Rappler Newscast | February 17, 2014

Story 1: PH GOOD ON ECONOMY, LAGS ON POVERTY, JOBS

The government says it’s on track to achieve its economic goals, but it’s falling behind on its social goals like reducing poverty and creating enough jobs.
The Philippines grows 7.2% in 2013, the fastest-growing economy in Asia after China but Socieconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan says the poorest families are being left behind.
With only two years left of its 5-year plan, the government on Monday unveils its updated mid-term plan.
Among its goals: achieving economic growth of 7-8% until 2016, bringing down the unemployment rate to 6.5-6.7% by 2016, cutting underemployment to 17% in 2016, and bringing down incidence of income poverty to 18-20%.

Story 2: ‘BIG CHANCE’ FOR LP-NP ALLIANCE IN 2016

Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano says there’s a big chance of another alliance between President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party or LP and former Senator Manny Villar’s Nacionalista Party or NP in 2016.
The two parties collaborated for the 2013 midterm elections when the administration’s senatorial ticket called Team PNoy won 9 out of 12 seats against Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance.
For the 2016 presidential elections, Cayetano says it’s likely the two parties will team up again if they agree on the selection of candidates.
Cayetano, the NP’s secretary-general, is seen as a possible presidential or vice presidential candidate, but the senator says he still needs more time to decide.
The two parties were former bitter rivals in the 2010 polls, with President Benigno Aquino and Villar competing for the presidency.
After 2013, the LP and the NP continued their partnership at the Senate where both parties constitute the majority.
LP campaign manager Senator Franklin Drilon was elected Senate President, while Cayetano became majority leader.

Story 3: TRILLANES: ENRILE BEHIND TUASON TO SABOTAGE CASE

All for show.
That’s what Senator Sonny Trillanes says of the testimony of pork barrel scam witness Ruby Tuason.
Trillanes accuses Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile of funding and supporting Tuason’s testimony to sabotage the pork barrel case.
In a radio interview he says “Who is she protecting? Isn’t it clear? The man gave her a lawyer and money. That’s my speculation.”
Enrile and several others face plunder complaints in the pork barrel scam…
where lawmakers allegedly siphoned funds to the fake NGOs of suspected mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
Trillanes’ remarks come after Tuason said in a Senate hearing that she was not aware…
if Enrile knew she gave kickbacks to his former chief of staff, Gigi Reyes.
Tuason only testified she personally handed bags of cash to Senator Jinggoy Estrada and Reyes.
This prompted Trillanes and fellow Enrile rival Senator Miriam Santiago to say that Tuason is covering up for Enrile.
Trillanes also says Tuason’s lawyer, Dennis Manalo, used to be connected to the law firm of Enrile’s brother in law.
But on Monday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima dismisses Trillanes’ suspicions as “far out.”
She says Trillanes is frustrated because he didn’t get the answers he wanted when he asked Tuason if she believed Enrile is involved in the scam.

Story 4: JINGGOY BLASTS GUINGONA: I WILL FIGHT PREJUDGMENT

Senator Jinggoy Estrada criticizes Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chair TG Guingona for supposedly prejudging the outcome of the Senate probe into the pork barrel scam.
Estrada refers to Guingona’s statement that the testimony of witness Ruby Tuason was a “3-point, buzzer-beater, winning shot.”
Guingona made the statement even before Tuason testified.
Estrada says it’s unfair that he is already judged guilty in the ongoing Senate probe.

JINGGOY ESTRADA, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: I feel so hurt by the parting statements made by the chairman of the blue ribbon committee. If that’s the case, if he chooses that battle, I will give him that battle.

Estrada also hits what he calls the trial by publicity against him and his co-accused in the pork barrel scam, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Bong Revilla.

Story 050: 100 DAYS AFTER YOLANDA

It’s been a hundred days since Typhoon Yolanda or Haiyan ravaged the Philippines.
Those living in the hardest-hit areas try to rebuild everything they lost while waiting for the government’s promise of help.
Paterno Esmaquel reports.

