The husband of presidential candidate Grace Poe was an enlisted man in the US Air Force from 1988 to 1992. Poe’s husband Teodoro Misael Daniel Vera Llamanzares had the rank of Senior Airman or Sergeant. He has been a dual citizen of the Philippines and the US since birth. The presidential candidate, who has been confronted with citizenship issues, however, maintained there is nothing wrong with her husband’s service in the US military.

Read more about Poe’s defense of her husband on Rappler.

North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño Mendoza faces corruption charges for using government funds to buy diesel worth P2.4 million from a gasoline station owned by her mother. The Office of the Ombudsman said it found probable cause to charge Taliño Mendoza with 3 counts of violation of the anti-graft and corrupt practices law. The governor has been at the center of the Kidapawan controversy that saw the violent dispersal on April 1 of farmers who demanded food and aid. She is running for reelection under the ruling Liberal Party.

Read more about the graft caes on Rappler.

Cotabato provincial police chief Alexander Tagum was relieved, pending the results of a probe into the bloody clash between cops and farmers that killed at least two. The Philippine National Police has created a special team led by a 2-star general to look into possible lapses that led to the clash on April 1. Over 4,000 farmers staged a protest along the national highway in Kidapawan City, demanding rice and aid in the face of extreme drought caused by El Niño.

Read more about the protest on Rappler.
A related story on the Kidapawan hearing held at the Senate is also on Rappler.
Details about the narration by the police about what happened is likewise on Rappler.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has alerted its anti-cybercrime group to provide additional security for the upcoming May 9 elections. PNP chief Director General Ricardo Marquez said on Thursday, April 7, that from what he has heard, the system to be used by the Commission on Elections is “hack-proof” but that they have alerted their anti-cybercrime group for this eventuality. The PNP is looking to partner with the Department of Science and Technology to beef up cybersecurity measures, Marquez said.

Read more about the PNP preparations on Rappler.

Almost a third of the businesses of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca came from its offices in Hong Kong and China, reports said on Thursday, April 7. More than 16,300 of the firm’s active shell companies were incorporated through its Hong Kong and China offices, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which coordinated a year-long investigation into a trove of 11.5 million documents. The probe found that relatives of at least 8 current or former members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee have been implicated in the use of offshore companies.

Read more about the Chinese officials named in the reports on Rappler.

Facebook user Renee Julienne Karunungan received hundreds of private messages that threatened her after she said she is campaigning against presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. “Sana ma-rape ka (I hope you get raped),” is just one of them. Her original post, “Duterte is a lazy choice. No one man can solve the problem. Discipline comes from ourselves”, went viral and was shared about 4,000 times. It got more than 11,000 reactions and almost 1,400 comments, most of them from people who claimed they are Duterte supporters. This is not the first time that apparent Duterte supporters have been accused of cyberbullying.

Read more about the threatening social media posts on Rappler.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a global financial messaging network, said it was certain its system was never compromised and that it was not at fault in the remittance of the stolen $81 million funds from Bangladesh to the Philippines. Alain Raes, chief executive for SWIFT Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa, said member-banks are responsible for ensuring the safety of all their transactions. Cyber criminals had hacked the computer systems of Bangladesh Bank, attempting to steal $951 million from its account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A SWIFT code was sent to Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) ordering the remittance of $81 million from Bangladesh Bank in Manhattan to 5 fake RCBC accounts in the Philippines.

Read more about the SWIFT system on Rappler.

A still unidentified Filipino soldier died Thursday, April 7, after he accidentally landed at the seashore approximately 30-foot deep near the Subic airport. The accident was “due to wind drag”, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement. The soldier belonged to the 710 Special Operations wing of the Philippine Air Force. The accident happened during a joint parachute jump exercise of Filipino and American troops at Subic airport.

Read more about the accident on Rappler.

Deducing it was an attempt to avoid his arrest, Brazil’s chief prosecutor recommended to the Supreme Court that it annul the appointment of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as cabinet chief. President Dilma Rousseff appointed her predecessor as her chief of staff but a Supreme Court judge blocked it temporarily. The cabinet appointment would have given the former president – accused of massive corruption related to state oil company Petrobras – ministerial immunity from trial in criminal court.

Read more about the controversy on Rappler.

New things are on Facebook Live. On Thursday, April 7, Facebook announced new features to improve users’ live streaming experience. These include the ability to go live in Facebook Groups and Facebook Events; more interactivity via Live Reactions, Replay Comments and Live Filters; and better discovery of live videos through Invite Friends, Live Video Destination, and Live Map. These features will be rolling out on iOS and Android over the coming weeks, Facebook announced.

Read more about how the new features work on Rappler.