Daily News Highlights – November 10, 2015 Edition

The chief of the police’s Aviation Security Unit in Metro Manila was relieved Monday as criticism mounts over a scam where bullets are dropped into the bags of unsuspecting passengers. Aviation Security Group head Chief Superintendent Pablo Francis Balagtas confirmed the relief of Senior Superintendent Ricardo Layug, Jr. and will be replaced by Senior Superintendent Adolfo Samala, said Balagtas. Aviation police are not the front liners of airport security searches, but they step in once Office of Transportation Security (OTS) personnel find contraband. OTS personnel are also under investigation.

Read more on the airport scam.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to make a historic trip to the Philippines from November 17 to 19 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting. US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are also expected to attend. Xi’s trip comes as the Philippines and China remain embroiled in a dispute over the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea. Weeks before his trip, the Philippines won the first round of its case against China before an arbitral tribunal based in The Hague, Netherlands. It is unclear if Aquino and Xi will hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the APEC Summit.

Read more on Chinese president’s visit.

Members of the online community came together on Twitter to discuss lessons from Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and share their pledges to combat climate change. During the online conversation on November 8, more than 7,000 unique authors joined, generating 15,000 tweets – excluding retweets – and 107 million impressions on Twitter. The discussion revolved around disaster and risk reduction programs after the super typhoon devastated the Eastern Visayas region and parts of Cebu and Palawan. Rappler’s MovePH led the discussion among climate change advocates, among them Senator Loren Legarda.

Read more on the climate change Twitter conversation.

Abegail Yanson, the house help of former Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) minister Lowell Menorca, insisted she was not abducted by her employer as she denied the claims of her own parents. In a video obtained by Rappler, a tearful Yanson belied claims that Menorca abducted her. She added that the INC’s Sanggunian (Council), or top leadership, is forcing her family to lie. Menorca faces a serious illegal detention complaint for supposedly prohibiting Yanson from seeing her family since being brought to Manila from Bulan, Sorsogon, last July. 

Read more on Menorca’s house help.

Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said improvements in Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) services will be felt by the first quarter of 2016, or by March at the latest. Abaya told the Senate committee on public services chaired by Senator Grace Poe that the improvements would be evident when the new trains become operational by early 2016. DOTC approved in June this year the delivery of 48 new train cars starting the first quarter of 2016. Maintenance and improvement projects are ongoing for the problem-ridden MRT3. 

Read more on commuter train system woes. 

Muslim bandits in the Philippines have released a Malaysian woman they had been holding for nearly 6 months. Thien Nyuk Fun and a Malaysian man were abducted in May from a restaurant in Sabah, with investigators blaming Philippine group Abu Sayyaf, an organization infamous for kidnappings-for-ransom. Philippine police said restaurant manager Thien, 50, was set free on the remote island of Jolo late Sunday. The group is currently holding two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina seized in the southern Philippines in September, as well as a Dutch bird watcher abducted in the same region in 2012.

Read more on terror group’s hostage.

Rising seas from global warming could submerge swathes of New York and Shanghai, and drive millions of people into poverty worldwide, researchers warned Monday as climate-altering carbon levels broke new records. The slew of fresh planetary warnings came as ministers met in Paris searching common ground of a crunch climate summit. If the planet warms by four degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) — double the United Nations’ targeted ceiling — oceans will swallow land inhabited by more than 600 million people, said a survey by Climate Central, a US-based research group. A separate World Bank study late Sunday said there could be “more than 100 million additional people in poverty by 2030” unless action is taken to stem climate change.

Read more on climate warnings.

Indonesia’s anti-drugs agency has proposed building a prison on an island guarded by crocodiles to hold death row drug convicts. The proposal is the pet project of anti-drugs chief Budi Waseso, who plans to visit various parts of the archipelago in his search for fierce reptiles to guard the jail. Waseso said that crocodiles would be better at preventing drug traffickers from escaping prison as they could not be bribed – unlike human guards. The plan is still in the early stages, and neither the location or potential opening date of the jail have been decided.

Read more on crocodiles as jail guards.

PBA Commissioner Chito Narvasa shared his view of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao as a playing coach for pro basketball team Mahindra Enforcers. Narvasa attempted to defend Pacquiao, who was a no-show during a press conference in Dubai ahead of the PBA games held there on last Friday and Saturday, by saying he has “many engagements, and first of all he is not a basketball player, he is a boxer.” Narvasa still commended Pacquiao for being able to juggle the many hats he wears including his roles as a Congressman of Sarangani, a celebrity, and as a professional boxer. The former pound-for-pound king will be even busier in the coming months as he eyes a seat at the Senate.

Read more on Narvasa talking about Pacquiao.

Stylist Liz Uy filed 6 counts of online libel and one of grave slander against Michael Sy Lim of the blog Fashion Pulis Monday. The 6 counts of libel refer to 3 of Lim’s blog posts and 3 tweets on Lim’s account, where he insinuated that Uy “recycled” a Francis Libiran gown worn by internet sensation Maine Mendoza for a big Aldub event. The gown was modeled by actress Kim Chiu for Libiran in the past. As for the complaint on grave slander, actress Isabelle Daza and Preview editor Isha Andaya attested to overhearing Lim alleging Uy wore a jacket Mendoza modeled on a magazine cover.

Read more on stylist vs blogger.