Rappler Newscast | March 15, 2013

Story 1: DOJ TO CHARGE 38 KIRAM FOLLOWERS
The Department of Justice will file charges against 38 alleged supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu who planned to go to Sabah in the middle of a bloody standoff.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima says DOJ will sue them for violating the election gun ban and Article 118 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits inciting to war.
De Lima says DOJ will file the charges before the Bongao, Tawi-Tawi Regional Trial Court.
Sulu Sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani confirms 22 of the 38 arrested belong to their Royal Security Force.
On Wednesday, the Philippine Navy intercepts a group of at least 35 alleged followers of the sultan in Tawi-Tawi.
The Navy says it seized “numerous firearms and ammunition” from the group.

Story 2: VITUG VLOGS: MEMORIES OF JABIDAH MASSACRE
Rappler’s editor at large Marites Vitug looks back on a historic event 45 years ago that sparked the Muslim rebellion in Mindanao.
Here’s her video blog.

On March 18, 1968, young Filipino Muslim men being trained to invade Sabah were killed by the military.
It was a secret mission that got exposed.
Many of the trainees were shot dead and burned; their bodies dumped into the sea.
This gruesome murder—known as the Jabidah massacre—sparked the Muslim rebellion that led to thousands of deaths and set back our country’s development.
Till today, we are still trying to find peace in Mindanao.
And just as the government is finally coming close to a peace deal with the Muslim rebels, trouble erupts in Sabah.
This time, armed followers of the Sultan of Sulu who sailed into the island and claimed it as theirs are fighting a guerrilla war.
Many have been killed by the Malaysian authorities.
This crisis has made peace more elusive.
Memories of Jabidah are, once more, in our midst.
This is Marites Vitug for Vitug Vlogs.

Story 3: HONASAN: WE ARE A COUNTRY OF ‘MISSED OPPORTUNITIES’
Re-electionist Senator Gringo Honasan played key roles in different parts of the Philippines’ history.
He identifies the insurgency, martial law, and EDSA 1986 as key moments because he says they are –quote ‘missed opportunities.”

GRINGO HONASAN, UNA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We Filipinos… we never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Everytime we change our leaders in the streets through unadulterated people power or through elections, after installing them, we go home. We forget that what we went through was the easy part. The more difficult part is the task of nation-building.

Honasan says he does not believe the Philippines’ current problems are the fault of previous administrations.

GRINGO HONASAN, UNA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are a nation at war with each other according to secretary Almonte, so I think it’s about time we bury this culture of  anger, hatred and vindictiveness without sacrificing justice.

Honasan also shares his thoughts on the government’s handling of the Sabah conflict.

GRINGO HONASAN, UNA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Mixed signals. We ask them to come home and threaten them with a case. File charges against them. It has now metamorphosed into two separate issues, Maria. The live, legitimate claim to Sabah, and the welfare of 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah which by the way we should account for. We cannot allow it to remain as a bilateral issue between us and Malaysia. This has to be resolved by the United Nations, ASEAN, International Red Cross, Amnesty International, or all of the above.

Story 4: TEAM PNOY NOT FAZED BY LOCAL RIVALRIES IN PANGASINAN
Despite a heated local rivalry between Liberal Party and Nationalist People’s Coalition, Team PNoy is confident Pangasinan will vote for the administration coalition because of President Aquino.
Natashya Gutierrez reports.

In the words of senatorial bet Jamby madrigal, “Dagupan can make or break a candidate.”
She couldn’t have said it better.
In Pangasinan, 1.6 M voters are at stake, the country’s third vote-richest province.
It’s no wonder Team PNoy, the coalition of the President, pulls all stops here.
Pangasinan is a key battleground for the Liberal Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition. The gubernatorial race is bitter, with Braganza and incumbent governor Romeo Espino throwing mud at each other. President Aquino hopes Pangasinan voters will give him the same support he got from them in 2010. Pangasinan overwhelmingly voted for President Benigno Aquino III in the 2010 presidential race.
Team PNoy will spend two days here and stop in all 6 congressional districts.
Aquino joins his slate in Dagupan, then Alaminos, and endorses his senatorial bets. He also pushes for Braganza over Espino.

