MANILA, Philippines – Mary Jane Veloso's alleged recruiters refused to enter a plea Thursday, February 11, as they were arraigned for syndicated human trafficking charges filed by the Department of Justice against them before a Nueva Ecija court.

Judge Nelso Tribiana of the Nueva Ecija Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 37 entered a “not guilty” plea for both Maria Cristina Sergio and her live-in-partner, Julius Lacanilao, before setting a pre-trial case date on March 9. 

According to Edre Olalia of the National Union of People's Lawyers, "Both accused refused to enter any plea. The Court, as required by the rules, entered a mandatory plea of not guilty into the record."

The court deferred the arraignment of Sergio and Lacanilao back in November 2015 after their lawyers filed a motion for reconsideration of the denial of the Bill of Particulars in the case filed against them. Judge Tribiana, however, threw out the motion of the respondents, proceeding to order their arraignment. 

The respondents earlier hit the prosecution for allegedly “failing to state with particularity the details of the alleged incarceration of complainant Veloso.”

The respondents added the information filed against them is unclear as to the exploitative purpose alleged in the information, defined under Section 4(a) of Republic Act 9208 (The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003).

They added the information is also unclear as to how the allegation of trafficking in persons is in its qualified form. The prosecution also allegedly failed to state with particularity the alleged “scheme” stated in the information filed in court.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) previously said the 3 elements of trafficking – acts, means and exploitative purpose – were present in Veloso’s case. The DOJ resolution that prompted the charges filed against Sergio and Lacanilao said, the “evidence speaks of fraud and deception as the means employed by respondents in recruiting complainant.” The DOJ's resolution also noted Mary Jane Veloso's affidavit, which was taken from Wirongunan prison in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as well as supporting statements of her relatives.

Sergio and Lacanilao earlier pleaded not guilty to estafa and illegal recruitment charges. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA (UPDATED) – In a landmark discovery for physics and astronomy, international scientists said Thursday, February 11, they have glimpsed the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, or ripples in space-time, which Albert Einstein predicted a century ago.

When two black holes collided some 1.3 billion years ago, the joining of those two great masses sent forth a wobble that hurtled through space and arrived at Earth on September 14, 2015, when it was picked up by sophisticated instruments, researchers announced.

"Like Galileo first pointing his telescope upward, this new view of the sky will deepen our understanding of the cosmos, and lead to unexpected discoveries," said France Cordova, director of the US National Science Foundation, which funded the work.

The phenomenon was observed by two US-based underground detectors, designed to spot tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves, a project known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO.

It took scientists months to verify their data and put it through a process of peer-review before announcing it on Thursday, marking the culmination of decades of efforts by teams around the world.

"LIGO has ushered in the birth of an entirely new field of astrophysics," said Cordova.

Gravitational waves are a measure of strain in space, an effect of the motion of large masses that stretches the fabric of space-time – a way of viewing space and time as a single, interweaved continuum.

They travel at the speed of light and cannot be stopped or blocked by anything.

Einstein said space-time could be compared to a net, bowing under the weight of an object. Gravitational waves would be like ripples that emanate from a pebble thrown in a pond.

While scientists have previously been able to calculate gravitational waves, they had never before seen one directly.

Wobbling like jelly

According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) David Shoemaker, the leader of the LIGO team, it looked just like physicists thought it would.

"The waveform that we can calculate based on Einstein's theory of 1916 matches exactly what we observed in 2015," David Shoemaker, the leader of the LIGO team, told Agence France-Presse.

"It looked like a chirp, it looked at something that started at low frequencies – for us low frequencies means 20 or 30 hertz, that's like the lowest note on a bass guitar, sweeping very rapidly up over just a fraction of a second... up to 150 hertz or so, sort of near middle C on a piano."

The chirp "corresponded to the orbit of these two black holes getting smaller and smaller, and the speed of the two objects going faster and faster until the two became a single object," he explained.

"And then right at the end of this waveform, we see the wobbling of the final black hole as if it were made of jelly as it settled into a static state."

Underground detectors

The L-shaped LIGO detectors – each about 1.5 miles (4 kilometers) long – were conceived and built by researchers at MIT and Caltech.

One is located in Hanford, Washington, and the other is in Livingston, Louisiana.

A third detector, called VIRGO, is scheduled to open in Italy later this year.

Tuck Stebbins, head of the gravitational astrophysics laboratory at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, described the detectors as the "most complex machines humans have ever built."

Both LIGO and VIRGO have undergone major upgrades in recent years.

Physicist Benoit Mours of France's National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), which is leading the VIRGO team along with Italian colleagues, described the discovery as "historic" because it "allows us to directly verify one of the predictions of the theory of general relativity."

Physicists said the gravitational wave detected at 1651 GMT on September 14 originated in the last fraction of a second before the fusion of two black holes somewhere in the southern sky, though they can't say precisely where.

Einstein had predicted such a phenomenon would occur when two black holes collided, but it had never before been observed.

An analysis by the MIT and Caltech found that the two black holes joined about 1.3 billion years ago, and their mass was 29-36 times greater than the Sun.

The wave arrived first at the Louisiana detector, then at the Washington instrument 7.1 milliseconds later.

The two instruments are 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) apart, and since both made the same reading, scientists consider their discovery confirmed.

