Rappler Newscast | October 22, 2013

Story 1: ‘NO MORE CASH’ LEFT OF MALAMPAYA FUND
During a briefing at the Senate, National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon says there is “no cash left” in the multi-billion-peso Malampaya fund.
Several weeks ago, Sen Ralph Recto asked the budget department to explain why P137 billion in cash from the fund was missing.
Then, De Leon said the billions from the fund remain “perfectly intact.”
On Monday, De Leon says there is “no more cash” in the Malampaya fund.
But she adds the money was commingled in the general fund, making the P137 billion still “available” for appropriation when needed.
This means cash will be made available if an expenditure needs to be funded.
The Bureau of Treasury maintains a special account for the Malampaya Fund called Fund 151.
It accounts for the royalties earned by the Malampaya project.
The bureau also continues to monitor expenditure items charged against Fund 151.
Budget Secretary Butch Abad says the cash portion from the Malampaya Fund was used to fund the national budget.
The Malampaya gas project is the single biggest investment in the Philippines, with proceeds amounting to P170 billion over the years.
Less than P25 billion was spent during the Arroyo administration, while P15 billion is used under Aquino.

Story 2: MIRIAM WANTS 3 MAJOR FUNDS OUT OF PALACE DISCRETION
Sen Miriam Santiago wants proceeds from the Malampaya gas project, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation out of the President’s discretion.
These are off-budget funds – not included in the annual appropriation laws, and spent based on presidential orders.
On Monday, Santiago files a Senate resolution for the funds to be included in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing or BESF.
The BESF Report details where government revenues will come from and how these are proposed to be used for the following year.
Santiago says the Malampaya fund, the PCSO charity fund, and the Pagcor social fund are “used, distributed and disbursed outside the budget process,” which she says is unconstitutional.

Story 3: HOUSE OKs P2.268T BUDGET FOR 2014
With a 219-22 vote, the House of Representatives approves the proposed P2.268 trillion budget for 2014.
The 2014 General Appropriations Bill now waits for Senate approval.
Deliberations on the proposed 2014 budget were done at the height of scandals on the alleged misuse of billions worth of lawmakers’ funds.
Before the proposed bill was approved on committee level, House members agreed to realign their P25.2-billion pork barrel to 6 line agencies.
Lawmakers may only issue “recommendations” on “soft projects” like scholarships and healthcare.
For “hard projects” like infrastructure, lawmakers need to submit proposed subjects, which are included as line items in the budget.
The House retains lump sum appropriations for the Office of the President, including the calamity fund.

Story 4: ‘STABILIZED’ CEBU POURS RELIEF EFFORTS ONTO BOHOL
A week after a magnitude 7.2 quake hit Central Visayas, the province of Cebu pours relief efforts into its badly-hit neighbor, Bohol.
With Cebu province in a “stabilized” state, its local disaster unit sends rescue teams and resources into the towns of Loon, Maribojoc, and Antiquera — the hardest-hit among Bohol’s municipalities.
Cebu is now one of the staging points for relief goods to enter Bohol, which is now under a state of calamity.
Neil Sanchez of the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management says he plans to push for the creation of a central Visayas-wide disaster management cluster to allow provincial and local governments to help neighboring communities.
The death toll from the earthquake rises to at least 190, with damage to infrastructure pegged at P902 million.

Story 5: ROXAS WARNS LGUs: DON’T DO SELECTIVE DISTRIBUTION
More than 73,000 families in Bohol affected by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake need help.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas warns mayors and barangay officials: do not hoard the goods.
Voltaire Tupaz reports.

Interior and local government Secretary Mar Roxas is angry over reports local officials in Bohol are hoarding relief goods.
He orders the Philippine National Police to conduct a probe.

MAR ROXAS, INTERIOR SECRETARY: Wag ho nating haluan ng politika ito. DILG, national government, will exercise lead supervisory powers kung mapatunayan na pinipili po ninyo kung sino ang tutulungan ninyo. (Let’s not mix politics with relief response. DILG, the national government, will exercise lead supervisory powers if it will be proven that you are selecting relief beneficiaries.)

From the province to the towns, the flow of relief goods is fast.
The DSWD and provincial government say they ensure that goods are flown in or brought to poblacions by land.

