Rappler Newscast | May 29, 2013

Story 1: SC STOPS PARTY-LIST PROCLAMATIONS
The Supreme Court stops the Commission on Elections from proclaiming the remaining winners of the party-list race following the petition of a senior citizens’ group.
The Supreme Court issues a temporary restraining order after receiving a petition from the Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines.
Senior Citizens is among 12 party lists earlier disqualified by Comelec May 6.
The SC resolution clarifies the TRO is effective “until further orders from this Court.”
The High Court also orders Comelec to comment on the petition within 10 days.
Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno exercises her power as chief justice to issue the TRO while the SC is in recess.
Five seats remain unfilled in the party-list election.

Story 2: SC ORDER ‘VALIDATES’ PARTY-LIST WINNERS
Commission on Elections chair Sixto Brillantes says the Supreme Court order stopping more party-list proclamations validates already proclaimed winners.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issues a temporary restraining order after party-list group Senior Citizens appealed their case before the High Court.
The party-list group had enough votes to win, but Comelec disqualified it based on new criteria from the Court.
Brillantes says the order won’t affect the party-list groups previously proclaimed.
The Comelec is referring to a part in the TRO where the High Court acknowledges the Comelec “has already proclaimed 38 groups entitled to 53 seats” from among party-list candidates.
He says, “TRO means, “Stop, you cannot proclaim.”
If we have already proclaimed, the TRO will have no effect anymore.”
The poll body left 5 of the 58 allocated party-list seats vacant to make room for uncanvassed votes and a reprieve from the Supreme Court.
Brillantes says Comelec will file a comment on the case of Senior Citizens partylist within 10 days.

Story 3: STOP TUITION HIKE, GROUPS ASK SC
Youth groups led by the Kabataan party-list group ask the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of tuition fee increases in 354 tertiary schools all over the country.
In an en banc meeting Monday, the Commission on Higher Education approved 354 petitions for increases in tuition and other school fees.
The approved average tuition hike per unit approved is P37.45 or 8.5%.
The groups say the bases for the increase – CHED Memorandum Order No. 3 series of 2012 and Section 42 of Batas Pambansa No. 232…
are unconstitutional because both “do not constitute reasonable regulation and supervision of all educational institutions as required by the 1987 Constitution.”
The groups also ask the SC to issue a temporary restraining order to stop schools from implementing tuition increases pending the resolution of the case including Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle University.

Story 4: CORONA, A FREE MAN
On the eve of the first year anniversary of his removal as chief justice, Renato Corona says he spent the past year “getting invited often to small gatherings and lunch or dinner discussion groups.”
The dismissed chief justice, after all, is a free man.
On May 29, 2012, Corona was convicted and found guilty of violating the Constitution.
Corona now faces charges of tax evasion filed at the Court of Tax Appeals.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue filed the case in August 2012.
In May 2013, the DOJ found probable cause to charge Corona with failing to pay 120.5 million pesos in taxes and failing to file his income tax return for 6 years – 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010.
This is reportedly for the income he got outside of his compensation as a Supreme Court justice during this period.
Before Corona’s conviction, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was about to investigate the dismissed Chief Justice after Akbayan partylist Representative Walden Bello filed a forfeiture case against him because of his alleged unexplained wealth amounting to 677 million pesos.
The Office of the Ombudsman created a panel to look into the issue but could not proceed with the case.
The Ombudsman’s sources say the “material documents,” like certified true copies of documents, have yet to be provided by the High Court.
A year after his trial, Corona says his impeachment was driven by vendetta.
He says, “The gargantuan funds it wasted in my sham impeachment trial could have been better used…And for what — to remove a sitting Chief Justice just so that the President can appoint his own?”
Malacanang for its parts says government officials are now more honest with their disclosure of assets.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte says the Corona trial resulted in an increased emphasis on the filing of correct SALNs.

Story 5: SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE DAY
The Rappler Social Media Team hosts a conversation on the issues tackled during the Corona Trial.
We asked our followers about transparency in government: Have we improved on government accountability since then? How much? @tilitay answers “Credibility takes years to prove. Transparency plus Accountability equals Good Governance. I have not seen that yet. Baby steps were made”

Story 6: BNPP, 29 YEARS AFTER: A SOLUTION TO POWER CRISIS?
Two decades after the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was shut down, advocates want the government to consider nuclear energy as a solution to the looming power crisis.
Katerina Francisco reports.