'New era '

"Black holes are interesting because they do not give off any light and that is why these particular objects had never been seen before – because all of the astrophysical instruments to date use light," said Shoemaker.

"So this is one of the ways in which this tool is special and unique in the astronomical toolkit."

He said the new data "can really help to explain the formation of galaxies and overall large scale structures of the material in the universe."

Details of the discovery are being published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Indirect proof of gravitational waves was found in 1974 through the study of a pulsar and a neutron star. Scientists Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor won the Nobel Prize for physics for that work in 1993.

"Humanity has now another tool for exploring the universe," Stebbins told Ahemce France-Presse.

"This is like the perfect outcome. The door is open to new discoveries," he added.

"This is a new era in astrophysics." – Jean-Louis Santini and Pascale Mollard Cheneboit in Paris, France, AFP / Rappler.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A man killed 6 employees at an education department office in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the interior ministry said, describing it as a "criminal" attack.

The incident, in which two others were injured, occurred in the southern province of Jazan at about 2:00 pm (1100 GMT), ministry spokesman General Mansour al-Turki told AFP.

"This is a criminal act," said Turki, adding that one suspect had been arrested.

He was unable to immediately confirm how the victims were killed but state television reported it was a shooting.

The identity and motive of the suspect were unclear.

The incident occurred in the remote community of Ad Dair, several kilometers from the Yemeni border.

Jazan and other southern border districts have been shelled by rebels in Yemen since last March when a Saudi-led coalition began air strikes and later ground operations to halt the advance of the Huthi rebels there.

More than 90 soldiers and civilians have been killed in shelling and skirmishes in the Saudi border region.

Elsewhere in the kingdom there have been mass shootings and bombings claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group against the Shiite minority community. ISIS has also targeted the security forces.

But criminal mass shootings are rare in Saudi Arabia. – Rappler.com

After kicking off the campaign season, vice presidential bet Leni Robredo will return to her hometown, Naga City, where her late husband Jesse left a legacy of good governance.

Bea Cupin files this video blog. – Rappler.com

MONTERREY, Mexico (UPDATED) – At least 52 men died in a northern Mexican prison on Thursday, February 11, as inmates ignited a fire during a brawl between two rival groups, authorities said.

Governor Jaime Rodriguez said the clash erupted at the Topo Chico prison in the industrial city of Monterrey before midnight on Wednesday and that authorities brought it under control at 1:30 am on Thursday.

"We are experiencing a tragedy stemming from the difficult situation that they are living through at penitentiary facilities," Rodriguez told a news conference.

"We can confirm the deaths of 52 people. ... The process of identifying victims continues," he said, without specifying whether prison guards were among the dead.

He said all the victims were men, rejecting fears that women or children may have been inside at the time of the riot.

Twelve inmates were injured, five of them in serious condition. 

The fight involved a group led by a leader of the Zetas drug cartel, he said. During the brawl, inmates set fires in supply rooms.

Troops and federal police were deployed inside the prison to keep it under control. Rodriguez said no inmates escaped from the prison.

Desperate relatives

Ambulances were sent to the prison while dozens of relatives desperate for news flocked to entrance, throwing rocks and pulling the gate open as riot police blocked their way.

Other relatives shouted through a fence, hoping to hear information from the inmates.

TV footage showed a fire inside the facility in the middle of the night.

Some relatives of prisoners formed a line by holding hands to block a boulevard.

"We will stay here blocking this avenue until they give us an answer. We want to know how our relatives are doing because they are telling us that there are more than 50 dead and no authority is giving us answers," Ernestina Grimaldo, whose son is a prisoner, told AFP.

The riot erupted on the eve of Pope Francis' trip to Mexico, during which he is due to visit another notorious prison, in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

Notorious prisons

Mexican penitentiaries are notoriously overcrowded and massive prison breaks have taken place in recent years.

In February 2012, 44 inmates were killed and another 30 escaped from another Monterrey prison, known as Apodaca.

Even the country's top maximum-security prison, the Altiplano near Mexico City, weaknesses were exposed when drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman escaped through a tunnel in July. He was recaptured in January.

Ruth Villanueva, an expert at the governmental National Human Rights Commission, told local media last year that there was a serious crisis at the country's prisons, with 72 of them overcrowded by more than 20 percent.

President Enrique Pena Nieto's administration vowed to reform the penitentiary system following Guzman's escape last year. – Erick Muniz, AFP/Rappler.com

MIAMI, USA – The wave that made history snuck up on them.

David Shoemaker will never forget the date – September 14, 2015 – when he woke up to a message alerting him that an underground detector had spotted a 1.3-billion-year-old ripple in the fabric of space-time.

A gravitational wave – predicted to exist a century ago by Albert Einstein – had been glimpsed directly for the first time by a pair of US-based detectors.

"It is seared in my brain," said Shoemaker, a top scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and head of the Advanced LIGO Project, an international effort to uncover evidence of gravitational waves.

Such waves are a measure of strain in space, an effect of the motion of large masses that stretches the fabric of space-time – a way of viewing space and time as a single, interweaved continuum.

The "chirp," as Shoemaker described the long-awaited wave, had arrived while he was asleep.

