Rappler Newscast | December 9, 2013

One month after super typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines, environmentalists warn about the continued degradation of nature, from global warming to the accelerated disappearance of many unique species.
We are coming to you live from Anvaya Cove in historic Morong, Bataan where the effort to save the endangered Olive Ridley turtle continues.
Every year, the turtle comes to these shores to nest.
Nesting season starts in September and ends February.
Here, you see a sea turtle going back to the sea after laying about fifty eggs in the middle of the night.
These turtles are an endangered species because they have few remaining nesting sites in the world.
The population of the turtles declined drastically over the decade.

Story 1: THAI PM CALLS POLLS; PROTESTERS FIGHT ON
The Prime Minister calls a snap election Monday, to try to defuse the kingdom’s political crisis, but protesters promise to continue their fight against government, with an estimated 140,000 demonstrators flooding the streets of Bangkok.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra faced more than a month of street protests, with demonstrators demanding her government be replaced by a “People’s Council”.
On Sunday, Thai opposition lawmakers resign en masse from parliament.
In a televised address Monday, Yingluck announces she would dissolve parliament and hold a general election “as soon as possible”.
The polls are expected to be held on February 2.
But protesters say they are not satisfied with new elections.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban promises to –quote– “uproot the Thaksin regime.”
Thaksin, Yingluck’s brother, was ousted by royalist generals in a coup seven years ago.
Tensions remain high in the kingdom after several days of street clashes as police use tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators.
The protests are the biggest and deadliest since 2010, when dozens of people were killed in a military crackdown on mass pro-Thaksin rallies.

Story 2: LENIN MONUMENT TOPPED AS PRO-EU PROTESTS RAGE IN KIEV
Pro-EU Ukrainian protesters topple a statue of the Soviet Union’s founder Vladimir Lenin in Kiev after thousands gather for a new protest against President Viktor Yanukovych’s government.
The protesters fill Independence Square to denounce Yanukovych’s rejection of an EU pact under Kremlin pressure.
Dozens of masked protesters tear down the 3.4 meter high statue of the Bolshevik leader after putting a rope noose around Lenin’s neck.
The protests in Ukraine raged for over two weeks after the government announced it was stopping the work on political and free trade agreements with the European Union.

Story 3: GOV’T, MILF AGREE ON POWER SHARING
The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF are one step closer to signing a final peace pact.
Both sides sign a deal on power sharing — one of the most contentious issues in the negotiations — during talks in Kuala Lumpur Sunday night.
The agreement specifies the powers reserved for the central government and those that will be exercised independently by the Bangsamoro political entity.
The deal creates a ministerial form of government with at least 50 legislative members.
The panels only need to resolve the annex on normalization, which involves sensitive issues on decommissioning and structure of the police force.
In their joint statement, both sides say they hope to sign the comprehensive peace agreement by January 2014.
In July, both sides signed the wealth-sharing annex.
They signed the transition annex in February.
All 4 annexes will complement the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed in October 2012.

Story 4: A MONTH LATER, YOLANDA DEATH TOLL NEARS 6,000
The death toll from Super Typhoon Yolanda — international name Haiyan — nears the 6,000 mark with over 1,770 still missing.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council or NDRRMC reports at least 5,924 people are dead.
A month after the strongest typhoon hit land in the Visayas, the casualty toll is still unclear.
Task Force Cadaver continues to retrieve bodies in Tacloban City.
More than 100,000 people remain in 136 evacuation centers nationwide.
The cost of damage to infrastructure and agriculture is pegged at P35.5 billion.
Experts say reconstruction of destroyed communities will take years with millions of homes destroyed.

Story 5: TSUNAMI SCARE HAUNTS TRAUMATIZED PANAY RESIDENTS
Rumors of a tsunami quickly spread among some areas devastated by the super typhoon.
On December 1, a tsunami scare in Antique, Western Visayas pushes thousands of people who live near the shores to leave their homes.
This came after residents wrongly interpreted a decrease in the water level as a prelude to a tsunami.
The false information quickly spread.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology tells residents not to believe supposed tsunami alerts unless these came from government authorities.
Tsunamis were often mistaken for the storm surges that caused the widespread damage during the super typhoon.

Story 6: TACLOBAN MAYOR HITS NAT’L GOV’T RESPONSE DURING YOLANDA
Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez hits the national government for failing to respond when the super typhoon slammed into the city a month ago.
Speaking before the Congressional Oversight Committee, an emotional Romualdez says his repeated request for soldiers to help in the relief efforts was ignored.
He adds, “People were feeling frustrated seeing all these military planes and trucks and yet they sat alongside their dead…I asked for more support [but] I was never given that.”
Romualdez says Interior Secretary Mar Roxas asked him to sign a letter authorizing the national government to take over local government functions.
Roxas supposedly told Romualdez that this was a “grey area” in law.

