Rappler Newscast | May 20, 2013

Today on Rappler.

• The Philippines will conduct a ‘parallel investigation’ with Taiwan over the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman.

• Vice presidential daughter Nancy Binay says she will continue her father’s advocacies when she enters the Senate.

• Team PNoy candidates get more votes in the country’s 10 poorest provinces.

Story 1: PH CONFIRMS ‘PARALLEL PROBE’ WITH TAIWAN
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima says the Philippines will conduct a “parallel investigation” with Taiwan over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman in Philippine waters.
De Lima says there will be “coordinated efforts” between Taiwan and the Philippines, but adds neither side would interfere with the other’s probe.
Taiwanese Minister for Foreign Affairs David Lin earlier said Taipei and Manila reached a consensus on initiating a probe over the shooting.
The Taipei Times reports Lin and de Lima call the bilateral cooperation a “parallel investigation” instead of a “joint investigation” to avoid concerns about sovereign interference.
De Lima earlier said it would be “impossible” to conduct a joint probe because the Philippines “is a sovereign country” with its own processes.
On Saturday, Taiwanese investigators say the 65-year-old Hung Shih-cheng was –quote–  “intentionally murdered” by the Philippine Coast Guard.
But Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang rejects Taiwan’s “murder” allegations, adding, “There is an investigation ongoing so any premature statements that tend to confuse the issues and inflame passions should be avoided.”
Taiwan also says it will increase protection for overseas Filipino workers, after three Filipinos were attacked over tensions between Manila and Taipei.

Story 2: LAST THREE SENATORS PROCLAIMED
The proclamation of three new senators on Saturday completes the winning senatorial lineup from the 2013 midterm polls.
The national board of canvassers proclaimed Cynthia Villar, JV Ejercito, and Gringo Honasan senators of the Republic of the Philippines.
Nancy Binay and Koko Pimentel also attended the weekend proclamation.
Both were proclaimed earlier but did not attend the ceremonies.
Pimentel, who was proclaimed Friday, earlier criticized the proclamation as premature.
Of the 12 senators to assume office in June, 9 come from the administration slate Team PNoy and 3 from the opposition United Nationalist Alliance.
The NBOC is still tallying votes from overseas absentee voters, but says the untallied numbers will not drastically affect the totals.

Story 3: COMELEC DEFENDS USING FAXED TALLIES
Commission on Elections chief Sixto Brillantes defends the poll body’s decision to use faxed tallies in proclaiming winning senators after Retired Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban called the move illegal.
Panganiban says the law requires certificates of canvass for proclamation.
On Thursday, the national board of canvassers proclaimed the first set of winning senators after having canvassed the votes of only 24% of COCs.
Brillantes says the NBOC used the faxed tallies, called grouped canvass reports, only as “guide”.
He says the NBOC had the right to proclaim candidates if the untallied votes cannot adversely affect the results.

Story 4: BINAY: MY LAST NAME IS A BLESSING AND A CHALLENGE
The daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay and now senator-elect Nancy Binay says her surname is a key factor in her win, despite criticism about her lack of experience and competence.
But the opposition candidate says she now has to live up to the challenge of continuing her father’s legacy.

NANCY BINAY, SENATOR-ELECT: Having a Binay last name is both a blessing and a challenge. Blessing because it made me win, but challenge because you have to live up to that name. It helps that my last name is in a way synonymous with service. Every time I go to the province, the way they look at me is the way they look at my father. So siguro nakikita nila that I will be bringing in the same kind of service. (I think they see that I will be bringing in the same kind of service.)

After becoming the 5th highest ranking senator in the polls, Binay says she will not deviate from her father’s policies when she joins the Senate.

MARIA RESSA: How do you define yourself separate from your father now?

NANCY BINAY, SENATOR-ELECT: Parang I can’t eh. Siguro I can improve the brand. Parang akong soft drink. Kung father ko Coke Light ako Coke Zero. (I can’t. Maybe what I can do is improve the brand. If you compare it to softdrinks, I’m a different variant. If my father is Coke Light, maybe I am Coke Zero.)

MARIA RESSA: Do you have any differences with your father in terms of what you believe or in terms of what policies you’re going to put forward now?

NANCY BINAY, SENATOR-ELECT: More or less the same, pero sa akin mas may innovation. Kasi siya, hindi pa sya masya in keeping with technology. (More or less, it will be the same but maybe for me, there’s more innovation because he is not yet that updated with technology.)

Story 5: COP EXPOSES VOTE BUYING IN SOUTHERN LEYTE
Pre-shaded ballots, discrepancies in voters’ lists, and malfunctioning ballot-counting machines.
With over 300 incidents of election offenses, election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections or LENTE says the midterm polls are worse than the 2010 elections.
In Southern Leyte, a policeman and a barangay official turn witness in vote buying allegations against local politicians.
Voltaire Tupaz reports.