But since the data analysis works in quasi-real-time, scientists watching the data stream early in the work day in Europe saw it immediately.

Two black holes spiraling into each other became a single black hole, and the joining of these two giants curved the fabric of space-time around them, ever so briefly.

"When the signal finally got to the Earth on September 14 we knew within 3 minutes that our instruments had seen something really different," said Shoemaker. 

"I was sitting at home, with a cup of coffee in my hand and opening up my email at around 7 am," he told Agence France-Presse.

An instant message had arrived from a close colleague in Germany.

The message said: "I think we are in trouble now," he recalled.

But Shoemaker, a leading scientist in the search for gravitational waves since the early 1980s, did not leap out his chair or  shout expletives.

He just took a deep breath.

"My immediate reaction was, 'That's fascinating. Let's see what the instruments did wrong.'"

Taken by surprise

In fact, the team had only just turned on the pair of underground detectors – one in Louisiana and one in Washington state – for a series of final checks before formally starting the observation experiment, which would run from mid September until January.

"It was just at the beginning of this run, when we were all ready to go – to press the button to start the observing run – that the gravitational wave was observed," he said.

"So it was a very exciting moment for us and it took us perfectly by surprise."

Immediately, Shoemaker and colleagues began running through a checklist of possible failures. 

One by one, they ruled out electromagnetic storms, lighting strikes, earthquakes, or interference by people near sensitive parts of the instruments.

Furthermore, the timing matched up. 

The detector in Hanford, Washington picked up the signal 7.1 milliseconds after the Livingston, Louisiana instrument, some 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers) away.

"The travel time of light between the two instruments is 10 milliseconds," said Shoemaker.

"And if the two signals had arrived 11 milliseconds apart, we would have simply said, 'Nope. It's two instrumental defects that happened at the same time.'

"But it happened within 7.1 milliseconds, which is a perfectly plausible delay between the two."

Weeks of tests

After many tests, the LIGO team's discovery was confirmed. 

"It took weeks before we were really gaining confidence that it was a true gravitational wave event, before I could admit to myself that something had been seen," Shoemaker said.

"But, you know, eventually, joy sets in."

The LIGO work is vastly different from that done by US astrophysicists who announced in 2014 they had detected the first ripples from the Big Bang, then months later admitted their indirect, telescope-based findings were premature and could not be confirmed.

Shoemaker and colleagues are using different equipment to hunt for much smaller, shorter waves, on the order of milliseconds or seconds. In other words, the kinds of gravitational waves that happen all the time, but had never before been observed.

"This is the first time there has ever been a direct detection of the gravitational waveform," Shoemaker said.

"And that makes it a magical thing." – Kerry Sheridan, AFP / Rappler.com

MOSCOW, Russia – Russia's defense ministry on Thursday, February 11, accused the United States of bombing the Syrian city of Aleppo after the Pentagon said Moscow's air strikes had destroyed two hospitals in the city. 

Moscow furiously denied the US claim, charging in return that Washington had sent ground-attack planes to bombard Aleppo, an allegation the US said was a "fabrication".

"Just before 2 pm Moscow time (1100 GMT on Wednesday), two US Air Force A-10s flew into Syrian airspace from Turkish territory," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement. 

After reaching Aleppo by the most direct route, the US planes "conducted strikes against targets in the city," Konashenkov claimed.

Spokesman for the US-led coalition Colonel Steve Warren in Baghdad rejected this. "There were no Coalition airstrikes in or near Aleppo on Wednesday," he said in an emailed statement. 

"Any claim that the coalition had aircraft in the area is a fabrication."

The Pentagon on Wednesday said that Aleppo’s two main hospitals had been destroyed by Russian and Syrian government attacks this month in the Russian-backed regime offensive, warning of an "increasingly dire" situation in the city.

Russia's defense ministry said Thursday that its air force had hit 1,888 "terrorist targets" in eight regions including Aleppo, Latakia, Hama and Homs provinces over the past week. 

However, the defense ministry spokesman insisted that the air force's closest bombing target to Aleppo on Wednesday was more than 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside the city.

The ministry vehemently denied accusations that civilians had been targeted in the strikes, saying that "Russian aviation and Syrian government forces will never launch strikes on the civilian population."

Russia said Thursday it was ready to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire in Syria as foreign ministers gathered in Munich in a bid to restart peace talks.

"We are ready to discuss the modalities of a ceasefire," deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov told journalists in Moscow, quoted by TASS state news agency. "That is what we will talk about in Munich."

US Secretary of State John Kerry warned earlier this week that Russia's bombing of opposition targets could further derail diplomatic efforts to end Syria's brutal civil war. 

Kerry was set to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Munich to host talks with a 17-nation contact group designed to get the talks back on track.

But US frustration with Russia's bombing in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is growing, as fears mount that the opposition will refuse to join UN-led peace talks while their cities are under fire.

Russia launched a bombing campaign in the war-torn country last year at Assad's request, saying strikes are aimed against the Islamic State group and other jihadists.

But the West has accused Moscow of targeting more moderate groups that oppose Assad's regime. 

International talks to end the five-year civil war that has killed more than 260,000 people broke down earlier this month amid accusations from the West and Syrian regime opponents that Russia's air strikes in Aleppo were targeting opposition groups and civilians. 