Story 7: PH, JAPAN TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE DEFENSE PACT
President Benigno Aquino is leaving for Japan for the ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit, where the two countries will discuss a possible defense treaty.
Aquino says he is open to a possible pact with Japan in the wake of growing tension in the West Philippines Sea better know as the South China Sea.
Japanese defense minister Itsunori Onodera says they are looking at a “framework agreement” to be able to deploy troops faster in situations like in typhoon Yolanda.
In his visit to Manila, Onodera highlights the need for a peaceful resolution of the regional conflict with various countries concerned about China’s Air Defense Identification Zone, which it established over disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Japan also promises to help the Philippines defend its territory.

Story 8: AQUINO: PROBE LEVISTE PAROLE
Backtracking on Malacanang’s previous statement, President Aquino orders the justice department to investigate how parole was granted for former Batangas Gov Jose Antonio Leviste.
Aquino is also mulling possible sanctions for the Board of Pardons and Parole.
In 2009, Leviste was found guilty of killing his employee.
In May 2011, he faced a complaint for evasion of service of sentence over allegations he left the New Bilibid Prison compound 3 times that year.
In defense, Leviste says prison officers approved the excursions.
He was acquitted from the charges but Bureau of Corrections Director Ernesto Diokno was forced to resign.
Aquino says that while the process for parole was reportedly followed, it is the –quote– “spirit of the law” that he wants thoroughly reviewed.
The President also says he was surprised by the grant of parole, adding, “How can you say good conduct when he was found outside prison while supposedly serving his sentence? So I do not understand why he would even be considered [for parole].”

Story 9: PH POVERTY ALMOST UNCHANGED SINCE 2006
The National Statistical Coordination Board or NSCB says poverty incidence among Filipino families falls only slightly in 2012 despite the Philippines’ high economic growth.
In a press conference Monday, NSCB Secretary General Jose Ramon Albert says the percentage of poor families is at 19.7% in 2012.
It’s almost unchanged compared to the 2009 figure of 20.5% and 2006 figure of 21%.
Albert says the number of poor Filipino families rise to 4.2 million in 2012 from 3.8 million in 2006 because of the country’s growing population.
The government considers a family poor if its monthly earnings are less than the poverty threshold.
The poverty threshold for 2012 is P5,513 per month — the amount required for a family to meet basic food needs.

Story 10: WTO HAILS ‘HISTORIC’ TRADE AGREEMENT
Commerce ministers praise a World Trade Organization agreement on international commerce, calling it a “historic” boost for the trade body.
The pact includes commitments to facilitate trade by simplifying customs procedures.
The Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates the measures could create $1 trillion in economic activity and 21 million jobs if properly implemented.
British Prime Minister David Cameron says the deal would “provide a lifeline to the world’s poorest people” by cutting barriers to trade.
The accord is the first global agreement struck by the Geneva-based body since its 1995 founding.
But development charity Oxfam says the deal was vaguely worded and would do little for the world’s poor.

Story 11: SOUTH AFRICA UNITES IN PRAYER AND SONG FOR MANDELA
South Africans start a nationwide day of prayer – the formal start of a week-long state funeral for late freedom icon Nelson Mandela.
US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle will be among 80,000 people attending a memorial service Tuesday in the Soweto sports stadium.
The commemorations end in Mandela’s burial on December 15 in Qunu – the rural village where he spent his early childhood.
Among the many world leaders scheduled to attend the funeral are French President Francois Hollande, the British and Canadian prime ministers David Cameron and Stephen Harper, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

Story 12: AIR POLLUTION IN EUROPE KILLS EVEN AT GUIDELINE LEVELS
A new study shows Europeans with long-term exposure to particulate pollution run a higher risk of premature death — even if air quality meets European Union standards.
The study says the biggest source of concern was PM2.5, or particles measuring under 2.5 microns.
PM2.5 is so small it can lodge deep in the lungs, causing respiratory problems.
The study says the risk of early death rose by 7% with every increase of five micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies outdoor air pollution as a leading cause of cancer.

Story 13: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 4, Hundreds of South Asian workers riot in Singapore on Sunday after being enraged by a fatal road accident.
18 people are injured in the city-state’s worst outbreak of violence in more than 40 years.
The disturbance started in the congested Little India district when a 33-year-old Indian man was hit – and killed – by a bus.
Police say about 400 people on the scene began rioting, attacking the bus and police vehicles.
27 South Asian workers are arrested.

At number 5, North Korea confirms the uncle of leader Kim Jong-Un is removed from office for committing “criminal” acts and leading a “counter-revolutionary faction.”
The story shocked many because Jang Song-Thaek was once considered the second-most powerful leader in North Korea.
The North Korean state news agency says what Jang did caused –quote– “tremendous harm to our party and the revolution.”

And at number 10, Miss Venezuela Alyz Henrich is crowned Miss Earth 2013 at the pageant held Saturday.
In the question and answer portion, Henrich was asked how eco-tourism contributes to the protection of the environment.
The 22-year-old is an advocate of clean water.
In her Miss Earth profile, she shared how she helped in the recollection of trash in the Los Roques Island Chain.