senatorial slate and the coalition’s “three kings” — Vice President Jejomar Binay, former President Joseph Estrada, and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile — are in Tondo, Manila for the main event.
Ayee Macaraig gives us the updates.

The first part of UNA’s Miting de Avance here in Tondo Manila is ongoing now, this is focusing mainly on the local candidates, that includes former president Joseph Estrada which is UNA’s candidate for mayor in Manila and his running mate incumbent vice mayor Isko Moreno. The two already spoke on stage, they focused on their platform which they already raised in the proclamation rally. Estrada’s priority will be peace and order in Manila, bringing back investor confidence and addressing what he said is the 3.5 billion peso debt of the city. It’s a feature of the Binay campaign, to prepare early but many analysts also say the momentum was really not sustained toward the end of the campaign. As we saw compared to President Aquino, UNA’s top leaders were mostly absent in the events of UNA not just in the sorties but even in the TV ads, which are very crucial in mounting a national campaign.

Story 3: SC STOPS COMELEC MONEY BAN
The Supreme Court stops the Commission on Elections from implementing its “money ban” Friday.
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno issues a status quo ante order, preventing Comelec from enforcing Resolution 9688, which limits cash withdrawals to P100,000 from May 8 to election day.
Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes says the ban will minimize vote buying.
But the Central Bank says it is reluctant to enforce the rule because it violates bank secrecy laws.
Bankers on Thursday asked the Court to stop Comelec from implementing the money ban.
President Benigno Aquino also said he did not give his approval for the poll body to implement the rule.

Story 4: COMELEC HEEDS SC ORDER VS MONEY BAN
The Commission on Elections says it will recognize the Supreme Court’s order stopping the implementation of a ban on cash withdrawals exceeding P100,000.
But Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes says it will raise a clarification before the high court.
He says the Supreme Court did not consider Comelec’s amended resolution that exempts those who regularly withdraw more than P100,000.
This is the Comelec’s 6th setback from the Supreme Court.
The Court has also issued orders against the Comelec’s decisions on the extended liquor ban, the party list system, “Team Patay” tarpaulins in Bacolod…
cuts on airtime limits; and a Comelec ruling to unseat Emmanuel Maliksi as mayor of Imus, Cavite.

Story 5: NAMFREL TO COMELEC: ACT ON VOTE BUYING
The National Movement for Free Elections urges Comelec to –quote– “take the lead” against vote buying in the days leading to the May 13 polls.
In a letter addressed to Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes, NAMFREL National Chairperson Corazon de la Paz-Bernardo challenges the poll body to create conditions –quote– “where vote buying and selling” is discouraged.
In the same letter, Namfrel submits over 20 cases of reported vote buying and selling in different provinces across the country, including a political gathering in Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, where audience members allegedly received P1000 in cash.
Namfrel calls on Comelec to act on the reports to send a clear message to voters and political operators that it will not tolerate these acts.

Story 6: WRAP: ELECTION NEWS

6 NCR AREAS UNDER TIGHT WATCH
In the National Capital Region, the Philippine National Police is closely monitoring 6 areas in Metro Manila which may be prone to election violence on May 13 because of intense political rivalries.
Last week, violence erupted in the cities of Manila and Taguig between supporters of candidates running for mayor and vice mayor.
Supporters of incumbent Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano and rival Rica Tinga were involved in a violent clash near the city hall leaving several injured.
In Manila, alleged supporters of incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim threw bottles and caused a stampede in a caucus held by rival Joseph Estrada and Isko Moreno.
The PNP earlier said there was no need to put the two areas in the list of election areas of concern.

DISCREET VOTE-BUYING CASES REPORTED IN DUMAGUETE
In Dumaguete, acting Provincial Election Supervisor Atty Juvenal Tuale says cases of vote buying is done very discreetly, with some candidates promising scholarships.
Anonymous sources also say rates for buying votes vary from P100 to P5,000 in certain areas.
Dumaguete is the largest city in Negros Oriental, home to 73,270 registered voters.

MORE COPS DEPLOYED IN PARTS OF LUZON
In Luzon, national and local police start deploying more law enforcers in various areas to ensure safe and peaceful elections.
The Philippine National Police says it will deploy 20,000 police officers in Metro Manila on election day.
More than 13,000 police officers will be deployed to poll precincts in Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, and Aurora.

