Rappler Newscast | February 11, 2014

Story 1: PH FAILS TO GET US AVIATION UPGRADE

Philippine aviation is stuck at Category 2.
It fails to get a much-coveted upgrade from the US Federal Aviation Administration or FAA, which still found the country “unsafe” in a recent audit.
This means the Philippines is still banned from opening new routes to the US.
In January, an FAA team reviewed the compliance of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines or CAAP with international safety standards.
Sources say CAAP failed to pass in 4 of “8 critical elements” the FAA is monitoring for “safety oversight” compliance.
In 2008, the FAA downgraded CAAP’s safety rating upon the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO.
At the time, ICAO found “significant concerns” over CAAP’s ability to meet international safety standards.
CAAP has been working on getting the upgrade for 7 years now.
Deputy Director-General John Andrews earlier said he was confident the regulator would get the upgrade, saying he would resign if it did not happen.
Last year, ICAO gave the Philippines a passing mark…
and the European Union allowed Philippine Airlines to fly to the 28-nation bloc.
Andrews said, “If it does not happen, the buck stops at me. If this does not happen… I will no longer be here. That is my commitment.”

Story 2: NBI: CHARGE AKLAN REP, 4 OTHERS OVER FAKE SAROs

The National Bureau of Investigation or NBI recommends the filing of charges against Aklan Representative Teodorico Haresco Jr and 4 others for falsifying fund release orders from the budget department.
The NBI is investigating the alleged release of fake special allotment release orders or SAROs for P879 million worth of farm-to-market roads in Region II or Cagayan Valley.
The SAROs had signatures of agriculture officials later found to be fake.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima previously said the case involves a possible inside job at the Department of Budget and Management or DBM.
She says some DBM employees “hinted the involvement of some other employees and a high-ranking official in SARO peddling.”
In a press conference, Haresco asks why he is the only one being implicated out of the 32 representatives allegedly involved.
He also says his office had no capability to produce fake documents.

Story 3: JINGGOY: LUY, TUASON COOKING UP FIGURES

Sen Jinggoy Estrada says pork barrel conduit Ruby Tuason met with whistleblower Benhur Luy to “orchestrate” the testimony against him.
Estrada refers to the meeting between Tuason and Luy at the National Bureau of Investigation or NBI Monday.
The senator says Tuason never had a record of the alleged transactions in the scam where lawmakers allegedly siphoned their pork barrel to fake NGOs in exchange for kickbacks.
In her affidavit, Tuason did not present a record of the alleged kickbacks she delivered to Estrada and Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile.
But an Inquirer report on Tuesday s Tuason as saying the commission she handed Estrada was P35 million.
Luy’s ledger recorded a kickback of P9 million.
Estrada says it was clear Tuason, Luy and the NBI were fabricating the figures to make sure their testimonies jibe.

Story 4: ERC IN HOT SEAT AT SC ORALS

The spotlight is on the Energy Regulatory Commission or ERC Tuesday during oral arguments before the Supreme Court.
The commission defends its rule allowing the automatic pass-on of generation charges to consumers and denies it abused its powers when it approved the controversial rate hike of power distributor Manila Electric Company or Meralco.
Lawyer Francis Saturnino Juan says the Automatic Generation Rate Adjustment or AGRA rule encourages the inflow of capital.
He adds, “Without this assurance, no investor will invest.”
But Justice Marvic Leonen says the ERC should have exercised its regulatory functions when it approved Meralco’s proposed increase.
Meralco attributes its rate hike to the more expensive power it had to buy from the spot market.
But petitioner Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares accused Meralco of helping jack up prices in the spot market through power generation company Therma Mobile.
Meralco and Therma Mobile have a power supply agreement or PSA allowing Meralco to buy 100 megawatts of power at P8.65 kilowatts-per-hour.
Petitioners say the PSAs have not been disclosed to consumers giving rise to suspicion of collusion between suppliers and distributors.

Story 5: UST SCHOOL OPENING IN JULY

The University of Santo Tomas will move the opening of classes to July beginning next school year.
Student publication The Varsitarian says the shift will apply only to undergraduate and graduate programs.
The change is in preparation for the ASEAN regional integration in 2015.
The announcement comes 5 days after two universities also announced a shift in their academic calendars – the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines system.

Story 6: CHINA AND TAIWAN HOLD TALKS AFTER 65 YEARS

Taiwan and China are back on speaking terms after 65 long years.
On Tuesday, representatives from both countries hold their first government-to-government talks since the civil war in 1949 that caused China and Taiwan to split into two independent states.
Taiwan’s Wang Yu-chi meets his Beijing counterpart Zhang Zhijun at former Chinese capital Nanjing.
No official agenda has been released for the talks.
Wang says he would not sign any agreements, but adds the main purpose of his visit is to “help facilitate mutual understanding.”
He says “The visit does not come easy, it is the result of interactions between the two sides for many years.”
Tuesday’s meeting comes after years of efforts to improve relations, with both sides taking cautious steps towards economic reconciliation in recent years.
The meeting is also a gauge to see if talks are possible between Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou and China’s Xi Jinping.
Analysts say chances of that happening any time soon are slim.
Professor Jia Qingguo from Peking University says, “The potential of this relationship has not been fully tapped by both sides. It will take time for the two sides to get really integrated.”
In June 2010, Taiwan and China signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, a pact seen as the boldest step yet towards reconciliation.

Story 7: THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

At number 6, Britain’s Environment Agency issues 14 severe flood warnings after the River Thames burst its banks.
Officials evacuate residents living along the river as water levels continue to rise.
The floods are expected to worsen over the next 24 hours, leaving thousands more at risk.
Several Thames river gauges are exhibiting the highest levels since being installed in the 1980s and 90s.
The government’s response draws criticism and is now a full-blown political row, with many blaming the floods on the Environment Agency.
Communities minister Eric Pickles says the government
“perhaps relied too much on the Environment Agency’s advice” on flood prevention.
But the agency’s head Chris Smith hits back, accusing ministers of holding back funds.
Despite the criticism, UK Prime Minister David Cameron says it’s not the time to change personnel.

At number 8, Australian astronomers say they found a star 13.6 billion years old, making it the most ancient star ever seen.
Scientists believe the star was formed just a couple of hundred million years after the Big Bang.
One way of determining the age of a star is iron content: the lower its iron content, the older it is.
Stefan Keller of the Australian National University says the amount of iron present in the star is less than one millionth that of the Sun.

And at number 9, staff at a Danish zoo receive death threats after the euthanasia of a healthy giraffe.
The Copenhagen Zoo says it killed the giraffe named Marius to avoid inbreeding and to make room for more genetically valuable specimens.
A veterinarian shot Marius as he leaned down to munch on rye bread.
After an autopsy, the giraffe was cut up in front of an audience that included children and fed to the zoo’s lions, tigers and leopards.
Many people expressed revulsion on the zoo’s Facebook page.

For the full top 10 visit Rappler.com’s ‘the wRap.’