Daily News Highlights – May 26, 2016 Edition

Congress started the official canvass of votes for president and vice president on May 25, and admitted the results reflected in 45 certificates of canvass out of 165. The initial count showed Rodrigo Duterte leading the presidential race by a mile, and Leni Robredo leading the tight vice presidential race. COCs from 3 provinces – Ilocos Sur, Laguna, Davao del Norte – were deferred, given discrepancies between the numbers in the physically-transmitted and the electronically-transmitted copies. Their provincial canvassers have been ordered to appear before Congress on May 26. The proclamation of the winning president and VP is expected by May 30.

Read the full story on Rappler #PHvote.

The population of the Philippines grew to over 100 million in 2015, according to the latest Census of Population. As of August 2015, the number of Filipinos hit 100,981,437. The latest figure is 8.64 million or 9.36% higher than in 2010 when the population of 92,337,852 was recorded. The 2015 survey was the 14th census of population undertaken in the Philippines.

Find out the most populous regions and provinces in the full story on Rappler.

Indonesia will begin chemically castrating convicted pedophiles in an effort to combat child sex abuse. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed a presidential directive to castrate child sex offenders. “This regulation will resolve a significant number of crisis caused by sexual violence against children. I condemn violence against children as an extraordinary crime, as it harms personal life and growth of the victims,” Jokowi said. “It needs special prosecution because this kind of delinquency also disturbs the safety and peace of society.”

Read about the additional penalties for pedophiles on Rappler Indonesia.

Children are being put to work on tobacco plantations in Indonesia that supply some of the world’s biggest cigarette companies, putting their health at serious risk, Human Rights Watch warned. Despite Indonesian law prohibiting child labor in hazardous industries, the rights group documented dozens of cases of minors – some as young as 8 – falling ill from handling raw tobacco and mixing pesticides with their bare hands. Much of the tobacco harvested from the roughly 500,000 plantations across Indonesia is for the domestic market, where smoking rates are among the world’s highest. But one quarter of all Indonesian tobacco is exported and sold overseas by multinational cigarette giants.

Read the full story on Rappler Indonesia.

World leaders kick off two days of G7 talks in Japan on May 26, with the creaky global economy, terrorism, refugees, China’s controversial maritime claims, and a possible Brexit headlining their packed agenda. Heads of state and government from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and host Japan are meeting in Ise Shima, a mountainous, sparsely populated area about 300 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The group, including US president Barack Obama – whose historic visit to atomic-bombed Hiroshima threatens to overshadow the talks – will spend Thursday morning at Ise Jingu, a huge shrine complex that sits at the spiritual heart of Japan’s native Shintoism. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision to take his counterparts to the sprawling site has attracted some controversy, however, due to its nationalist overtones.

Read on Rappler World about the issues the leaders are taking up .

Toyota and Volkswagen announced separate partnerships with rideshare companies Uber and Gett, in the latest such moves by major carmakers. The deal between Japan’s Toyota and ridesharing titan Uber will create new leasing options enabling car buyers to lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments with what they make as Uber drivers. German auto giant Volkswagen said it had made a $300 million strategic investment in Uber competitor Gett, which has a presence in more than 60 countries worldwide including London, Moscow, and New York.

Read about the details of the partnerships on Rappler Business.

Microsoft announced May 25 it would let go up to 1,850 employees and a Finnish union called it the end of the company’s smartphone manufacturing business, bought from Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia. Microsoft “will not be manufacturing (phone) devices, at least for the time being. It will do software, however,” said Microsoft’s chief shop steward in Finland, Kalle Kiili. Microsoft said the move would result in “an impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million” (852.6 million euros) for the company.

Read the full story on Rappler Technology.

France said it had been forced to dip into strategic fuel reserves due to blockades at refineries as power station workers voted to join gathering protests against controversial labor law reforms. Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned the CGT union leading the disruption at refineries and fuel depots that it “does not make the law in France.” The CGT, locked in an increasingly bitter struggle with the government, has called for its action to be extended May 26 to nuclear power stations that supply 75% of the country’s electricity. The union said that 16 of France’s 19 nuclear stations had voted to join the strike. The union has also called for rallies in major cities, upping the stakes after 3 months of protests that have brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets.

Read the full story on Rappler World.

Netizens launched protests online against the plan of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to bury dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery). Duterte said the hero’s burial for the former president – a promise he made during the campaign – “can be arranged immediately.” Various groups believe Marcos do not deserve to be treated as a hero given his human rights abuses during the martial law. A Change.org petition has been posted and a Facebook event created to gather support against the plan.

Read the full story on Move.

The Philippine team continues its onslaught in the 2016 SEABA Stankovic Cup with Indonesia as its latest victim, 83-52. The game at the Stadium 29 in Bangkok, Thailand, was the Philippines’ 3rd straight victory. The Gilas cadets, who previously dominated Malaysia and Singapore, cruised to this latest win with improving defense, limiting their opponent to under 55 points but still turned the ball over 18 times. Indonesia scored only 9 points in the final quarter compared to the Philippines’ 23. The Philippines will close out the single-round robin elimination round against host Thailand on May 26.

Read about the game on Rappler Sports.