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MANILA, Philippines – Rappler talks to Reynaldo Umali, chairperson of the House of Representatives' justice committee.

The busy committee has its hands full with upcoming debates on the passage of the death penalty into law, more than a decade after former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo junked it. For months, the justice committee held marathon hearings on the alleged illegal drug trade in state penitentiary New Bilibid Prison.

How will the House's justice committee thrive in the Duterte administration's iron-clad rule? Watch our interview with Umali live here on Rappler. – Rappler.com

BEIRUT, Lebanon – At least 15 people were killed on Thursday, January 5, in a car bombing in Syria's coastal city of Jableh, a bastion of the regime, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.

Syrian state television also reported the blast near the town's municipal stadium, blaming it on a suicide bomber.

A local health official told the station the town's hospital had received the bodies of nine dead and was treating 25 wounded.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said it was not clear whether those killed were civilians, regime troops or loyalist fighters.

He said security services had cordoned off the area around the stadium where the explosion took place.

State television showed a burning car surrounded by onlookers. It said the attack had taken place in a crowded street.

In May last year, a series of suicide attacks in Jableh and Tartus claimed by the Islamic State group left more than 170 dead. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – President-elect Donald Trump insisted on Thursday, January 5, he supports the US intelligence agencies despite having cast doubts on their conclusion that Russia interfered with the US presidential election.

"The media lies to make it look like I am against 'Intelligence' when in fact I am a big fan!" Trump said in a two-tweet statement.

"The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange - wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people...to make up their own minds as to the truth."

Trump has cited WikiLeaks founder Assange to express doubts that Moscow was behind the hacking of Democratic Party computers and accounts that led to the release of embarrassing documents and emails via the anti-secrecy group.

The White House, FBI and CIA have all said the top levels of the Russian government were behind the hacking and leaks, which hurt Trump rival Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

But Trump appeared to reject the intelligence agencies' conclusions in tweets Tuesday and Wednesday, preferring Assange's view.

"Julian Assange said 'a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta' - why was DNC so careless?" he said, referring to the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton campaign chief John Podesta.

Leaders of both political parties blasted Trump for his comments.

Assange is "a sycophant for Russia," said Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday. "He leaks, he steals data, and compromises national security."

Democratic Senator Mark Warner said Trump showed "frankly flabbergasting" disrespect for the intelligence officials.

"I think the most important thing the intelligence community can always do is speak truth to power," he told MSNBC.

"And it seems like perhaps the president-elect doesn't want to hear those truths."

Trump's backpedaling came ahead of a Senate hearing Thursday in which Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency director Michael Rogers are testifying on Russian election interference.

And on Friday, the chiefs of 4 top intelligence agencies are scheduled to brief Trump in detail on the alleged Russian hacking. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA – The United States added Hamza bin Laden, son and heir of the late global jihadist leader Osama bin Laden, to its terrorist blacklist on Thursday.

Hamza, who is in his mid-twenties, has become active as an Al-Qaeda propagandist since his father's death at the hands of US special forces in 2011.

According to letters found in the Navy SEAL raid on Osama's hideout in Pakistan, Hamza wrote to the Saudi-born Al-Qaeda leader asking to be trained to follow him.

A CIA analyst who examined the letters told AFP that in July 2009, when Hamza wrote the letter to his father's Abbottabad hideout, they had not seen each other for eight years.

But the elder bin Laden was making plans to send for his son, who was at the time under house arrest in Iran, and planned to groom him to become Al-Qaeda's leader.

Since Bin Laden's death, his Egyptian deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri has taken up the reins of the organization, but Hamza has issued audio messages to supporters.

The State Department order lists Hamza bin Laden as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," meaning that US citizens are forbidden from dealing with him, and freezing any assets under US jurisdiction. – Rappler.com

Welcome back to your old world.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by this fresh chance to orbit anew? Do you think it must have been the one too many drinks and indulgent dishes that you have had over the holidays?  Maybe. But maybe it is also the emotional shots you have had over the holidays.  

Now that we are all coming out of what even scientific studies have found to be one of the most emotionally stressful times of the year, we are even facing a good chance that you could feel worse the rest of this month. And it does not help if you live in temperate countries where the weather is also gloomy at this time of the year.

