Rappler Newscast | February 8, 2013

Story 1: SENATE RACE: STILL NO LP IN MAGIC 12
The results of the latest Pulse Asia survey is out.
Not one of the candidates for senator from President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party makes it to the Magic 12, although they aren’t far behind.
The survey shows the 3 LP candidates hovering between 13th to 17th spots.
Presidential cousin Bam Aquino ranks 13th to 15th, with 31.4% of respondents saying they would vote for him.
He’s a few percentage points behind 12th placer, opposition re-electionist Senator Gringo Honasan, with a rating of 36.8 percent.
Returning senators Jamby Madrigal and Jun Magsaysay rank 14th to 17th and 16th to 17th, respectively.
Inside the Magic 12 are 7 senatorial bets from Team PNoy with a mix of nominees from the administration’s coalition partners.
Senators Loren Legarda and Francis  Escudero continue to lead the survey.
Also in the magic 12 are the 3 candidates from the Nacionalista  Party – Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Sonny Trillanes, former Las Piñas representative Cynthia Villar, PDP-Laban’s Senator Koko Pimentel, and LDP’s Sonny Angara.
4 other bets from the opposition United Nationalist Alliance make it to the Magic 12.
They are vice-presidential daughter Nancy Binay, San Juan Representative JV Ejercito, Cagayan Representative Jack Enrile and former Senator Miguel Zubiri.
Jack Enrile drops almost 13 percentage points.
His 40.4% rating is a far cry from the 52.2% rating he got in the November 2012 survey.
The latest survey was conducted at the height of efforts to remove his father as Senate president.

Story 2: NETWORKS GO TO SC TO PROTEST AIRTIME LIMITS
Broadcast giant GMA Network and TV5 file separate petitions against Comelec’s airtime rules.
GMA Network criticizes Comelec resolution 9615 and its amendment resolution 9631 calling it –quote “too restrictive.”
It says the Supreme Court should stop the Comelec from implementing airtime limits.
The Comelec will impose aggregate and not per-station ad limits:
For all national candidates, 120 minutes in all TV networks and 180 minutes in all radio stations; and for all local candidates, 60 minutes in all TV networks and 90 minutes in all radio stations.
GMA Network’s lawyers say, “The aggregate airtime for political advertisements is restrictive…it impinges on the right to suffrage and the right of the people to be informed.”
In its 86-page petition, TV5 calls the airtime rule “vague” and makes it “impossible for media outlets to comply while subjecting them to possible criminal liability.”
Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas chair Jun Nicdao says the organization will file its own petition next week.
GMA Network and the KBP earlier appealed to the Comelec to reconsider this rule, with KBP also citing the public’s right to information.
KBP president Herman Basbaño says their opposition is not merely driven by business.

Story 3: SENATE BETS WEIGH IN ON DIVORCE, MARIJUANA
Fourteen candidates for senator share their thoughts in a senatorial debate Thursday.
Two topics steal the show: allowing divorce and legalizing marijuana.
Natashya Gutierrez reports.

ERNESTO MACEDA, UNA CANDIDATE: Palagay ko lahat ay pabor sa sex ed. Ang debate lang saan ibibigay yan. May mga nagmumungkahe  na grade 5, grade 6, may mga nagmumungkahe na high school at may nagsasabi na college. Para sa akin po, ngayon na may K-12 na tayo, dapat yan ibigay sa senior high school.

Different candidates, different strokes.
Take your pick.
Former Sen Ernesto Maceda thinks sex education should only be taught to students before entering college.
Another senatorial candidate thinks marijuana should be legalized.
And another wants to restore faith, hope and love in the government if elected.
“Rundown 2013” organized by college students from top universities
showcases the diverse worldviews of senatorial candidates.
One topic that exposes stark differences? The divorce law.
Controversial Reproductive Health bill activist Carlos Celdran asks the questions that heats up the debate.

CARLOS CELDRAN, PANELIST: After RH, of course women’s rights comes next. So give me a non religious answer or a perfectly secular answer: what do you think of divorce?

Women’s rights advocate Risa Hontiveros of the administration slate, who is pro-divorce, says it’s long overdue.