BENIGNO AQUINO III, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: If you want ‘tuwid na daan,’ you need the money of the province to benefit the people, not to go to the pockets of those in power…Hindi po tulad ng iba, hindi niya isusugal and inyong kinabukasan.

Despite NPC’s power here, local alliances don’t worry campaign manager Franklin Drilon.
He calls Pangasinan Aquino’s bailiwick, and expects support from the NPC to carry Team PNoy.

FRANKLIN DRILON, TEAM PNOY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We knew since the beginning there would be places we couldn’t avoid local contests so we emphasized that in local races, when we have candidates, we would allow them to fight but we’re allied in the national level.

In the all-important battleground province, former senators Jamby Madrigal and Jun Magsaysay, former Akbayan Rep Risa Hontiveros, and Aurora Rep Sonny Angara are present — the four lagging behind in surveys.
For any candidate — highly ranked or not — wooing Pangasinan is a must.
And appearing with Aquino here may just be the way to seal the deal.
Natashya Gutierrez, Rappler, Pangasinan.

Story 5: ANG: PAL REVENUE TO HIT $50-B BY 2018
San Miguel Corporation expects revenues to reach $50 billion by 2018 as it plans to acquire new businesses and expand existing ones.
SMC President Ramon Ang initially set a $20 billion revenue target for 2015, but he says the conglomerate already achieved its goal by the end of 2012.
Ang is also president of Philippine Airlines.
He says its new aircraft acquisitions will help make PAL competitive in the market.

RAMON ANG, PAL PRESIDENT: Going forward with the arrival of our new aircraft. We are very confident that it will give Philippine Airlines a very competitive, one of the lowest-cost per seat mile in the region. Dahil yung mga bagong eroplano natin, napakacompetitive noon. Tiyaka yung cost ng pagkabili natin napakababa. (Our new aircrafts are very competitive. We purchased it at a very low price.)

PAL is in the middle of an aggressive refleeting program.
It plans to acquire 100 new aircraft from global manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.
It entered into a $10 billion deal with Airbus for the acquisition of 64 new aircraft.

Story 6: ARGENTINA’S ‘DIRTY WAR’ HOUNDS POPE FRANCIS
World leaders hail the election of Argentine cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to the papacy.
But it also raises questions about the new Pope’s role in Argentina’s “dirty war.”
Paterno Esmaquel reports.

Days after the conclave ends, Pope Francis’ role in the Argentine dictatorship hounds him.
Leftist author Horacio Verbitsky says then Father Jorge Bergoglio collaborated with Argentina’s dictator Jorge Rafael Videla.
Verbitsky extensively wrote about Argentina’s Dirty War from 1976 to 1983.
Verbitsky publishes a photo of Bergoglio giving Holy Communion to Argentine military dictator General Jorge Rafael Videla.
Critics also bring up the case of two Jesuits whom Bergoglio allegedly failed to protect from the dictatorship.
Bergoglio denies this claim.
In 2005, his biographer says he took extraordinary, behind-the-scenes action to save them.
“I found out who the military chaplain was who gave mass to Videla and convinced that priest to call in sick and I managed to be named to replace him.”
Bergoglio appealed for mercy for the two priests.
British journalist Robert Cox says Verbitsky is not wrong in his claim, but says the militant author doesn’t understand the complexity of Bergoglio’s position back then when things were so dangerous.”
Under Bergoglio’s leadership, Argentina’s bishops issued an apology in 2012 for the church’s failure to protect its flock.
These issues were raised before the 2005 conclave, when Bergoglio turned out to be a runner-up to Pope Benedict.
This time around, the negative campaigning after he ascends the seat of St. Peter does not seem to dent the enthusiasm for the new Pope.
In his first homily as pontiff, Pope Francis makes it clear politics isn’t his priority.
He says the Catholic Church should go back to basics, or it will become what he calls a “pitiful NGO.”

POPE FRANCIS: We can walk as much as we want, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, nothing will avail. We will become a pitiful NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of Christ.

Pope Francis stresses faith and courage.
Inevitably, Pope Francis will interact with more leaders – and dictators – as he leads 1.2 billion Catholics.
Catholics will look for the courage that critics back home say he lacked when confronted by a tyrant.
Paterno Esmaquel, Rappler, Manila.
On Friday, The Vatican rejects as “defamatory” claims that Pope Francis did not do enough in his past to save two priests tortured by the Argentinian military junta.