The talks were temporarily suspended until February 25, but Russian deputy foreign minister Gatilov said Thursday that they could "possibly start earlier." – Rappler.com

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Presidential bet Senator Grace Poe on Friday, February 12, addressed the issue of her smoking, saying it is the same issue thrown at President Benigno Aquino III.

“'Yan din ang iniissue nila sa ating pangulo. Para sa akin, hindi talaga 'yan isang bagay na dapat gawin. Lahat naman ay naghahanap ng paraan para matigil 'yan,” Poe told reporters in a chance interview during her Pangasinan sortie.

(That’s also their issue with President Aquino. For me, that is something that should not be done. Everyone is looking for ways to kick the habit.)

President Aquino, a known heavy smoker, have faced the same criticism since his 2010 campaign and even until now. (READ: Will the President please stop smoking?)

But Poe downplayed the issue. She said that, more than smoking, voters should inquire about candidates who may be using illegal drugs.

She also said candidates should make public if they have health issues, as she gave assurances that she is physically fit to face the gruelling job of the presidency.

While smoking is legal in the Philippines, it is prohibited in public places nationwide. Health experts estimate that 10 Filipinos die of smoke-related diseases every hour. (READ: Are you at risk? 5 smoking-related diseases you should know about)

“Pero sa tingin ko ang mas dapat natin tutukan sa mga kandidato ay magboluntaryong magbigay ng drug tests sapagkat 'yan ang illegal, 'yan ang di nararapat sa ating batas. 'Yun ang para sa 'kin na dapat tutukan kasi 'yun ang nagiging salot sa ating bansa,” said Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public order and danger drugs.

(But I think we should focus more on candidates’ voluntary submission of drug tests because that’s illegal, that’s what’s unlawful. For me, that should be the focus because that’s a plague to our society.)

Poe, a smoker, said candidates should submit to “voluntary drug tests” that should include hair and blood sample to further track a person’s drug use. She added there should only be one drug testing center for all.

“Dapat 'yan meron talagang isang lugar kung saan doon lahat pupunta para di kanya-kanyang submission lang. At hindi p'wedeng urine sample lang, kailangan blood at kailangan hair sapagkat makikita mo, not just the past week results kundi years,” Poe said.

(There should be one drug testing center so that there would be no individual submissions. It should not just be urine samples, blood and hair should be tested because there you will see, not just the week results but usage in the past years.) – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – CIA director John Brennan has said that Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS or the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq) fighters have used chemical weapons and have the capability to make small quantities of chlorine and mustard gas, CBS News reported Thursday, February 11.

"We have a number of instances where ISIL has used chemical munitions on the battlefield," Brennan told CBS News, which released excerpts of an interview to air in full on the "60 Minutes" news program on Sunday, February 14.

The network added that he told "60 Minutes" the CIA believes that the ISIS group has the ability to make small amounts of mustard or chlorine gas for weapons.

"There are reports that ISIS has access to chemical precursors and munitions that they can use," Brennan said.

Brennan also warned of the possibility that the Islamic State group could seek to export the weapons to the West for financial gain. (READ: More ISIS attacks likely as group suffers setbacks – US general)

"I think there's always the potential for that. This is why it's so important to cut off the various transportation routes and smuggling routes that they have used," he said.

When asked if there were "American assets on the ground" searching for possible chemical weapons caches or labs, Brennan replied: "US intelligence is actively involved in being a part of the efforts to destroy ISIL and to get as much insight into what they have on the ground inside of Syria and Iraq."

'Toxic chemicals in Iraq, Syria'

The release of the interview excerpts comes two days after similar comments from spy chief James Clapper before a congressional committee.

"ISIL has also used toxic chemicals in Iraq and Syria, including the blister agent sulfur mustard," Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers on Tuesday, February 9.

He said it was the first time an extremist group had produced and used a chemical warfare agent in an attack since Japan's Aum Supreme Truth cult carried out a deadly sarin attack during rush hour in the Tokyo subway in 1995.

President Bashar al-Assad's regime and rebel forces have accused each other of using chemical agents in the nearly 5-year war that has killed more than 250,000 people.

After an August 2013 sarin attack outside Damascus that much of the international community blamed on Assad's government, the regime agreed to turn over its chemical arsenal.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – which oversaw the dangerous removal and elimination of Syria's avowed stockpile – now says that declared arsenal has been completely destroyed.

But the global arms watchdog has still warned of the continued use of mustard, sarin and chlorine gas in the conflict, without blaming the regime, the rebels or the ISIS group for use of the weapons, which are banned under international law.

Last year, officials in the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan said blood tests had shown that ISIS fighters used mustard agent in an attack on Kurdish peshmerga forces in August.

Thirty-five peshmerga fighters were exposed and some taken abroad for treatment, officials said.

At the time of the attack, The Wall Street Journal cited US officials as saying they believed ISIS had used mustard agent. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The camp of presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte accused administration presidential bet Manuel "Mar" Roxas II and the Liberal Party of bribing local chief executives using the government’s Bottom Up Budgeting (BUB) program.

The BUB is a program under the current administration that allows civic society groups, non-governmental organizations, and local governments to pick projects they want the national government to fund. 

