As public schools open their doors to over 21 million elementary and high school students nationwide on Monday, June 1, the Philippines’ education department continues to contend with old problems like late registration and school congestion, as well as new ones like the threat of the West Valley Fault. The total enrollment in public schools for school year 2014-2015 was at 21,042,250. For school year 2015-2016, the Department of Education (DepEd) expects about 180,000 to 200,000 more students on top of last year’s enrollment. To date, there are 46,624 public schools and half a million classrooms nationwide. Congestion, a common problem in urban areas, is on a downward trend. A week before class opening, however, a number of public schools figured in the limelight as they have buildings transected by the West Valley Fault. Until engineers are done confirming and validating the structural integrity of select buildings in the said schools, those buildings will not be used for classes.

Read more on Rappler.

The House of Representatives is set to begin the plenary debate on the controversial bill creating a new autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao on Monday, June 1. But while the proposed Bangsamoro basic law (BBL) hurdled the committee level with an overwhelming majority, passage of the bill – renamed Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region – at the plenary is not expected to be smooth-sailing, House Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II said in a radio interview Sunday, May 31. The biggest concern for legislators is the provision allowing cities and provinces sharing a common border with the Bangsamoro to join the plebiscite – 5 and 10 years after the creation of the Bangsamoro – through a petition signed by at least 10% of registered voters. Deleting the opt-in clause would give the Bangsamoro bill a greater chance of passing the House, Gonzales said.

Read more on Rappler.

While Interior Secretary Manual Roxas II has yet to confirm his presidential bid in 2016, his mother has started campaigning for him in their bailiwick. Judy Araneta Roxas, who hails from Bago City, Negros Occidental, hosted a dinner for local officials at their ancestral home in the city on Saturday evening, May 30. The 260 guests were led by Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. Pressed by the media on their readiness for Roxas’ presidential bid in 2016, their matriarch said, “All the way.”

Read more on Rappler.

Investment company North Base Media (NBM), which is focused on supporting independent media in growth markets, has invested in Rappler, a Manila-based social news network. NBM, which is interested in the intersection between journalism and technology, is founded by a triumvirate of top journalists led by Marcus Brauchli. Brauchli headed both the newsrooms of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. The other two key figures in NBM are veteran journalists Sasa Vucinic and Stuart Karle. The relationship between NBM and Rappler is expected to be a symbiotic one – NBM hopes to help Rappler continue its growth as it strengthens its first international bureau in neighboring Indonesia, while taking its ideas and sharing it with others.

Read more on Rappler.

The U.S. Senate convened a rare Sunday session on May 31, in a last-ditch attempt to pass legislation allowing U.S. spy agencies to continue to gather information on Americans’ telephone calls and other business records. Key provisions of the USA Patriot Act are set to expire Sunday midnight (0400 GMT Monday). If no action is taken by the Senate Sunday, authorities will be forced to shut down the bulk collection program and two other provisions, which allow roving wiretaps of terror suspects who change their mobile phone numbers and the tracking of lone-wolf suspects. CIA chief John Brennan earlier warned that allowing vital surveillance programs to expire could increase terror threats. The House earlier passed a reform bill, the USA Freedom Act, that would end the telephone data dragnet by the National Security Agency (NSA) and require a court order for the NSA to access specific records from the vast data base retained by telecommunications companies.

Read more on Huffington Post.

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The death sentence handed to a Filipino in Qatar for spying was reduced on appeal by a Doha court on Sunday, May 31, to life imprisonment. The unnamed defendant who was originally sentenced to death, is likely to spend up to 25 years in prison. He worked as a supervisor at Qatar Petroleum. Two other sentences of life imprisonment against another pair of defendants, also from the Philippines, were reduced at the same time by Qatar’s Court of Appeal to 15 years in jail. All 3 had been convicted last year on charges of espionage and passing on Qatar military and economic secrets to the Philippines government. Manila has “emphatically” denied spying on Qatar. All 3 men have been detained since 2010.

Read more on Rappler.

Angelia Ong of Manila has won the title of Miss Philippines Earth 2015. The 24-year-old marketing management student beat out the other candidates for the honor of representing the Philippines at the Miss Earth 2015 international pageant later this year.

Watch Ms. Ong’s winning moment on Rappler.

Read the full list of winners and view the photos.

US Secretary of State John Kerry broke his leg in an early morning cycling accident in Scionzier, France on Sunday, May 31. State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Kerry, who was flown to a hospital in nearby Geneva, Switzerland for treatment, is stable, his injury is not life-threatening and he is expected to make a full recovery. The injury, however, is near the site of a previous hip surgery, so Kerry will return to Boston for treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital with his doctor who did the prior surgery, according to Kirby. As result of his injury, Kerry will not be able to visit Spain as planned. He also won’t be able to attend the Paris counter-ISIL coalition ministerial meeting on Tuesday. He will participate in the Paris meeting remotely, Kirby said. Kerry’s cycling rides have become a regular occurrence on his trips. He often takes his bike with him on the plane and was riding that bicycle on Sunday.

Read more on CNN.

Read more on Washington Post.

Drag queens plan to lead a demonstration outside Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters on Monday, June 1, in response to the company’s “real name” policy. Facebook has repeatedly stated its opposition to anonymous users and has suspended accounts when people do not use their officially recognised names. The company has stated that a core element of its site is that it does not allow “anonymous” users stating that use of authentic names make people “more accountable.” But the policy has incited groups including drag queens, transgender people, domestic violence survivors and others, who do not use the names on their birth certificates, to come together against the policy as part of the #MyNameIs coalition. The groups behind #MyNameIs argue that they are targeted by malicious users who oppose their identity and behavior. Facebook has adjusted its policy to create a clearer appeals process for people whose accounts have been suspended, and loosened the requirements for people who want to use their “authentic name” instead of their legal name.

Read more on The Guardian.

Don’t just dump, recycle. What one woman considered to be nothing but electronic waste turned out to include a treasure that a collector bought for US$200,000 at a private auction. Clean Bay Area, a recycling center in Milpitas, California, said on its website that a woman in her 60s dropped off some electronic goods in April, when she was cleaning out the garage after her husband died. On closer inspection, the boxes of computer parts turned out to include a rare 1976 Apple 1. Only a few dozen of these groundbreaking home computers, which Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak built in 1976, are known to still exist. Victor Gichun, the vice president of Clean Bay Area, said a $100,000 check is waiting for the mystery woman as the recycler’s policy is to split the proceeds 50-50 with the person who donated the equipment.

Read more on The Guardian.

Read more on The Huffington Post.