RISA HONTIVEROS, TEAM PNOY: Palagay ko I think dapat pagusapan na ang isyu ng diborsyo simply because yung status ngayon ay hindi na katanggap tanggap. Marami ang mga kasalan o pamilya na may matindi, matagal, sinubukang solusyonan pero hindi masolusyonan na problema, partikular yung wife battering, minsan pati yung mga anak sinasaktan, marital rape, incest.

Zambales 1st district Rep Mitos Magsaysay, a candidate of the United Nationalist Alliance, says there is no need for a divorce law. What couples need is more thorough marriage seminars.

MITOS MAGSAYSAY, UNITED NATIONALIST ALLIANCE: Unang una, bago tayong mag-asawa, may batas satin na nagsasabi na kung wala pa ang babae sa 25 years old kailangan niya ng parental advice galing sa magulang. Kaya ang importante dito na bago pa tayo kumuha ng marriage license natin sa city hall na meron po tayong pinapasaukang marriage seminar. Tinuturo sa atin are we handa na emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially to enter the bounds of marriage?

But it is the religious Ang Kapatiran party’s Rizalito David who steals the show with his passionate answer.

RIZALITO DAVID, ANG KAPATIRAN: Sa bawat isang ebidensiya na nagpapaptunay na dapat magkaroon ng diborsiyo, may sampung ebidenisya na nagsasabing dapat hindi siya magkaroon. Kumpara nalang natin ang nangayayri sa America. Nakabuti ba sa kanila? Nakabuti ba sa kanila ang diborsiyo? Kayo na po ang sumagot nun.

He then turns to Celdran and lectures the panelist who faces a jail sentence for protesting the Church’s stand on the RH bill.

RIZALITO DAVID: Scientifically, not religious, dapat mo rin malaman Mr. Celdran, na ang mga katuruan ng simbahan ay hindi lamang religious, or spiritual. Maraming katuruan ang simbahan na naka base sa empirical evidence at yan po ang nais ko sabihin sa kanya!

The answer fires up the audience.
Celdran tweets in response, “Sore losers finish last” and calls David “a freak” on Facebook.
But it is UNA candidate and San Juan Rep JV Ejercito who get the most attention.
When asked if he would legalize marijuana, Ejercito responds frankly.

JV EJERCITO, UNA CANDIDATE: If it will heal the body, why not?

Not all issues are as controversial though.
All candidates agree the Freedom of the Information Bill is important.
They also think the Cybercrime Law should should be scrapped.
The contrasting views may be a good thing.
Voters now have wide spectrum of choices to choose from in May.
Natashya Gutierrez, Rappler, Manila.

Story 4: PALACE: XSTRATA FOLLOWED REQUIREMENTS FOR PERMIT
The Office of the President says global miner Xstrata’s Philippine unit followed all requirements for an environmental permit.
The permit is needed to start operations at the Tampakan gold-copper mine.
In a February 4 decision, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. rebuffs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for flip-flopping on its decision…
to grant an Environmental Compliance Certificate to Sagittarius Mines Inc, the local unit of Swiss firm Xstrata.
Ochoa says DENR Secretary Ramon Paje already agreed to grant SMI the ECC in late 2011, but reversed himself in January 2012, citing the local ordinance of the South Cotabato government banning open-pit mining.
Ochoa says securing a permit from the local government is separate from the ECC it needs from the DENR.
If it pushes through, the $5.9 billion Tampakan project will be the single biggest foreign investment in the country.

Story 5: CITINICKEL PAYS P375,000 FINE FOR PALAWAN MINE SPILL
Citinickel Mines and Development Corp. says it has paid over P375,000 in fines to the government following the silt spill in its Palawan operations.
In November 2012, a silting pond in the firm’s nickel mining operation overflowed.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday, Citinickel’s parent, Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc., says it cleaned the river and farm lots affected in the incident.
The firm was fined after the environment department conducted water sampling tests on the Pinagduguan River.
A government probe shows the Citinickel incident is because of the lapses in judgement of the mine foreman tasked to drain water from the silt ponds.

Story 6: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 2, Hold on to your hats: NASA says an asteroid will zoom within spitting distance of Earth on February 15.
The US Space agency says it is the closest flyby ever predicted for an object this large.
NASA says the 2012 DA 14 will be just around 27,700 kilometers above Earth’s surface when it speeds by.
That’s outside the Earth’s atmosphere, but closer than the orbit of most weather and communications satellites.

