Rappler Newscast | December 20, 2013

Today on Rappler.

• Killers gun down the mayor of Zamboanga del Sur and his wife at the airport.
• The justice secretary forms a team to investigate the alleged crimes of Senate Minority Leader Enrile.
• President Aquino signs the 2014 budget into law.

Story 1: MAYOR, WIFE SHOT DEAD AT NAIA TERMINAL 3
The mayor of Zamboanga Del Sur was gunned down at the airport Friday.
The volley of fire not only killed his wife and nephew but also an 18 month old bystander.
Carmela Fonbuena reports.

It’s the third attempt on the life of Balangan, Zamboanga Del Sur Mayor Ukol Talumpa.
They got him this time at the NAIA-3 airport – a place that is supposed to be secure.
He, his wife, his nephew and a baby who just happened to be nearby were killed by motorcycle-riding gunmen.
The killers pretended to be cops.

AISHA TALUMPA, SISTER IN LAW: Nagulat po lahat. Pumunta lang sila dito para magbakasyon kasi ang mga anak niya dito nag-aral. Masakit po talaga kasi mag-asawa sila e. Naubos sila 2. Paano ang mga anak nila? Si Allah na lang bahala magturo sa tao na masama balakin sa kapwa. (Everyone was surprised. They’re in Manila for a vacation because their children study here. It’s really painful because both parents were killed. How about their children? Allah will teach those with bad intentions towards their fellow men.)

The first attempt on the mayor’s life in 2010 also happened in Manila, across the street from his recruitment agency in Leon Guinto.

ABDUL NASSER ANGKAN, FRIEND OF TALUMPA: Noong una po doon,  sa tapat ng business nya. Binaril din siya. Nasa loob sila ng kotse pero hindi sila napuruhan lahat. Nakaganti sila. (The first attempt happened across his place of business. He was also shot. They were inside the car but they were able to fight back.)

The second attempt happened in Pagadian City in Zamboanga Del Sur.  
2 men lobbed a grenade at the mayor’s car.
Talumpa and his wife were unharmed.
Politics is the usual suspect, but Zamboanga del Sur Governor Antonio Cerilles says the mayor has been actively campaigning against illegal drugs.
Caught in the crossfire between the Mayor and his gunmen is 18-month-old baby Phil Tomas Lirazan.

FELIPE LIRAZAN, BABY’S UNCLE: Isang ikot na lang ma-pick up ko na pamilya ko. Kung hindi ako natrapik umabot ako. Nag-usap pa kami one minute before, sabi ko malapit na kami. After one minute, nagputukan na. Matagal, umabot sa 15 bago mga putok, mga tuloy tuloy, mga sampu, di tumigil. (A short distance more and I would have been able to pick them up. If there wasn’t any traffic, I would’ve made it. I even spoke to them a minute before, I said I was near. After one minute, the shooting started. The shooting went on for a while, 15 rounds continuously.)

The Talumpas flew into Manila from Zamboanga del Sur and the Lirazans from Bacolod City for the same reason — to celebrate Christmas in Manila.

FELIPE LIRAZAN, BABY’S UNCLE: Ano na lang siguro, mag-celebrate na lang ng Christmas na masaya yung bumaril diyan. Sila na lang mag-celebrate na masaya. Sige lang, may Panginoon naman tayo. At diyan naman tayo pupunta. Pana-panahon na lang yan. (Let them celebrate their Christmas. We have a god and we’ll all go to him anyway. Everyone has their day.)

Another tragedy in a very challenging year.  
Carmela Fonbuena, Rappler, Pasay City.

Story 2: 3-YEAR-OLD GIRL SHOT IN HEAD AT NAIA
A three-year-old girl is the most seriously wounded among 5 people rushed to a hospital after the shooting incident at NAIA terminal 3.
A gunshot wound grazed Diana Uy’s head while she was standing with a relative when the shooting started.
Doctors say a blood clot formed in her head, requiring an operation before Friday.
Four other injured women remain at the East Avenue Medical Center: Remayda Talumpa, a relative of the slain Zamboanga del Sur mayor; Rosda Lindago, who was injured after a bullet entered the left part of her chest; Amalia Lirazan, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds; and Marie Ann Lirazan, who suffered a gunshot wound in her left arm.
Lirazan’s baby, 18-month-old Phil Tomas, died in the NAIA attack.

Story 3: NO CAMERAS AT NAIA3 FOR A LONG TIME
CCTV cameras were never installed in Manila’s airports.
A year and a half ago, then transportation secretary Mar Roxas said cameras would be installed after the widely publicized scuffle between newspaper columnist Ramon Tulfo and the group of showbiz couple Claudine Barretto and Raymart Santiago.
There was no recording of the incident, where Tulfo claimed he was attacked by the Santiagos after he took a video of Claudine berating airport staff.
At the time, Roxas told reporters why there were no CCTV cameras: an unfinished deal with the Takenaka Corporation to upgrade the systems of the airport terminal.
Roxas said the CCTVs would be in place in 2013.
But according to an October 31 report on the NAIA-3 upgrades, work on the upgrades was to start only in November this year.
The upgrades were expected to be completed by July 2014.

Story 4: REHAB CZAR PUSHES FOR DISASTER AGENCY
Rehabilitation Secretary Ping Lacson pushes for a stand-alone disaster agency to help him run the P360.9-billion rehabilitation program after Super Typhoon Yolanda — known internationally as Haiyan.
Lacson says the agency would provide a — quote — “permanent department to address disasters, to address calamities, to address rehabilitation.”
Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Grace Poe both pushed for a new disaster department, with Cayetano filing a bill to create a stand-alone disaster agency.
Lacson plans to pattern the stand-alone disaster agency after Indonesia.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Indonesian Senior Minister Kuntoro Mangku-subroto led the rebuilding of Aceh.
Lacson says Kuntoro had “near-absolute authority,” handling all funds and donations and having the power to hire and fire employees.

