Rappler Newscast | July 29, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• A tearful Janet Napoles moves to a regular jail.
• Pope Francis to visit victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
• Black boxes reveal shrapnel from a rocket explosion caused MH17’s crash.

‘TEARFUL’ NAPOLES LEAVES LAGUNA JAIL

The woman at the center of the largest corruption scandal moves to a regular jail from her Laguna detention center Monday.
Janet Napoles reportedly cried as she said goodbye to doctors, nurses and guards at Fort Sto Domingo.
Lawyer Bruce Rivera tells Rappler Napoles became friends with some of the Fort’s personnel.
Napoles has been detained in Fort Sto Domingo since September 2013 for kidnapping charges.
Early last week the Sandiganbayan ordered Napoles’ transfer from the Laguna camp to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.
From being “shocked” and “saddened” over the court’s decision, Rivera says Napoles is now “okay” with her transfer.
Napoles faces plunder and graft charges for pocketing millions of pesos through bogus non-governmental organizations.
Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla, and several former government officials are her co-accused.

CRAME OR TAGUIG? COURT HAS SAY ON SENATORS’ DETENTION

Allies of senators Revilla, Estrada, and Enrile push for the detention of the 3 at Camp Crame but Senate President Franklin Drilon points out only the court has the final say.
Senators Tito Sotto and Gregorio Honasan argue Revilla, Estrada, and Enrile should remain in Camp Crame so they may
“continue to function as duly elected representatives of the people.”
Sotto and Honasan argue the three are presumed innocent until convicted by the court.
The senators were reacting to a motion by Ombudsman prosecutors asking the graft court…
to transfer Estrada, Revilla and Revilla’s staff Richard Cambe to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig.
Prosecutors say keeping the senators in Camp Crame can be considered special treatment.
Drilon tells Rappler the Senate has no discretion over the issue.

POPE SETS PHILIPPINE TRIP JANUARY 15-19

Pope Francis will come to the Philippines from January 15 to 19 next year to visit earthquake and typhoon survivors in the Visayas.
Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle on Tuesday says other details will be made available “later in the year.”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines or CBCP earlier confirmed the Pope’s “main objective” is to visit the Visayas.
Francis’ visit comes a year after a magnitude-7.2 earthquake shook Central Visayas…
and Super Typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda killed more than 6,000 people, mostly in Eastern Visayas.

AQUINO ASKS FOR UNDERSTANDING OVER BANGSAMORO LAW DELAY

It’s been a year since President Benigno Aquino asked Congress to pass the law creating a new autonomous government in Mindanao by the end of 2014.
With only 5 months left until the deadline, Aquino appeals to Congress to understand the delay in the drafting of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal earlier accused Malacanang of “heavily diluting” the proposed law.
After Aquino’s State of the Nation Address or SONA…
Iqbal says “It is not a perfect statement but it is still part of his focus.”
Before July 28, peace panels from both sides met to find a middle-ground.
Despite the problems, Aquino says he will not break the trust that enabled the peace process to move forward.
Local government committee chair Senator Bongbong Marcos says he expects the Bangsamoro bill to be submitted to Congress by April.
With the delay, Marcos says Congress might need to move the target to early 2015.
Peace committee chair Senator TG Guingona is optimistic the 2014 deadline can still be met.

SULU AMBUSH DEATH TOLL

As Muslims all over the world observe Eid al-Fitr Monday, 50 Abu Sayyaf members attacked a convoy of 40 civilians and 10 militia members in Sulu.
Armed Forces spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala says the death toll reaches 23 Tuesday.
Zagala says the motive for the attack is still unknown but it is assumed members of the barangay peacekeeping team were the target.
The militia unit, part of the Barangay Peacekeeping Action Team, works with government security forces to maintain peace.
Zagala says the ambush may be a retaliatory move.
He adds children and the elderly are among the dead.
The spokesperson admits security in Sulu remains a challenge despite the military’s presence.
A series of clashes between the Abu Sayyaf and government troops has taken place in Sulu.
Last May, at least 11 were killed in an encounter between the Abu Sayyaf and the Marines.
In April, 14 members of the Abu Sayyaf were killed in an encounter with the military.

