Rappler Newscast | January 28, 2013

Story 1: CELDRAN GUILTY OF ‘OFFENDING RELIGIOUS FEELINGS’
A Manila court finds prominent tour guide and reproductive health advocate Carlos Celdran guilty of –quote “offending religious feelings.”
Celdran is charged with violating Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code after he disrupted a service at the Manila Cathedral on September 30, 2010.
Dressed as the Filipino national hero Jose Rizal, the outspoken reproductive health advocate held up a sign with the words “Damaso,” in reference to the villainous priest in Rizal’s famous novel “Noli Me Tangere.”
Celdran tweets a copy of the decision showing he is sentenced to serve a prison term of not less than two months and 21 days and not more than one year, one month and 11 days.

Story 2: GRACE POE UP, CYNTHIA VILLAR DOWN IN SURVEY
Former Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chair Grace Poe-Llamanzares emerges the big winner in the latest Social Weather Stations survey.
In the last two SWS polls, Poe did not rank higher than 20th place.
In the January survey, she jumps to rank 10 to 11.
Poe-Llamanzares is a common candidate of the ruling Liberal Party and the opposition United Nationalist Alliance.
Former Las Piñas Rep Cynthia Villar is the biggest loser in the survey, dropping 5 percentage points.
From 4th place in December, Villar drops to 8th to 9th place in January.
She is tied for 8th to 9th place with Cagayan Rep Jack Enrile with 46% each.
Sen Loren Legarda still dominates the survey, followed by Sen Francis Escudero.
Both are common candidates of LP and UNA.
They are followed by Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano at third place, San Juan Rep JV Estrada at fourth place, and Senators Gringo Honasan and Koko Pimentel at 5th-6th place.
Rounding up the top 12 are Sen Juan Miguel Zubiri, Villar, Enrile, Sen Antonio Trillanes, Poe, and Nancy Binay.

Story 3: GIGI REYES PACKS UP FROM ENRILE OFFICE
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s chief of staff, lawyer Gigi Reyes, packs up her things from her office after her –quote  “irrevocable resignation.”
The move means Enrile did not convince Reyes to stay.
The Senate President earlier said he is asking her to reconsider.
Reyes resigned last week after Enrile got into a personal and ugly squabble with Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano.
In a radio DZMM interview last week, Reyes branded Cayetano as a “hypocrite” for questioning the selective release of Senate funds when he has been receiving the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses in past years.
Cayetano questions Reyes’ behavior in his privilege speech and her seemingly huge influence in the Senate.
Reyes resigned Friday and apologized to Cayetano.
She cites her disagreement with Enrile on handling the Senate funds controversy as a reason for leaving.

Story 4: AD VETERAN ONG ON “UNMASKING ENRILE”
Aside from his war with 4 senator-critics, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile also has his war with ad veteran Yolanda Ong.
Carmela Fonbuena reports.

Advertising veteran and Philippine Star columnist Yolanda Ong is at war with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.
She is facing a P31.5 million damage suit for writing a column that Enrile says is libelous.
Her column points out inconsistencies in claims Enrile made in his memoir about his role in the Marcos regime.
She also links Enrile and his son Jack, a senatorial candidate, to alleged smuggling in Cagayan.

YOLANDA ONG, ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE: First, I was unnerved. And then I got angry. Now, I am able to look at it from both a Zen perspective and at a same time a wide view. I think things are happening for a reason.

Ong makes a bold move.
She files a counterclaim demanding Enrile to pay her P88 million.

YOLANDA ONG, ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE: It’s actually two counterclaims, in effect. The first one is for unfounded libel case. And the second one is for harassment and for impinging on my freedoms. The sum of which happened to be 88 million pesos. But I guess you could put many symbolisms behind the number…One for every year of existence.

Ong feels Enrile is singling her out.
She believes it may have something to do with a political ad she produced for the 2001 senatorial elections, the first and only elections that the 88-year-old Enrile lost.
It was a part of a series of negative ads aimed at discrediting candidates who supported ousted President Joseph Estrada.
It shows Enrile calling on Filipinos to protest against President Gloria Arroyo a few days before the so-called Edsa Tres.
The ad reminded voters of Enrile’s alleged role in the violent and unpopular protest that was meant to reinstall Estrada.
Turned down by many lawyers, Ong finally gets human rights lawyer Chel Diokno to defend her against Enrile.
It’s no longer just about the damage suit. Ong likes to believe her own battle with the Senate President and the unfolding Senate drama are part of the so-called “grand design” to unmask Enrile.

YOLANDA ONG, ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE: I am a great believer of serendipity and synchronicity. I’m thinking all these is happening for a purpose.

Ong is in a fighting mood. Even if the senators kiss and make up as politicians are wont to do, she says she will keep on with her own little fight.
Carmela Fonbuena, Rappler Manila.

