Rappler Newscast | September 10, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• Senator Miriam Santiago reveals her choices for running mates in 2016.
• President Benigno Aquino turns over the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress for approval.
• Apple releases bigger iPhones and a wearable digital watch.

MIRIAM WALKS OUT OF COMMISSION ON APPOINTMENTS HEARING
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago walks out of a Commission on Appointments or CA hearing for the appointment of ambassadors and foreign service officers.
Santiago, who chairs the committee, adjourns the hearing after a heated debate with fellow CA member Congressman Rodolfo Fariñas over a quorum.
Fariñas says he could not recommend any of the nominees but Santiago insists she’s been carrying out the same procedure and was never questioned before.
Fariñas says a majority of the 18 committee members should be present.
Santiago says the CA rules describe the quorum at a public hearing as “the presence of the chair; or vice-chair; or at least three members.”
She adds, as the chair, her presence is enough to declare a quorum.

MIRIAM EYES POE, DUTERTE OR GIBO AS VP IN 2016
Shortly after she walked out, Senator Miriam Santiago talks to the media about the future.
She says she expects to fully recover from lung cancer and is considering 3 options — running for president, joining the international advisory council of an NGO, or write a book.
She says reports on the pork barrel scam, the Disbursement Acceleration Program, and the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building convinced her to run for president in 2016.
Santiago eyes Senator Grace Poe, Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, and former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro as her running mates.
She says Duterte in particular would make an “excellent VP for enforcement.”
She adds “Maybe we can have two women running together, president and vice president… Maybe it’s Miriam and Grace. It sounds like a restaurant, right?
Santiago will make her final decision in December, saying it depends on her doctors.
She says 80% of her cancer tumor has disappeared.
Santiago ran for president in 1992 but lost to Fidel Ramos.

AQUINO SUBMITS DRAFT BANGSAMORO LAW TO CONGRESS
President Benigno Aquino submits the proposed law creating a new autonomous government in Mindanao to Congress Wednesday.
In a ceremony, Aquino personally hands over the Bangsamoro basic law draft to Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Sonny Belmonte.
The Bangsamoro bill provides a legal framework for the final peace accord signed by the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF in March.
The bill comes after 17 years of negotiations and seeks to end 4 decades of conflict in Mindanao.
Chief MILF negotiator Mohagher Iqbal says he is confident the creation of a new autonomous government would be enough to curtail radicalization in Mindanao.
The crafting of the law marks the next stage of the peace process, opening discussions to public scrutiny.
The House formed an ad hoc committee to fast-track deliberations on the bill.
Belmonte and Drilon aim for the passage of the bill by March 2015.

CANADIAN PREACHER LINKED TO TERRORISTS FOUND IN DAVAO
A Canadian Islamic preacher linked to international terrorists is detained in Davao City awaiting deportation.
Police invited Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips for questioning on Sunday following a security advisory against him.
He is at the regional police headquarters in Davao while his deportation is being processed.
Police say Philips is a security threat and is banned from 6 countries including the US and Australia for alleged links to radical organizations.
It’s not clear when Philips first entered the Philippines, but he was supposed to give a lecture in Zamboanga City on September 5 and 6.
Intelligence documents obtained by Rappler say he is closely identified with Mohammed Jamal Khalifa, brother-in-law of late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Philips reportedly visited Cotabato City and planned to build an Islamic center in Maguindanao when Khalifa was in the Philippines.
While Philips has long denied any terrorist connections, he was secretly indicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and deported from the United States in 1994.
On his Facebook page, which has close to 2 million followers, Philips is described a former Christian who converted to Islam in 1972.
His Facebook page also claims he taught at the Islamic Studies department of Shariff Kabunsuan Islamic University in Cotabato City.

