Daily News Highlights – June 30, 2015 Edition

Faced with a second suspension order this year, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay stood his ground and said he will not leave the city hall despite an order from the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s 6-month preventive suspension order came through Monday over the allegedly overpriced Makati Science High School Building. In a Senate hearing last November 2014, whistleblowers claimed the building was overpriced by around P862 million. His first suspension order was based on an allegedly anomalous construction contract for a Makati City Hall building. Binay was defiant, again hitting the Aquino administration for what he called “selective justice” and persecution against his family. 

Read the full story on Junjun Binay.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II says Vice President Jejomar Binay’s exit from the Aquino cabinet proves one thing: he is not part of the administration’s “Daang Matuwid.” Roxas says the president “made sure he wasn’t a spare part.” He added, Binay was given enough powers with the housing and OFW portfolio. Binay resigned to protest what he calls a “crooked” and “failed” government. Roxas added, “I find that funny.”

 Read the full story on Roxas’ reaction to Binay resignation.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) opens the bids for the refurbishment of existing vote-counting machines and the lease of new ones for the May 2016 national and local elections. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said all of these are part of the Comelec’s plan to continue with the automation of the 2016 national and local elections. The outcome of this series of biddings will decide whether the 2016 presidential election will go fully automated, partially automated, or manual.

Read the full story on vote-counting machines bidding.

What does it take to enter the political race? In Rappler’s The Inside Track podcast, election consultant Perry Callanta shares his more than 30 years of experience running a political campaign and practical tips for those looking to join the political fray. For the 2016 elections, Callanta will be handling the local campaigns of at least 5 incumbents and 7 challengers from different parties. In this podcast, he gives spending tips during a campaign, how to recover your political investment, and when to cut losses if the prospects of winning are not in sight. Callanta also gives insights about politicians eyeing a 2016 run and how they could improve their chances of winning.

Listen to a podcast of Callanta’s interview.

What makes a top employer? Career resource site Jobstreet.com has released this year’s Top Companies Report, including why people looking for work set their sights on these employers. San Miguel Corporation, Nestle Philippines, and Accenture top the list, with job hunters taking factors such as benefits, salary, learning and development, company reputation, and work culture into consideration. Over 4,000 Jobstreet.com members participated in this survey last March. Employees of the top companies were then surveyed and interviewed to find out more about these factors. 

Read the full story on the most sought after employers in PH. 

Mostly, politicians pay corrupt to be in the news, but not this general. Rappler’s Inside Track says cash is being offered to reporters to simply keep former PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima out of their stories for P5,000 per reporter. The former police chief stepped down after a botched police operation which claimed the lives of 44 PNP Special Action Force personnel. The 4-star general was accused of commanding the operation despite serving a preventive suspension order over a graft charge. Purisima denied the accusation, but it was later uncovered that he was, in fact, a major player.

Read the full story on Purisima’s alleged cash offer.

In an era where anyone can produce and disseminate news, what sets journalists apart from ordinary netizens? “Everybody can be a journalist and tell a story. But not everybody can tell a story that is factual and true. Journalism is the discipline of verification,” veteran investigative journalist Sheila Coronel said in her commencement speech before graduating mass communication students at the University of the Philippines-Diliman on Sunday. Coronel, the Academic Dean at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, stressed that journalists play a crucial role in separating facts from rumors. Coronel cited the case of Rolling Stone magazine, which committed a serious blunder in its story on an alleged gang rape at a university in the US. She asked the graduates to make sure that new social media platforms adhere to the “mission of journalism as watchdog of society.”

Watch Sheila Coronel’s speech.

When they found out 9-year-old Daniel Cabrera wanted to be a cop, policemen from the Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) made a promise. This payday, June 30, policemen of the MCPO will pass the hat for the young boy whose photo studying at a street corner by the light of a fastfood joint went viral last week. Cabrera, a 3rd-grader, earlier explained that there was no electricity where he lived. About 50 uniformed personnel have volunteered to contribute portions of their salary to aid the family. Officers have also been assigned to visit the boy every month to ensure his safety and check on his studies.

Read the full story on Mandaue cops and McDo kid.

Around 30%, or 1,962 kilometers of the Great Wall of China has disappeared over time due to adverse natural conditions and reckless human activities – including stealing the bricks to build houses. The Great Wall is not a single unbroken structure but stretches for thousands of kilometers in sections, from Shanhaiguan on the east coast to Jiayuguan in the windswept sands on the edge of the Gobi desert. In places it is so dilapidated that estimates of its total length vary from 9,000 to 21,000 kilometers (5,600 to 13,000 miles), depending on whether missing sections are included. Despite its length, it is not – as is sometimes claimed – visible from space. Construction of the Great Wall first begun in the third century BC, but nearly 6,300 kilometers were built in the Ming Dynasty of 1368-1644, including the much-visited sectors north of the capital Beijing.

Read the full story on the Great Wall of China.

The wedding video of TV personality Toni Gonzaga and director Paul Soriano is out, three weeks after their big day. In the video, Soriano shouted “I don’t say this in public and you know that. We only do this in our private time… I love you Celestine!”  Celestine is Toni Gonzaga’s given name. Gonzaga, said that she is grateful Soriano stood by her despite the long wait. “You have fought for your position in my life,” she said. The two have been together for 8 years, and were engaged in January this year.

Watch the Toni & Paul’s wedding video.