Story 5: US NAVY PAID HAWAII P610-M FOR CORAL DAMAGE
Nearly two weeks after the USS Guardian ran aground in Tubbataha Reef, the amount the US Navy will pay for the damage is still undetermined.
Transportation Secretary Jun Abaya says computing the penalties would come after the removal of the ship and assessment of damage.
In a statement Monday, the World Wildlife Fund says the US Navy paid Hawaii $15 million when the USS Port Royal ran aground on a reef in 2009.
The ship destroyed at least 890 square meters of coral.
Preliminary assessments by WWF-Philippines estimate the coral damage caused by the USS Guardian to reach at least 1,600 square meters, almost twice the area destroyed in Hawaii.
Under Philippine law, the US Navy is only required to pay P12,000 per square meter of damaged coral plus P12,000 for rehabilitation efforts.
This means the Americans will be charged a minimum penalty of $960,000, a mere 6.3 percent of what they had to pay for half of the damage in Hawaii.

Story 6: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 5, US President Barack Obama sits down with Hillary Clinton in a rare joint interview with American network CBS.
The interview is seen as Obama’s subtle endorsement for the secretary of state’s presidential run in 2016.
Obama says Clinton played a –quote “extraordinary role” during his presidency.
The US President adds, “a lot of the successes we’ve had internationally is because of her hard work.”
With days left as America’s state secretary, Clinton says, “I am still secretary of state. So I’m out of politics.”
But Clinton says neither she nor Obama –quote “can make predictions about what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next year.”

At number 6, a fire razes a nightclub packed with university students in southern Brazil leaving over 200 people dead.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cut short her visit to Chile, where a European and Latin American summit was being held, to supervise government response to the tragedy.
The fire department chief says the main cause of death is smoke inhalation.

At number 7, After days of unrest, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi declares a state of emergency in the cities of Port Said, Suez, and Ismalia.
At least 33 people died over the weekend in Port Said, where protests erupt over a court decision that sentenced 21 people for football violence last February.
Fans of Port Said’s football club al-Masry attacked visiting supporters of Cairo’s al-Ahly club after the game, leaving at least 70 dead.
BBC says it’s the largest death toll in Egypt’s football history.

And at number 8, Hackers claiming to be from the group Anonymous threaten to release sensitive information about the US justice department.
CNN reports the hackers posted a message on the US Sentencing Commission’s website, demanding the US reform its justice system or face incriminating leaks to select news outlets.
The hackers say the death of Internet freedom advocate Aaron Swartz triggers the threat.
Swartz, who committed suicide, faced 35 years in prison and a $1-million fine over allegations he stole online academic journal articles.

Story 7: DJOKOVIC WINS 2013 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Novak Djokovic wins over Andy Murray in a gruelling 3-hour-40-minute match in the Australian Open on Sunday.
The win is Djokovic’s fourth Australian crown and his sixth Grand Slam title overall.
The 25-year-old becomes the first man in the Open Era and only the third ever to win 3 consecutive Australian Open titles.
Djokovic reaffirms his standing as the No. 1 ranked player, as Andy Murray remains at number 3, after Roger Federer.
In women’s division, Belarus top-seed Victoria Azarenka successfully defends her Australian Open title against injury-hit Li Na of China on Saturday.

Story 8: NEW TECHNIQUES, TECHNOLOGY FUEL COCKFIGHTING INTEREST
The centuries-old tradition of cockfighting is evolving into a modern sport.
Devon Wong reports.

What happens when you combine flashing lights, speakers on blast, grown men cheering on a fight, and girls in bikinis…
A room full of co… roosters.
Cockfighting in the Philippines may be an age-old sport, but new technologies have injected the industry with a cool millennial makeover.

HERNANI JIMENEZ JR., BREEDER: It’s part of the culture you know. And now it encompasses the whole society in it. It involves the poorest of the part, and the richest… the politicians… and everybody.

Hernani says that raising game fowl is highly scientific.  
The billion dollar industry is fast evolving from dusty roadside cockpits into a sophisticated sport.
This keeps gamefowl enthusiasts constantly chasing the latest technology.

HERNANI JIMENEZ JR, BREEDER: I think that’s what separates the men from the boys. How the upkeep, the place you raise your chickens, the area… you know it has to be plush, large, big, huge… So that they can develop into really good warriors.

Cockfighting is sanctioned by local governments in the Philippines, making the sport accessible to many Filipinos.
Despite protests from international animal cruelty organizations, the Philippines proudly maintains cockfighting as a revered cultural tradition.
And lovers of the game have no intention of stopping.

ANTHONY GARCIA, BREEDER: There’s a sport to it. We’re not just out here trying to kill a rooster. There’s a sport to it. All of the chicken breeders are friends. All of the chicken breeders have ‘gentlemen’s agreements’, you know what I mean? It’s a fair sport. There’s thousand and thousands of dollars or pesos that are being gambled and spent on chickens everyday.

So next time you pass by men ogling their chicks in the street, remember, there’s a technique.
Devon Wong, Rappler, Manila.