Rappler Newscast | August 1, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• A Rappler exclusive: A video of men in military uniform pumping 109 bullets into a man triggers a probe by the Philippine Armed Forces.
• The Supreme Court fires the judge linked to a bigtime fixer in the judiciary.
• Osaka police admit hiding 81,000 crime reports to clean up its reputation.

CAUGHT ON VIDEO: ‘SOLDIERS’ SHOOT MAN IN COLD BLOOD
A Rappler exclusive – a video posted on Facebook June 20 triggers a probe by the Philippine military.
The video shows men wearing military uniforms abusing and then pumping 109 bullets into the man.  
Weeks before his retirement in July, former military chief Retired General Emmanuel Bautista showed the video to several generals.
In an interview with Rappler, military spokesperson Major General Domingo Tutaan said Bautista immediately ordered an investigation to determine when and where it happened, and if the men involved are from the Philippine Army.
Tutaan says human rights violations were clearly committed.
He  refuses to confirm if the men in the video are government troops pending results of the investigation.
Bautista retired July 18 and turned over command to new chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang.
Tutaan says Catapang is monitoring the probe.
The video circulated among Moro Islamic Liberation Front members in July, prompting the group to conduct its own investigation.
The MILF believes it was taken after a June 10 military operation against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters – a breakaway group from the MILF – in Maguindanao.
Tutaan says they believe the video is several years old.

GOV’T, MILF PEACE PANELS MEET OVER DELAYED BILL
After much delay, negotiators from both the Philippine government and rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF meet on Friday to re-draft the Bangsamoro Basic law.
President Benigno Aquino and the MILF signed a framework agreement in March to create an autonomous Muslim region by 2016.
Muslim rebels have been fighting for independence in Mindanao since the 1970s…
with the decades-long conflict claiming tens of thousands of lives.
Chief government negotiator Miriam Ferrer says both panels are expected to produce a version of the bill acceptable to both sides.
In April, a draft of the bill was submitted for Aquino to review.
In June, Aquino said it needed more work.
In July, the MILF said Aquino’s version of the bill “dilutes” the law.
But on Friday, the MILF strikes a more conciliatory tone, saying the delay was “no reason to give up.”
It says”It is better for the government and the MILF to continue the path of peace…
rather than go back to where they started, which is… laden with dangers and uncertainties.”

SC SACKS JUDGE TAGGED IN ‘MA’AM ARLENE’ COURT BRIBERY
The Supreme Court dismisses a trial court judge, suspends two more judges, and removes a fourth one from his current assignment.
The disciplinary actions follow a probe into alleged bigtime judicial fixer “Ma’am Arlene.”
She has been identified as businesswoman Arlene Angeles Lerma.
The Supreme Court en Banc ruled Judge Marino Rubia of the Biñan Regional Trial Court liable for conduct unbecoming of a judge.
Rubia dined with a litigant and advised her how to deal with the counsel of the other party.
Rubia eventually showed bias for the other party in hearing the case.
Rubia’s retirement benefits, except accrued leave credits, are forfeited.
He is disqualified from reinstatement or appointment in any public office, including government-owned or -controlled corporations.
The Court of Appeals has also been ordered to submit within 90 days the results of investigations into Rubia…
and Makati RTC Judge Rommel Baybay…
Quezon City RTC Judge Ralph Lee…
and Manila RTC Judge Lyliha Aquino.

ENDORSING BINAY ENDANGERS AQUINO LEGACY – CAYETANO
Senator Alan Peter Cayetano challenges Vice President Jejomar Binay… respond to corruption charges first before seeking President Benigno Aquino’s endorsement.
Cayetano is reacting to a statement made the Vice-President’s daughter Senator Nancy Binay.
The younger Binay said her father would not turn down an endorsement by the President for 2016.
Cayetano says, “If the President endorses Vice President Binay without addressing corruption issues, he will put his own legacy in danger.”
Cayetano points to the plunder complaint filed against the elder Binay and his son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay over an allegedly overpriced building in Makati.
Cayetano says whether accusations are true or not, corruption remains the top issue against the Vice President.
Cayetano, like Binay, said he intends to run for president in 2016.

PHILIPPINES FINALIZES P171-B YOLANDA REHAB PLAN
9 months after, the Philippines completes its billion-dollar master rehabilitation plan for Haiyan-hit areas.
Rehabilitation secretary Panfilo Lacson says the comprehensive rehabilitation and recovery plan covers 4 basic sectors: resettlement, infrastructure, livelihood, and social services.
The package totals P170.7-billion or $3.93 billion
Lacson is optimistic President Benigno Aquino will approve the plan.
The president earlier approved the local rehabilitation plans for the “big 6” hit by Haiyan – Tacloban City, the rest of Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Iloilo, and Eastern Samar.
Lacson adds, the budget department is also “ready to front-load” P137 billion or $3.15 billion of the entire package.
He says the next step is for implementing agencies to “take center
stage in the next phase in order to rebuild the communities and improve the lives of the survivors.”
Aquino highlighted his administration’s efforts for Yolanda survivors in his State of the Nation Address last Monday…
despite criticism for the delay in the master rehabilitation plan.
More than 14,500 Yolanda survivors still live in tents.