Think about the emotional smorgasbord that your life was fed with over the holidays. These “high-low” moments take on mostly permanent residences in your brain and they linger like the way those extra calories cling on to become our love handles and thighs. Those memories dig up little wells in your being from where you make those “hugots” (literally, “scoops”.)

A holiday-released study of what some science journalists have called the “emotional hangover” was just the right “antidote” for this episode.  It confirmed the obvious – that emotionally laden events make us remember them more; BUT it also said that it makes the neutral events that happen after them more memorable.

I had a very unique Christmas arrangement this year. My mother, who is an excellent cook, did not feel well enough to cook for Christmas so she declared that I will be the one to bring all the food to her house. When she sent me that message (or warning), I entertained two thoughts: that my mother’s memory (at least about my culinary aptitude) is becoming hazy and/or she has undergone some revolutionary therapy which expunged all memories of my culinary defeats. Apparently, neither was true. She thought I would just buy the food.

But you can’t blame me for thinking that. After all, she was assigning Christmas dinner to this child of hers who, when asked in her tweens to choose how she will spend  about 6 hours a week learning something else other than academic courses, chose to learn opera when about 98% of her batch chose other things – more than half of them, cooking classes. And my mother still apologizes to everyone she knows, saying that my missing out on cooking classes really shows.

Being so much older now, even if I still feel something when she does this, I don’t anymore engage in an emotional scrimmage with mom about this. I grew up with her running commentary on how I moved “like my Dad… so clumsy” and then it will progress to how “I think like my Dad” and that “am so like my Dad.” They have been divorced for about 38 years and the “hugot” is still there for her and this recent Christmas scene is digging up new holes for my own post-holiday “hugot.”

But indeed, now that I think about it, my Mom’s pregnant remarks about my cooking made me remember the holiday details more. I suddenly now know, without looking at the recipe, what goes into the soy chicken I prepared. I have done that dish a few times before and I still had to look up the recipe all the time. I still have to do a cost-benefit analysis of whether remembering soy chicken recipe was worth the emotional price but if only to confirm the study, there it is.

But seriously, even if I had those consistent quality of those moments with Mom all these years, I also had consistently good ones. The whole enterprise of life is really not about some end of the rainbow jackpot. It is about those uncountable galaxies of moments and making meaning out of them like beads you scoop from within and string to stitch up who you are. Some beads will be from “hugots” that are darker than others but they will all connect. You just gotta keep on scooping and stringing, working to live in your old world with a new mind. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – US spy chiefs insisted Thursday, January 5, they have strong evidence that Russia mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the American election, standing firm in the face of Donald Trump's refusal to accept their conclusions.

One day before the heads of 4 top intelligence bodies brief the president-elect on their assessment of Russian meddling in last year's race, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate hearing he had "very high" confidence in their findings.

"The Russians have a long history of interfering in elections, theirs and other people's," he told the Armed Services Committee. "But we have never encountered such a direct campaign to interfere with the election process as we have seen in this case."

"This was a multifaceted campaign. So the hacking was only one part of it, and it also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news." (READ: What we know about Russia's alleged hacking of U.S. vote)

Clapper, National Security Agency chief Michael Rogers and Marcel Lettre, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, told the committee in a joint statement that "only Russia's senior-most officials" could have authorized the operation, in which hackers stole Democratic Party files and emails, which were then disseminated via WikiLeaks, embarrassing the party and harming losing candidate Hillary Clinton's White House effort.

"Russia has clearly assumed an even more aggressive cyber posture by increasing cyber espionage operations, leaking data stolen from these operations and targeting critical infrastructure systems," Clapper said.

No new evidence

Trump, who has pledged a rapprochement with President Vladimir Putin's Russia after taking office on January 20, has repeatedly dismissed that finding.

The Republican has mocked via Twitter past intelligence errors of the CIA, FBI and other agencies, challenging them to prove that the hacking and leaks could be traced up to the top of Putin's government.

As Trump first raised doubts early last month, President Barack Obama ordered the intelligence community to produce a comprehensive report on cyberattacks and Russian interference in the election.

