Rappler Newscast | April 11, 2013

Rappler.com

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SC reverses decision on Emmanuel Maliksi. JV Ejercito gets most number of poster violations. Smart's Mon Isberto says technology and social media play important roles in the elections.

Today on Rappler.

  • The Supreme Court reverses its earlier decision and rules Emmanuel Maliksi remains the mayor of Imus, Cavite.
  • The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front fail to complete any annexes in the latest round of peace talks.
  • And, Smart Communications public affairs head Mon Isberto says technology and social media play important roles in the elections.

Story 1: SC FLIP-FLOPS; MALIKSI STILL MAYOR
Voting 8-7, the Supreme Court reverses its earlier decision and grants a motion allowing administration ally Emmanuel Maliksi to remain mayor of Imus, Cavite.
The Supreme Court decision comes a month after it ruled that Maliksi’s rival, Homer Saquilayan, won the 2010 mayoral elections.
The SC granted Maliksi’s motion for reconsideration and remanded the election case to the Commission on Elections.
The ruling also renders the Comelec’s writ of execution – which would have put Saquilayan in power – moot.
Those who voted to grant Maliksi’s motion for reconsideration are Justices Lucas Bersamin, Presbitero Velasco, Teresita Leonardo De Castro, Arturo Brion, Diosdado Peralta, Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza and Bienvenido Reyes.
Those who dissented were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and Justice Antonio Carpio, Mariano Del Castillo, Roberto Abad, Martin Villarama, Estela Perlas-Bernabe and Marvic Leonen.
Saquilayan and Maliksi will face off in the 2013 midterm elections again.
Saquilayan is running under the Nacionalista Party while Maliksi is running under the Liberal Party.

Story 2: AQUINO: NO SPECIAL TREATMENT FOR VOTE-BUYING LP BETS
President Benigno Aquino says he will not tolerate vote buying from any politician — including Liberal Party bets.
As vote-buying allegations mark the start of the local campaigns, Aquino says LP members are not exempt from the law.
Aquino says –quote, “If there’s proof, then they should file a case.
we will not support them if they were wrong or if they broke the law.”
On April 4, the United Nationalist Alliance accused the advocacy group Kaya Natin of vote-buying after it distributed gift certificates to public high school students.
The group was allied with Aquino in the 2010 presidential race.
Aquino says there will be more attacks during the campaign period but adds candidates should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The Commission on Elections says it will probe vote-buying accusations only after a case is filed with the commission.

Story 3: JV EJERCITO TOPS LIST OF POSTER VIOLATORS
The Comelec says UNA senatorial candidate JV Ejercito has the most number of notices about poster violations so far.
The poll body says it sent 8 notices to Ejercito as of Tuesday.
Team PNoy’s Sonny Angara and Bangon Pilipinas bet Bro. Eddie Villanueva have 5 notices each.
The third placer is Bam Aquino, who has 4 notices.
Since the campaign period for national candidates began on February 12, Comelec says it sent 56 notices to 23 candidates.
This means only 10 out of 33 senatorial candidates have maintained a clean slate in terms of compliance with poster rules.

Story 4: ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN ELECTIONS
Smart Communications public affairs head Mon Isberto talks about the role of technology and social media in the upcoming May polls.
Isberto says the prevalence of social media means more people sharing their views about candidates.

MON ISBERTO, PUBLIC AFFAIRS HEAD, SMART COMMUNICATIONS, INC.: People’s views and opinions are being increasingly shaped by what they exchange in social media because you’re talking with friends…That’s one of the things that we have to watch out for because if you’re not conscious of it, you’re cocooning yourself with like-minded people and maybe not allowing yourself to have the benefit of people whose views are contrary to yours.

Although technology plays a role in spreading ideas, Isberto says how people use this technology is more important.

MON ISBERTO, PUBLIC AFFAIRS HEAD, SMART COMMUNICATIONS, INC.: If they figure that out first, what do they want to achieve in this election, what kind of candidates do they want to vote for this election, then using the technology becomes more effective because then they would know for what purpose and to what ends they will use the technology for.

Story 5: MILF WARNS GOV’T: CLOCK IS TICKING
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front says the clock is ticking on the peace process as formal talks in Kuala Lumpur end Thursday without any agreement.
Despite a target to sign a final peace pact by April, both parties fail to complete any annexes in the latest round of talks.
The next round will be held after the May 13 polls.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal cautions the government against prolonging the talks further.
In a text message, Iqbal says: The government is not ready to sign [the] wealth-sharing [annex]…The MILF is ready.”
The annex on normalization remains at the level of the technical working groups.
The annex on power-sharing is “almost complete” as of the 36th round of talks.