Story 5: ROMUALDEZ TO PNOY, MAR ON CHRISTMAS: LET’S RECONCILE
The mayor of Tacloban makes the first move to reconcile with the President and his Interior secretary.
The three had a word war over who was to blame for the dismally slow response in the aftermath of Yolanda.
Voltaire Tupaz reports.

MAR ROXAS, DILG SECRETARY: You have to understand you are a Romualdez, the president is an Aquino.

President Benigno Aquino sides with Secretary Roxas.
He accuses Mayor Alfred Romualdez of spending more time talking to the media than managing the tragedy in Tacloban.
The Romualdez family is the longtime political rival of the Aquinos, an enmity that goes back 30 years.
But in the spirit of Christmas, Romualdez wants to end their bitter word war over the alleged mishandling of the Yolanda tragedy.

ALFRED ROMUALDEZ, TACLOBAN CITY MAYOR: Tayo lang ang nagpapakita ng parang family feud sa buong mundo. Nakakahiya na. (It’s only us who are displaying our family feud. It’s a shame.) I move for honest and sincere reconciliation to everybody, but because what we do, the decisions we make, involve the lives of other people, we have to be careful.

More than a month after the devastating typhoon, victims are looking for more permanent solutions.

AMELIA ALCAIN, TYPHOON VICTIM: We already have a tent. What we need now is a permanent shelter. Our condition now is not safe.

By January 2014, Romualdez will present a plan to rehabilitation czar Ping Lacson… to whom he gives the benefit of the doubt.

ALFRED ROMUALDEZ, TACLOBAN CITY MAYOR: I think he’s a logical person and he thinks rationally and he will see that the ones performing and the ones doing the study are not just the local government.

Just the same, Romualdez is optimistic that the national government will still help Tacloban despite what has been said, no matter how insulting.

VOLTAIRE TUPAZ, REPORTING: For Yolanda victims in Tacloban, the feud between Mayor Romualdez on one side and Secretary Roxas and the President on the other is the least of their concerns. All they want for Christmas are food, shelter, and goodwill to help them recover from the disaster. Voltaire Tupaz, Rappler, Tacloban.

Story 6: DE LIMA FORMS TASK FORCE TO PROBE ENRILE
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima grants the request of Senator Miriam Santiago to investigate Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile for alleged involvement in smuggling, gambling and illegal logging.
De Lima forms a 7-member task force to investigate Enrile following Santiago’s privilege speech at the Senate last December 4.
In her speech, Santiago accused Enrile of the following crimes: Illegal importation of vehicles and illegal gambling through the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport; illegal logging through San Jose Lumber; and submission of falsified Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, among others.
De Lima orders the task force to recommend possible legal action.
Santiago delivered the speech in response to the personal attacks Enrile raised in a speech on November 27.
Enrile was retaliating for Santiago’s allegation that he is the mastermind of the multi-billion pork barrel scam.
Enrile and 37 others face plunder complaints over the scam, where he allegedly channeled his pork barrel to fake NGOs.

Story 7: AQUINO SIGNS P2.265-T 2014 BUDGET
President Benigno Aquino signs into law the P2.265-trillion national budget for 2014.
The biggest allocations go to education, infrastructure, and local governments.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad says these allocations are –quote– “strategic investments in the development of our human capital and our economic services.”
The 2014 budget also includes a P100-billion lump sum rehabilitation fund for calamity-hit areas.
Of this amount, P80 billion will be allocated for the government’s rehabilitation plans.
The remaining P20 billion will be divided among various local government units and agencies.
2014 will also be the first time in decades the budget will not include the pork barrel, which the Supreme Court earlier struck down as unconstitutional.
Malacanang earlier proposed a P2.268-trillion budget, but the Senate deleted the P3.2-billion PDAF of 15 senators and Vice President Jejomar Binay’s.

Story 8: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 1, The phone hacking trials in Britain reveal voicemails left for Kate Middleton by her then boyfriend Prince William were hacked by top UK newspaper News of the World.
In one message, William uses the pet name ‘babykins’ and tells Kate he had almost been shot with blanks while he was undergoing officer training in 2006.
When the story was reported in News of the World, the paper said the prince had been shot with blanks, even though this did not actually happen.
The paper’s former editors have been charged with conspiracy to illegally intercept voicemails. They all deny the accusations.

At number 2, US envoy to the United Nations Samantha Power goes to the Central African Republic to call for an end to the violence that killed hundreds and forced about 400,000 people to leave their homes.
Central Africa spiralled into chaos after a rebel group overthrew President Francois Bozize in March.
Power says the people are in –quote– “profound danger.”
The United States pledges about $100 million in peacekeeping efforts.

And at number 10, A billion-pixel camera aims to map the galaxy in greater detail than ever before.
Built by Astrium for the European Space Agency, the camera — attached to the Gaia telescope — is so sensitive that it can detect the width of human hair from 1,000 km away.
Scientists hope to learn more about the origin of the universe through the camera’s three-dimensional picture of the Milky Way.
The camera will be used to build the first accurate charts of the galaxy.

– 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
	Jom Tolentino
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN	Charlie Salazar
	Adrian Portugal
	Francis Lopez
	Naoki Mengua
GRAPHICS	Jessica Lazaro
	Matthew Hebrona
3D GRAPHICS	Sten Bautista