ROBREDO FILES 2 DISQUALIFICATION CASES VS VILLAFUERTES
In Naga, Liberal Party congressional candidate Leni Robredo files two separate disqualification cases against Luis Villafuerte and his wife Nelly.
On Friday, Robredo formally appealed for the disqualification of the two candidates because of a vote-buying complaint filed Thursday.
Threw witnesses say local candidates of the Nationalist People’s Coalition distributed envelopes containing money during a campaign sortie on Monday.
Congressman Luis Villafuerte, his wife and at least 8 other candidates were present at the event.

CHIZ ESCUDERO IS NOT GETTING HEART’S VOTE
Actress Heart Evangelista will not be able to vote for her boyfriend, senatorial candidate Chiz Escudero.
Yahoo! Philippines says the actress’ real name could not be found in Comelec’s Precinct Finder.
Evangelista confirms she is not registered to vote, but adds, “Since I dated Chiz I realized the importance and significance of the right to suffrage.”

POLL AUDIT SET IN AMPATUAN, 233 AREAS
An independent committee chooses Ampatuan town, the site of the Philippines worst election-related massacre, as one of the areas for the poll audit.
The Random Manual Audit Committee chooses Ampatuan among 234 cities and municipalities for the RMA required by law.
The committee chose these areas at random.
During the RMA, auditors will manually count the votes and compare these with the tally of the ballot-counting machines.
This is expected to measure the accuracy and credibility of Monday’s elections.

Story 7: PH COAST GUARD ADMITS SHOOTING TAIWANESE FISHERMAN
The Philippine Coast Guard admits Friday its personnel shot at a Taiwanese fishing boat, killing one fisherman.
The Philippine Navy earlier denied Chinese media reports the Navy shot dead a fisherman off the southern part of Taiwan Thursday morning.
Coastguard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo says the incident took place in Philippines waters and coastguard personnel was carrying out its duties to stop illegal fishing.
Balilo adds, “They fired at the machinery to disable it… if somebody died, they deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”
Chinese media reports say a Filipino military ship continued to chase and fire in bursts at the Taiwanese vessel after killing the fisherman.

Story 8: PH MAY PULL PEACEKEEPERS FROM GOLAN HEIGHTS
The Philippines says it may withdraw its United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights because of security concerns.
This comes after Syrian rebels seize 4 Filipino peacekeepers on Tuesday, only two months after 21 Filipino soldiers were abducted for 4 days.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario says he recommended pulling out more than 300 troops from the area to President Benigno Aquino.
Del Rosario says, “We don’t want to expose our people any further, any more than we need to.”
Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang adds, “This is the second time this has happened…
so there are legitimate concerns about the safety of our peacekeepers.”
The UN Disengagement Observer Force has about 1,000 peacekeepers monitoring a ceasefire in the Golan Heights between Israel and Syria.

Story 9: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 7, French health authorities say the country’s first case of a new SARS-like virus may have infected two other people.
The virus has killed 18 people, mostly in Saudi Arabia.
The 65-year-old man who came back to France from a holiday in Dubai was diagnosed with the deadly coronavirus.
The virus, known as nCoV-EMC, is a cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which triggered a scare 10 years ago when it erupted in east Asia.

At number 8, The International Space Station suffers a leak of ammonia used to cool its power system on Thursday.
Russian and American space experts say the leak is –quote– “very serious.”
NASA earlier said the leak poses no danger to the crew.
The US space agency says crew saw small white flakes floating from an area outside the craft before reporting the incident to Houston Mission Control.

And at number 10, Theater fans can expect a legendary 67th Annual Tony Awards as Neil Patrick Harris is confirmed as its host.
The world-famous awards show, which recognizes achievements in live Broadway theater, will be held on June 9 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
This marks Harris’s 4th time to host the awards night, presented yearly by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.

 

– Rappler.com

Newscast production staff

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / WRITER Lilibeth Frondoso
DIRECTOR Rupert Ambil
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER / PUBLISHER Rodneil Quiteles
  Dindin Reyes
HEAD WRITER / PROMPTER Katerina Francisco
MASTER EDITOR / PLAYBACK Vicente Roxas
  Exxon Ruebe
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN Charlie Salazar
  Adrian Portugal
  Francis Lopez
GRAPHICS Jessica Lazaro
 

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