February 13, 2014 Edition

After 6 months of hiding, socialite Ruby Chan Tuason told the Senate blue ribbon committee that she personally delivered bags of cash to Senator Jinggoy Estrada in his office at the Senate. Tuason testified on February 13, after executing a 15-page affidavit implicating Estrada and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile in the pork barrel scam. As of posting, senators were asking Tuason about her relationship with alleged scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, her involvement in the multi-billion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, and her knowledge of the P900-million Malampaya fund controversy.

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US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Manila late April as part of a tour of key Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia. The White House did not mention a specific date for the Manila visit, which was originally scheduled in October 2013 but was cancelled due to the US government shutdown. Obama is scheduled to meet with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III and will discuss economic and security concerns. The Philippines is the 5th Asian treaty ally he will visit during his presidency.


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A deadly ice storm stranded scores of people on slick roadways and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of US homes on February 12, as winter-weary Americans dug in against Mother Nature’s latest walloping. The national weather service began warning days ago that a “mammoth dome” of arctic air would settle over the eastern US, creating a “paralyzing ice storm.” In the UK, flood-hit Britain suffered a fresh battering from storms and high winds that caused power outages to nearly 150,000 homes, the cancellation of football matches and the death of one man. The conditions brought chaos for commuters, stranding a train carrying hundreds of passengers after overhead lines came down in Yorkshire, northern England.

Read the full story on Rappler.

Read the story on the UK storm on Rappler.

As the Philippines marks on Sunday, February 16, the 100th day after Yolanda thrust the Philippines in its biggest reconstruction effort after World War II, top officials of the Red Cross challenged the world to address the “huge needs” lingering in the Philippines. They said the world tends to forget even huge disasters. Only 20.84% of total cash pledges have actually reached the Philippine government, according to data from its Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAITH) as of February 12. These data show that the Philippines has gotten $13.337 million in cash from the international community – only a fifth of the $69.107 million that the world promised.

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The Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 150 on February 12 denied for lack of merit the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind’s motion for reconsideration on her request to post bail. Janet Lim Napoles, who is currently detained at the Fort Sto Domingo in Laguna for serious illegal detention charges, filed a motion to grant her bail in September 2013. Serious illegal detention is a non-bailable offense, but the rule says “no person charged with a capital offense, or an offense punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment, shall be admitted to bail when evidence of guilt is strong, regardless of the stage of the criminal prosecution.” The court said however that the offense Napoles is being accused of “has been committed.”

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Malacañang says it would have responded to the mother of the country’s lone Olympian appealing for financial help had it received the letter which she claims to have sent. The Palace’s denial echoes that of Philippine Sports Commission head Richie Garcia, who also said there was no truth to claims that it ignored Martinez’s campaign for the Winter Olympics. Garcia explained the PSC wrote Martinez a check of $7,000 or more than P300,000. In an interview with Catholic News Service, the athlete’s mother said she did not only reach out to President Benigno Aquino III for financial help and did not receive a response, she also mortgaged her house.

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For the 2nd year in a row and against the backdrop of unsolved media killings and the President’s refusal to endorse the Freedom of Information bill, the Philippines dropped in press freedom rankings across the world. Out of 180 countries surveyed by Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders or Reporters Sans Frontieres, the Philippines ranked 149th in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index. It dropped even further from 147th in 2013 and 140th in 2012. The results of the survey come two months after the killing of 3 media practitioners within just two weeks. Armed conflicts and abusive surveillance practices were some of the major factors that contributed to the repression of press freedom around the world.

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Women who turn 40 are encouraged to undergo annual mammography screenings, and this practice remains popular among menopausal women. But do they help reduce breast cancer at all? No, according to a new research, the latest in a series of studies that question the value of breast X-rays. A research in the British Medical Journal published February 11 showed mammogram screenings have “absolutely no benefit in terms of reduction of [cancer] deaths.” Various government and non-government medical institutions recommend that women go through such tests when they turn 40. The latest study is not expected to change policy although “it will enliven an already heated debate over screening,” says the Los Angeles Times.

Read the full story on the LA Times.

Mammography photo from Shutterstock

Belgium faced fresh protests February 12 as its parliament prepared to extend a ground-breaking euthanasia law to terminally-ill children, only the second nation to allow minors the right to die. While surveys show Belgians in general support the move, the Catholic Church led a day of fasting and prayer to pressure lawmakers to postpone the vote. Groups opposed to the law say palliative drugs offer an alternative to children and that the euthanasia law was unnecessary.

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Arvin “Tado” Jimenez was laid to rest February 12 at the Loyola Memorial Park in the company of grieving family and friends. In death, he displayed the sum total of a life well lived, measured in the words and actions of his wife, children, family, and fans. Jimenez’s wife Lei said that although they were “not rich,” his legacy and true wealth would be seen in the coming days following his death. Jimenez and at least a dozen others died in a bus accident in Mountain Province on February 7. The bus turned out to be unauthorized to travel the route, prompting the suspension of its company’s operations.


Read the full story on Rappler.