Oging is Roger Mercado, the incumbent governor of Southern Leyte, a poor province with at least 254,000 voters.
Mian is Damian Mercado, the congressman of the lone district of the province.
The brothers are being accused of vote buying.
PO1 Hefner Doble, a cop in the town of Pintuyan, files an affidavit saying he received an envelope containing two P500-peso bills a few days before the elections.
Oging’s and Mian’s names are printed on the envelopes.

PO1 HEFNER DOBLE, VOTE BUYING WITNESS: Last May 8, natanggap ko young sobre na binigay ni running (mayoral candidate) Rustico Estrella doon sa Pintuyan…Sabi niya sa akin, ‘Pahalipay gikan sa atong congressman ug sa atong governor. (Last May 8, I received an envelope from Pintuyan mayoral candidate Rustico Estrella. He said, I have something to make you happy from the congressman and from the governor.)

Mercado says the order in which their nicknames were printed on the envelopes is a give-away it did not come from his camp.
Printed on the envelope is “Oging-Mian.”
He claims they are Mian-Oging, since they are now running for each other’s posts.
They cry political harassment, blaming opponents from the administration party.

VOICE OF DAMIAN MERCADO, SOUTHERN LEYTE REPRESENTATIVE: Talagang gawa-gawa lang yan. Kase supposed to be, kung galing sa amin yan kelangan Mian-Oging. Kase ako congressman, si Oging governor. Una ba ang governor? (It’s clearly fabricated. If it came from us, it should have read Mian-Oging. I am the congressman, Oging is governor. Does the governor come first?)

Their defeated rival, Marisa Lerias, denounces the entrenched practice of vote buying in her province.
Lerias also comes from a powerful clan that ruled the province since the eighties.

MARISA LERIAS, LOSING LP CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS: To say it’s rampant at this point is an understatement.  It’s part of the damaged culture that needs to be fixed…People say ‘pahalipay’,  or momentary bliss which is the translation, when the effect is an eternity of grief.

Another witness, a barangay official, surfaces to support Leria’s claim.
She says a barangay captain who supported the National Unity Party of the Mercados ordered her to distribute 22 of at least 582 envelopes with P1,000 in cash.

EVELYN PEDRERA, BGY KAGAWAD: Pag dating ko doon, binigyan ako ng 22 short white envelope. Sabi niya, i salig nija nako ang pag-panghatag sa mga subri sa mga tag-iya kapalit sa NUP candidates. (When I arrived, I was given 22 short, white envelopes. He entrusted me with the distribution of the envelopes to the recipients in exchange for their votes.)

Eveylyn flees Southern Leyte with her daughter and her 4-month old granddaughter, fearing for the safety of her family.
She joins Doble who also left the province together with his wife and 9-year old son.

KAGAWAD EVELYN PEDRERA, VOTE BUYING WITNESS: Medyo, sometimes, kase kinalaban namin ang malalaking tao. (Sometimes, it is because we fought against influential people.)

PO1 HEFNER DOBLE, VOTE BUYING WITNESS: Di lahat ng pulis kayang suhulan…Sa mahal na pangulo natin, sana naman bigyan ng pansin kaming maliliit na nanalig sa iyo at sa batas ng Pilipinas. Bigyan  aksyon ang nangyaring ito. (Not all cops can be bought. To our president, we hope you will recognize ordinary people like us who trust in you and the law. Please act on the complaint.)

Stories about vote buying abound during elections.
But rarely do witnesses like PO1 Doble and Evelyn surface to protest the practice.
Do they have an agenda, or are they for real?
Voltaire Tupaz, Rappler, Manila.

Story 6: POLITICS IN BATTLEGROUND PANGASINAN
The Nationalist People’s Coalition shows force in battleground Pangasinan, the third most vote rich province.
It proves to Malacañang the province is and will remain the party’s territory.

Carmela Fonbuena reports.

NPC re-electionist Gov Amado Espino Jr clobbers Liberal Party candidate Hernani Braganza by half a million votes, trumping braganza even in the city that elected him mayor– Alaminos.

HERNANI BRAGANZA, LIBERAL PARTY CANDIDATE: Plastic naman ako kung sinabi kong hindi ako malungkot. Ngengok naman ako. I’ll try to put it this way, we were outsmarted, we were outmaneuvered in our respective localities and definitely outspent. Never ako bumili boto kasi. (I’d be plastic if I said I’m not upset. I never bought votes.)

NPC sweeps the elections. It keeps the Capitol. It takes 4 out of 6 legislative districts and mayoral races.
It was a heated gubernatorial race that rocked the coalition between LP and NPC at the national level.
Braganza accuses the NPC of massive vote buying.
The NPC says Braganza and the LP used government machinery in their campaign.

MARK COJUANGCO, NATIONALIST PEOPLE’S COALITION PANGASINAN CHAIRMAN: Ang mga moves ng gobyerno kontra sa kandidato namin is by the head of the DILG through the secretary and president ng LP on leave. Hindi po kami nirespeto dito sa sarili naming lugar. (The government’s moves to contradict our candidate is by the head of the DILG through the secretary and president of the LP, on leave. The people here in our own place, in our own province don’t respect us.)

Now that the elections are over, Espino says he is ready to forgive and forget.

