President Benigno Aquino III urged lawmakers on Tuesday, December 8 to “seize the historic opportunity” to lay the foundations for long term peace in the country by passing the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL). Aquino spoke to around 120 members of the House of Representatives during a two-hour meeting in Malacañang on Tuesday in an attempt to expedite the passage of the key legislative agenda of the Aquino administration. Congress is scheduled to go on holiday recess on December 19. Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte earlier set December 16 as the deadline to enact the measure, after Congress failed to pass it last October. The proposed BBL will grant greater autonomy over internal affairs in Muslim Mindanao to a regional government supported by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Critics of the bill oppose it saying that the bill did not include other stakeholders in the peace process.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with his supporters trooped to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) headquarters in Manila with the intention of refiling his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president. Instead, he was told his existing COC was valid, and he ended up ‘reaffirming’ his candidacy for president in 2016. “Marami kasing tanong, maraming isyu na lumalabas. Ako naman siguro, once and for all, pupunta ako sa Comelec. Tanungin ko lang sila kung okay ba ang papeles ko, dokumento ko. ‘Pag hindi, sabi ko, e ‘di i-DQ (disqualify) ‘nyo na lang ako kung hindi sang-ayon sa procedure,” Duterte said. (Many questions, many issues have been coming up. On my part, once and for all, I wanted to go to the Comelec. I wanted to ask him if my papers, my documents, have been okay. If not, I said, then disqualify me, if my papers don’t follow the procedure.) Duterte previously filed a COC on November 27.

Read the full story on Rappler.

“Fired up, but tired.” That’s how Tony La Viña, a veteran of international climate talks, described the 158-member Philippine delegation here at the UN climate change conference in Paris. Speaking to reporters on Monday, December 7, La Viña talked about the hectic pace of negotiations and meetings at the climate conference known as COP21 in Paris, France. Many negotiators are living off 3 to 4 hours of sleep, working through the night so that the draft climate deal aligns with the interests of the Philippines. The Philippines has a 66-person strong delegation with each person assigned to various parts of the 21-page draft agreement. Their job is to raise suggestions, dissenting opinions and come to agreement on each line of the draft. The target deadline for coming to an agreement on the future of the planet is on December 11.

Read the full story on Rappler.

US republican candidate hopeful Donald Trump on Tuesday, December 8, stood by his call to block all Muslims from entering the United States, in spite of heavy criticism from the White House and abroad. Critics, including the Republican House Speaker and British Prime Minister David Cameron, assailed Mr. Trump’s proposal as self-defeating and un-American. Trump, however, got the support of some conservative commentators. On December 9, Trump hinted at leaving the Republican party tweeting: A new poll indicates that 68% of my supporters would vote for me if I departed the GOP (Republican party) and ran as an independent.”

Read the full story in the New York Times.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, December 8 permitted former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to spend Christmas and New Year at her home in Quezon City. The Christmas furlough will begin at 8:00 am on December 23, 2015 and end on December 26 at 5:00 pm while a New Year furlough will begin on December 30 and end on January 2, 2016. The former president is detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center over a plunder case involving the alleged misuse of P365.9 million in government funds. The Arroyo camp has also petitioned the high court to grant her house arrest on account of her ill health.

Read the full story on Rappler.

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, December 8 upheld a ban on field testing for Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) talong (eggplant), affirming an earlier decision of the Court of Appeals (CA). The high court also cancelled an administrative order of the Department of Agriculture and temporarily stopped field testing of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) until a new administrative order is crafted. The court said it was applying the “precautionary principle” citing the lack of scientific certainty and to protect the environment from “potentially serious or irreversible harm.” In May 2013, the CA stopped the nationwide field testing of the Bt eggplant following a petition filed by Greenpeace and farmers’ group Masipag.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) said on Tuesday, December 8 that getting a “credible and completely independent third party” is the best way to settle the Montero Sport sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) issue. The company insists that it has thoroughly evaluated all 97 vehicles involved in cases of alleged SUA and found nothing wrong with any of them. Some complainants, however, remain unconvinced and have asked for a recall. The company added there are zero SUA allegations in other Southeast Asian countries, and they carry the same units being sold in the Philippines. The Montero Sport units in Southeast Asia are all made in Thailand.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Grace Poe’s legal woes are far from over. On Tuesday, December 8, Rizalito David, who filed a petition questioning Poe’s citizenship before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), asked the Supreme Court (SC) to review the SET’s decision upholding the natural-born status of Senator Grace Poe. David’s petition called on the SC to effectively give more weight to the dissenting opinions of the 3 SET members who voted to disqualify Poe as senator because they are also high court justices. The SC justices, together with Senator Nancy Binay, were outnumbered by the majority who voted to uphold Poe’s natural-born status: Senators Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Pia Cayetano, Loren Legarda, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and Cynthia Villar. Justice Carpio earlier said all 3 of them will inhibit from the case, should it reach the Supreme Court en banc.

Read the full story on Rappler.

LeBron James has signed a lifetime deal with US sporting goods giant Nike it was confirmed on Monday, December 7 in what was described as the largest single athlete deal in the company’s 44-year history. No figures for the deal were available but a source familiar with the terms told ESPN it easily eclipsed the $300 million (277 million euros), 10-year deal Nike signed with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant. According to Forbes.com, James is the sixth highest earning athlete in the world, raking in annual earnings of $64.8 million according to a list issued in June. The Cleveland Cavaliers star’s net worth is estimated at around $300 million.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Fallen UFC world champion Ronda Rousey has revealed it could take up to 6 months to fully recover from injuries sustained in her brutal knockout defeat to Holly Holm last month. Rousey told the upcoming edition of ESPN Magazine she had suffered damage to her teeth in the stunning loss to Holm which would prevent her getting back in the octagon for several months. Rousey’s defeat to Holm in Melbourne was one of the biggest shocks in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Both fighters are looking forward to a future rematch.

Read the full story on Rappler.