The Philippines’ first nuclear power plant is 29 years old.
Until now, it sits in the middle of a tug-of-war between environmental groups…
and those who see nuclear power as the answer to the energy crisis.
Critics call Bataan Nuclear Power Plant the country’s most expensive white elephant.
It cost taxpayers $2.3 billion dollars but never generated power from its 620-megawatt capacity.
Former Pangasinan Rep Mark Cojuangco says the government should tap the mothballed plant to address the looming energy crisis in Luzon and the Visayas.
In the 14th Congress, Cojuangco filed a bill to recommission the plant and make it operational with a 1 billion dollar fund.
But the bill stalled / after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.
Nuclear power advocates say, tests in 1984 prove the facility can generate power.
MARK COJUANGCO, FORMER PANGASINAN REPRESENTATIVE: It’s been a fact for the last 29 years. But the claim has been it has never produced a single watt of electricity and we’ve come to accept that as fact because it never commercially operated. But technically, it did produce some electricity because the HFT included the running of the generator and the turbines for brief moments of time in the testing.
But even if it could generate power, critics ask: is it safe?
Environmental group Greenpeace is against recommissioning the power plant citing structural defects, nuclear waste management, and lack of feasibility studies among other reasons.
National Power Corporation’s Dante Caraos says the fears are exaggerated.
He says, with a proposed billion-dollar fund to upgrade the facilities, more safety measures will be put in place.
DANTE CARAOS, NAPOCOR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST: Yung planta na yan, 10 years yan na ini-study yung sitings, yung siting ibig sabihin yung area kung san siya pwede. May mga geologists tayo nag-conduct ng survey, titingnan mo kung san may malapit, malayo na bulkan, kung magkakaroon man ng lindol…so kaya niyang i-sustain yun. Yung itinayo dyan sa Bataan, 10 meters above sea level, ibig sabihin nun, kahit na yung tsunami mo na 10 di kayang abutin kasi mas mataas pa siya dun.
(10 years have been spent to study sitings for the Bataan plant, to determine its location. We have geologists who conducted surveys, to see if the area is near volcanoes and earthquake-prone spots, so the facility can withstand them. The Bataan plant is 10 meters above sea level. That means it is situated higher than the reach of a 10-meter tsunami.)
For Cojuangco, economic benefits trump what he calls unreasonable safety fears.
But Greenpeace calls it the faulty economics of nuclear power and says the Philippines’ proven renewable energy potential is the way to go.
Cojuangco is unfazed. He says, it’s all a matter of framing the issue.
MARK COJUANGCO, FORMER PANGASINAN REPRESENTATIVE: I think nuclear issue has been framed in a particular way in the PH because in other countries it’s been framed in a more positive way. If they can shoot me down I’ll drop it tomorrow. But nobody’s offered me what I believe are arguments good enough for me to stop.
The nuclear power debate is starting all over again three decades after shutdown, when foreign debts are fully paid.
Already… emotions are running high with both sides accusing each other of disseminating half-truths.
Katerina Francisco, Rappler, Bataan.

Story 7: SINGAPOREAN ONLINE COMMUNITY ANGERED BY NEW MEDIA RULE
Singapore’s online community reacts angrily to an announcement that news websites will have to obtain licenses subjecting them to rules governing traditional media.
The popular news site of Yahoo! Singapore is included on a list of 10 websites that will have to obtain annual licenses starting Saturday.
The 9 other websites are run by mainstream Singapore media groups.
Official media watchdog Media Development Authority says websites with at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore every month and publish at least one local news article a week fall under the new rules.
Websites granted a license will have to remove “prohibited content” within 24 hours of being notified by the MDA.
Singapore’s traditional media are widely seen to be pro-government, giving rise to alternative sources of news online.
Andrew Loh of socio-political website Publichouse says, “It is obvious that the new rules are to set and control the tone of discourse online.”

Story 8: WOMAN CONFESSES TO BEING MOTHER OF RESCUED BABY
The 22-year-old woman who alerted rescuers to the newborn lodged in a pipe in Jinhua, China confesses to being the child’s mother.
The woman, who remains unnamed in state media reports, reveals her identity to the police after being asked to undergo a medical check up.
China’s state-run news website Zheijang News reports toys and blood-stained toilet paper were found in her residence.
The mother of Baby No. 59 – named for his incubator number – says she delivered the baby in the toilet because she could not afford an abortion.
It is unclear whether the mother will face any criminal charges.

Story 9: NIKE CUTS TIES WITH LIVESTRONG
Lance Armstrong’s anti-cancer charity Livestrong says Nike has ended its partnership with the organization.
The Livestrong Foundation thanks the global sportswear company, saying it helped raise over $100 million since 2004.
The Foundation says it is –quote– “deeply grateful to Nike not only for the time and resources it invested in helping us improve the lives of people affected by cancer but also the creative drive it brought to our nine-year partnership.”
The Livestrong foundation downplays the impact of Nike’s withdrawal of support and says they are in a “good position to adjust swiftly and move forward with our patient-focused work.”
Nike broke all ties with Armstrong last October when the US Anti-Doping Agency banned him from competing…
and took away his 7 Tour de France titles after he chose not to fight the doping accusations.

Story 10: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
Let’s now look at Rappler’s “wRap” for today…
a list of the ten most important events around the world you shouldn’t miss.

At number 3, the World Health Organization says a coronavirus similar to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus is a — quote — “threat to the entire world.”
The so-called novel coronavirus, commonly referred to as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, is part of a family called coronaviruses, the ones causing illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS.
WHO reports the virus already infected 44 people as of last week.
Of the 44 infected, 23 died, including a 65-year-old French man believed to have been infected while vacationing in Dubai in April.
At number 9, Apple CEO Tim Cook promises more game-changing technology from the company this year.
Speaking at the D11 conference, Cook hints at several projects Apple is working on, including wearable tech.
He also hints at opening up iOS to allow third party developers more customized options.
And at number 10, an international trio blast off Wednesday for the International Space Station.
A Russian commander and two flight engineers from NASA and the European Space Agency begin their six-month mission on a Russian Soyuz rocket.
The Soyuz is taking a shortcut, slashing travel time from two days to just six hours thanks to a special orbit which blasts astronauts directly to their destination.
The special orbit has rarely been tried because it puts a bigger stress on the astronauts’ bodies.
Russia wants to make the six-hour journey the norm for future travel to the ISS.
The trio’s schedule is full of space walks and a docking with a pioneering US cargo craft.
For the full top 10 visit Rappler.com’s ‘the wRap.’