NAVY SPOTS ‘LIGHTHOUSES’ IN WEST PH SEA
The Philippine Navy confirms it is monitoring structures resembling lighthouses in the West Philippine or South China Sea.
On Tuesday navy chief Vice Admiral Jesus Millan said the structures were seen in the Kennan or Hughes and Mabini or Johnson reefs.
The Philippines previously filed protests against China’s earlier reclamation activities in both reefs.
The Philippine military also earlier expressed concerns that China is building a military base on Mabini reef.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin says the dispute with China over the South China Sea is the Philippines’ biggest security concern.

COFFEE AND EDUCATION MIX AT THE LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY
Something’s brewing in a province south of Metro Manila: coffee makes its way into basic education.
How is this possible?
Pia Ranada reports.

The smell of roasting coffee beans fills the coffee lab…
of Café de Lipa in Batangas.
It’s just another day for 20-year-old Vladimir
who now works for the coffee shop.
He is one of the first graduates of the Lipa Coffee Academy.

VLADIMIR EOLA, GRADUATE, LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY: Simula sa  buto hanggang sa pagprocess hanggng sa pagtitimpla ng kape .(00:56) Alam ko yung katangian ng kape, anong tamang timpla, kung anong characteristic ng kape ang gagawin ko halimbawa, sa latte, kung anong gagamitin.

(From the seed until processing until blending. I know the characteristics of coffee, the right blend, what kind of coffee to make, for example, latte and what to use.

He can tell the difference between varieties of coffee in the Philippines… but one is close to his heart.

VLADIMIR EOLA, GRADUATE, LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY: Yung popular dito sa Batangas yung barako. Makikita niyo sa itsura pa lang, pinaka malaking beans sa lahat. Tapos, sa lasa naman po, pinaka matapang, tapos more on aroma, mabango.

(What’s popular in Batangas is barako. It has the biggest beans of all. And it has a strong taste and has a nice aroma.)

The Coffee Academy is part of the pilot K to 12 program of the Pinagtong-ulan National Hight School in Lipa.
It is offered to Grade 11 and 12 students.
The first Barako coffee tree was planted by a Franciscan Friar in the 1700s…
in this village.
But an infestation of coffee rust crippled Lipa’s growing barako coffee industry.

NANCY NOVENO, SCHOOL COORDINATOR, LIPA COFFEE ACADEMY:  Dito tinanim yung unang puno ng kape so ibig sabihin dito rin dapat matayo yung unang-unang Lipa Coffee Academy.
So now, kailangan natin i-revive and bring back the lost glory of kape which is kapeng barako.

(This is where the first coffee tree was planted which means this is also where the first Coffee Academy should be established. Now, we have to revive and bring back the lost glory of barako coffee.)

During the first semester, the students learn basic food and beverage servicing skills
such as waitressing.
For the second semester, they will be off to the nearby coffee plantation
where students learn how to take care of coffee trees
and harvest beans.
Café de Lipa owner Joe Mercado loves to share his passion for
coffee farming to the students at his farm.

JOE MERCADO, COFFEE FARMER AND OWNER, CAFÉ DE LIPA: Pag tinanong ako ng what is your occupation, ako farmer and then tsaka yung businessman kasi I’m proud to be a farmer kasi diyan ako nagka pera eh. Ine-encourage ko yung mga bata na pumunta sa farming.

(When people ask me what my occupation is I would say I’m a farmer and then a businessman because I’m proud to be a farmer and that’s where I earned money. I encourage the youth to take up farming.)

For these students– mostly children of farmers.. it’s a way to upgrade their livelihood.

JESSA ATINADO, GRADE 11 STUDENT, PINAGTONG-ULAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL: Para po magkakaroon na po kami ng yun pong, magkakaroon po kami ng gawaan ng kape. Ganoon lang po kasi ang gusto ko, magkaroon po kami ng negosyo na about sa coffee. Kaya po gusto ko po dito grumaduate.

(So we can have our own coffee-making business. That’s all I want, for us to have a business in coffee. That’s why I want to graduate from here.)