At number 4, Two Russian fighter jets violate Japanese airspace on Thursday as Tokyo scrambled its own planes in response.
The Russian planes are detected off the coast of Hokkaido island for just over a minute, shortly after Japan’s new prime minister said he wants to find a “mutually acceptable solution” to the territorial row between the countries.
Japan’s foreign ministry lodges a formal protest over the incursion.

At number 7,  the New York-based Human Rights Watch says sexually abused children in India are often victims of the police.
In its report, the group says the problem is –quote “disturbingly common” in Indian schools and homes.
Human Rights Watch cites a 2007 study showing two out of every 3 children in India are physically abused.
The report comes following scandals in India regarding gang rape.

And at number 9, US television network CBS warns stars attending the Grammys music awards show not to reveal too much skin.”
In an email leaked to media outlets, the television giant also warned of “puffy” bare skin exposure around the genital region, and said “thong type” costumes are problematic.
Janet Jackson had what the network called a wardrobe malfunction during the half-time show of the 2004 Super Bowl, flashing a nipple during a number with Justin Timberlake.
CBS was fined for that but an appeal court later ruled the network cannot be held responsible.

Story 7: BINONDO: FROM SMALL COMMUNITY TO COMMERCIAL DISTRICT
Chinese New Year is on February 10, and business is booming in Manila’s Chinatown.
Aya Lowe looks at Binondo’s evolution from a small neighborhood to a commercial district.

Johnson Chua is the second-generation owner of three Feng Shui stores in Binondo, Manila’s Chinatown.
Business is doing well in the run up to Chinese New Year.
But Chua, like other business owners in Chinatown, face huge challenges.

JOHNSON CHUA, OWNER, SUNRISE STORE: There are different kinds of factories making similar items. Sometimes clients cannot understand so they just go with the lower price and forget the quality.

Eng Bee Tin was the first company to introduce ube flavored hopia, combining Filipino flavors with Chinese tradition.
The business was set up in 1912 as a small hopia stall in Binondo.
Four generations on and the shop has expanded to all corners of the Philippines and sends its products across the world.
But business wasn’t always this good.
Only 30 years ago, the company was facing bankruptcy.
What brought it through the hard times was a refocus on product and packaging and change in leadership.

GERIC CHUA, MANAGING DIRECTOR: We innovated the regular hopia into something the people would really like. Hopia before was more of a crust than the filling but here we started to turn it around. It was more of the filling than the crust. Here people really like the taste. We actually found people from the US coming here to bring back some of the hopia fresh.

Eng Bee Tin, like many Chinese Filipino businesses, started here.
Chinatown began as a neighborhood for the Chinese Catholic community in 1594 and soon developed into a booming commercial district.
They were Chinese immigrants escaping hardship in mainland China.

IVAN MAN DY, DIRECTOR, OLD MANILA WALKS: The thing was the majority of Chinese who came here at the time were not really skilled except for certain things so when they came here they didn’t have much of a professional choice, they couldn’t be a doctor or a teacher so most of them ended up doing two things, service industry and trading.

Many of the Philippines biggest entrepreneurs had their humble beginnings in Chinatown.  
The Philippines’ richest man, Henry Sy began with a small shoe store in Quiapo called Shoe Mart.
This grew into what we now know as SM, the largest chain of malls.
Tony Caktiong started with a basic ice cream franchise nearby.
This evolved into the fastfood giant Jollibee.

IVAN MAN DY, DIRECTOR, OLD MANILA WALKS: There are old businesses, which have updated themselves. They stick to their core product, but they modernize in terms of production, advertising, production etc. You have that very interesting adaptation of the old and new.

The 2013 is the year of the water snake.
Snake years are marked by major transformation and change, and sometimes great upheaval.
Binondo businessmen say, it’s a constant game of evolution as each new generation adapts to the changing times.
Aya Lowe, Rappler, Binondo Manila.

Story 8: NASA ISS ASTRONAUTS TO HOLD LIVE GOOGLE+ HANGOUT
Three astronauts aboard the International Space Station will be holding a live Google+ hangout later this February to discuss life in space.
NASA announces the plan Thursday.
Kevin Ford and Tom Marshburn of NASA, and Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency will speak live from the ISS.
NASA’s followers on social media can send in 30-second video questions that will be asked during the hangout.
The video must be uploaded to YouTube and tagged with the hashtag #askAstro.
Viewers can ask questions in real time via Google+, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.