October 30, 2014 Edition

Valerie Castro

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

  1. PH to block porn sites on computers, other devices

    It’s meant to reduce cases of online child abuse. But the new policy will likely trigger an interesting debate. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Philippine government is getting help from the private sector to develop a system that will filter adult contents on phones, public Wi-Fi networks, and home computers. The justice secretary said the campaign aims at preventing two things: children falling victims to online exploitation by being used in the production of pornographic content; children getting access to legal pornography earlier than the allowed age. Online child abuse is the leading cybercrime in the Philippines, according to De Lima.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  2. Senate invites Binay to public hearing

    Will he attend? The Senate blue ribbon committee has invited Vice President Jejomar Binay to a public hearing on November 6, to ask him about allegations he pocketed government funds to enrich himself. The invitation came days after a Binay spokesman said the Vice President would only heed a Senate invitation if it came from the main blue ribbon committee, not one of its subcommittees. Cavite Governor Juanito Victor Remulla, Binay’s spokesman, said the Senate invitation will be discussed with the Vice President when he returns from his provincial trips. A Senate subcommittee resumed its probe into alleged corruption in Makati on Thursday, October 30.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

    Read the latest investigative report on ‘Hacienda Binay’ on Rappler.

  3. Aquino finally approves Yolanda rehab plan

    President Benigno Aquino III approved the plan for the country’s biggest rehabilitation effort since the end of World War II on Wednesday, October 29, nearly a year after Super Typhoon Yolanda battered the Visayas region. Rehabilitation Secretary Panfilo Lacson told Rappler that the public can now “expect an accelerated pace” when it comes to Yolanda-related programs, plans, and activities. It took Aquino 3 months to fully give the master plan his go-signal. Lacson submitted the $3.93 billion plan on August 1. Back then, Lacson said bulk of the plan was already virtually approved by Aquino, and needed his approval only for a “residual amount” of $828.25 million. The country commemorates the first year anniversary of the killer typhoon on November 8.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  4. House approves P2.6T budget

    Voting 197-27, the House of Representatives approved the P2.606-trillion budget for 2015 on 3rd and final reading despite opposition from party-list lawmakers over errata submitted after budget debates had already ended. The budget bill allows Malacañang to declare “savings” in any agency at any given time of the year. It also represents the largest budget to be approved in the lead-up to a national election. Party-list lawmakers had wanted their colleagues to return the budget to the plenary after the Department of Budget and Management submitted a 269-page errata after the budget was approved on 2nd reading. But this was rejected.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  5. Drilon, two top execs face plunder complaints

    A private complainant filed criminal and administrative complaints against Senate President Franklin Drilon before the Office of the Ombudsman over the alleged overpriced $15.20-million Iloilo Convention Center. Manuel Mejorada accused Drilon of being criminally liable for plunder, malversation of public funds, graft, and violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act; and administratively liable for dishonesty and grave misconduct. Said to be a pet project of Drilon, the project was partially funded under the Disbursement Acceleration Program, where certain executive acts had been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The project is being carried out with the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Department of Tourism, and that’s why the heads of both departments were also included in the complaints.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  6. To boost security, Singapore buys surveillance balloon

    Singapore will deploy a huge tethered surveillance balloon to boost its maritime and air security. The helium-filled “aerostat” will be equipped with radar equipment that can spot threats from as far as 200 kilometers, the defense ministry. The Straits Times reported that the balloon will be able to scan up to Malacca in Malaysia for stray aircraft as well as detect small boats coming from Indonesia’s Pekanbaru. The US-made, 55-meter blimp will be operated by 8 ground crew and can run at a height of up to 600 meters.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  7. Unhealthy lifestyles causing TB-diabetes epidemic

    Tuberculosis and diabetes have begun to intertwine in many countries, and a report warned of a looming epidemic because of this. Having diabetes triples a person’s risk of contracting TB, which killed about 1.5 million people last year, said the report compiled by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the World Diabetes Foundation. A growing link has been observed between diabetes – a disease of diet, lifestyle and genes – and TB, a respiratory disease spread by bacteria, it said. Estimates show there were more people in the world living with a combination of TB and diabetes than there were people living with TB and HIV, which has claimed millions of lives.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  8. Facebook’s Saverin: Timing essential to success

    Speaking at the Forbes Global CEO Conference at a panel on disruptive innovations in Singapore, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin said innovation has changed over the years, but he was at the “right place, at the right time” when he and Mark Zuckerberg thought of Facebook. He said timing is essential to success. “[If I were still at Harvard] I would end up, just as before, an entrepreneur,” he said. “Success is about being at the right place at the right time. I’ll never take credit for what happens but I’ll go along for the ride.” Today, innovation is starkly different from what it used to be, Saverin said, as he shared 3 observations on how innovation has changed since Facebook was first conceived.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  9. Debris came from Amelia Earhart’s plane?

    It has remained one of aviation’s enduring mysteries. But researchers on the trail of missing 1930s aviatrix Amelia Earhart now say they are increasingly convinced that aluminum debris found on a South Pacific beach came from her lost airplane. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) said the debris bolsters the possibility that a sonar blip off Nikumaroro atoll in Kiribati is the fuselage of her ill-starred Lockheed Electra. Earhart, the first woman to fly across the Atlantic solo, was attempting to circumnavigate the world in 1937, flying close to the equator, when she and navigator Fred Noonan vanished without a trace. She was 39 at the time.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

  10. After downing 56 shots, French man dies

    French police opened an investigation on October 29 following the death of a man in his 50s after he downed 56 shots during a drinking competition. The man was driven home in a drunken stupor and emergency services took him in later that night. He died the next day in hospital after falling into a coma and suffering a heart attack, his daughter said. The bar manager told local daily La Montagne that the man was drinking “much too fast” and he advised him to stop after the first 30 or so shots. But the daughter disputed this version of events, saying it was only after the 56 shots had been consumed that he was told to go home.

    Read the full story on Rappler.

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