Rappler Newscast | June 15, 2012

Today on Rappler.

• Three junior Supreme Court justices are nominated to the post of Chief Justice.
• Representative Jun Abaya says the post-impeachment era is a time of reform.
• And, Tropical storm Guchol, maintains its strength as it moves closer to Eastern Visayas.

Story 1: 3 JUNIOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES NOMINATED
Three junior Supreme Court justices are nominated to the post of Chief Justice– Lourdes Sereno, Roberto Abad, and Jose Perez.
Sereno is the first justice appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to the High Court.
She was appointed in 2010.
Former chief Justice Renato Corona criticized Sereno during the impeachment trial saying her “arrival to the Honorable Court has signaled a new period of difficulty and embarrassment” for the former Chief Justice.
Sereno disclosed alleged loopholes in SC deliberations on controversial cases such as the High Tribunal’s issuance of a restraining order that stopped impeachment proceedings against then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
Justice Roberto Abad was appointed to the SC in 2009 and is a former dean of the University of Santo Tomas College of Law.
The group nominating Abad says “In a nutshell, he is a career member of the judiciary now serving as one of the independent jurists.”
Abad worked for the Supreme Court all his professional life, as a technical assistant, legal assistant and later as court administrator.
5 of the Supreme Court’s most senior justices are automatically nominated to the post.
A total of 15 “outsiders” have been nominated to the post.
Among are Commission on Elections official Rene Sarmiento, University of the East College of Law Dean Amado Valdez, former Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla, Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Roan Libarios, Court of Appeals Justice Hilarion Aquino, Peace Panel Chairman Marvic Leonen, former congressman Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr, former Solicitor-General Francisco “Frank” Chavez, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Solicitor-General Francis Jardeleza and former Ateneo law dean Cesar Villanueva, University of the Philippines law professor Katrina Legarda, Rafael Morales and former UP law dean Raul Pangalangan accepted their nominations.

Story 2: REP. ABAYA: SELECTION OF CJ 2ND CHAPTER OF IMPEACHMENT
House impeachment manager Joseph Emilio ‘Jun’ Abaya tells Rappler the selection of Corona’s replacement is the “second chapter of the impeachment.”
More than healing the judiciary, Abaya says the next Chief Justice should be a champion of judicial reform.

ABAYA: It’s a dawning of a, uh, a reform era, of change, uhm, hopefully it’s not merely confined to the judiciary, it would branch out to other branches of government, and probably even to private sector, ’cause I know the most popular acronym today is S-A-L-N. And uh, chances are next to that would be our income tax return. The ITR. And for sure, all government officials would now be very, very careful in filling out those two, almost neglected documents before. So that’s one nice thing, unexpected accomplishment that we’ve done.

Abaya, the principal author of the Sin Tax bill says the president’s political will pushed the bill forward – after it languished a decade in Congress.

ABAYA: But this time clearly, the president, though he’s a smoker, is clearly behind us,  and I think I could attribute that to the success for the meantime, for the bill, and likewise the advocates amongst the congressmen, we do believe that the bill would do good for the society.

Story 3: LP VS UNA
A year away from the 2013 mid term elections, the spotlight turns to the political parties.
Opposition alliance UNA has captured early attention while the president’s own party has been quiet.
Rappler’s political reporter Carmela Fonbuena reports.

Story 4: MIKE ARROYO ON UNAS
Former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo denounces the testimony of star witness Norie Unas in the electoral sabotage case against his wife, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Mr. Arroyo tells Rappler that Unas’ testimony is fabricated. The former first gentleman also comments on his wife’s condition.

ARROYO: I suppose bail will be granted because what that Unas says is all hear-say. It’s very sad because she’s such workaholic and then she’s detained and yet she’s still innocent until proven guilty… and on flimsy grounds on a guy who’s not even credible… but that’s life.

Story 5: JORDANIAN REPORTED MISSING IN JOLO
A prominent Jordanian journalist is missing on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, a stronghold of Islamist militants who have turned kidnappings into a cottage industry.
Police say Baker Atyani of the Dubai-based Al Arabiya network and his two Filipino crew members failed to return to their hotel on Jolo island on Tuesday.
The crew told authorities they were there to shoot a television documentary for Al Arabiya.
Atyani, 43, is the bureau chief for Southeast Asia of the Al Arabiya News Channel.
He met with Al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri near Kandahar, Afghanistan in June 2001, months before 9/11.

