Rappler Newscast | September 24, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• From P2.5 million to P60 million, Vice President Jejomar Binay releases his net worth over the span of 25 years.
• President Benigno Aquino defends Philippine police chief Alan Purisima from corruption charges.
• India makes history as its space probe successfully reaches the planet Mars.

 

FROM P2.5 M TO P60 M: HOW VP BINAY AMASSED HIS WEALTH
Vice President Jejomar Binay insists every single peso to his name and all of his properties are accounted for.
Binay releases his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth or SALN from 1988 to 2013.
As of 2013, Binay and his wife Elenita declared a net worth of more than P60 million or $1.4 million.
This is a huge leap from their declared net worth of more than P2.5 million or almost $57,000 when Binay became mayor of Makati in 1988.
The Binays have 11 real properties amounting to P13.9 million or more than $312,000 to their name:
a house and lot in San Antonio Village, Makati worth around P7.1 million or almost $160,000 and 9 other residential lots and agricultural land.
Based on the documents, Binay’s income grew via private businesses outside of his government salary.
Binay’s cash cow was “JCB Farms,” a piggery business in Batangas, bringing in P44.4 million from 1994 to 2010.
Binay’s wife Elenita also ran a flower shop business sourcing its products from a flower farm in the same area.
Binay’s legal counsel Martin Subido says as of 2014, Binay’s only source of income is his salary and his wife’s Blooms and Bouquet flower business.
After winning the vice presidency in 2010, Binay divested from his piggery business.
That same year, Binay reported more than P13.5 million in excess campaign contributions, increasing his net worth from P44.8 million in 2009 to P58 million by the end of 2010.
Binay’s critics accuse him of getting a 13% kickback for every city project.
Public funds were also supposedly used to finance their campaigns during the 2010 elections.
Binay’s spokesperson Jonvic Remulla says they have yet to clarify if excess campaign donations are considered taxable income.
Remulla says Binay is willing to submit to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

JONVIC REMULLA, BINAY SPOKESPERSON: The children should answer that but they are very very ready, handa rin sila, as required by law, in compliance naman silang lahat, and there should be another time that they will answer it, but this is in response to the Vice President answering a question na nagsabing “are you ready for a lifestyle check?”
Sabi niya, “anytime, nauna lang kami.” (He says “anytime, we just came first.”)

Remulla says Binay’s SALNs and income tax returns were released to the public in the spirit of “leadership by example.”

JONVIC REMULLA, BINAY SPOKESPERSON: Confident siya and willing to be scrutinized sa bagay na yan. (He’s confident and willing to be scrutinized about his wealth.)

BINAY TURNS UNA INTO POLITICAL PARTY FOR 2016
Vice President Jejomar Binay announces Wednesday the United Nationalist Alliance or UNA coalition will turn into a political party for his 2016 presidential bid.
UNA is an alliance between the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino of former President Joseph Estrada and Binay’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan or PDP-Laban.
Binay also expects to expand UNA to include members of the Nacionalista Party and the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Binay’s spokesman Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla is from NP while another ally Valenzuela Representative Sherwin Gatchalian is from NPC.
It was a show of force for Binay.
The announcement happens a day before the Senate holds another hearing on an allegedly overpriced Makati “parking building.”
The building is the subject of a plunder complaint against Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Junjun Binay.
Back in March Binay announced his resignation from PDP-Laban because of internal problems.
The party was co-founded by the Pimentels – Senator Aquilino Pimentel and his son, Senator Koko Pimentel – who are now at odds with the Vice President.
Interim UNA president and Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco says the coalition will register with the Commission on Elections as a formal political party.
UNA co-founder Estrada will remain with PMP.
His son Senator JV Ejercito, will also be part of UNA but was not at the organizational meeting.

GRACE POE: PNP CHIEF SHOULD GO ON LEAVE
Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday says Philippine National Police or PNP Chief Alan Purisima should go on “administrative leave” pending the investigation of graft, plunder, and indirect bribery complaints against him.
Poe says the allegations tend to drag the entire police force down, whether the charges are true or false.
But President Benigno Aquino comes to Purisima’s defense, saying he’s known Purisima for a long time and vouches for his character.
In a graft complaint filed Monday, the Coalition of Filipino Consumers or CFC says Purisima was not truthful in declaring the value of his Nueva Ecija residence at only P3.75 million or about $70,000.
The group says the house and lot costs around P30 million to P50 million.
CFC also files plunder and indirect bribery charges against Purisima for his house inside Camp Crame.
The PNP earlier said the building’s renovation, which amounted to P12 million or about $270,000 was funded with the help of Purisima’s Mason friends.

THE PHILIPPINES’ FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
Leaders from all over the world speak at the UN Climate Summit in New York.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino highlights how his administration addresses climate change, but says the country needs funds and technology to handle extreme weather.
Ayee Macaraig files this video blog.

The Philippines bears the burden of climate change.
This is the message of President Benigno Aquino III as he addresses the UN Climate Summit here in New York…
The largest gathering of world leaders on the issue.
Aquino calls on the international community to give the Philippines access to funds and technology to help it pursue clean growth and adapt to climate change.

