Days after releasing radio ads in Cebu, Tacloban and Cagayan de Oro, the camp of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte leaked on social networking site Facebook a 34-second political advertisement. Due to be released on key television stations in Metro Manila on Friday, May 29, the ad has similarities to a 2010 political ad of then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, “Ganito Kami sa Makati”. Doing the voice over himself for the ad, Duterte says that the safety and fast-paced development he brought about in Davao City can also happen all over the country. The TV commercial adds to the growing list of indications Duterte is not retiring from politics in 2016 and may, in fact, seek the presidency.

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Five web developers belonging to Team Instigators created a website that can calculate how far you are from the West Valley Fault. Called “Project Tremors”, the site works as simply as Google search. All you need to do is type your address on the search box. A line that shows the direction of the fault line appears, along with a text box indicating your location and your calculated distance from the fault line. The 100-kilometer West Valley Fault transects at least 57 residential villages and subdivisions. According to Phivolcs, another quake could strike within the next 50 years.

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Look into the dollar bank transactions of Vice President Jejomar Binay in the 1990s as well. This was the recommendation of former Makati vice mayor Ernesto Mercado to the Anti-Money Laundering Council during Thursday’s Senate hearing on corruption allegations against Binay. In his presentation, Mercado, an ally-turned-critic of Binay, again showed documents that indicated Binay had at least 7 foreign accounts. Mercado refuted Binay’s claims that only 5 of the 242 bank accounts frozen by the Court of Appeals were his. He added that the AMLC should look into Binay’s dollar accounts owned from 1994 to 1998 when he was Makati mayor.

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Air passenger traffic in the Philippines reached 38.27 million, higher by 1.6% compared to 2013. The Civil Aeronautics Board on Thursday, May 28, said the number of travelers by air is  610,291 more than the volume of passengers in 2013. International passenger traffic also grew by 3.4% in 2014, hitting 17.92 million in 2014, while domestic passenger traffic remained relatively flat at 20.35 million compared to 20.33 million in 2013. The growth was attributed to new long-haul routes in 2014 and expansion of international routes by Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific.

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Despite great strides in food security, the Asia Pacific region still has 490 million people suffering from chronic hunger. This constitutes two-thirds of all hungry people in the world, numbering at least 730 million. The 2015 Regional Overview of Food Insecurity in Asia and Pacific of the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization also said that besides undernutrition, the region continues to see a rising number of cases of stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, calorie consumption deficiency, and obesity.

Reeling from the aftermath of the deadly Mamasapano clash and persistent doubts about the constitutionality of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the peace process appears headed for a setback. In September 2014, the co-authors of the proposed measure numbered 13, constituting a majority of the 24-member chamber. But the tide has shifted, with 6 senators who are members of the constitutional amendments committee signing the report of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago who said the proposed law was unconstitutional. All 6 were original co-authors of the BBL: Ralph Recto, Juan Edgardo Angara, Francis Escudero, Gregorio Honasan, Teofisto Guingona III, and Alan Peter Cayetano.

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A partial report by the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee recommending plunder charges against Vice President Jejomar Binay and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay has been signed by 4 senators as of Thursday, May 28. Only two of them have been identified – Senator Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and panel chairman Senator Aquilino Pimentel III. The draft report asks the Ombudsman to file plunder charges against the two Binays over the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall parking building 2. It said “a system of corruption” was evident in the infrastructure project amounting to P2.276 billion.

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After hitting at the inexperience of Senator Grace Poe, among the top-of-mind presidential candidates for 2016, the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay said their presidential bet has never lost an election in his life. Poe ranked second to Binay in the March 2015 election polls, and is seen to be a strong contender. Reacting to earlier attacks against her supposed inexperience, Poe said that honesty, and not only competence, should the basis for electing leaders. She has ruled out being a running mate of Binay who faces multiple allegations of corruption.

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The Italian coastguard said 741 migrants headed for Europe from Libya were rescued in the Mediterranean on Thursday, May 28. On board 6 boats, 5 of which were inflatable vessels, the migrants were brought to safety in the Strait of Sicily in a rescue operation that involved German, Irish and British naval vessels. Over 1,700 migrants have died so far this year in their journey to Europe, representing a 30-fold increase in the same period in 2014, the International Organization for Migration said.

Google on Thursday, May 28, unveiled Android Pay, its pay-with-a-phone system for Android devices, during its Google developers conference in San Francisco. The system brings together mobile carriers, payment networks, banks and retailers to allow smartphone users to use their mobile phones instead of payment cards. Like the Apple Pay system introduced in 2014, Android Pay lets consumers store credit card information on their phones, along with loyalty cards and other useful data. This will facilitate contactless payments.

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