Obama was briefed on the report Thursday, and Clapper, Rogers, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan are expected to detail it to Trump on Friday, January 6.

An unclassified version stripped of sensitive details will be released to the public early next week.

"I think the public should know as much about this as possible," Clapper said.

Nevertheless, Thursday's much-anticipated hearing did not offer any new evidence to back the allegations.

When asked by senators to provide more proof, Clapper repeatedly said he could not do so in public, saying it risked damaging the intelligence community's sources and operations.

"We have invested billions, and we have put people's lives at a risk to glean such information," he said. (READ: Russian hackers penetrated U.S. electricity grid – report)

Soured relations

Friday's briefing for Trump will come amid worries he has already soured relations with key parts of the all-important national security establishment.

In addition to casting doubts on their conclusions over Russian interference, Trump raised more hackles on Wednesday, January 4, by citing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to suggest that anyone, even a 14-year-old child, could have been behind the hacking.

Under strong criticism from politicians of both parties for placing more credibility in Assange than the CIA and FBI, Trump defended himself Thursday.

"The media lies to make it look like I am against 'Intelligence' when in fact I am a big fan!" Trump said on Twitter.

"The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange – wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people...to make up their own minds as to the truth."

Without naming Trump, Clapper said there was "a difference between healthy skepticism and disparagement" of the intelligence community.

"And I've received many expressions of concern from foreign counterparts about, you know, the disparagement of the US intelligence community," he said.

"Public trust and confidence in the intelligence community is crucial," he said.

Asked about Assange's credibility, Clapper said his publication of leaked materials had "put people at risk."

"I don't think those of us in the intelligence committee have a whole lot of respect for him," Clapper said. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has denounced what he said was a dishonest propaganda campaign by rival jihadist group the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS or the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq) against his organization, in an audio message released Thursday, January 5.

In the message found and translated by US-based watchdog the SITE Intelligence Group, the Egyptian extremist accuses ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of slandering his group.

Al-Qaeda, founded by the late Osama Bin Laden, is locked in a battle with the so-called Islamic State – which sprang from its Iraqi faction – for the leadership of a global jihad. (READ: US sees no sign of Qaeda-ISIS pact – Clapper)

In his message, the 65-year-old Zawahiri complained that Al-Baghdadi had alleged that Al-Qaeda opposes sectarian attacks on Shiites and was prepared to work with Christian leaders. 

"The liars insist upon their falsehood, to the extent that they claimed we do not denounce Shiites," Zawahiri said, according to the translation of the message, which was released by Al-Qaeda's media arm.

Zawahiri denied he had said that Christians could be partners in the governance of a future Islamic caliphate, having only said that they could go about their affairs within it.

"What I have said is that they are partners in the land, such as agriculture, trade, and money, and we keep their privacy in it, in accordance with the laws of our Sharia," he said.

And he insisted he had not called for Shiite Muslims to be spared, but had suggested focusing attacks on Shiite-led Iraqi forces and not on random atrocities against civilians.

"I had told them several times to stop explosions in markets, husseiniyats and mosques, and to concentrate on military, security and police forces and Shiite militiamen," he said.

A husseiniyat is a Shiite place of worship and the Iraqi security forces, in their battle against the Islamic State group, are backed by Shiite religious militias.

The Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda have both carried out hundreds of attacks on civilian targets, but some Al-Qaeda propaganda has called for less indiscriminate tactics.

Zawahiri also denied Al-Baghdadi's charge that Al-Qaeda had supported ousted former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist who attempted to rule through the ballot box.

The Al-Qaeda leader, who took charge after Bin Laden was killed by US commandos in 2011, is thought to be somewhere in Pakistan's unruly border region hiding from a global manhunt.

He communicates with the group's remaining supporters through semi-regular video lectures, reiterating – as in his latest message – the need to target the United States.

But Thursday's message did not include any footage of Zawahiri speaking.

The audio message restated the urgency of this goal – "Tell America, to other than Allah we do not kneel" – but also argued for a dialogue on tactics with other jihadists.