MAR ROXAS, INTERIOR SECRETARY: Alam po namin kung ano ang dami ng mga food packs na lumalabas mula dito sa kapitolyo at sa DSWD. Alam din ho namin kung sino ang mga tumatanggap nito at the municipal, barangay levels. May mga targeted beneficiaries po yan. (We know how many food packs are dispatched from the capitol and DSWD. We know who receive them at the municipal and barangay levels. We have  targeted beneficiaries.)

The problem starts in town centers.
Many affected families from villages and even those in evacuation centers in town plazas complain water and food don’t reach them.
68-year-old Rodulfo Requillo and his 16 relatives sought refuge in front of a government building.
He is not able to complain to the DILG Secretary, who passes by their makeshift shelter. He talks to us.

RODULFO REQUILLO, RESIDENT OF TUBIGON TOWN: Di naman naming natanggap. Para bang nadiskarga, pero di naming nalamaman kung saan galing o saan pumunta yung mga goods…Di natin maiwasan ang mga reklamo na, “ah pamulitiko yun. (We didn’t receive anything. Goods were unloaded, but we didn’t know where they came from or where they were delivered. We couldn’t help thinking, this is politicking.)

Mel Castro, A Facebook user from the previously isolated town of Maribojoc also complains her grandparents have not received relief goods.
Castro says in a viral post, “When I visited them for the first time since the earthquake, I found they were not given their relief goods because ‘they could no longer vote’.
She expresses her “outrage at this utter disrespect to my grandparents.”
Mel says her grandmother never leaves her 92-year grandfather who is recovering from a stroke. Their house is badly damaged.
Secretary Mar Roxas and other national and provincial officials breeze through reopened roads when they visit towns to check the condition of the roads, bridges, and evacuation centers.
Maribojoc and other towns in Bohol are now accessible.
There is no reason why assistance can’t reach these areas.
It seems a mix of bureaucratic bottlenecks, lack of systems and politicking has turned this into a logistical nightmare.
Voltaire Tupaz, Rappler, Bohol.

Story 6: CALAMITY FUND RUNNING DRY; AQUINO TO TAP SAVINGS
President Benigno Aquino says the government will use savings to provide relief services to earthquake victims in Central Visayas.
On Monday, Aquino says the calamity fund is running dry because of the conflict between government troops and Muslim rebels in Zamboanga City and recent storms in the country.
Aquino says P176 million in calamity fund and P824 million in contingency fund remain — a total of P1 billion.
The executive has about P20 billion in savings.
Government agencies are providing relief goods to affected areas in Bohol with the social welfare department preparing P6.9 million worth of food packs, water and tents for Bohol.

Story 7: MAKATI COURT AGREES TO NAPOLE SENATE APPEARANCE
The Makati court hearing the serious detention case against Janet Lim Napoles agrees to let her appear at a Senate hearing on the pork barrel scam.
This comes after the Senate issues a subpoena summoning the alleged pork barrel scam mastermind to appear before the Blue Ribbon Committee on November 7.
The court also orders security escorts for Napoles’ travel to the Senate and back to her detention place in Fort Sto Domingo in Laguna.

Story 8: LEADERS AT BALI INTERNET FORUM CONCERNED OVER US SURVEILLANCE
Leaders from different sectors at the Internet Governance Forum held for the first time in Southeast Asia say they’re concerne about the mass surveillance done by the United States.
Ayee Macaraig files this video blog from Bali, Indonesia.

US spies on 70 million phone calls in France.
That’s the headline that coincides with the opening of the Internet Governance Forum here in Bali, setting the tone for the world’s leading forum on Internet policy issues.
About 1,500 delegates from all over the world gather here to talk about the role of the Internet for development
But revelations of mass spying by the US government dominate the speeches of leaders here at the IGF and even the workshops and informal conversations of delegates.
During the opening session, leaders from the United Nations, European Parliament, civil society and business all express concern that mass surveillance may threaten efforts to protect a free, open and secure Internet.
They say this endangers basic freedoms like privacy and freedom of expression.
But representatives of the US government say they are taking the concerns seriously and the reports must not be used to justify moves for a centralized control of the Internet by some governments.
All of the leaders push for a bottom-up, multi-stakeholder approach to setting rules on the use of the Internet to reflect the participative nature of the medium.
During the workshops, Internet enthusiasts also discuss efforts in the Philippines and Southeast Asia to use cyberspace for issues like disaster risk reduction and open governance.

