NEWSCAPS
March 22, 2013
(POLITICAL)
I. MALAYSIA’s FILING OF TERRORISM CHARGES VS FILIPINOS
 Malaysia’s filing of terrorism and waging war charges against
eight Filipinos is “illegal,” said Abraham Idjirani, Spokesperson for
the Sultanate of Sulu. He said that Malaysia’s move was
tantamount to “usurpation” of the powers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul
Kiram III.
 Idjirani said that the sultanate would file a complaint in the
International Court of Justice against the Malaysian officials
responsible for the filing of charges against the eight Filipinos.
 President Aquino had directed Foreign Secretary Albert del
Rosario to retain lawyers for the eight Filipinos’ defense in Sabah.
II. FILIPINO TERROR SUSPECT IN SABAH ON CLAIMS THAT HE
WAS PAID
 One of the eight Filipinos charged with terrorism in Sabah
admitted having been paid to join the followers of Sulu Sultan
Jamalul Kiram III, according to Malaysia’s state news agency
Bernama.
 Hooland Kalbi made the admission in the Badjao dialect before
judge P. Ravinthran, Bernama said. But the judge told the court
interpreter to tell the accused to stop speaking as his words
would only be recorded after he had obtained a lawyer.
III. AGBIMUDDIN’s WHEREABOUTS
 The Philippine military intelligence is checking reports that the
leader of the armed group from the sultanate of Sulu that sparked
the Sabah crisis has returned and is hiding in southern
Philippines.
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 Malaysia’s military chief, Zulkifeli Zin said that Agbimuddin Kiram
slipped out of the eastern Malaysian territory on March 11 and
fled from one island to another for shelter.
IV. US ON SABAH DISPUTE
 The United States government distanced itself from the Sabah
crisis, saying that the conflict in the eastern Malaysia state is not
a “security concern” for the Americans. “We do not see this as a
security matter that affects the United States or our Mutual
Defense Treaty that we have with the Philippines in any manner,”
US Ambassador Harry Thomas said.
V. LAWMAKERS ON P100-MILLION UP FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
FUND
 Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez disclosed that some 50
lawmakers who graduated from the University of the Philippines
are setting aside P2 million each from their annual Priority
Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to raise P100 million to
put up the new UP Financial Assistance Fund that will help poor
students from UP.
VI. UP MANILA ON CLASS SUSPENSION FOR KRISTEL
 Classes at the University of the Philippines-Manila were
suspended yesterday to give way to the necrological service and
vigil for Kristel Tejada, a college freshman who committed suicide
after failing to pay her tuition.
VII. BULLIED HIGH SCHOOL TEEN’s SUICIDE
 Due to bullying by classmates that led to failing grades, 14-yearold high school student Lee Young Gunay of St. Bridget College,
shot himself at his home in Batangas City.
VIII. KRIS AQUINO’s RESIGNATION
 A teary-eyed Kris Aquino announced last night that she was
quitting all her television shows, and said that she wanted a
permanent protection order against her estranged husband
James Yap to safeguard the interests of her children.
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IX. JAMES YAP’s FILING OF HOLD DEPARTURE ORDER
 James Yap is now seeking to stop his 5-year-old son Bimby from
leaving the country with his mother on March 23. Yap’s lawyer,
Lorna Kapunan, said that she filed the other day an “urgent”
petition for a hold-departure order (HDO) on Bimby after they
learned he was set to leave tomorrow with Aquino for Paris,
France.
X. SEN. ESCUDERO ON HEART EVANGELISTA’s PARENTS
 They want us to break up. This, according to Sen. Francis “Chiz”
Escudero, is the only reason the parents of his girlfriend, Heart
Evangelista, have publicly lashed out at him in the middle of his
re-election campaign.
XI. US ON TUBBATAHA PROBE
 The United States has invited Philippine Navy and the Coast
Guard to go to Japan for a briefing on the investigation into the
grounding of the USS Guardian in Tubbataha Reef, a World
Heritage site, in January.
XII. PH SEA PATROLS AMID CHINA NAVAL DRILLS
 Philippine naval security forces are set to conduct “sovereignty
patrols” in the West Philippines Sea to check on possible
intrusions by Chinese vessels conducting naval exercises within
the country’s maritime boundaries, the Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) said.
XIII. APOLOGY OF OIL PLATFORM OWNER
 John Hoffman, President of Black Elk Energy, owner of the illfated oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, has apologized for
insinuating that the accident in November last year was a result of
the incompetence of Filipino offshore oil workers.
XIV. CARDINAL TAGLE’s HOMECOMING
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 Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle returned
yesterday from the Vatican where he attended the conclave that
elected a new pope and witnessed the inauguration of Pope
Francis. He expressed hope that Pope Francis would visit the
Philippines in 2016.
XV. TEAM PNOY ON THE BINAYS
 The Team PNoy coalition denied that the Aquino administration is
harassing members of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s family.
Team PNoy Spokesman Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said
that immigration officers who barred Binay’s wife Elenita from
joining her husband in his trip to the Vatican last Tuesday were
just doing their job and did not in any way harass the Vice
President or Mrs. Binay.