Story 7: POPE SHOWS SIMPLICITY IN UNSCRIPTED HOMILY
Pope Francis warns the Church against a lack of faith in his first mass as pope.
In a seven-minute unscripted homily, Pope Francis urges the cardinals to have courage to move the Church forward.
A champion of the poor who comes from a working-class family, Francis also cautions against faith that neglects sacrifice.
He says, “When we walk without the Cross…we are not disciples of the Lord.”
On Thursday, victims of child abuse in Catholic-run institutions in Ireland call on the new pope to hold accountable the priests who covered up the abuse.
Benedict XVI apologized in 2010 to the Irish victims of clerical sex abuse but critics say he failed to act against those responsible.

Story 8: NORTH KOREA ACCUSES SOUTH, US OF CYBER ATTACKS
North Korea accuses the United States and South Korea of carrying out a cyber attack against its official websites.
A number of official North Korean websites, including the Korean Central News Agency or KCNA, the daily Rodong Sinmun newspaper, and Air Koryo airline were inaccessible early Wednesday.
KCNA says –quote, “Internet servers operated by our republic have come under daily cyber attack which are persistent and intensive”
The website says the problem coincides with an ongoing South Korea-US joint military drill.
KCNA says the attack was a “cowardly and despicable act” motivated by fear.
Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated dramatically since the North conducted its third nuclear test last month.
Pyongyang responds to the subsequent UN sanctions and joint military exercise with threats of “all-out war” backed by nuclear weapons.
There’s no immediate response from the South Korean government to the accusations of involvement.

Story 9: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 6, US federal authorities charge a Reuters social media editor with conspiring with hacktivist group Anonymous.
Matthew Keys faces up to 10 years in prison and a  $250,000 fine.
Authorities say Keys gave Anonymous members login credentials in 2010, allowing a hacker to alter an online version of a Los Angeles Times news story.

At number 7, European scientists on Thursday say new data ‘strongly indicates’ a subatomic particle discovered in 2012 is the elusive Higgs boson or “God’s particle.”
The Higgs boson is believed to explain why matter has mass.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research says analysis of two characteristics aligns with theories the discovery is a Higgs.
Finding the Higgs would fill a massive gap in the Standard Model, which describes the forces that comprise the Universe.

And at number 8, H&M, the world’s second largest fashion retailer, is looking to partner with Asian suppliers to produce sustainable cotton for use in their garments.
Major brands participate in the Better Cotton Initiative which will teach cotton farmers to farm cotton with less pesticides and water.
H&M’s global sustainability manager says Asia is important for the company’s production and consumers.

Story 10: SAMSUNG UNVEILS GALAXY S4
After two video teasers and massive online marketing, Samsung finally unveils its latest flagship smartphone – the Galaxy S4.
Josh Villanueva files this video blog.

Hello from Radio City Music Hall in New York. I’m Michael Josh and in my hands is the newly-released Samsung Galaxy S4.
What pops up is the new vibrant screen. It’s a 5-inch screen, one of the first few phones in the world that has a 1080p full HD display.
This device comes in two variants. One with an octo-core processor 1.6Ghz and another with a 1.9Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core processor.
If you look in front that’s a 2 megapixel camera and in the back a 13 megapixel camera.
The new 2-cam view is called dual shot mode and you can shoot videos and or photos using both your front facing camera and the main camera at the same time.
Samsung really is branding this phone as a life companion that you can go through life with and it’s focusing on four different areas.
One is fun, second is creating relationships, next is being able to do life’s tasks and then last is health and wellness.
Now, this is probably one of the most exciting features. They call it hover.
Without touching the device it can give me the last three articles. So I can just hover like this one on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and jump to it.
Gestures also work with the browser, so for example let’s go to Rappler.com.
You can now scroll up and down using hand gestures.
Probably, with a little bit of getting used to, these gestures will come in really, really handy.
Now while there wasn’t anything ground-breaking about the phone, in fact, if you look at its design pretty much like its predecessor the Galaxy S3. But if you ask me, in terms of software, that is where the phone shines.
If you look at the features that this phone has, it’s good enough to put it on the list of phones that you should look out for in 2013.
Michael Josh Villanueva, Rappler. New York.