BRILLANTES: LET’S POSTPONE SK POLLS TO OCTOBER 2016

Commission on Elections Chair Sixto Brillantes says he’d rather postpone the Sangguniang Kabataan or SK elections to October 2016.
Brillantes says the Comelec has a lot on its hands already “in high gear” preparing for the 2016 presidential elections.
The National Youth Commission disagrees, saying the absence of SK officials in government since November 2013 is already a “disservice” to the youth.
The scheduled elections last October 2013 was suspended for a year to give way to the passage of SK reform legislation.
He adds, the SK polls would cost around P2 billion, and proposes to “temporarily do away” with the SK for one full 3-year term.
The Youth Commission says Brillantes’ proposal is “out of the question,” and youth participation in government “should never be viewed as a disruption.”

AFTER YOLANDA: STATE OF BARANGAY 88

On August 1, the office of rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson will finally submit a 169-billion-peso comprehensive rehabilitation plan for all Haiyan-affected areas.
Voltaire Tupaz reports, residents of a community in Tacloban feel abandoned despite the deluge of international assistance and funding.

BENIGNO AQUINO, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: To our friends and neighbors around the world: Your outpouring of solidarity will never be forgotten by a grateful Filipino people. Thank you.

When President Benigno Aquino III thanked the world in his State of the Nation address for helping Filipinos after Haiyan, Congress and dignitaries erupted into applause.
To date, the government has received nearly 15 billion pesos in foreign aid and more than 34 billion pesos in pledges.

In Barangay 88, the hardest hit village in Tacloban, people are as grateful, but they feel forgotten.
They ask: Where did the billions go?

EMIE MONTALBAN, BARANGAY 88 CAPTAIN: Kasi alam naman nila yung naririnig nila sa news na merong billions of money na nakalaan para sa recovery ng tacloban. Pero hinid nila maramdaman. Ang sabi nila, sana kahit maliit na halaga ibigay sa kanila.

(The people hear in the news that billions were donated, but they didn’t feel it. They say, they hope to receive even a small amount.

Crashing waves from both sides of the village claimed at least a thousand lives and destroyed more than 1600 houses.

Almost 9 months after Haiyan, at least 370 families still live in tents,
350 in bunk houses, and more than 800 in makeshift houses.
The wounds of Haiyan are still fresh for Barangay 88.
Now, they’re demanding their fair share.

EMIE MONTALBAN, BARANGAY 88 CAPTAIN: Sa aming minamahal na presidente, kayo ay ibinoto namin dahil naniniwala kami, na kayo ay magaling at mabait na presidente . Sana huwag haluan ng pulitika kasi mga tao din kami. Ibigay na kung anu ang dapat para sa nasalanta ng bagyo, para yung mga tao naman hindi magkaroon ng hinanakit sa inyo.

(To our dear president, we voted for you because we believe you are a good president. Set aside politics. We are human beings, too. Today, give the affected people their due so that they will not harbor ill-feelings towards you.)

Some local officials say bureaucracy and political rivalry get in the way of recovery.

JERRY YAOKASIN, TACLOBAN VICE MAYOR: Kaya nga minsan there’s a deadlock kase gusto ng LGU kami na lang ang bahala, but at the same time the national government – they also have to be accountable to foreign donors, they cannot…If you have the national government (and) the local government working together hand-in-hand, mabilis ang proseso. But then there’s a sense of mistrust.

(That’s why there’s a deadlock, because the LGU wants to take care of the implementation, but at the same time the national government – they also have to be accountable to foreign donors – they cannot just release…if you have the national government (and) the local government working together hand-in-hand, this will hasten the process.)

In his SONA, President Aquino announces the approval of the local recovery plans that identify needs to be funded including shelter, infrastructure, and livelihood.

BENIGNO AQUINO, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: Ngayong Hulyo, isinumite na sa atin, at nilagdaan na rin natin, ang LGU Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan para sa Cebu, Iloilo, Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, at Tacloban City.

(In July, the LGU rehabilitation and recovery plan for Cebu, Iloilo, Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, and Tacloban City was submitted, and I approved it.)

VOLTAIRE TUPAZ, REPORTING: Barangay 88 is a reminder of how a village was forgotten by the government after it was almost wiped out by Yolanda. People here hope that President Aquino will remember them not only in his speech but also in his deeds.

Voltaire Tupaz, Rappler, Tacloban.