"We are not infallible, but we are human beings and we hit and we miss. We must listen to advice," he admitted, while rejecting Al-Baghdadi's criticism.

"What we want is to manage a conversation between those who are working for Islam – and the people of jihad at their forefront – around the best method and wisest techniques to bring victory to the religion," he said, according to SITE. – Rappler.com

NEW YORK, USA – A New York commuter train that derailed this week at a Brooklyn station, leaving more than 100 people injured, was going twice the speed limit at the time of the crash, federal investigators said Thursday, January 5.

The Long Island Rail Road train was going more than 10 miles (16 kilometers) per hour when the accident occurred Wednesday, January 4, at Atlantic Terminal, said a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, Ted Turpin.

The track speed limit is 5 mph, he told a press conference.

The spokesman said the investigation was ongoing, and did not indicate why the engineer might have been speeding when the train slammed into a bumper at the end of the tracks at around 8:30 am (1330 GMT).

The driver remembers entering the station but was "unable to recall striking the end of the track," said Turpin.

The 50-year-old train engineer was finishing his overnight shift when the accident occurred. He told investigators he was not using his cell phone at the time.

He submitted to drug and alcohol testing, but results were not yet available.

Train accidents are not rare in the United States, where the rail system suffers from chronic underfunding. Investigators often take time to discern the precise causes.

Authorities emphasized how happy they were that the crash left no one dead or seriously hurt, given there were hundreds of passengers on board.

In September, a commuter train derailed during rush hour as it entered the station in Hoboken, New Jersey. One person died and 114 were injured.

An investigation into that incident, in which the train entered the station at an unusually high speed, is ongoing. Attorneys for the train engineer have said he suffered from sleep problems, which could have caused the accident. – Rappler.com

CHICAGO, USA – Chicago prosecutors filed hate crime and other felony charges Thursday, January 5, against 4 young men and women accused of holding captive and assaulting a man with special needs in a racially charged attack broadcast live on Facebook.

Video of the assault shows a terrified young white man cowering in the corner of a room as 4 black attackers taunt and beat him, at times yelling "Fuck Donald Trump" and "Fuck white people."

The attack rose to a hate crime because of the victim's "diminished mental capacity, the fact that they tied him up, the obvious racial quotes that they post live on Facebook," Chicago police commander Kevin Duffin said at a news conference.

Authorities did not know whether the victim — who knew one of his assailants from school — had voted in the November election or whether his political leanings had influenced the attack.

Instead, they detailed a series of events that began with what was supposed to be a visit between two school acquaintances over New Year's weekend, but which ended in a 4 to 5-hour long assault on Tuesday, January 3, part of which was broadcast on Facebook.

"There was certainty no premeditation," Duffin said.

No remorse

In the 30-minute video – which quickly spread online – the two female and two male attackers are seen cutting off parts of the victim's clothes, hitting him and hacking off some of his hair at the scalp, causing bleeding.

Authorities did not reveal the identity of the victim, who was tied up during the videotaped attack and had duct tape over his mouth. He was also forced to drink toilet water, and was left bloodied from the abuse.

He was recovering with his parents after being released from the hospital, police said.

Police identified the 4 suspects as Jordan Hill, Tesfaye Cooper, Brittany Covington – all 18 years old – and Tanishia Covington, who is 25.

All 4 face multiple felony charges, including for kidnapping, battery and hate crimes. The hate crime charge alone carries a sentence of at least a year in prison.

The perpetrators had expressed no remorse for their actions, police said.

"The actions in that video are reprehensible," said Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson. "That along with racism have absolutely no place in the city of Chicago or anywhere else."

The unplanned attack came at the end of 4 days in which the victim and his school acquaintance Jordan Hill spent time together visiting friends. Prior to being bound and assaulted, the victim "got into a play fight with Jordan and it escalated from there," Duffin said.

'Savage cruelty'

Before police had announced charges, thousands of social media users, including far-right commentators, claimed without offering evidence that the assault was linked to the Black Lives Matter movement born in protest at police shootings of African Americans.

Conservative US media personality Glenn Beck was among those who tied the attack directly to that movement, also known as BLM.

