Daily News Highlights – April 13, 2016 Edition

The Commission on Elections set the voting period an hour earlier for the May 9 polls. From 7 am to 5 pm, the new voting hours will be 6 am to 5 pm. Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said they want to “take advantage of daylight,” when the environment is safer. The poll body previously warned that the elections could last for 20 hours, following a Supreme Court order to issue voting receipts. But the projected extension is now shorter because “simple receipts” will be printed instead.

Get more details about the voting period and receipts to be issued. 

Read more about voting receipts and why you can’t take them home. 

Meanwhile, the Comelec will sue hackers who attacked its website. 

Also read about the Comelec’s decision to junk the planned canvassing at the Manila Hotel.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said he would be willing to face Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in a one-on-one debate on morality, graft, and corruption – “any time, any place.” But Binay also said debating with Duterte would be pointless, because Duterte himself had “admitted” to killing criminals. The Vice President has stepped up his attacks against Duterte since the mayor began surging in recent voters’ preference surveys.

Find out what else Binay said about Duterte and his other rivals for the presidency. 

The Sandiganbayan granted bail to Masbate Governor Rizalina Seachon-Lanete and businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles in connection with their plunder case stemming from the alleged misuse of Lanete’s pork barrel when she was in Congress. The court set bail at P500,000 each. Only Lanete can be released, however, once she posts bail, because Napoles is serving a life sentence for the illegal detention of her former employee Benhur Luy.

Read about the Sandiganbayan decision to grant bail to Lanete and Napoles.

Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said the BIR is looking into the tax records of PhilRem Service Corporation, the money transfer firm linked to the Bangladesh Bank fund heist. The BIR found out that PhilRem is actually registered as a land transportation contractor, not a remittance company. Henares said that “something is amiss” and there would be fines and penalties. 

Take a look at this story on PhilRem and the Senate probe into the Bangladesh Bank fund heist. 

Police raided the headquarters of Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm whose leaked Panama Papers revealed the offshore dealings of the world’s wealthy and powerful. In a statement, police said they carried out the raid “with no incident or interference.” The Panama Papers has had repercussions worldwide.

Get updates from this story on the raid on Mossack Fonseca.

A special games athlete competing at the 2016 Palarong Pambansa was rushed to the hospital after she suffered an electric shock on Wednesday, April 13. Pamela Tabastabas was going up the stairs of a Jollibee food truck stationed at the Albay Sports and Tourism Complex when she got electrocuted. The cause of the incident is still unclear.

Read about the incident here. 

President Benigno Aquino III will confer the National Artist award on 9 individuals on Thursday, April 14. The award is given to Filipinos “who have made distinct contributions in the field of arts and letters.”

Find out who the new National Artists are.

Billionaire Russian investor Yuri Milner and British cosmologist Stephen Hawking unveiled a plan to reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth. Milner and Hawking are spearheading the “Breakthrough Starshot” team of scientists working on mini space vehicles called “nanocraft.” The goal is to send the nanocraft to Alpha Centauri, which is 25 trillion miles from Earth.

Get details of the “Breakthrough Starshot” mission.

Facebook unveiled a chat bot platform for its Messenger app, which would allow users to interact with a brand or service. This new platform was announced at the social media site’s F8 developer conference in San Francisco, California early Wednesday, April 13 (Manila time). 

Check out how the chat bots will work within the Messenger app. 

Rappler and Kickstart Ventures have teamed up with Facebook to host a local viewing party and networking event called F8 Meetup Manila. Read about the event here.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach returned to Manila on Wednesday, April 13, to crown her successor in the Binibining Pilipinas pageant. Coronation night is on Sunday, April 17, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Pia will also hold a press conference on Thursday, April 14.

Take a look at photos of Pia’s arrival.