The President does not announce any new commitments.
But highlights his administration’s efforts in disaster response and resilience.

BENIGNO AQUINO III, PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT: As early as 2008, we have passed a Renewable Energy Act and we are now treading a climate smart development pathway. We continue to take steps to maintain and even improve our low emission development strategy and the trajectory of our energy mix. We are hopeful that our fellow developing nations especially those gaining the economic wherewithal to pursue similar strategies will tread a path akin to ours.

But environmental groups criticize the President for a supposedly misleading speech.
They say instead of pursuing renewable energy, the government approved 40 coal plants in the pipeline.

US President Barack Obama also addresses the summit, acknowledging the responsibility of the world’s largest economy and second biggest greenhouse gas emitter.
But Obama says both developed and developing nations must act to ensure to a climate agreement in 2015 is ambitious, inclusive and flexible.

BARACK OBAMA, US PRESIDENT: But let me be honest. None of this is without controversy. In each of our countries, there are interests that will be resistant to action. And in each country, there is a suspicion that if we act and other countries don’t that we will be at an economic disadvantage. But we have to lead. That is what the United Nations and this General Assembly is about.

After this summit, it’s crucial to watch whether or not the commitments will be reflected in negotiations in Lima in 2014, and in the Paris agreement.
For vulnerable countries like the Philippines, climate change is not just the subject of negotiations and talks like this one, but a matter of survival.

Ayee Macaraig, Rappler, United Nations.

PHILIPPINES, CHINA URGED TO HELP EACH OTHER IN DISASTERS
An official from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN says Southeast Asian countries and China should look beyond their maritime disputes…
and help each other out in the face of disasters.
ASEAN secretariat director Danny Lee says the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea dispute “is one aspect of a multifaceted relationship” between Southeast Asian countries and China.
Lee adds sharing of information is very important.
China Radio International vice president Xia Jixuan says the Philippines and China in particular need to help each other respond to disasters.
He says -quote- “tsunamis and typhoons are common disasters for both countries.”
While both Lee and Xia call for stronger ties beyond the South China Sea dispute, cooperation on disasters is not new for the Philippines and China.
When Super Typhoon Haiyan, locally known as Yolanda, ravaged central Philippines in November 2013, China sent a floating naval facility to treat 6,000 those in hard-hit areas.
In 2004, the two countries also signed a defense cooperation agreement to “strengthen exchanges in fields of counter-terrorism, humanitarian relief, and rescue.”

IRAQ, SYRIA ANTI-ISIS CAMPAIGN TAKES CENTER STAGE AT UN
World leaders at the United Nations on Wednesday turn their attention to the US-led campaign to root out jihadists in the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS.
Branded a terrorist organization by the US and the UN, ISIS controls large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, and has beheaded two US journalists and a British aid worker.
A special UN Security Council meeting seeks to pass a resolution  among member nations making it a serious crime to join the jihad.
US President Barack Obama chairs the meeting.
About 12,000 foreign fighters traveled to Syria and Iraq from 74 countries, while the US found allies in Arab states Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan as they fight alongside the US military operation in Syria.

1.4M EBOLA CASES BY JANUARY 2015 – US
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC estimate up to 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone could become infected with Ebola by January 2015.
The estimate is based on the assumption that the figures in Ebola cases are underreported by a factor of 2.5.
But the CDC adds, the report is based on data from August and does not reflect current conditions.
The World Health Organization or WHO also releases a report Tuesday saying new cases would increase from hundreds each week to thousands without “drastic improvements in control measures.”
Infections are projected to go up to 20,000 by November.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ

BIN LADEN’S SON-IN-LAW SENTENCED TO LIFE IN US PRISON
A US court sentenced Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law and former Al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith to life in prison Tuesday for plotting to kill Americans
and supporting terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks in 2001…
when four hijacked planes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania.
Almost 3,000 people were killed in the deadliest attack on US soil.
Ghaith is the highest ranking Al-Qaeda leader ever held in a prison in the US.

BENCH APOLOGIZES FOR ‘NAKED TRUTH’ SHOW
Philippine clothing mega-brand Bench issues an apology for “offensive elements” in its ‘The Naked Truth’ fashion show last Saturday.
The apology came after a public backlash over the show’s disrespect for women.
Among other elements, the show featured actor Coco Martin walking onstage with a woman on a leash on all fours.
Bench says – quote – “it will serve as a lesson learned when we plan our next show.”

HISTORIC: INDIA MARS MISSION ENTERS ORBIT
India makes history as the first nation to reach the planet Mars on its first attempt Wednesday.
Its low-cost Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully entered orbit around the Red Planet after a 10-month journey.
India joins the United States, Russia and Europe — countries and regions that successfully reached Mars.
More than half of all missions to Mars ended in failure, including China’s in 2011 and Japan’s in 2003.
The Mangalyaan probe is expected to study the planet’s surface and scan its atmosphere for methane, which could provide evidence of any life form.
The probe is expected to circle Mars for six months, about 500 kilometers or 310 miles from its surface.

– 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