Rappler Newscast | August 29, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• Long lines, congestion – Senator Grace Poe rides the MRT during rush hour.
• Philippine peacekeepers face Syrian rebels in a standoff.
• The Moro Islamic Liberation Front condemns ISIS.

GRACE POE RIDES MRT3, SAYS IT’S ‘NOT A HOPELESS SITUATION’

With no media coverage, Senator Grace Poe takes the MRT3 train Friday during rush hour.
The senator says she wanted to be a passenger and experience the MRT first-hand.
She took the train ride to prepare for a hearing on the MRT3 accident that injured 36 people August 13.
Poe stood in line for about 40 minutes at the North Avenue station 8:20 am.
Poe says she experienced first hand the long lines, crowds, and malfunctioning escalators and turnstiles.
Poe describes the ride as “pleasant” but says the coach was full in some stations.
She later finds out MRT3 officials got wind of her surprise visit and tried to prevent passengers from entering the train she was riding.
She arrives at the Taft station, the site of the accident, almost two hours later.
At the Taft station, Poe notes the elevators weren’t working, making it difficult for persons with disabilities.
Poe says the MRT “is not hopeless” and encourages other government officials to take the train.
Passengers told her the MRT remains their preferred mode of transport despite its glitches.

81 FILIPINO PEACEKEEPERS IN STANDOFF WITH SYRIAN REBELS

81 Filipino peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force are in a standoff with Syrian rebels in Golan Heights.
This comes as the peacekeepers refuse to surrender their firearms to rebels from Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra.
This incident happens just days after the Philippines finalized plans to pull out its troops given the increasing security threats in the area.
Their tour of duty ends October and no fresh troops will be deployed.
Military spokesman LtCol Ramon Zagala says the Philippines is working closely with the UN to ensure the troops’ safety.
Zagala adds, “We will not give in.”
Peacekeeping operations chief Col Roberto Ancan assures the public the troops deployed are prepared.

COL ROBERTO ANCAN, PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS CHIEF: Soldiers there are well-trained. They are well-experienced. They know the risks they have to face. As soldiers… it’s part of the job.

The UN Security Council demands the unconditional and immediate release of all the detained peacekeepers.
About 43 peacekeepers from Fiji are also held hostage following their surrender.

MILF VOWS TO STOP SPREAD OF ISIS ‘VIRUS’ IN PH

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF condemns extremist jihadists Islamic State of Syria and Iraq or ISIS.
The MILF vows to stop the spread of the ISIS “virus” in the Philippines.
The largest Muslim rebel group of the Philippines says it “condemns barbarism and savagery” whether done by other groups such as ISIS or its own members.
The MILF adds its power, moderating line, and influence “hinders the birth of a strong radical group” in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
After decades of armed rebellion the MILF signed a peace agreement with the Philippine government in March to create an autonomous Muslim region.

LPA NOW OVER PUERTO PRINCESA CITY

State weather bureau PAGASA says a low pressure area is spotted in Palawan.
PAGASA’s latest bulletin Friday says as of 4pm the LPA is at 140 km north of Puerto Princesa City.
Luzon and Western Visayas will have cloudy skies with light to moderate rainshowers and thunderstorms on Saturday.
The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.

Check out Rappler’s Project Agos microsite…
a one-stop shop to help the public prepare better for disasters.  
Project Agos aims to raise awareness on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and management.
You can see what to do before, during and after natural disasters like floods and earthquakes.
Visit www.rappler.com/projectagos.

EBOLA ZONE COUNTRIES ISOLATED AS AIRLINES STOP FLIGHTS

More airlines suspend flights to the nations at the center of the west African Ebola outbreak.
So far, Air France, British Airways, and Brussels Airlines have either completely suspended or significantly limited their flights to Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Nigeria.
Only Royal Air Morocco retained its normal flight schedule.
It flies once a day to Conakry in Guinea and every other day on average to Monrovia in Liberia and Freetown in Sierra Leone.
This move leaves the African nations more isolated.
It also makes it more difficult for the United Nations to help address the epidemic.
More than 1,400 people have died since the Ebola epidemic erupted in early 2014.

ICELAND RAISES VOLCANO ALERT TO RED AFTER ERUPTION  

After a series of seismic activities…
Iceland’s largest volcano Bardarbunga erupts Friday.
Iceland calls for a red alert over the eruption, imposing a ban on air traffic around the country’s largest volcanic system.
Iceland’s meteorological institute says no volcanic ash has been detected by the radar system yet.
There is also a minor earthquake caused by the eruption, but there’s no significant explosive activity.
A major explosion at Bardarbunga volcano, which is located under Europe’s largest glacier, could signal a replay of a global travel chaos…
triggered when a massive ash cloud cloaked Europe due to another Icelandic peak’s eruption 4 years ago.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

THAI COURT DISMISSES MURDER CHARGES VS EX-PM IN 2010 CRACKDOWN
A criminal court in Bangkok dismisses charges against former Thailand Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his ex-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban.
The court says it has no jurisdiction to hear cases on acts committed by public officials.
Prosecutors accused Abhisit and Suthep of issuing orders that resulted in murder.
Scores of demonstrators died under Abhisit’s government in street clashes.
Both suspects deny the charges.

TWITTER MAKES PERFORMANCE-TRACKING FEATURE AVAILABLE TO ALL USERS
Microblogging site Twitter makes its analytics dashboard available to all users with public accounts and good standing.
The feature used to be available only to advertisers and verified users.
The accounts have to be at least 14 days active and primarily tweet in English, French, Japanese, or Spanish.

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

TWITTER TO SET UP SHOP IN SOCIAL MEDIA-MAD INDONESIA

Twitter on Friday announces plans to open an office in Indonesia in the coming months as it seeks to boost revenues in the social-media-addicted nation.
Twitter’s Adam Bain says opening shop in Jakarta is significant because “Indonesia loves Twitter and Twitter loves Indonesia.”
Several market monitors declared Jakarta the world’s most active city of tweeters.
Indonesia is a major market for Twitter.
It is the world’s 4th most populous country with about 250 million people, and smartphone sales are surging.
Millions access the Internet primarily through smartphones and tablets, and surveys show social media is the primary reason for using mobile devices.
Tweets about Indonesia’s presidential election alone reached about 95 million tweets, from January 1 until election day on July 9.
Bain says he’s hopeful Indonesia’s incoming government would be welcoming, pointing to President-elect Joko Widodo or Jokowi’s avid use of Twitter as a positive sign.
Before Jokowi’s run for president, he was elected Jakarta governor in 2012, a victory largely attributed to social media.
Jokowi built a wildly popular online profile as a man of the people and diehard heavy metal fan.
Twitter’s Jakarta office will be its 6th in the region, following set-ups in Tokyo, Mumbai, Sydney, Singapore and Seoul. – 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
	Marga Deona
MASTER EDITOR / PLAYBACK	Exxon Ruebe
	Emerald Hidalgo
	Jaene Zaplan
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN	Charlie Salazar
	Adrian Portugal
	Francis Lopez
	Naoki Mengua
GRAPHICS	Jessica Lazaro
	Raffy de Guzman