Rappler Newscast | September 12, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• In a show of force, President Benigno Aquino tells his allies “Either you’re with us or against us.”
• China warns its nationals: avoid the Philippines.
• Following a not guilty verdict for murder, Oscar Pistorius is found guilty of homicide.

AQUINO GATHERS ALLIES: EITHER YOU’RE WITH US OR YOU’RE NOT

In what an ally describes as “a show of force,” President Benigno Aquino delivers a message Friday that could be summed up in one phrase: “You’re either with us or against us.”
Palace officials say Aquino leads an “agenda-setting dialogue” with what they call “reformists and like-minded public servants.”
The President says the only way forward is through the straight and narrow path, the battlecry of his ruling Liberal Party or LP.

BENIGNO AQUINO, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: Ang misyon nga po natin: Isagad ang magagawang pagbabago sa kasalukuyan, para makita ng ating mga Boss na ang tanging daan tungo sa ating mga adhikain ay ang pagsunod sa tuwid na landas.

(Our mission: to maximize the changes we can make now, so that our Bosses will see that the only way towards our goals is to follow the straight path.)

Aquino also slammed the opposition for going against his administration’s reforms…
from the 6.2 million scholars of the Technical Educational Skills and Development Authority or TESDA to the peace process.

BENIGNO AQUINO, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: Kung sabihin naman nila, sang-ayon sila sa mga ito at pakay din nilang arugain ang ating mga Boss, ang magiging tanong ko po sa kanila: Bakit hindi namin kayo nakasama? Kung sang-ayon kayo, bakit pinipili ninyong sumalungat sa aming ipinaglalaban, kaysa sumama na lang kayo’t makiambag sa positibong transpormasyon ng lipunan?

(Should they say that they are agreement with our efforts, and that they too have the goal of serving our Bosses, then I will ask them: Why are you not with us? If you are in agreement with our work, why do you choose to oppose the things we are fighting for, as opposed to working with us, and contributing to the positive transformation of society?)

Aquino reminds his allies they are all tied together not by personalities, color, or slogans but by principles.
Vice President and opposition leader Jejomar Binay was not invited – the first time Aquino publicly distanced him.
Binay currently tops the polls, receiving 41% of voters’ preference in the latest Pulse Asia survey.
Aquino has yet to announce his choice, but Interior Secretary Mar Roxas’, widely believed to be the LP standard bearer, trails at 7%.

 

OMBUDSMAN ORDERS DISMISSAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER

The Ombudsman orders the dismissal of Human Rights commissioner Coco Quisumbing.
In a resolution, the anti-graft body said she promoted her staff in exchange for the employees’ salary increase.
Quisumbing also pocketed a share of her staff’s salary and maintained ghost employees.
This is the first time in the commission’s history that a ranking official was dismissed for bribery and grave misconduct.
Quisumbing will no longer be eligible for public office and permanently banned from re-entering government service.
Her retirement benefits will also be forfeited.
Quisumbing was a journalist before she worked in government.

 

5 COPS IN EDSA ‘KIDNAPPING’ CASE SURRENDER

5 more cops turned themselves in to the Quezon City Police District Wednesday.
The policemen were tagged in a robbery and kidnapping incident on Metro Manila’s main road EDSA.
The lawyers representing the 5 say their clients were there not to surrender but to clear their names.
Three cops linked to the incident surrendered earlier.
Two of the suspects also have a pending case for the same modus in 2011.

 

TROPICAL STORM LUIS ENTERS PAR

State weather bureau PAGASA says a tropical storm enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility.
In its latest bulletin Friday, PAGASA says tropical storm Luis is at 669 km east of Virac, Catanduanes with maximum winds of 65 km per hour.
It’s expected to move west northwest at 26 km per hour.
Parts of Luzon such as the province of Quezon, the Bicol and Mimaropa regions and Visayas and Mindanao will have light to moderate rainshowers or thunderstorms Saturday.
Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon can expect isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

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 about 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.

 

CHINA WARNS CITIZENS TO AVOID THE PHILIPPINES

China warns its nationals: avoid visiting the Philippines.
Officials cite a foiled bomb plot against the Chinese embassy in Manila and the danger of criminal gangs.
3 men were arrested September 2 over an alleged plot to bomb the Chinese embassy, the international airport and the businesses of ethnic Chinese tycoons.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Friday urges the Philippine government to do more to protect Chinese citizens.
In response, the Philippines says it is in touch with Chinese diplomats to ease their concerns.
Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima earlier said the bomb plot may be linked to politician Elly Velez Pamatong, who has been involved in a string of anti-Chinese protests.
But the Philippine military dismissed the bomb plot theory, calling Pamatong a crank who posed no real danger.
The military adds the bombs were merely firecrackers.

 

ISIS HAS 20,000-31,500 FIGHTERS IN IRAQ AND SYRIA: CIA

The Central Intelligence Agency or CIA says ISIS or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has about 20,000 to 31,500 militants, much higher than a previous estimate of 10,000.
The CIA’s report comes a day after US President Barack Obama vowed to expand an offensive against ISIS with increased air strikes
in Syria, expanded attacks in Iraq and new support for Iraqi government forces.

 

EBOLA TOLL HITS 2,400 AS CUBA PLEDGES MEDICS

The death toll for Ebola epidemic rises to more than 2,400, says the World Health Organization or WHO Friday.
WHO chief Margaret Chan says there are about 4,700 cases, with the virus rapidly moving in the hardest hit countries – Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
Chan says there is not a single bed left to treat Ebola patients in Liberia.
The Ebola virus is transmitted through body fluids and leads to hemorrhagic fever and death.
There is no known treatment and no licensed vaccine for Ebola except for the experimental serum tested on some people who survived.

 

JUDGE FINDS PISTORIUS GUILTY OF HOMICIDE

South African sprint runner and double amputee Oscar Pistorius is guilty of homicide in the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
This comes a day after the paralympic was cleared of premeditated murder.
The verdict leaves Pistorius facing up to 15 years in jail, although legal experts say he might get 7 to 10 years.
Pistorius claims to have mistaken Steenkamp for a burglar when he shot her.
Once a poster boy for disabled sport, Pistorius has been stripped of lucrative endorsement deals by global brands and has withdrawn from all competition.

 

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

SOUTH KOREA STEPS UP ANTI-SMOKING MEASURES, TO HIKE CIGARETTE PRICES
South Korea moves for comprehensive anti-smoking measures to counter what has become the “biggest threat to national health.”
The government proposes an 80% increase in cigarette prices to cut consumption and raise annual tax revenues by 2.8 trillion won or $2.7 billion.
The health ministry will also require tobacco packaging to include graphic photos of smoking’s effects, while tobacco ads would be banned in retail stores.

US THREATENED TO FINE YAHOO OVER SURVEILLANCE ISSUES
US authorities threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day if it failed to comply with a secret surveillance program requiring it to hand over user data for national security.
Yahoo general counsel Ron Bell says the documents
“underscore how we had to fight every step of the way
to challenge the US government’s surveillance efforts.”

OZONE PROBLEM ON COURSE FOR FIX BY 2050
The United Nations says Earth’s damaged ozone layer was “well on track” for recovery by mid-century, although fixing it over Antarctica would take longer.
UN agencies say a 1987 treaty to protect the ozone layer was so successful…
but was indirectly causing global warming to another area.
The report says without the landmark Montreal Protocol, 2 million extra cases of skin cancer might occur each year by 2030 and levels of ozone-damaging compounds – tenfold by 2050.

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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