NEWSCAPS
July 9, 2013
(POLITICAL)
I. SC ORAL ARGUMENTS ON RH LAW
 Archbishop Socrates Villegas has resurrected the late Jaime
Cardinal Sin’s policy of “critical collaboration,” saying prelates will
attend as “conscience troublemakers” in today’s opening hearing
in the Supreme Court on the controversial reproductive health
(RH) law.
 Two former senators –Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Francisco Tatad–
will lead the petitioners in challenging the constitutionality of
Republic Act 10354.
 Named respondents in the petitions were Executive Secretary
Paquito Ochoa Jr., Budget and Management Secretary Florencio
Abad, Education Secretary Armin Luistro, Health Secretary
Enrique Ona, and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II. The six
intervenors in the case will then present their arguments in
support of the RH law.
II. CABINET MEETING OVER THE NATIONAL BUDGET
 President Aquino grilled Cabinet members on the proposed 2014
budget, spending almost 11 hours closeted with them from 10:00
AM yesterday. They are putting together the proposed national
budget for 2014, which it estimates would be about P2.3 trillion.
III. RE-ENTRY OF PMA GRADUATES INTO PNP
 The Philippine National Police (PNP) defended its decision to
consider once again letting graduates of the Philippine Military
Academy (PMA) join the police force, saying the training provided
by the police academy “may not be enough.” Senior Supt.
Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Spokesperson, compared
graduates of the PNP Academy (PNPA) and the PMA to “fried
chicken” and “crispy pata.”
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IV. AMBASSADOR CUISIA ON US ACCESS TO PH MILITARY
BASES
 Plans to give United States troops access to the country’s bases
would pave the way for more joint military training and greater
American military assistance to the Philippines, Philippine
Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr. said. He said
that the Philippines would only agree to open the country’s bases
to ally access if such would be beneficial to both sides.
V. ARMY CAPTURE OF BIFF CAMPS
 Up to 80 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters
(BIFF) have been killed in clashes with soldiers last week. The
military called off an offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters (BIFF) after capturing two camps of the
breakaway insurgent group as peace talks between the
government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
resumed in Malaysia.
VI. FORMER EU ENVOY IN MINDANAO PEACE PROCESS
 The former head of the European Union (EU) mission to the
Philippines, Ambassador Alistair McDonald, will head the fivemember Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) created by the
peace panels of government and the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) to oversee the implementation of an eventual
comprehensive agreement.
VII. START OF RAMADAN
 Ramadan, the fasting month among Muslims, officially starts on
July 10, Muslim leaders announced. Muslim villagers who were
forced to flee following atrocities between government troops and
Moro militants may have to observe Ramadan –one of the five
“pillars” of Islam– partly or wholly in evacuation centers in
Maguindanao and North Cotabato.
VIII. CALL FOR RELEASE OF ABDUCTED SISTERS
 Former Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali strongly appealed to
the kidnappers of filmmaker-sisters –Nadjoua and Linda Bansil–
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to release them “unconditionally for humanitarian reasons” as a
goodwill gesture in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. “Kindly
release them to their families,” the former governor pleaded with
the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), believed responsible for the
abduction.
IX. WEATHER
 The weather bureau said that a tropical cyclone (international
name: Soulik), which will be named Huaning when it enters the
Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) by Wednesday may not
directly affect the country but is anticipated to enhance the
habagat (southwest monsoon) by Thursday and bring rains to the
western part of the country.
X. CHINESE SHIPS INTRUSION
 Chinese ships regularly come and go within Philippine territorial
waters, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. “China has
been intruding in that area for some time now and those reports
of Chinese ships leaving and coming back have been a part of
regular reports,” DFA Spokesperson, Assistant Secretary Raul
Hernandez said.
XI. REP. SEÑERES ON RESOLVING PH-TAIWAN SPAT FOR OFWs
 Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) continue to suffer from the
hiring freeze that resulted from the Philippines’ recent tiff with
Taiwan, leaving 10,000 of them unable to return to their jobs
there, according to OFW Family Club party-list Rep. Roy
Señeres.
XII. TAIWAN TOURIST ARRIVALS
 The travel ban imposed by the Taiwanese government on the
Philippines is slowly taking its toll, official data from the
Department of Tourism (DOT) showed. For the month of May,
arrivals from Taiwan dropped 43.94 percent to 10,643 from
18,984 in the comparative month last year.
XIII. CA: DOE CAN’T TAKE OVER OIL INDUSTRY DURING CRISIS
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 The Department of Energy (DOE) cannot temporarily take over oil
industry operations during times of emergency, a recent ruling of
the Court of Appeals (CA) said.
 In an 11-page ruling promulgated on June 23 by its 9th Division,
the CA upheld that Section 14 (e) of Republic Act 8479 or the
Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998 is
unconstitutional.