Peter Laviña, spokesperson and head of Duterte’s media team, said in a press statement, that government funds via BUB are being used to lure local officials to support Roxas. 

“Now we see a process with millions of government money being used as a ruse into voting for Roxas. BUB is officially a campaign kitty of the administration bet,” Laviña said.

Roxas had earlier announced a proposal to expand the program. When he spoke before members of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, Roxas promised to allocate more funds for the BUB, a program implemented under his watch as interior secretary.

Roxas said he would give P100 billion or P1,000 for every Filipino annually over 6 years – under his administation. The amount will be for every member of the barangay. 

“Mar is holding the life of every Filipino hostage by dangling P1,000 at the start of his presidential campaign, conditioning it on his fate come May 9,” said Laviña.

Asked about the issue before boarding a flight on Friday, February 12, Duterte did not categorically say he knew the allegation to be true.

But he warned local officials who give in to bribes.

"For me, if you allow yourself to be bought, if you allow yourself to go corrupt, if you allow yourself to use your influence to enrich friends that's your problem, not mine. I lose because they buy votes? That is the problem of the Filipino," he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Bribery

"Clearly, the administration bet is resorting to bribery, offering money to local chief executives in the hope of winning their support," Laviña added.

He also asked, "How this money is supposed to be spent under the BUB process is very questionable. The whole premise of this promise is questionable."

Since its inception in 2013, the program spent P74 billion for 54,000 projects approved using a participatory approach. 

At least 1,590 local government units have participated in the program since 2013 and a total of 42,221 projects have been funded, of which 13,712 have been completed as of December 1, 2015.

For this year, 14,325 BuB projects have been allocated P24.7 billion in the national budget to service 14,325 BUB projects from 1,514 cities and municipalities.

Duterte himself had criticized the Aquino administration as a failure.

"Let us not be fooled by this. This early, Roxas is already trying to buy local executives by promising them rewards," Laviña said, adding, "He is as worse as Binay who is mired in allegations and cases of illegal wealth and corruption."

Demolition job

From Camarines Sur, Senate bets of the Liberal Party (LP)-led "Daang Matuwid" coalition on Friday, February 12, defended the administration's BUB program. 

A "demolition job" is how coalition Senate bet Congressman Cris Paez called allegations from Duterte's camp. 

"It's a program with a huge impact, a lot of people want it so now they're saying it's for election purposes," Paez told reporters in a press conference in Iriga City ahead of the coalition's kick-off at the city coliseum early afternoon Friday. 

From 2013 to 2015, government shelled out over P337 million to fund projects under the BUB program.  

But detractors say it's an unfair program that favors administration allies and snubs political foes. It's a claim the LP denies. 

The BUB is one of the many programs the coalition vows to push for and expand, part of its promise to continue the administration's "Daang Matuwid" or its slogan for its anti-corruption, good governance and transparency platforms. 

Former justice chief and senatorial bet Leila de Lima also defended the program, pointing out that is has long been in place. "We can't just stop addressing the needs of our countrymen just because it's election season," she added. – Rappler.com

CAMARINES SUR, Philippines – Vice presidential bet and Camarines Sur Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo asked fellow Bicolanos to support the presidential bid of Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, recalling how he has helped their family especially after the sudden death of her husband, former Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo.

Speaking in the local dialect at a campaign sortie in Iriga City Friday, February 12, Robredo told the crowd that she’s here “not to ask you to help me but to help my partner (Roxas.”

Robredo recalled how Roxas has been a friend to her husband, and how he led efforts in looking for him when his plane crashed off Masbate in August 2012.

{source}

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WATCH: VP bet Leni Robredo arrives in Iriga for the kickoff <a href="https://t.co/8X9tg0dmcS">https://t.co/8X9tg0dmcS</a></p>&mdash; Bea Cupin (@beacupin) <a href="https://twitter.com/beacupin/status/698055570016829441">February 12, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

{/source}

The Liberal Party-led coalition is barnstorming Bicol as part of its kick-off to open the campaign season for the May 2016 presidential race. Roxas, Robredo and their senatorial slate spent the first part of the week in the Visayas, particularly in Iloilo and Cadiz, where Roxas comes from.

President Benigno Aquino III has stayed with them on the campaign trail as the administration hopes his presence will boost the ratings of the candidates, who are trailing behind others in the latest surveys.

Roxas and Robredo are running 2nd or 3rd in the surveys. – Rappler.com

OTTAWA, Canada – A Canadian man who disappeared 30 years ago is set for an emotional reunion with his family after he suddenly remembered his name, media said.

Edgar Latulip, whose mental age was that of a child, was 21 when he walked out of a special home in Kitchener, Ontario in 1986, CBC News and other Canadian media reported on Wednesday.

Latulip, who had previously attempted suicide and was on medication, was never heard from again and his mother feared he might have been murdered.

That was until a man with a different identity living 120 kilometers (75 miles) away told his social worker last month that he thought his real name could be Edgar Latulip, after he had flashbacks.

A DNA test confirmed that the man was indeed Latulip.

His mother Silvia Wilson, who later moved to Ottawa, described her surprise when she received the news by telephone last week from a police detective.

"I don't know what to think. I was just kind of blown away," Wilson, 76, told The Record, describing her son as a troubled boy.

"I want to talk to him and help him out any way I can. I just want to see him."