"Stand up with me and demand justice in Chicago for the beating of a disabled trump (sic) supporter by BLM," Beck tweeted Wednesday night, January 4.

Many similar messages were posted under the hashtag #BLMKidnapping.

Chicago-based civil rights leader Jesse Jackson issued a statement refuting any link to the movement.

"This uncivilized act of brutality broadcast on Facebook Live has nothing to do with our social or civil rights struggle. This is a sickness and is widely rejected," he said.

"No one affirms this insane and savage cruelty. It is a moral and spiritual collapse."

Jedidiah Brown, an African-American community activist in Chicago, said on Facebook that the city's notorious gun violence epidemic, which claimed more than 750 lives in 2016, was part of the problem.

"We in Chicago have embraced such a violent culture," Brown said. "I think we're failing this next generation that's coming up behind us." – Rappler.com

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – More looting and protests against a gasoline price increase erupted in Mexico on Thursday, January 5, a day after an officer was killed and hundreds of people were arrested.

Demonstrators blocked highways and service stations again as protests continued for a 5th day since the government hiked gasoline prices by 20.1% on January 1.

On Wednesday, January 4, looting took place in several parts of the country, as people left stores with televisions, toys and clothes, and more thefts were seen on Thursday.

Business leaders said some 1,000 shops and companies had been looted or vandalized while several stores closed out of fear of being next.

Police have arrested more than 430 people in Mexico state, 106 in the capital Mexico City, and 135 in the eastern state of Veracruz.

Riot police dispersed a small protest with tear gas in the northern state of Coahuila on Thursday while 100 people marched in Mexico City.

"I have grandchildren and I would be ashamed to know that I did nothing" against the price increase, said Emma Cabrera Albarran, a 58-year-old shopkeeper at the Mexico City protest.

A small group protested in front of a service station in Mexico City, shouting "Peña out!" in reference to President Enrique Peña Nieto.

The police officer died in Mexico City on Wednesday after he was hit by a car while preventing a theft at a service station, the city police department said.

Five other officers were injured elsewhere in Mexico City.

President understands 'anger'

Peña Nieto defended the price increase, saying it was necessary due to a rise in global oil prices.

"I understand the irritation and anger among the population in general," he said Wednesday, arguing that keeping the prices at the same level would have been more painful for the economy.

Peña Nieto enacted a sweeping energy reform in 2014 that ended the monopoly held by state firm Pemex, inviting private firms to drill for oil and natural gas as well as own service stations for the first time in decades.

The hike was imposed as the government prepares to stop fuel subsidies and let the market dictate gasoline prices from March.

But the steep increase shocked Mexicans in a country where nearly half the population lives in poverty.

'Out of control'

The national confederation of chambers of commerce, CONCANACO, estimated that between 700 and 800 small and medium-sized companies had been vandalized nationwide.

Separately, the National Association of Self-Service and Department Stores reported looting at nearly 250 shops in the capital and 6 other states.

"It's out of control," association executive Manuel Cardona told Radio Formula. He called on federal forces to intervene, including the army if necessary.

Rafael Mondragon, president of the Mexican Pawnbroker Service Companies, said 32 pawnshops were ransacked, with people using tools to break windows.

"It's an unimaginable situation, unpredictable, like the apocalypse," he told Milenio television.

Dozens of people stormed a supermarket in the central city of Puebla, leaving with televisions, toys and king cake, which is eaten during the Catholic feast of Epiphany, which falls this year on Friday, January 6.

In the suburb of Ecatepec, Agence France-Presse reporters saw looters flee an Oxxo convenience store as police arrived. Five other stores had signs of break-ins, with their windows broken.

In the mega-capital of 21 million people, some 20,000 small stores had closed on Wednesday and some streets were unusually empty over fears that looting could spread.

The store closures cost the businesses $2.4 million, said Humberto Lazcano, president of the local chamber of commerce.

City officials said the situation had calmed down on Thursday. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – The cancer death rate in the United States has dropped 25% from a peak in 1991, mainly due to a steady decline in smoking and advances in early detection and treatment of tumors, new research released Thursday, January 5, shows.

The rate decrease means there were about 2.1 million fewer deaths between 1991 and 2014, according to an annual report by the American Cancer Society (ACS).

