October 3, 2013 Edition

The justice department on Thursday, October 3, named former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and 5 of her Cabinet officials in a plunder complaint over the alleged misuse of the Malampaya Fund. The complaint was filed with the Office of the Ombudsman by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima who said in a press conference that Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind, distributed P337 million in kickbacks to various government officials. Besides Arroyo, among those included in the plunder complaint are: former executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, former budget secretary and now Camarines Rep Rolando Andaya, former agrarian reform secretary Nasser Pangandaman, former agrarian undersecretary Rafael Nieto, former agrarian finance officer Teresita Panlilio, and Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos. 12 other people linked to fake non-governmental organizations controlled by Napoles were likewise named as respondents.

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A related story is also on Rappler.

Talks between US President Barack Obama and Republican leaders ended nowhere, failing to resolve an impasse that would have ended a government shutdown. Obama met for more than an hour with Democratic and Republican leaders who included Speaker John Boehner. The Speaker announced, “The President reiterated one more time that he will not negotiate.” Obama has said he would not negotiate on budget matters until Republicans passed a bill that would reopen government and raise the US debt ceiling. Republicans have been seeking to dismantle or delay Obama’s healthcare reform bill. The deadlock has left government without a budget for the new fiscal year, even as Obama has warned about a US catastrophic debt default

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More information is available from the Washington Post.

The head of the US National Security Agency (NSA), Gen Keith Alexander told a Senate hearing that they do not compile data on Americans’ use of social networks. Instead, he said, they only use social networks when they investigate “someone who is part of a terrorist investigation.” Alexander told the Senate judiciary committee, “The fact that people assume that we’re out there mapping the social networks of US persons is absolutely wrong. What we do go after is those that are the subject of a terrorist investigation or something like that.” Alexander also said the New York Times got it wrong when it reported on September 29 that since 2010, NSA has created sophisticated graphs of social connections of some Americans, tracking email and phone data to analyze relationships.

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A related story is on the New York Times.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s done before, during, or after the fact. Sen Miriam Defensor Santiago rebutted President Benigno Aquino III who defended the Disbursement Acceleration Program from criticism. Aquino said funds were released in October 2012 while then Supreme Court chief justice Renato Corona was convicted in May 2012. Beyond the bribery issue, Santaigo also questioned the legality of the DAP, citing the Constitution. Realignment of savings, according to her, is not even mentioned in Article VI, Section 25 of the Constitution. She also pointed out it was unconstitutional for the administration to selectively release the DAP to senators. Malacañang, she said, had a “deficit of legal analysis of the situation.”

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The UN Security Council called on the Syrian government to make aid more accessible to civilians trapped in conflict raging in Syria. In a statement described as a “humanitarian success,” the 15-nation body called on the government of President Bashar al-Assad to “take immediate steps to facilitate the expansion of humanitarian relief operations, and lift bureaucratic impediments and other obstacles.” Fearing that supplies will go to rebel forces, the Syrian government has opposed aid missions from nearby countries. The UN Security Council statement is the 2nd major decision made on the war in less than a week.

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Groups and individuals supporting the abolition of all forms of pork barrel funds will gather at the foot of the Ninoy Aquino bronze monument on Ayala Avenue this Friday, October 4. Patricia Tan, spokesperson of the #ScrapPork network said concrete calls for action and specific policy recommendations to address sustained patronage politics will be presented also on Friday. The program starts at 5:30 pm and will end by 8 pm. Information on the basics of pork barrel funds and the status of the 2014 budget deliberations will be disseminated to participating protesters. At 7 pm a noise barrage will be held, together with a candle-lighting ceremony. A traffic rerouting scheme will be implemented starting at 2 pm Friday.

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Concert promoter AEG Live is not liable for Michael Jackson’s death by drug overdose in 2009. A California jury decided on Wednesday, October 2, to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the star’s family seeking damages amounting to millions of US dollars. Because the 12-person jury agreed that AEG Live hired Dr Conrad Murray and decided that he was competent, AEG was not liable for Jackson’s death and didn’t owe the Jackson family. The trial lasted 5 months and the jury deliberated for 3 days before it reached a verdict. Jackson died on June 25, 2009 from an overdose of the anesthetic propofol given by Murray, convicted of involuntary slaughter in 2011 for giving the drug to the celebrity.

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More details are on CNN.

Mangroves are the Philippines’ best hope for mitigating climate change. While this conclusion was made in a panel discussion at the 4th ASEAN Heritage Parks Conference in the Philippines, an expert said the country’s original 500,000 hectares of mangroves has whittled down to 100,000 hectares or less — no thanks to coastal development, land conversion, and reclamation.

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Speaking on behalf of Internet.org, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg outlined the basics of the plan to provide the world with Internet connectivity by increasing the affordability of having a connection and staying connected. Zuckerberg said Internet costs could be 100 times more affordable if the costs of transferring data were reduced 10 times and the amount of data was also drastically reduced by 10 times current standards.

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American bestselling author Tom Clancy died at the age of 66 on Tuesday, October 1, his publishing company confirmed on Wednesday. Clancy died in a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where he grew up. As of publishing, the cause of death has not been released to media. But the Baltimore Sun newspaper said Clancy died on Tuesday “after a brief illness.” He is famous for penning bestselling spy, thriller and military science novels, including Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Hunt for Red October, which have also been made into films.

Read the full story on Rappler.