The North American Missing Persons Network described Latulip as having the mental capacity of a 12-year-old.

Niagara Regional Police Constable Philip Gavin told the Toronto Star and CBC that Latulip suffered a head injury after a fall around the time he went missing, impairing his memory so badly that he could not remember who he was, so he created a new identity.

"I've been a police officer for 18 years and this is something I've seen on TV but never been a part of," Gavin told the Star.

"Absolutely, this is quite a rare one."

It was not immediately clear when the reunion would take place. – Rappler.com

BATANGAS, Philippines – The camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday, February 12, condemned the killing of a former Batangas councilor seeking the same post under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) in the May elections.

"Kinokondena at ikinalulungkot namin ang pagpatay kay Councilor Caloy Mabilangan kaninang umaga. Inihahatid ni Vice President Jejomar Binay ang kanyang dalamhati at pakikiramay sa pamilya at mga naiwang mahal sa buhay ni Ka Caloy," UNA spokesperson Mon Ilagan said in a statement sent to reporters.

(We condemn and we are saddened by the death of Councilor Caloy Mabilangan this morning. Vice President Jejomar Binay extends his sympathy to the family left behind by Ka Caloy.)

Radio dzIQ reported that former Santo Tomas councilor Damasino “Caloy” Mabilangan Jr was shot dead by unidentified men riding a motorcycle on Friday morning, while he was jogging.

Binay, running mate Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan II, and members of their senatorial slate, were visiting Batangas that same day.

Politically motivated?

Mabilangan’s brother, former communist rebel Leopoldo “Ka Hector” Mabilangan, was also shot dead on April 3, 1994, in Santo Tomas. At the time, Ka Hector was considering running for town mayor or congressman of the third district of Batangas.

"UNA strongly deplores any form of violence, and will not allow violence to subvert the ends of the democratic process by way of harassment, threats, or any kind of intimidation to disempower political opponents," Ilagan said.

"It is clear that the string of killings and incidence of violence are mostly politically motivated. Ang mga insidenteng ito ay hindi natin maaaring sabihin na isolated dahil tuwing panahon ng kampanya, at habang papalapit ang eleksyon ay lalong tumitindi ang mga patayan at karahasan at target nito kadalasan ay mga kandidato ng oposisyon," he said.

(Incidents like this cannot be considered as isolated because during the campaign season, and as the elections draw near, cases of killings and violence increase and usually, the targets are members of the opposition.)

As of posting, however, police are still investigating the motive behind Mabilangan’s murder.

Beef up security measures

The former Cainta mayor urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to improve security measures during the campaign season.

"Seryosong bagay ito, at dapat mas paigtingin pa ng Comelec ang usaping pang-seguridad upang maiwasan ang madugong halalan (This is a serious issue and Comelec must strengthen security to avoid a bloody election). And since the AFP and PNP are under the Comelec's direct control, we urge the Commission to beef up its campaign against election-related violence," said Ilagan. 

"May mga grupo na alam na mahina sila sa mga lokal (There are groups who know they are weak in the local level) and the only way to gain political advantage is to neutralize the competition," he added. – Rappler.com 

CAMARINES SUR, Philippines – He's every inch their chief campaigner now.

President Benigno Aquino III on Friday, February 12, wore a yellow shirt bearing the Roxas-Robredo names as he led events to court votes for his party coalition that's running in the May 2016 races.

Aquino III and several of his Cabinet members attended the Liberal Party (LP)-led “Daang Matuwid” coalition’s campaign sortie in Iriga City, the second-to-the-last stop in its week-long kick-off for its 2016 campaign. 

Aquino, speaking to residents at a jam-packed Iriga gymnasium, praised LP standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II and running mate Camarines Sur 3rd district Representative Leni Robredo while hitting political opponents. 

Repeating an earlier pitch he made during the coalition’s launch in Roxas City this week, Aquino said that what others promise, his anointed candidates have already done. “Babalik pa ba tayo sa dati (Will we go back to the past)?” said Aquino in selling the candidates who can supposedly continue the supposed reforms of his administration. 

Among those who joined the President were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, Interior Secretary Mel Sarmiento, Health Secretary Janet Garin, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, Public Works Secretary Babes Singson, Presidential Peace Adviser Ging Deles, and Energy Secretary Monsada.

Like Aquino, almost all of them wore yellow shirts with the words “Roxas-Robredo” stitched on the right sleeve. 

Abad, Abaya, Sarmiento and Garin are all members of the ruling party – Abad was once its president, Abaya is its acting president, Sarmiento was its secretary-general. Garin was a member of the LP when she was a legislator. 

The President earlier attended the inauguration of the widened Pili Diversion Road, perhaps to signal that work came before politics. Aquino did the same when he attended the proclamation rallies for Roxas and Robredo in Capiz and Iloilo, attending the inauguration of new infrastructure projects before campaigning for his chosen bets. (WATCH: In Capiz and Iloilo, Roxas, Robredo hit the ground running)

Aquino described Roxas as a silent worker. Roxas was once Aquino’s transportation chief and later, interior secretary. He drew parallels between himself and Roxas, who he said was the target of unfair attacks. 