Story 6: MVP: TELCO, SOCIAL MEDIA MERGER INEVITABLE
Telcos will become obsolete. These are the words of PLDT chair Manny Pangilinan in their annual shareholders meeting.
The businessman says social media will inevitably merge with telecommunications firms.
He envisions his companies supplying the power to charge people’s phones, the network they use to access the internet and even the news they pull up on their devices.
Pangilinan admits not knowing exactly how the two will unite but says convergence is inevitable.

PANGILINAN: The next frontier lies in the media space. How you will blend a telco utility operations with the creative part of social media is a big challenge. Nobody’s been successful yet. A number…small number of international telcos are attempting to do that now. So it is telcos moving into the social media space. The social networks could get into the telco space because for them to offer and deliver their own services they need the telcos. For the telcos to be able to enlarge and enhance their services, they need the social media

Story 7: JOURNALIST TALKS ABOUT BEING AN UNDOCUMENTED AMERICAN
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas lands on the cover of TIME Magazine.
In Time’s June 25 issue, Vargas writes his own story as an undocumented American and immigrant in 21st century America.  Its title?  “Not Legal, Not Leaving.”
He writes, “It’s an issue that touches people of all ethnicities and backgrounds”
In the TIME video, he calls immigration the “most fundamentally misunderstood issue in America”
Vargas, who says he’s from the Philippines, is the founder of DefineAmerican.com – a campaign that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration.
He revealed he has been living and working in the United States as an undocumented immigrant  in an essay for the New York Times Magazine in June 2011.

Story 8: #PrayforDolphy STARTS
A fan starts hashtag PrayforDolphy as the Comedy king battles complications due to pneumonia.
Dolphy is under intensive care breathing with the aid of a respirator.
His Son Eric Quizon tells the media his father “is responding to treatment very well.”
Long-time partner Zsazsa Padilla and daughter Zia express their gratitude to fans’ prayers over Twitter.

Story 9: THE wRap
Let’s now look at Rappler’s “wRap” for today…
a list of the ten most important events around the world you shouldn’t miss.

At number 5, Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament was declared “illegal and illegitimate” by the country’s highest judicial body, paving the way for a military take-over of power. This sets the stage for a political showdown between the military and the Muslim brotherhood, a charged backdrop for this weekend’s presidential elections.

At number 8, mobile phone giant Nokia plans to cut 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013 after profits fell in the second quarter of this year.
Nokia plans to close facilities in Germany and Canada.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop says reductions will ensure Nokia’s long term competitive strength.
Earlier this year, Nokia lost the title of world’s largest cell manufacturer to Samsung.
Newly-elected Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi calls on world business and government leaders to invest in Myanmar.
Addressing the International Labor Organization, Suu Kyi talks about the unemployed youth in Myanmar who lost confidence in the future.
A day earlier, the ILO lifted a decade old restriction on Myanmar after new laws committed to end forced labor.

And at number 10, US Sec of State Hillary Clinton and actor Ben Affleck kick off “Call to Action for Child Survival.”  
USAID says this year alone, more than 7 and a half million children will die before their 5th birthday.  
Senator Pia Cayetano attended the event and tweeted updates and photos.  
Affleck opened his Twitter account Thursday.  
@BenAffleck’s first tweet?  “Timing feels right to bring awareness to what’s happening in the Congo today & to share my stories from this part of the world.”

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

Story 10: BUTCHOY
Tropical storm Butchoy, international codename Guchol, maintains strength as it moves closer to Eastern Visayas.
Pagasa raises signal number 1 over Eastern Samar.
The weather bureau does not expect the tropical storm to directly affect any part of the country within 24 hours.
But PAGASA says the rest of the country will have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

Story 11 : LITTLE PEOPLE THINK BIG
They may be small, but they think big.
The little people of the Philippines have a dream: to have their own community suited to their special needs.
Carlos Santamaria reports.

Offers of help are coming in.
A benefactor offers Perry’s group use of a 6,000 square meter tract of land in Rizal province.
The Housing and Urban Development Council has also pledged to loan funds and find a developer for the project.

As you know, every story on Rappler has a mood meter asking you to vote for how you feel.  
Each vote is aggregated on our mood navigator – which chooses the top 10 stories with the most votes.  
It also chooses the emotion which gets the most votes. Today, most people who voted are sad.

– Rappler.com