AMADO ESPINO, NATIONALIST PEOPLE’S COALITION CANDIDATE: We are very open to reconciliation to everybody, kalimutan na natin pagtutungali nitong election. Hanggang ngayon ang partido po naming andito, among chairman, kami lahat na nanalo at natalo, sumusuporta kay Pangulong Aquino. Let’s forget our conflicts during election season. Until now, our party, our chairman, all of us who lost and won support President Aquino.)

But NPC Pangasinan chairman Mark Cojuangco makes a distinction between the President and his party.

MARK COJUANGCO, NATIONALIST PEOPLE’S COALITION PANGASINAN CHAIRMAN: Gumawa sila ng maraming kaaway sa probinsiya. Marami na po ang ayaw sumama sa kanila sa 2016. Ang Pangasinan 100% behind program ni PNoy pero hindi sa LP. (They made a lot of enemies in the province. There are already a lot of people who don’t want to work with them in 2016. Pangasinan is 100% behind PNoy’s programs but not the LP.)

But Braganza dismisses Mark’s threat.

HERNANI BRAGANZA, LIBERAL PARTY CANDIDATE: Obvious naman wala sila intention. Ina-anticipate namin na Mark Cojuangco – not NPC – Mark Cojuangco will defy even NPC and will support other candidates come 2016. (It’s obvious they have no intentions. We anticipate Mark Cojuangco – not NPC, Mark Cojuangco will defy even NPC and will support other candidates come 2016.)

The result of the 2013 polls may be embarrassing for the Liberal Party, but more and more it is looking like a calculated risk.
By all indications, the coalition between the Liberal Party and the Nationalist Alliance will stay. But it is temporary. 2016 will come and both parties will draw the line yet again in battleground Pangasinan.
Carmela Fonbuena Rappler, Pangasinan

Story 7: TEAM PNOY DOMINATES IN 10 POOREST PROVINCES
Administration slate Team PNoy gets more votes than opposition United Nationalist Alliance in the 10 poorest provinces in the country.
Based on the final official tally, 8 to 9 Team PNoy candidates consistently figured in the winning circle, while only 3 to 4 from UNA got the votes.
Based on the First Semester 2012 Poverty Statistics, the 10 poorest provinces in the country have 3.7 million registered voters.
Team PNoy’s performance was weakest in Maguindanao, where it only clinched 7 of the senatorial slots.
70 precincts post 100% voter turnout for the 2013 elections, with 54 precincts coming from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao — an area historically known for irregularities during elections.
Damaso Magbual of Namfrel says anecdotal experience in ARMM elections shows that in a 100% turnout, “the manipulation of the votes is a likelihood.”
Two losing senatorial aspirants from UNA – Jack Enrile and Migz Zubiri — win in the clustered precincts, with Enrile ranking 6th and Zubiri, 7th.

Story 8: POLL: MAJORITY REJECT JAPAN MAYOR ON COMFORT WOMEN
Two surveys released Monday show majority of Japanese people disagree with a politician who said the thousands of women forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity.
Up to 200,000 “comfort women” from Korea, China, and the Philippines were forced into brothels for the Japanese military in the global war of 1939 to 1945.
Last week, Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto says the women served a –quote– “necessary” role keeping soldiers in line.
The comment draws anger in China and South Korea, with the United States condemning Hashimoto’s opinion as “outrageous.”
In a weekend survey by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper, 71 percent of voters said Hashimoto’s comments were “inappropriate”.
A separate survey by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper shows 75 percent of voters consider the comments “problematic.”

Story 9: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 6, France becomes the 14th country to legalize same-sex marriage and gay adoption after President Francois Hollande signs the measure into law on Saturday.
In April, the main right-wing opposition party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy challenged the measure on constitutional grounds.
But on Friday, the Constitutional Council said same-sex marriage — quote — “did not run contrary to any constitutional principles nor did it infringe on “basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty.”
The issue of gay marriage divided France, which is officially secular but overwhelmingly Catholic.
Opponents of the measure vow to continue the fight, calling for a major protest rally in Paris on May 26.  

At number 8, Myanmar President Thein Sein makes the first visit to Washington by a leader of his country in nearly 50 years.
Thein Sein, a former general who initiated reforms after taking office in 2011, held private meetings before talks at the White House on Monday.
Thein Sein will meet with US businesses, which are now free to invest in Myanmar.
In November, US President Barack Obama visited Myanmar and suspended major sanctions against the country in hopes of showing benefits to reforms.  

And at number 9, The Wall Street Journal reports internet firm Yahoo! is set to buy popular blogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash.
The deal is the largest for Yahoo! since Marissa Mayer took over as chief executive last year.
On Monday, Yahoo and Tumblr announce they have reached a definitive agreement.
While Tumblr only generates $15 million in annual revenues, its inclusion in the Yahoo! family could tap younger audiences and open new advertising and revenue sources.
Based on the agreement, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business.
The popular blogging platform founded in 2007 has more than 108 million blogs and 50 billion postings in 12 languages.
Online data group Survata reports Tumblr is more popular than Facebook among those aged 13 to 25.

– 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