He also warned against bets who see the vice presidency as a mere stepping stone for the presidency, adding that it’s Robredo who has the skill and sincerity for the second-highest post in the land. 

Aquino has long promised to campaign hard for both Roxas and Robredo, who have yet to dominate 2016 preference polls. The latest surveys put Roxas at either 2nd or 3rd while Robredo is at 3rd. 

Camarines Sur is a vote-rich province, with over a million registered voters for the 2016 elections. But it is not exactly a stronghold of Roxas. When he ran for vice president in 2010, Roxas won over eventual winner Vice President Jejomar Binay by just over 40,000 votes. (READ: Leni Robredo's appeal to Bicolanos: Support Roxas)

In Naga City, Roxas won over Binay by 40,000 votes but in Iriga City, Binay edged out Roxas by some 8,000 votes. – Rappler.com

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi has been given extra security following a death threat on Facebook alluding to her presidential ambitions, officials said Friday, February 12.

In a post last week, a man called Ye Lwin Myint threatened to shoot anyone who tries to change a controversial clause in the constitution which bars pro-democracy champion Suu Kyi from the top office.

While he did not specifically name the 70-year-old Nobel laureate, Suu Kyi has made little secret of her desire to be president.

Her National League for Democracy has taken its seats in parliament after storming last year's election – the freest in decades in the once junta-ruled nation.

But Suu Kyi is blocked from the presidency by a charter clause because her children and spouse were foreign born.

An NLD member, who did not want to be named, but who is close to Suu Kyi, confirmed that extra security measures were in place "since that man's threat."

A senior police official in the capital Naypyidaw confirmed the security boost, also requesting anonymity. 

"Police security has been increased for her (Suu Kyi)... but it is unofficial."

The threat comes at a key time in Myanmar's drawn out power transition.

After her party's November election win, Suu Kyi vowed to appoint a proxy and rule "above" a president who is set to be chosen in March.

But in recent days rumours have swirled of backroom talks towards suspending the controversial 59 (f) clause so she can take the top job. 

It is a highly contentious issue, with some senior members of the still powerful army vigorously opposed to charter change.

Speculation that big political plays are underway in Myanmar was deepened Friday as it emerged that President Thein Sein will not travel to America next week to join Southeast Asian leaders in talks with President Barack Obama.

As well as blocking Suu Kyi's rise, the charter also gifts the military 25 percent of parliamentary seats and an effective veto on constitutional amendments.

Suu Kyi, for years the army's nemesis as the figurehead of the country's democracy struggle, is already protected by a personal security detail.

Her father, independence hero general Aung San, was assassinated in 1947. – Rappler.com

The EDSA People Power Revolution's 30th anniversary isn't a topic of discussion during the campaign of Senator Bongbong Marcos for the vice presidency.

He says voters talk about their needs and not peaceful revolution that overthrew his father, former President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr, in 1986.

Patty Pasion files this report. - Rappler.com

PARIS, France – Ground controllers said Friday, February 12, they would stop sending commands to comet probe Philae, announcing it was "time to say goodbye" to the robot lab resting after a captivating science mission.

"There is indeed little hope to still get a signal from the lander," said Philae project manager Stephan Ulamec of the German Aerospace Center DLR.

The DLR, host of the Philae control centre, said the probe was "probably" covered with comet dust, and shaded from the Sun's battery-replenishing rays on the surface of its alien home.

"We are not commanding any more," Ulamec told AFP of the tiny probe, which captured the hearts and minds of thousands around the world who followed its every move via Twitter.

Mothership Rosetta, orbiting comet 67P/Churyomov-Gerasimenko as it shoots out on its 6.5-year loop around the Sun, will continue listening out for the washing machine-sized lander for a month or two to come.

"We still have the receivers on the orbiter on, we did not switch anything off... it's just to be honest and to be realistic: It's really not likely that we will hear anything any more," said Ulamec.

Philae touched down on 67P on November 12, 2014, after a 10-year, 6.5-billion-kilometre (four-billion-mile) journey through space, piggybacking on Rosetta as part of a groundbreaking European Space Agency (ESA) mission to probe a comet for clues to the origins of life on Earth.

The months that followed yielded many exciting scientific finds, and more than a little drama, as Philae intermittently phoned home between long bouts of sleep.

The lander "tweeted" about his adventures, also captured in a cartoon depicting Philae as a brave little adventurer with a hard hat and studded boots.

Philae's last contact from the surface of 67P was on July 9 last year, and by now the comet is thought to be too far out on its orbit for the lander to have enough energy to reboot.

In a statement entitled "A slow farewell - Time to say goodbye to Philae", the DLR said that out of the Sun's reach, the lander "will go into permanent hibernation -- no longer able to activate its systems in its cold environment."

Philae's initial landing was bumpy -- the lab bounced several times on the surface before ending up at an angle in deep shade.

General consensus: It's over

It sent home data from about 60 hours of comet sniffing and prodding with eight of its 10 instruments, before going into standby mode on November 15, 2014.

In January this year, ground controllers sent commands for Philae to spin up its flywheel in the hopes it would shake dust from its solar panels and better align the robot with the Sun to charge its battery and re-establish two-way contact. The bid failed.

Rosetta will continue its comet observations until September, when it will make a controlled landing and join Philae on the surface of 67P in an endless loop around the Sun.