AMBAR SARI DEWI, JALIN MERAPI, INDONESIA: As in the Philippines, Internet infrastructure in Indonesia is not good and especially in the mountain, the peak of Merapi, we barely have, so hard to find Internet connection so combination between the Internet and lower technology is very important to distribute information during disasters.

SHITA LAKSMI, SOUTHEAST ASIA TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE: I think it’s quite funny because your government is also part of the Open Government Partnership but you don’t have the Freedom of Information Law.

AYEE MACARAIG, REPORTING: Amid the heated debate on surveillance, civil society representatives stress what must not be lost in the debate is that the Internet must not just benefit governments and business but also be used to help the illiterate, the indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities by making sure that the Internet is just free and open but accessible to all.  
Ayee Macaraig, Rappler, Bali, Indonesia.

Story 8: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 5, Diplomats at a UN review of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record criticize the country for its continued use of the death penalty and discrimination against women.
Women are still required to seek permission from male relatives to do basic things like leave the country.
But Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission says the country made progress since the first review in 2009.
The latest reviews come just over 3 weeks before Saudi Arabia’s bid to secure a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

At number 6, US President Barack Obama seeks to downplay fears the technical problems of the HealthCare.gov website extends to his health law.
Consumers, unable to use the site to buy insurance plans, are urged to apply by phone.
Republican critics say the website’s problems show deeper flaws in Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
While he concedes the website has serious technical issues, Obama says Republicans should “stop rooting” for the law’s failure.

And at number 9, France and Mexico demand answers from the United States over new allegations Washington tapped millions of phone calls.
French daily Le Monde reports the US National Security Agency secretly monitored 70.3 million phone calls in France in 2012.
German magazine Der Spiegel says the NSA also hacked into former Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s email account.
US State Secretary John Kerry does not comment on the accusations, but says Washington is reviewing its intelligence gathering operations.

Story 9: ‘METRO MANILA’ FILM AN OSCARS ENTRY
The movie Metro Manila had its International premiere in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival last January.
The idea for the film was born when British director Sean Ellis witnessed an argument between 2 truck drivers while on vacation in Manila.
G Tongi reports.

G TONGI, REPORTING: I’m here at the advanced media screening for the film Metro Manila,  directed by British director Sean Ellis. We’re here to talk to the actors about about the casting process and their experience on working on the film.

Metro Manila is a film shot entirely in the Philippines with an all Filipino cast, about a man who moves to the big city in search of a better life.
Director Sean Ellis handpicked the Filipino actors.
Indie Actress Althea Vega says the filming was rigorous.

ALTHEA VEGA, INDIE ACTRESS: Yung experience ko with Sean, it takes about 15 or mas marami pang…yung paulit ulit nyang pinapagawa, nakakadrain ng energy…gusto nya iba iba yung angle…Napakaperfectionist! (My experience with Sean, it takes about 15 or more, He had me do it over and over again until my energy was drained. He wanted different angles. He’s a perfectionist!)

It’s the perfectionist in Ellis that helped the film bag the Audience Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival for the World Cinema Dramatic division.
Actor Jake Macapagal, originally hired as a production assistant was surprised when Ellis chose him to play the title role of Oscar.
He says winning at Sundance has become his good luck charm.

JAKE MACAPAGAL, ACTOR: It opened doors for me! I don’t know…I’m hoping it will open doors for more actors.

A review on Rappler calls Metro Manila a poverty drama that morphs into a gritty crime thriller.

MACAPAGAL: Because of the images and the way Sean had presented this, this is a little bit different…But at the same time it’s poetic and I can guarantee that after the film, you can count it as one of the better films that you’ve seen.

Angelina Kapati plays “Charlie.”
Originally a male pimp character, Ellis transformed the role into a female “mamasan” after seeing her audition.
Ellis chose to have all the actors translate his English script into Filipino.

ANGELINA KAPATI, ACTRESS: I did my own version. I chose the words and that exact scene that I did in front of him became the scene itself in the film.

Kapati says it took a British director to see the film through critical acclaim.
But some fear the film will reinforce a negative image of the Philippines abroad much like Dan Brown calling Manila the “gates of hell.”

KAPATI: Sometimes you just have to hammer at the truth and Sean Ellis did a very brilliant work…because he captured our “hawak sa patalim” mentality, sort of like, we don’t look beyond tomorrow. (He captured the Filipino mentality of “clasping the blade” [an idiom for taking huge risks when presented with few options])

Metro Manila is the official entry of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category. G Töngi- Rappler Manila.