Back in Café de Lipa,
the Coffee Academy graduates whip up their barista skills
Earning a living from Lipa coffee
and promoting it to anyone who walks in.
Pia Ranada, Rappler, Lipa.

TALKS TO FREE FIJIAN PEACEKEEPERS ‘PROGRESSIVE’
The Fijian government on Wednesday says efforts to release 45 Fijian peacekeepers captured by Syrian Al-Nusra Front rebels on August 27 continue.
The Fijian government’s team in New York is actively working on the safe release of the troops.
Prior to this, Fiji’s information ministry posted on its Facebook page “Fijian troops will soon be released…”
but government spokesman Dan Gavidi says “Someone has misinterpreted.”
The hostaged Fijians are part of the UN Disengagement Observer Force or UNDOF.
It was established in 1974 to maintain the ceasefire between Syria and Israel forces in the Golan and oversee the implementation of a disengagement agreement.
The peacekeepers were captured as Syrian troops and Islamist rebels battled close to the armistice line with Israel in the Golan Heights.
A group of 75 Filipino peacekeepers were also attacked by the Islamist fighters, but avoided capture.

AN INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND: ISSUES AT STAKE
Scotland prepares for a referendum for independence on September 18.
What are the issues confronting the 300-year old union? Here’s a quick look.
First, oil and gas. 85% of known reserves in the area are in what would be Scottish waters but the British government is expected to assert control.
Second, sharing debt and currency. A key economic question will be how to share out Britain’s £1.4 trillion or $2.3 trillion debt.
Will Scotland continue to use the pound?
Third, a constitution.
The Scottish government also said it wants a convention bringing together businesses, civil society and trade unions to come up with a written constitution that includes a ban on nuclear weapons.
Fourth, borders.
The issue is complex as Scotland’s plan to ease immigration rules might trigger the rest of Britain to set up barriers and checks.
Fifth, keeping the monarchy.
The SNP says it wants the new Scotland to be a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its sovereign – much like Australia, Canada, and the rest of Commonwealth nations.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

‘ALARM BELLS’ AS GREENHOUSE GASES HIT NEW HIGH – UN
The United Nations on Tuesday warned of surging carbon dioxide levels boosting greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to a new high.
In its annual report the UN’s World Meteorological Organization or WMO said concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide all broke records in 2013.
WMO head Michel Jarraud said “An alarm bell is ringing.”

HOW TO IDENTIFY SUICIDAL TENDENCIES IN YOUR LOVED ONES
As countries all over the globe observe World Suicide Prevention Day Wednesday psychiatrists stress the need to dispel myths about suicide and use media to help those vulnerable.
The World Health Organization says over 800,000 people die by suicide each year around the world.
Psychiatrist Rhea Concepcion cautions against simplifying the underlying causes of suicide and adds there are many factors that lead to a decision to take one’s own life.

U2 RELEASES NEW ALBUM OVER ITUNES FOR FREE
Rock legend U2 surprises Apple fans and music lovers worldwide after releasing latest album “Songs of Innocence”
for free during Apple’s launch event Tuesday in San Francisco or early Wednesday Manila time.
Apple says it sent out the album to almost half a billion iTunes customers around the world at no cost.
Apple CEO Tim Cook describes the move as “the largest album release of all time.”

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

APPLE UNVEILS IPHONE 6, IPHONE 6 PLUS, AND APPLE WATCH
More on the Apple event…
the tech giant announces 2 new models of its popular iPhone line of smartphones… and a wearable digital watch.
The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are bigger and thinner than the current iPhone 5S models and have several feature upgrades…
including the use of curved sapphire crystal, longer battery life, and the new iOS8 software.
The keynote also introduces the Apple Watch, a comprehensive
health and lifestyle device that integrates with the iPhone.
Apple CEO Tim Cook claims the Apple Watch is “the most personal device we have ever created.”
The Apple Watch will be available in early 2015. – 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