MALAYSIA AIR QUALITY ‘UNHEALTHY’ AS HAZE OBSCURES SKIES

Air quality around Kuala Lumpur and on Borneo island reaches unhealthy levels Tuesday as haze from forest fires in Indonesia engulfs the Malaysian capital.
Kuala Lumpur residents wear face masks as protection from the choking smog as they brave the low visibility.
Haze is an annual problem in Malaysia and Singapore.
The fires are pinned on Indonesian palm oil firms illegally burning
vast tracts of rainforests.
Last month Indonesian authorities warned Malaysia and Singapore
that they could be hit by haze again after a huge jump in forest fires in Indonesia’s Sumatra island which was at the center of last year’s air pollution crisis.

MH17 BLACK BOXES SHOW CRASH CAUSED BY ROCKET SHRAPNEL: KIEV

Black boxes recovered from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 show shrapnel from a rocket explosion caused the passenger jet to crash.
Data from the black boxes was decrypted in Britain after pro-Russian rebels handed them over to Malaysian officials.
Investigators leading the probe in the Netherlands refuses to confirm the latest information from Ukraine.
They say they’re “waiting to get a more complete idea of what happened.”
Kiev and its Western allies accused insurgents of shooting down the plane, killing all 298 people on board.

GAZA’S SOLE POWER PLANT DOWN AFTER ISRAEL ATTACK

Israeli shelling knock down the only power plant supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian energy executive Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil on Tuesday says the shelling damaged the steam generator and later hit the fuel tanks which set the plant on fire.
He adds, 5 out of 10 of the Israeli electricity lines into the Gaza Strip were also damaged…
and maintenance still cannot reach the affected areas.
Besides the power plant, Gaza also purchases electricity from Israel, but many of the supply lines have been badly damaged by the recent fighting.
The damage of the power plant adds to the heavy damage to civilian infrastructure in Gaza for the past 22 days.
Both sides have been trying to stamp out militant rocket fire and destroy attack tunnels.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

MUSLIMS OBSERVE GLOOMY EID
Muslims in Asia mark the end of Ramadan… but instead of the usual festivities, most commemorations held a sombre note.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai highlights the situation in Gaza.
He says “Hundreds of people are being killed every day in Islamic countries.”
Even in Muslim-dominated Malaysia, festivities are muted as the country continues to grieve over the crash of two Malaysia Airlines planes.
MH17 crashed over eastern Ukraine… while MH370 mysteriously disappeared in March.
In the Philippines, the Bangsamoro Transition Commission urges the public…
to observe Eid al-Fitr with “happy thoughts and without burden or grudges” in their hearts.

LIBERIA SEALS BORDERS IN FACE OF EBOLA THREAT
after the spread of the deadly Ebola virus to two of West Africa’s biggest cities Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf closes its borders.
The virus leaves at least 670 dead across the region since the start of 2014 and infected 1,200 more.
Ebola victims suffer from severe fever and muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea and even organ failure and non-stop bleeding.
The Liberian government says it will set up preventive and testing centers at the airports and crossings exempted from closures.

NASA ROVER BREAKS DISTANCE RECORD
The Opportunity rover clocks more miles on Mars than any man-made vehicle to reach another celestial body.
The solar-powered robot goes 40 kilometers on Martian terrain since arriving on the Red Planet in 2005.
Opportunity is exploring the Endeavor Crater on Mars.
Previously, the Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 2 rover held the distance record after it landed on the Moon in 1973.

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

SPANISH COURT PRESSES AHEAD WITH MESSI TAX FRAUD CASE

A Spanish court on Monday rejects public prosecutors’ request to drop charges of tax fraud against four-time world footballer of the year Lionel Messi.
The Barcelona forward and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, were accused in 2013 of not paying 4.16 million euros or $5.58 million in tax on earnings from the player’s image rights from 2007-2009.
Both Messi and his father denied wrongdoing and pointed the finger instead at a former agent of the player.
Public prosecutors called for the case to be shelved based on the Messis’ testimony.
but the court ruled Messi “could have known and consented” to the tax fraud and the prosecution of the case should go ahead.

– 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
	Marga Deona
MASTER EDITOR / PLAYBACK	Exxon Ruebe
	Emerald Hidalgo
	Jaene Zaplan
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR / CAMERAMAN	Charlie Salazar
	Adrian Portugal
	Francis Lopez
	Naoki Mengua
GRAPHICS	Jessica Lazaro
	Raffy de Guzman