ESA senior science adviser Mark McCaughrean said the Philae mission cannot be officially declared over, as the absence of a signal does not prove the lander is actually dead.

"But the indications are certainly tending that way: it's getting cold, low sunlight, and less chance every day for renewed contact. After seven months or so without, I think the general consensus is that it's over." – Mariëtte Le Roux, AFP/Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte clarified statements he made regarding labor unions, saying he only meant he would crack down on labor unions that "kill business."

Groups like the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) slammed Duterte for saying he would stop and even kill labor unions.

He said this during his proclamation rally last Tuesday, February 9.

His exact words during his speech were: 

"Tapos kayong mga KMU, medyo pigilan ang mga labor union. Ako na ang nakikiusap sa inyo. Magkasama tayo sa ideolohiya. 'Wag ninyong gawain yan kasi sisirain mo ang administrasyon ko. Pag ginawa ninyo ‘yan, patayin ko kayong lahat. Ang solusyon nito, patayan na lang. Pag-uusapan mo, ayaw eh. So let us come to terms with each other. Do not do it now in active labor front. Kasi pag ginawa mo, sisira. Do not do it. Give the Philippines a respite of about 10 years."

(You KMU, stop it with the labor unions. I am appealing to you. We are one in ideology. Do not do that because you will ruin my administration. When you do that, I will kill you all. The solution here is just killing because when you try to talk to them, they don't want to. So let us come to terms with each other. Do not do it now in active labor front. Because if you do that, things will be ruined. Do not do it. Give the Philippines a respite of about 10 years.)

On Friday, Duterte said he was referring to abusive labor unions that try to destabilize companies for the sake of ideology.

KMU, for instance, is a union associated with the Left, with an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist agenda.

Bad for business

Part of Duterte's platform is to invite foreign companies to develop economic zones and for the government lease out land to investors for 40 years or more.

"Sabi ko, huwag ninyong patayin ang negosyo," Duterte said on Friday. (I said, do not kill business.)

"Kung merong negosyo diyan, magbubukas ako ng economic zones, huwag ninyo patayin ang negosyo, hayaan mo muna. Do not kill it because you will die with it," he said. (If there is business there, I will be putting up economic zones, do not kill business. Let it grow first.)

BMP, however, insisted that workers "do not abuse their constitutional rights to freedom of association and self-organization," pointing instead to companies that exploit their workers through contractualization and starvation wages.

While radical labor unions may have been rampant in the 1970s or 1980s, the same thing cannot be said of most labor unions today. 

"Workers form unions not because they are provoked by radicals. They do so in order to enjoy the rights and standards that are enshrined in the Constitution but which are wantonly disregarded by employers," added BMP. – Rappler.com

DAGUPAN CITY, Pangasinan – Being the son of the brains behind martial law in the Philippines is probably the biggest issue hounding the vice presidential bid of Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

With the 30th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution falling within the campaign period, many are speculating on how this would affect his campaign. 

For Marcos, the landmark anniversary of the revolution that ousted his father and their family from Malacañang does not have much of an effect on his candidacy. 

“Dito sa kampanya na ito, hindi napapag-usapan. Ang media lang nagtatanong tungkol d'yan, ang amin lang katunggali,” Marcos told local reporters in Pangasinan on Friday, February 12. 

(In this campaign, that issue is not brought up a lot. Only the media asks questions about that, and also our political rivals.) 

He said that what locals ask him about during sorties are their practical concerns. 

“When you talk to ordinary people, they do not ask that. What they ask is how can I help them uplift their lives, that they do not have a livelihood and the prices of goods keep on increasing,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“I think that is natural. Ang tao talaga ang gusto nila simple lang naman eh: Bakit kita iboboto, tutulungan mo ba ako? That’s the general sentiment that we get and we have to provide those answers,” he said. (What the public wants to know is simple: Why should I vote for you, are you going to help me?)

Asked how he feels about EDSA’s 30th anniversary, the son and namesake of Ferdinand Marcos hinted that it is time to move on. 

“It is unfortunate to see that if you look at objective measures, instead of progressing, we have regressed in many, many ways since 1986,” he said. 

‘Crucial’ Pangasinan vote 

In his mission to consolidate the “Solid North vote,” the independent vice presidential candidate visited the vote-rich province of Pangasinan. Pangasinan has a voting population of over 1.7 million for the 2016 elections. 

Marcos toured Dagupan, Mangaldan, and Calasiao, but the crowd's reception was not as overwhelming as during his Ilocos and La Union sorties.

Thursday’s Pangasinan tour is only the first of Marcos’ series of visits to the province as he said winning here is “very critical to a national candidate.”

“As I have said, we have to maintain what we have come to call as the Solid North –not only because Pangasinan has a huge volume of votes, but if we can solidly win the favor of the people from the North – we’re talking about Region I, Region II, parts of Region III – that’s a very big thing,” he said. 

After Pangasinan, Marcos will head back to Manila to join Santiago in an event on Sunday, Valentine’s Day. – Rappler.com

Senator Bongbong Marcos visits vote-rich Pangasinan, but the welcome is not as strong as in Ilocos and La Union.

Senator Grace Poe is also in the same province.

Patty Pasion files this VLOG. - Rappler.com