RINA ETANG, TACLOBAN RESIDENT: Kanina lumakas lakas medyo ang hangin. Natakot na naman ako. Titingin ako doon sa dagat, titingnan ko kasi natatakot na kami, baka lumaki ang dagat, lumaki ang tubig. Pupunta na kami doon. Noong Bagyong Basyang, wala kayo rito, lumikas kami.

(A while ago the wind was strong. I felt afraid. I looked at the sea, I looked at it, because we were afraid that seawater would rise again. We went there. When storm Basyang struck, you weren’t here, we evacuated)

One hundred days after Super Typhoon Yolanda, it rains almost every day.
It’s a time of rebuilding, but still a time of fear.
It’s worse for people like Rina.
Like two million people, she lost her home because of Yolanda.
Now her family stays in a makeshift house.
The government promises her a house like this.
But Rina has to wait. The government needs to repair these bunkhouse units.
This, after aid groups called these houses cramped and poorly built.
Senator Bongbong Marcos tells the government to speed up the turnover.
Many families, after all, still live in tents.
Marcos also says the government should revive businesses.

BONGBONG MARCOS, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: Maraming negosyo na nasira, hindi na bumabalik. So again, naghahanap ang tao ng trabaho. We want to be able to put in a framework so that yung mga existing businesses – hindi lamang sa Tacloban, pati all the other places – ay hindi naman umalis. Kasi ‘pag umalis ‘yan, baka hindi na babalik eh.

(Many businesses were destroyed and now refuse to come back. So again, people are looking for jobs. We want to be able to put in a framework wherein the existing businesses – not only in Tacloban but in all the other places – won’t leave. Because if they leave, they might not return.)

Like hundreds of jobless survivors, Rina makes the same wish.

RINA ETANG, TACLOBAN RESIDENT: PNoy, na sana po, ang mga nasalanta ng Yolanda, hindi lang ako, marami kaming lahat dito, sana po bigyan niya kami ng pampuhunan lang, ‘yung hinihingi lang namin, puhunan para makaumpisa na naman kami sa uno.

(PNoy, I wish you can give Yolanda survivors – not just myself, but many of us, too – capital to start our businesses. That’s all that wish for, capital, so we can start again.)

While fear doesn’t leave her, it’s despair that Rina has to wrestle with daily.
And most days, despair wins.
Paterno Esmaquel, Rappler, Tacloban City

Story 6: SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE DAY

Netizens are still talking about the aftermath from typhoon Yolanda.
A hundred days later, netizens tweet about the need for follow-through, prioritizing rebuilding efforts, and what could have been done differently.
Ching Nicolas says: “Let’s continue putting them in the news! Always remember that they still need help. Give less time for less important news.”
Mark Reyes makes the same recommendation for government initiatives, adding: “I hope the government can learn to prioritize.
Number one, help Yolanda victims, [then] build the new skyway… No one will starve if we don’t put that first.”
But all agree, there’s still a lot of work to be done.
To do it, Vic Buenaventura says, “No single institution, even government, can do it alone.
We must continue to build solidarity.”

Story 7: PALACE ASKS FOR PATIENCE AS SKYWAY CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

Metro Manila residents brace for heavy traffic as the government begins a series of simultaneous road projects expected to be completed by 2016.
The construction of Skyway’s Stage 3 begins 10pm Monday.
Launched by President Aquino in January, the new Skyway will run from Buendia, Makati City to Balintawak, Quezon City.
The 14.8-kilometer elevated expressway will connect main Metro Manila gateways North Luzon and South Luzon Expressway.
Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma asks Filipinos for patience so the government could “build better roads that will ensure faster travel and more productive living in our highly congested National Capital Region.”
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority or MMDA releases alternate routes for private vehicles affected by the Skyway construction.
The alternate routes include EDSA, Taft Avenue, Arnaiz Avenue, Gil Puyat Avenue, Ayala Avenue, Vito Cruz, and Roxas Boulevard, among others.