XVI. ARREST ORDER OF GOV. GARCIA
 The Sandiganbayan ordered anew the arrest of suspended Cebu
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia after she failed to appear for arraignment
yesterday. Associate Justice Teresita Diaz-Baldos, Chairperson
of the anti-graft court’s Second Division, also ordered the
forfeiture of Garcia’s P90,000 bail bond.
XVII. MAYOR ECHIVERRI ON COA REPORT
 Caloocan City Mayor Enrico “Recom” Echiverri denied
accusations that he had entered into contracts without authority
from the city council as alleged by the Commission on Audit
(COA) in its 2011 report.
XVIII. ATIMONAN PROBE
 The Department of Justice (DOJ) has set for April 8 the start of
the preliminary investigation of 25 policemen and soldiers led by
P/Supt. Hansel Marantan who are charged in the murder of 13
men in Atimonan, Quezon, on January 6.
XIX. BOC ON TURNOVER OF SEIZED RICE TO DSWD
 The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has turned over to the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) some
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94,000 50-kilogram bags of smuggled Vietnamese rice the BOC
seized in mid-July at the Subic Freeport in Zambales.
XX. PAGASA WEATHER FORECASTING
 The country’s weather forecasting system will soon become fully
automated with the launching of a P57- million weather prediction
project. Administrator Nathaniel Servando of the Philippine
Atmospheric,
Geophysical
and
Astronomical
Services
Administration (Pagasa) said that the agency was a step closer to
doing all-automated mapping of weather indicators in the five
regions, which would result in the quicker dissemination of
disaster warnings.
XXI. FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN K-12 PROGRAM
 Filipino school children will be encouraged to take up a second
foreign language in the two-year senior high school under the K12 basic education curriculum (BEC) reform program. Education
Secretary Armin Luistro said that Bahasa Indonesia or Malay are
easier to learn for Filipinos since they resemble the Filipino
language.
XXII. DEMISE OF FORMER SC JUSTICE CRUZ
 Retired Supreme Court Justice Isagani Cruz passed away
yesterday due to a lingering illness, the high court announced.
Cruz died peacefully in his sleep, according to the SC public
information office. He was 88.
(ECONOMY)
I. DA ON RICE SELF-SUFFICIENCY, RICE IMPORTATION
 Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that the concept of rice
self-sufficiency should not be equated with the zero importation of
rice, as it announced its target of self-sufficiency this year.
Secretary Alcala said that the government’s planned rice
importation of 187,000 metric tons this year as a buffer stock was
only “for the lean months,” and should not be interpreted as not
being able to meet the government’s rice self-sufficiency target.
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II. PRESIDENT AQUINO ON EMERGENCY POWER DECLARATION
 President Aquino sounded cool to the idea of using emergency
powers to deal with brownouts in Mindanao, but he assured the
public that there would be an adequate power supply on Election
Day on May 13. “Maybe we should first define what kind of
emergency powers needs to be done,” President Aquino said.
III. P832 MILLION FOR GOVERNMENT WORKERS’ BONUSES
 The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released
P832 million for the performance-based bonuses (PBB) of 18,195
workers in 26 government-owned and -controlled corporations
(GOCCs), three state colleges and universities (SUCs), and five
Malacañang offices.
IV. TAX COLLECTION DRIVE
 Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima called on the newly minted
lawyers to help in the campaign for greater tax compliance
among the self-employed and professionals, particularly
members of the bar.
V. BSP ON CROSS-SELLING REGULATIONS
 The cross-selling regulations of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
(BSP) is presently undergoing revisions. According to BSP
Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr., specific proposals are
already in draft form and that these are being distributed for
comments with the different institutions involved.
VI. TOLL OPERATORS’ EXPANSION
 The Toll Regulatory Board has directed major toll road operators
to gear up for expansion to prevent a gridlock similar to the
congested EDSA in major expressways north and south of Metro
Manila. TRB executive director Edmundo Reyes Jr. said that the
government has instructed the operators of the North Luzon
Expressway (NLEX), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), and the
Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex) to prepare their expansion
programs due to high traffic volume by 2018.
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VII. PH-IRELAND TRADE RELATIONS
 Ireland supports the plan of the European Union (EU) and the
Philippines to enter into a free trade agreement, as Ireland seeks
to increase trade relations with the Philippines, Irish Minister for
Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said.
VIII. SDA RATE CUTS
 A series of interest rate cuts on special deposit accounts (SDA)
may finally push some funds out of the facility, industry players
said, but could also weigh on banks’ profit margins. "The cuts
have a psychological impact and it makes banks consider moving
funds to asset management, investment in businesses. They can
use that money elsewhere since they cannot just live on the
SDA," Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) President and CEO
Aurelio R. Montinola III said.
IX. PH STOCK EXCHANGE
 Bargain hunting lifted the main composite index close to the
6,500 level anew, snapping eight consecutive days of decline.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rebounded 0.83
percent or 53.36 points to end at 6,472.98, while the broader all
shares index added 0.83 percent or 33.63 points to 4,076.49.
(END)
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