DOH MONITORING 7 OFWS FROM EBOLA-HIT SIERRA LEONE
The Department of Health says it is closely monitoring 7 overseas Filipino workers or OFWs who came home from Sierra Leone – one of the west African countries with an Ebola outbreak.
Health Spokesperson Lyndon Lee Suy says between exposure and the first symptoms… the incubation period is 2 days to 21 days.
The department extends its monitoring period to a month.
Lee Suy admits 3 OFWs had fever – one of the symptoms of Ebola – but they eventually tested negative for the virus.
The Ebola virus can be transmitted through body fluids, causing severe fever, muscle pain, weakness, vomiting, and diarrhea.
West Africa’s nations impose stringent rules to contain the worst outbreak of the virus.
The leaders of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast meet Friday with World Health Organization head Margaret Chan to launch a $100-million joint plan to stop the epidemic.
The plan “outlines the need to increase preparedness systems in neighboring nations and strengthen global capacities.”
The plan also calls for several hundred more personnel to be deployed to affected countries and assist treatment facilities.
On Thursday, the WHO raised the death toll to 729.

OSAKA POLICE HIDE 81,000 CRIMES TO CLEAN UP IMAGE
Osaka police admit they hid more than 81,000 offenses from 2008 to 2012 in an attempt to clean up the Kansai’s dismal reputation.
The deception amounts to nearly 10% of all crimes in the area during that period.
Osaka had the most petty thefts, muggings and other street crimes among the country’s 48 prefectures since 2000.
Tokyo appeared to have overtaken Osaka in criminality between 2010 and 2012.
Nearly 100 officers were reprimanded for the deception.
Top Osaka police officials deny they ordered underlings to hide the data.
But lower-ranking officers tell the press they were under pressure from a popular politician to change the city’s image.
Internationally, Japan has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.
But among locals, Osaka is seen as the more dangerous urban center.

ISRAEL, HAMAS ACCEPT 72-HOUR TRUCE, BROKEN HOURS AFTER
Just hours after Israel and Hamas agree on a 72-hour ceasefire…
shelling kills at least 30 people in southern Gaza Friday.
This comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry announces the truce.
Almost 1400 people were killed since the 25-day campaign, nearly half of them women and children.
Kerry says Israeli and Palestinian representatives, including from Hamas, would begin talks in Egypt after the ceasefire went into force.
But Israeli forces would not be pulled out of Gaza during the truce.
On Thursday, Israel vowed it would not accept any ceasefire that did not allow troops to continue destroying tunnels used by Hamas to attack Israel.
The Israeli army mobilized another 16,000 additional reservists, hiking the total number of troops to 86,000.

IDENTIFYING AIR ALGERIE CRASH ‘COULD TAKE YEARS’

Algeria’s chief of police says identifying victims from the Air Algerie crash “could take weeks, months and maybe years.”
On July 24, flight AH5017 from Burkina Faso to Algiers crashed in northern Mali killing all 118 people on board.
The death toll, initially announced as 116, was revised up to 118 after a final passenger manifest was issued.
Among the 118 dead were 54 French nationals, eight Lebanese, 23 Burkinabe, six Algerians and six Spaniards.
Forensic police specialists from Algeria, France, Mali, and Spain travelled to the crash site in northeastern Mali.
The police chief says it was not possible to analyze samples collected at the crash site.
He says conditions like the extreme heat were “inhospitable” to forensic work and preserving the bodies.
Forensic experts are using DNA samples to identify the dead.
French president Francois Hollande says the remains of all passengers on the plane — not just the French —
would be flown to France.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

PACIFIC LEADERS WARN: OCEANS CAN SWALLOW UP ENTIRE COUNTRIES
A warning from Pacific leaders – entire island nations will disappear under water unless climate change is addressed.
Meeting in Palau, the 15-nation Pacific Islands Forum says there’s no excuse not to act.
Samoa Prime Minister Sailele Malielegaoi says Pacific island nations
take a strong stance against climate change because they are the “most vulnerable.”

STATE AGENTS HARASS, JAIL, BEAT UP WORSHIPPERS IN VIETNAM
In Vietnam, religious practices were tightly-controlled for decades.
United Nations’ Heiner Bielefeldt says Vietnam continues to commit “serious violations” of religious freedom, despite improvements in the ‘90s.
Bielefeldt says Vietnamese authorities “closely monitored” his movements in Vietnam, preventing him from speaking freely with people.
Witnesses told him of violations, which include physical assault and destruction of places of worship.
Vietnam officially has 13 religions, including Buddhism, Islam, and Catholicism.

SIX RAMON MAGSAYSAY AWARDEES NAMED
The winners of the 2014 Ramon Magsaysay Awards have been announced.
Known as Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize…
this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards will honor educators and cultural activists around Asia.
Awards foundation president Carmencita Abella says all awardees are “creating bold solutions to deeply-rooted social problems.”
This year’s winners will be invited to Manila for an awards ceremony on August 31.

For the full top 10 visit Rappler.com’s ‘the wRap.’

 -– Rappler.com

Newscast Production Staff