Story 8: LACSON AT PMA HOMECOMING: EVERYDAY IS TEST OF MORAL STRENGTH

The Philippine Military Academy brings hundreds of alumni back to Baguio City for its annual homecoming.
But the star of the day is keynote speaker Panfilo Lacson, former chief of the Philippine National Police, former senator, and now Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery.
Carmela Fonbuena reports.

It’s back to the alma mater for these soldiers.
They’re as old as Class 1940 and as young as Class 2013.
Keynote speaker Panfilo Lacson, member of Class 1971 tells them, he forgives but never forgets.

PANFILO LACSON, REHABILITATION CZAR: Times have changed. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is no longer the commander in chief. Jose Miguel Arroyo is no longer First Gentleman. While I have forgiven them and their cohorts for their individual and collective actions to malign my personal reputation and honor, I am quite sure I will not forget their names.

Lacson is blunt.
He says many of the alumni become corrupt despite the honor code.
The honor code says, “Do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us those who do so.”

PANFILO LACSON, REHABILITATION CZAR: Every single day of our lives after graduation becomes a test of endurance, not of physical but moral strength… There is no better feeling than one of self-respect, dignity, and pride that our beloved Alma Mater so proudly taught us for the most difficult but memorable years of our lives.

The Philippine Military Academy has produced many of the country’s leaders. As the struggle to stamp out corruption in government continues, it helps to remind cadets and alumni of their revered values.  

But Lacson is a controversial alumnus himself, once a fugitive when he left the country to evade arrest for an old murder case involving PR man Bubby Dacer.
Arroyo’s appointee, former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon is not impressed.
He says the former and her husband should not have been singled out.

HERMOGENES ESPERON, FORMER ARMED FORCES CHIEF: He had a very good speech except that it was destroyed by the mention of 2 people whom he did not have to be mentioned… Virtues are not the monopoly of people.

Two years before the presidential elections, the rumored 2016 presidential hopeful is back in the limelight.
Lacson’s new post is a chance to prove he can do better than the much-criticized ground commander for Yolanda’s aftermath, interior Secretary Mar Roxas.
Roxas, whose presidential ambition is a well known fact…
also attended the event as adopted member of PMA Class 1976.

QUESTION: May plano na po kayo sa 2016? (Do you have plans for 2016?)

MAR ROXAS, INTERIOR SECRETARY: (laughs) Happy Valentine’s!

PANFILO LACSON, REHABILITATION CZAR: Wala. Hindi ko naiisip ang 2016. I’m color blind to politics. Puro Yolanda nasa isip ko. (None. I haven’t thought of 2016. I’m color blind to politics. Yolanda is foremost on my mind.)

Most candidates with presidential ambitions eventually find their way to Baguio this time of the year.
They all know that a supportive military, or at least one that will not interfere, is crucial to winning and staying in power.
Carmela Fonbuena, Rappler, Baguio City

Story 9: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

At number 4, the lawyers of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi walk out of his trial in protest after Morsi is confined in a soundproofed glass cage.
The ousted president faces charges of espionage and conspiring to commit terrorist acts.
His lawyer says the use of the glass dock is “unprecedented in the world.”
Morsi was put in the cage to prevent him from shouting and disrupting proceedings.

At number 5, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott defends his government’s use of intelligence material, saying they did not spy for commercial purposes and only used it for “the benefit of our friends.”
Abbott refuses to confirm a report that said the Australian Signals Directorate eavesdropped on trade talks between the Indonesians and their US lawyers…
and then offered information to the US National Security Agency.

And at number 8, a study published in the British Medical Journal says a person’s mental health improves when he stops smoking.
The study says those who quit smoking reported less depression, anxiety and stress, and had a more positive outlook on life.
Researchers say they hope the findings would dispel misconceptions about smoking, like the common myth that smoking relieves stress.

For the full top 10 visit Rappler.com’s ‘the wRap.’

Woman breaking cigarette photo from Shutterstock