Story 6: CHINESE FISHERS CHARGED WITH BRIBERY, POACHING
12 Chinese fishermen whose ship ran aground in Tubbataha reef may face long jail terms after being charged with poaching and bribery.
The fishermen have been in detention since park rangers found their vessel Tuesday.
Palawan’s chief prosecutor Alen Rodriguez says –quote– “No one can just enter our waters and willfully destroy our marine life.”
He says the 12 are charged with poaching for violating a law that bans fishing in Tubbataha.
They are also charged with –quote– “attempted corruption of public officials” because they tried to bribe the rangers with $2,400 or about P99,000.

Story 7: ESPIONAGE NOT AN ISSUE IN TUBBATAHA, SAYS PALACE
Malacañang rules out espionage related to the territorial dispute between China and the Philippines after a Chinese vessel ran aground in Tubbataha.
Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang says authorities are treating the incident — quote — “the way it looks.”
He says the Chinese vessel does not look government-owned.
Carandang adds, “Unless we get an indication that there’s something more to it, then we will leave at that with the current actions that we have taken.”
This sparks criticism the government was quicker to act against the Chinese poachers, compared to the US minesweeper that ran aground in January.
Carandang says the accusations are “unfair” because the two incidents happened in quote —  “completely different circumstances.”
The Philippine Coast Guard and the transportation department want to refloat the Chinese vessel and take it to Puerto Princesa for disposal.

Story 8: SABAH POLICE: DON’T BELIEVE CLAIMS OF MORE SULU FIGHTERS
Malaysian police brush off reports hundreds of Sulu fighters are preparing to go to Sabah as reinforcements for the followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.
State news agency Bernama says Sabah police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib tells residents not to believe the reports.
Hamza says the situation in Lahad Datu remains –quote– “business as usual.”
On Tuesday, the spokesperson and a member of the Sultanate of Sulu said at least 400 “volunteers” from Mindanao arrived in Sabah on March 20 and April 5.

Story 9: ‘THERE ARE SEVERAL STARTUP OPPORTUNITIES IN PH’
Technology entrepreneurs Bowei Gai and Ron Hose discuss the potential of startups in the Philippines.
Hose is an investor and adviser to many Silicon Valley start-ups.  He was a founding partner of Tokbox and venture capital fund, Innovation Endeavors.
He sees a lot of opportunity in the Philippines.

RON HOSE, INVESTOR AND ADVISER, SILICON VALLEY: I think it’s been overlooked for a really long time. The economy here is growing. It’s becoming investment grade. There’s a huge pool of talents and is far less expensive than in the US.

The growth, he says, will be in the provinces.

RON HOSE, INVESTOR AND ADVISER, SILICON VALLEY: Stepping out of Metro Manila and looking at the provinces where 80 to 90 million people live…The opportunity to deliver products, services, and information to these people is going to change rapidly over the next 2 or 3 years because of prevalence of mobile devices and cheap Android devices.

Bowei Gai is the founder of mobile business card transcription service CardMunch, which he sold to LinkedIn in 2011.
He is now on a 9-month mission to learn about the world’s startup ecosystems for his World Startup Report.

BOWEI GAI, FOUNDER, WORLD STARTUP REPORT: As the internet penetration goes up in a country, there’s gonna be different sets of things, commodities, services, that everyone’s gonna need…I foresee the startups going to these things first and help shape the country moving into the next 10 years.

Story 10: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 2, US President Barack Obama rolls out a $3.77 trillion budget that lays out his battle lines in a new fiscal showdown in Washington.
Obama says his blueprint for fiscal year 2014 would grow the economy, cut the deficit and close tax loopholes that help the rich.
But Republicans reject Obama’s plans, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling them a “left wing wish list.”
House Speaker John Boehner says Obama already made life tough for the rich, adding: “We don’t need to be raising taxes on the American people.”

At number 4, US senators strike a compromise Wednesday that could expand background checks to all commercial firearms sales.
This may result in the most ambitious change to gun laws since 1994.
Senators agreed on an amendment to prevent criminals and the mentally ill and insane from getting firearms.
The amendment would see background checks expanded to include all sales at gun shows and on the Internet.

At number 7, Nobel Prize winner and British scientist Robert Edwards died Wednesday. He was 87.
Edwards won a Nobel prize for medicine in 2010 for pioneering work in developing in vitro fertilization, creating methods that would allow fertilization of the human egg outside the womb.
This resulted in the birth of the world’s first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, in 1978.

And at number 10, Staff of the Louvre Museum in Paris walk out to protest a growing number of pickpockets who target both workers and tourists.
The walk out forces the French museum to close Wednesday.
Authorities say they already asked for greater police presence and filed a complaint with prosecutors in December 2012.
The Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa, is said to be the most visited art museum in the world.

– Rappler.com

Newscast production staff

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER / WRITER Lilibeth Frondoso
DIRECTOR Rupert Ambil
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER / PUBLISHER Rodneil Quiteles
  Dindin Reyes
HEAD WRITER / PROMPTER Katerina Francisco
MASTER EDITOR / PLAYBACK Vicente Roxas
  Exxon Ruebe
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN Charlie Salazar
  Adrian Portugal
  Francis Lopez
GRAPHICS Jessica Lazaro

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