 The said provision states that "in times of national
emergency, when the public interest so requires, the DOE may,
during the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by
it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any person or
entity engaged in the Industry."
XIV. PDEA HEAD CACDAC ON ALLEGATIONS OF FAILED DRUG
CASES
 The chief of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)
Director General Arturo Cacdac brushed off allegations made by
one of the agency’s personnel that he was reluctant to go after
Chinese drug lords. Cacdac was reacting to allegations made by
Agent Jonathan Morales that the cases against arrested Chinese
drug suspects might be dismissed in court because of the
growing demoralization among PDEA agents.
XV. VICE PRESIDENT BINAY ON THE ARREST OF THE DRUG
RECRUITER
 Vice President Jejomar Binay will ask the family of the Filipina
executed in China for drug trafficking to coordinate with the
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the immediate arrest of
her recruiter. The NBI has reportedly been having difficulty finding
the recruiter since they have yet to receive information from the
woman’s family.
XVI. SK ABOLITION
 Administration lawmakers have called for swift action on pending
bills in the House of Representatives on reforming or abolishing
the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) as the barangay elections are
set to be held on Oct. 28. The Commission on Elections
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(Comelec) is reportedly planning to formally ask the 16th
Congress to approve a measure abolishing the SK.
XVII. DPWH ON CUTTING TREES FOR ROADWORK
 The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is under
fire from local officials, environmentalists and netizens for its plan
to cut down 669 trees, mostly over 50 years old, to give way to a
road widening project of the Maharlika Highway section in
Camarines Sur.
XVIII. TEENAGE MATERNAL DEATHS
 The number of teenage girls getting pregnant has risen while the
number of underage marriages has decreased in the span of a
decade. The National Statistics Office (NSO) said babies born to
teenage mothers increased from seven to 11 percent from 2000
to 2010, despite the rising trend of maternal deaths among
teenagers in the country.
XIX. NURSING EXAM PASSERS
 A total of 16,219 nursing graduates passed the state board exam
conducted last month, topped by a female graduate from little
known Velez College in Cebu, the Professional Regulation
Commission (PRC) announced. With a score of 87 percent,
Beverly Anne Felicio Balagon garnered the highest grade in this
year’s Nurse Licensure Examination among the 37,887 who took
the exam.
(ECONOMY)
I. PH VISIT OF WORLD BANK VICE PRESIDENT TROTSENBURG
 Axel Van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s vice president for East
Asia and Pacific (EAP), will visit the Philippines this week to
confer with the country’s leaders on how the WB could best align
its emerging assistance strategy with the country’s inclusive
growth agenda in the next three years.
II. P38.28-BILLION FOREIGN ASSISTED PROJECTS
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 The government plans to implement P38.28 billion worth of
foreign assisted projects (FAPs) this year, slightly lower than last
year’s P39.6 billion. The Department of Finance (DOF) said that
the country expects to receive around P26 billion worth of donor
financing, with Japan accounting for the biggest source of funding
assistance.
III. COMPENSATION FOR CLIMATE CHANGE WOES
 The Philippines should continue to seek compensation from
developed countries for experiencing the worst impacts of climate
change, Lidy Nacpil, convener of the Philippine Movement for
Climate Justice (PMCJ) said.
 PMCJ is gearing up for mass actions to press for climate finance
in time for the “First Meeting of Experts on Long-Term Finance” to
be held on July 16 and 17 in Makati City.
IV. NAIA EXPRESSWAY CONSTRUCTION
 Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is expected to
kick off the construction of the P15.86 billion Ninoy Aquino
International Airport (NAIA) Expressway in January next year
after inking a concession agreement with the Department of
Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
V. FITCH RATINGS ON LENDING RISKS
 The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) move to reduce risk
weights on foreign currency-denominated government bonds
could threaten the financial sector’s stability, Fitch Ratings
warned. “This development –together with abundant liquidity in
the local banking system– could heighten asset-quality risks if risk
appetite rises and lending expands too quickly,” the debt watcher
said.
VI. SSS INVESTMENTS
 The Social Security System (SSS), the state-owned pension fund
for private employees, is looking to invest in listed energy
companies as it sees rosy prospects in the local energy sector.
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SSS commissioner Diana Pardo-Aguilar said that SSS
continuously looks at its investment options and that the stock
market would remain a significant part of its list of investment
facilities.
VII. PH STOCK EXCHANGE
 The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) suffered from a hefty
pullback at the start of the week given its failure to break past a
tough ceiling. The PSEi slumped 2.79 percent or 181.57 points to
close at its intraday low of 6,318.91. The broader all shares index
eased 2.47 percent or 98.07 points to 3,874.56.
(END)
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