Rappler Newscast | October 6, 2014

Today on Rappler.

• Albay prepares for Mayon Volcano’s wrath, can the full moon on Oct 8 trigger an eruption?
• Police chief Alan Purisima opens his 4.7 hectare property in Nueva Ecija to media.
• What does a black ops campaign on Twitter look like?

CAN THE OCTOBER 8 FULL MOON TRIGGER MAYON’S ERUPTION?
Albay prepares for Mayon Volcano’s eruption.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs says the magma is 5 kilometers from the crater and is rising at one meter per hour.
With Mayon showing increasing signs of activity, can the full moon on Wednesday trigger an eruption?
At least 3 of Mayon’s past eruptions happened during a full moon when the gravitational pull on the Earth is at its strongest.
Phivolcs says it’s possible, but only under certain conditions.

ED LAGUERTA, PHILIPPINE VOLCANOLOGIST: Mayon is a legend of a lady, a beautiful lady, and it seems to be charming because of its beauty, conically-shaped, symmetrical. But sometimes, it gets angry and shows tantrums.

PNP CHIEF PURISIMA DEFENDS NUEVA ECIJA HOME AND OTHER PROPERTIES
It’s war mode for Philippine police chief Alan Purisima.
But it’s not against rising criminality, but against wave after wave of controversy.
Bea Cupin reports.

BEA CUPIN, REPORTING: When is a home “not a mansion nor a villa” but an “ordinary house?” PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima lays down some of his cards and opens his 4.7 hectare property to media. The PNP chief faces 3 plunder complaints: one for an allegedly shady deal inside Camp Crame, another for the donations of his friends and the 3rd for this alleged underdeclared Nueva Ecija property. The PNP chief hopes that this guided tour with media will help dispel rumors and prove once and for all that the reports against him were exaggerated and untrue. The house, built in 2010 is no mansion. But it’s no nipa hut either.

Purisima’s men show media around his property.
Plunder complainants alleged it is worth much more, but the PNP chief insists all his properties are above board and accounted for.
TITO PURISIMA, PNP CHIEF PURISIMA’S RELATIVE: Sa ating paghusga sa bahay na ito. Tignan po natin kung ito po ay matatawag na mansiyon? Pwede po ba nating ihanay ang bahay na ito sa mga bahay sa Forbes Park, sa Dasmarinas, sa Urdaneta, Magallanes, sa Corinthian, sa Greenmeadows, sa Greenhills? (When we judge this house, let’s see if it can really be used a mansion? Is it comparable to the houses you can find in posh Metro Manila villages?)

MERALCO: GEN CHARGE UP FOR SEPTEMBER
Heads up for Meralco customers: there will be a small increase in the generation charge for September.
The increase will be reflected in the October bills.
Meralco says it will release the full figures this week.

HONG KONG PROTESTS SUBSIDE AS EXHAUSTION SETS IN
Protesters in Hong Kong are debating the next steps in their pro-democracy campaign as their numbers dwindle and employees go back to work after
a week of mass protests.
Relieved they haven’t been cleared away by police,
fatigue was taking its toll on the few hundred who remained.
A meeting on Sunday between student leader Lester Shum and mid-ranking officials did not come up with an agreement.

ANATOMY OF A BLACK OPS CAMPAIGN ON TWITTER
Social media informs and connects people, but it could also be used for negative campaigning.
When telecommunications brand Smart launched its #SmartFREEInternet campaign, it was immediately hijacked by black ops.
Rappler’s data analytics arm Reach Social show how the hashtags #LieMore and #LieMorePa drowned out Smart’s efforts.
In a move taken directly from real world guerrilla warfare, the bots and fake accounts surrounded and isolated the central group, or main influencers.

THE wRap: YOUR WORLD IN ONE READ
At number 5, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah says religious extremism is a perversion which must be eradicated.
This comes after Saudi Arabia and four other Arab countries joined a US-led coalition conducting air strikes against terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS.
ISIS continues to carry out a series of atrocities, including crucifixions and beheadings, condemned by Muslims worldwide.

And at number 9, Conservative Muslims criticize young pilgrims taking selfies while doing the hajj.
Photos with the hashtag #HajjSelfie are all over social media, with the young pilgrims saying they want to document an important event.
The hajj is a holy pilgrimage to Mecca, the center of Islamic faith.

– Rappler.com

Newscast Production Staff