June 13, 2014 Edition

The Sandiganbayan, the Philippine anti-graft court, assigned 3 of its divisions to hear the plunder cases filed by government against 3 senators over the illegal diversion of lawmakers’ development funds. With this action, the justices are indicating there is no need to create two special divisions dedicated to the trial of the all other lawmakers, government officials, and private individuals expected to be prosecuted over the the multi-billion-peso scam. The request for the creation of special divisions was made by the Ombudsman before the Supreme Court, saying the scale of the case and the number of accused merit the dedicated divisions at the Sandiganbayan. The anti-graft court justices, however, “want to avoid public perception” they are rushing resolution of the cases for political reasons. The 3 accused senators have decried the administration’s “selective justice,” prosecuting only those from the opposition when the state auditors have also tagged allies of President Benigno Aquino III in the scam

Read the details on the raffle of plunder cases here. Here is Rappler’s exclusive story on the decision on anti-graft justices not to create special courts to try the cases.

Janet Lim Napoles, the woman now facing plunder charges for allegedly engineering the scam that siphoned off billions of pesos in lawmakers’ pork barrel, was able to form at least 16 accounts with an Air Force savings and loan cooperative using her employees as dummies. This was revealed by the the former lawyer of one of Napoles’ dummies and now state witness. The lawyer said the family of Benhur Luy, the principal whistleblower in the illegal diversion of Priority Development Assistance Fund to fake livelihood organizations, had their own money mingled with Napoles’ illegal earnings. The Luy family only wants the get their money back, but the dummy accounts with the Air Material Wing Savings and Loan Association Incorporated – under the names of Napoles’ husband, children, maid, driver, and friends – have been ordered frozen by the appeals court, upon the request of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The accounts hold a combined amount of P443 million.

Read the full Rappler story here.

Clarifying that it is just a “food for thought” rather than a formal proposal, a top American diplomat on East Asia proposed that China and Southeast Asian nations hold a moratorium on provocative actions in the South China Sea. For years, the United States has been pushing for a code of conduct among claimant countries in the South China Sea to prevent escalation of incidents in the economically vital waterway.”So for example, would they be willing to make a pledge as simple as not to occupy any of the land features in the South China Sea that are currently unoccupied?” Danny Russel, an assistant secretary of state, told reporters in Myanmar, where President Barack Obama is expected to travel in November for the East Asia Summit. In Washington, DC, visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed that Canberra would be America’s “most dependable friend” in the Asia Pacific region, even while acknowledging the rise of China. “I am confident that the coming century will indeed be the Asian century, but only if America is there too to keep the peace and enforce the rules,” Abbott said.

Read here the full story on the proposed provocation freeze in the South China Sea.

An additional two years in the high school curriculum, to be implemented starting academic year 2015-2016, will result in the massive retrenchment of teachers and non-teaching staff in colleges and universities across the Philippines. The new K-12 program – requiring students to complete Kindergarten and 12 years of primary and secondary education before entering college – was enacted supposedly to keep make Philippine graduates competitive with those from advanced countries. It will, however, cause a drop in college enrollment in the first two years of its implementation, all the way to school year 2021-2022, when things are expected to normalize. A group of professors estimated around 30,000 professors and 15,000 non-teaching staff will be affected either by retrenchment to prevent losses, redundancy, or early retirement.

Read the full story here. Check out also Rappler’s infographic on the K-12 program

There had been media reports and endless social network rants on how passengers suffered at what travel bloggers call the “worst airport in the world,” but nobody dared do something about the bad service. Until lawyer Samson Alcantara. Alcanta, a senior citizen, has filed a civil case that could become a test case for the enforcement of the Air Passenger Bill of Rights. This was after he fainted and sustained injuries at the Terminal 4 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila after standing, unassisted, for 2 hours at the check-in counter of Zest Airways (also known as Air Asia Zest). The congested area did not have air conditioners, seats, or priority lanes for senior citizens and other passengers needing special assistance. Seeking at least P1.1 million ($25,135*) in civil damages and P200,000 ($4,570*) in attorney’s fees from Zest Airways Incorporated and the Manila International Airport Authority, Alcantara wants “to encourage other air travelers who suffered” like he did.

Read the full story here.

Two months after a ferry accident killed nearly 300 people in South Korea, the first damages suit – seeking 30 million won ($30,000) compensation from the government and the Chonghaejin Marine Co. – was filed by the mother of a student who suffered. The plaintiff’s child was among the 325 students from the Danwon High School in Ansan City, south of Seoul, who died when the Sewol ferry capsized and sank.  The plaintiff said she could raise to as much as 600 million won the damages she is seeking as more information emerges from the ongoing investigation and trials of the Sewol crew.

Read the full story here.

Representatives from Nigeria and its neighbors gathered in London to discuss progress on an action plan earlier agreed in Paris, when their countries pledged to “declare war” on the Islamic insurgents who kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls to be sold into slavery. Meeting at the sidelines of the a global summit on combating sexual violence in conflict, they said in a communique, “The abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls was a heinous example of the scourge of sexual violence, which we are determined to eliminate around the world.”  They were joined by representatives of the European Union, United Nations, African Union, France, Canada, Britain and the United States, which are providing support to find and rescue the girls.

Read the full story here. Rappler features an opinion piece by the hosts of the London summit, British Foreign Secretary Hague and Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, on how ending war zone rape is a “moral responsibility” of every country

In an attempt to contribute to a “better understanding our Earth and its future,” the US space agency NASA is preparing a satellite that will help provide a more complete and global picture of man-made and naturally occurring carbon dioxide emissions. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite, which has a lifespan of two years, will also feed information on the  the effects of carbon “sinks,” like oceans and forests, which absorb and trap the gas. To be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the satellite is envisioned to lead a 6-strong fleet that will circle the Earth every 99 minutes. According to scientists, CO2 emissions from human activities, especially from fossil fuels and deforestation, have upset the planet’s natural carbon cycle. This has prompted a rise in temperatures and planet-wide climate change. NASA said CO2 levels have reached their highest point in at least 800,000 years.

Full story here.

The United Nations’ food and health agencies said more than 3 million children under the age of 5 die every year of malnutrition, urging governments to “make stronger commitments…to ensure healthier diets for all.” Since the first international conference on nutrition in 1992, there has only been a 17% reduction in undernourishment, leaving over 840 million people still chronically undernourished, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization. Among children, some 162 million are left stunted by chronic malnutrition and 99 million are underweight across the world, they said.

Read the full story here. Visit Rappler’s Hunger Project microsite to learn of strategies to end hunger, address poverty, and make food available for all.

There is always a good reason to visit the culturally rich capital of the world’s biggest Muslim country, but between now and July 30, an unusual confluence of events in Jakarta will give travellers the best bang for their buck. Over the next few weeks these 5 things will be happening at the same time: the Jakarta Great Sale in celebration of its anniversary, the Ramadan, the World Cup fever, an extended summer, and the presidential election.

Read the details here of what Jakarta offers tourists.

Make it also a habit to visit Rappler’s Southeast Asia page for latest news and special reports on the diverse and dynamic region on the rise.