March 5, 2014 Edition

Principal pork barrel scam witness Benhur Luy relieved his lawyer Levito Baligod on March 3, Monday citing the lawyer’s busy schedule as the reason. According to Rappler’s sources, Luy’s decision comes after several attempts to seek Baligod’s attention. The source also said that Luy and Baligod did try to patch things up at least once. “They already had a one-on-one meeting to discuss each other’s issues but apparently they were not able to arrive at a compromise,” the source said. Baligod, who got engaged last January to a wealthy Leyte politician, has frequently been seen in Baybay City since Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the place in November, 2013. Luy reportedly first observed that Baligod “had his mind on other things” whenever they would have hearings at the Makati Regional Court, which is trying the illegal detention case. Luy also complained that he was being kept in the dark about legal strategies in the build up of the case. Other witnesses in the pork barrel scam are also thinking of dropping Baligod as counsel.

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Nearly 4 months after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the country, the Philippines has only received a fifth of the $69.11 million pledged by the international community. Rehabilitation secretary Panfilo Lacson said on Tuesday, March 4 that he may soon appoint “evangelists” to go knocking at donors’ doors. “We cannot force them because they are donors, in the first place, so we can just appeal to them to make good on their pledges,” Lacson said. If foreign donors cannot deliver 100% of their pledges, the former senator urged them to donate “at least a substantial amount.” “Kailangang kailangan talaga ng mga tao,” he said. (The people really need it.) Lacson cited a similar program conceptualized by Indonesian reconstruction expert Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who supervised the rebuilding of Aceh, Indonesia, after the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.  “BRR’s head went out of his way to meet donors, sometimes in their home countries, to ensure that their efforts were acknowledged and praised. He also coaxed and cajoled donors to honor their pledges and to adapt their priorities to unmet needs,” an agency report said. Aside from getting to donors to live up to their promises, Lacson will also need to convince them that their monies will not go to waste.


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Washington on Tuesday, March 4, announced a $1 billion support package for debt-laden Ukraine as US Secretary of State John Kerry became the highest-profile foreign diplomat to visit Kiev’s new interim government amid a Cold-War style standoff with Russia. Stepping up the rhetoric against Russia, Kerry accused Moscow of looking for a “pretext” to invade Ukraine and condemned Russia’s intervention on the flashpoint Crimean peninsula as an “act of aggression.” Kerry also held talks with Ukraine officials and paid tribute to protestors killed on Kiev’s Independence Square. Kerry said Russia had committed an “act of aggression in Ukraine” by mobilizing troops in Crimea. “I think that it is clear that Russia has been working hard to create a pretext for being able to invade further,” he said. Shortly before Kerry arrived in Kiev, President Vladimir Putin insisted at a press conference that Russia had the right to use “all means” to protect its citizens in Ukraine but denied he had already deployed troops. Meanwhile, the Philippines advised Filipinos living and working in the Ukraine to prepare for possible evacuation in light of escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia.


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The prosecution team on Tuesday, March 4 rested its case against Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan Jr and 27 other suspects in the brutal killing of media people, lawyers, and supporters of Maguindanao Gov Esmael Mangudadatu. Andal Ampatuan Jr allegedly led the gunning down on November 23, 2009, of at least 58 victims, including 32 journalists. Their bodies were dug out in a mass grave in Sitio Masalay, Ampatuan, Maguindanao. Their work isn’t over yet, however. The prosecution has not yet rest its case for 76 other accused pending appeals to have the testimonies of certain “vital” witnesses admitted in court. The Department of Justice is under marching orders from President Benigno Aquino III to have the suspects int he massacre convicted before the end of his term in 2016.


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Talks between dominant telco Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and broadcast giant GMA Network Inc. for the sale of the media network collapsed anew on Tuesday, March 4. PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said he received no word from GMA 7 about PLDT’s offer for a 34% stake in the company. “I am getting tired,” Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s financial results briefing. PLDT subsidiary MediaQuest offered to acquire GMA 7’s common shares and PLDT wanted to buy its Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs). PDRs are a form of equity reserved for foreigners, who are prohibited under the Constitution to own voting shares in media entities. PLDT is controlled by Hong Kong’s First Pacific Company Ltd. and Japan ’s NTT DoCoMo. The groups were in acquisition talks several times – in 2001, 2004 and 2012 – but price and regulatory issues got in the way.


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Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares responded on March 4, Tuesday, to critics of the BIR’s latest advertising campaign depicting doctor as tax chats by saying the BIR was making a statement of fact. “It’s not insulting; it’s just making a statement of fact. Di ba, there’s a saying, ‘Bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan ‘wag magalit’? If you’re paying the right taxes, it’s not alluding to you. If you’re not paying the right taxes, then it’s talking to you,” she said. The advertisement shows a doctor sitting on the shoulders of a public school teacher, with the caption that tax cheats are a burden on those who pay the proper taxes. It has come under fire by the Philippine Medical Association and other groups for branding doctors as tax cheats. Henares stood by the advertisement but added the problem also lies with patients who do not ask for receipts. Henares also said she is not as heartless as some people portray her to be because of her all-out campaign against tax cheats. “I do [have a heart],” she said in Filipino.


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New Zealand’s Maori King Tuheitia declined to meet with Prince William who will be visiting the country in April on the grounds that the allotted time of 90 minutes would not be enough to observe proper protocols for the visiting dignitary. The office of the King also said on Tuesday, March 4, that he is “not a carnival act.” His representatives also slammed the “faceless bureaucrats” who organized the itinerary, accusing them of adopting an inflexible approach when dictating the terms of the proposed visit. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key expressed disappointment at the snub. King Tuheitia is descended from the first Maori King Potatau Te Wherowhero, who was appointed in 1858 by various North Island tribes which wanted a single figure to represent them in the way that Queen Victoria was felt to represent New Zealand’s white settlers. The position does not have any constitutional status or legal powers in New Zealand but carries symbolic importance for some Maori.


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Beatlemania gripped the Rio Carnival on Monday, March 3, as more than 130,000 revelers twist and shouted to samba versions of the Fab Four’s greatest hits. Street band Sargento Pimenta – Sergeant Pepper in Portuguese – belted out more than three hours of Beatles classics as the five-day fiesta prepared to reach its climax on Tuesday, March 4. More than 100 musicians gathered to play Beatle’s songs. Its theme was “Imagine the (World) Cup” in a nod to Lennon’s Imagine ballad. The Rio Carnival draws millions of revelers every year. Street dancers and “samba schools” competed in a culminating parade on Tuesday in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators.


Read the full story on Rappler and see photos here.

John Travolta probably knew very little of broadway star Idina Menzel, especially how to pronounce her name. So when he introduced her at the Oscars as “Adele Dazeem,” little did he know his flub would spark a new Internet sensation. Meet “Adele Dazeem” on Twitter. One of her first tweets? “I just want to thank Travis Jarvolta for introducing me this evening, I’d be nowhere without you.” The Internet was rife with memes and jokes about Travolta’s oops moment. Travolta himself said he had beaten himself up about it but thought that the real Idina Menzel would simply say, “let it go!”


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Tech giant Apple on Monday, March 3 launched CarPlay, it’s new integration set-up for iOS in car dashboards. The Cupertino company claims CarPlay is designed from the ground up “to provide drivers with an incredible experience in using their iPhone in the car.” CarPlay uses existing Apple technology such as voice-recognition and digital assistant app Siri and Apple’s Maps. The first cars to support CarPlay will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show this week from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. Other carmakers will follow suit.


Read the full story on the Verge.