"The continuing drops in the cancer death rate are a powerful sign of the potential we have to reduce cancer's deadly toll," ACS chief medical officer Otis Brawley said.

The decreasing death rates were most pronounced for patients suffering from 4 major types of cancer – lung, breast, prostate and colorectal.

Lung cancer deaths among men plummeted by 43% between 1990 and 2014, and by 17% among women between 2002 and 2014, according to the research published in CA: A Journal for Clinicians.

The breast cancer mortality rate for women decreased by 38% between 1989 and 2014.

The drop is even more dramatic among men suffering from prostate cancer – 51% between 1993 and 2014 – and in colon cancer deaths among both sexes, which plunged 51% between 1976 and 2014.

Some 1.68 million new cases of cancer will emerge in the United States this year, the report predicts, along with 600,000 deaths from the disease.

Cancer remains the second most prominent cause of death in the country, behind cardio-vascular ailments.

Gender disparities

Over the past decade, the incidence of cancer has remained stable among women and declined among men by almost 2% a year.

The mortality rate from the disease has dropped by around 1.5% annually among both sexes.

But the report finds significant disparities in incidence and mortality between genders.

In all forms, the frequency of cancer is 20% greater among men and the mortality rate 40% higher.

That difference is mainly due to the risk factors affecting each sex.

Liver cancer, an extremely fatal form of the disease, is 3 times more common in men than women. That partly reflects a higher rate of Hepatitis C infection among men – often associated with unprotected sex – and the fact that men tend to consume tobacco and cigarettes in higher rates.

The largest disparities between the two sexes are for cancers of the esophagus, larynx and bladder, for which incidence and mortality are around 4 times greater in men.

Melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer, is also 60% more frequent among men and the death rate twice as high.

Racial differences decline

At the same time, racial disparities in cancer mortality have declined.

The higher death rate among African-American men compared to white men has declined by almost half in the past quarter-century, from 47% in 1990 to 21% in 2014, the report says.

The disparity also fell among black women compared to white women from a peak of 20% in 1998 to 13% in 2014.

Although cancer death rates in general remained 15% higher among African Americans than among white people in 2014, growing access to health care and prevention contributed significantly to the improvement, the report speculates.

It cites the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's landmark health care reform enacted in 2010, which extended medical insurance to around 20 million previously uninsured Americans.

The number of African Americans without insurance declined by half from 2010 to 2015, dropping from 21% to 11%. Among Hispanics, the rate fell from 31% to 16%.

Maintaining the overall drop in mortality rates "will require more clinical and basic research to improve early detection and treatment, as well as creative new strategies to increase healthy behaviors nationwide," Brawley said.

"Finally, we need to consistently apply existing knowledge in cancer control across all segments of the population, particularly to disadvantaged groups." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The 27-year-old son of Chief Presidential Counsel Salvador Panelo has died from complications of a heart ailment.

"Our beloved son Salvador Carlo Panelo III has joined our Maker. He was 27 years old. Please pray for the repose of his soul," Panelo said on Friday, January 6.

Carlo, as Panelo called his son, had Down Syndrome and a congested heart.

People with such a condition typically pass away before they reach  the age of 15 years. Panelo said he is grateful for the extra years they were able to spend with Carlo.

"We are thankful God gave us a bonus of 12 years to be with him," said Panelo.

The lawyer, described his son as "lovable, playful, and sweet."

"We spent beautiful moments together. He was our Boss, he dominated all of us. What he wanted, he got. When he said, 'No,' he meant no. He will forever remain in our hearts," said Panelo.

Living with Down Syndrome

The lawyer spoke about the joys and travails of raising a special child.

Carlo, who studied at Cupertino, a school for special children, shared his father's love for clothes and impeccable hygiene.

"He was very choosy with his clothes. For years, he would take a bath 3 times a day. He was always mabango (fragrant)," recalled his father.

Carlo was always one to make up his mind about things and stuck to his decision stubbornly, the lawyer said.

Panelo recalled the times Carlo formed an opinion about Philippine presidents, including Duterte.

"He spares no one if he feels like being unfriendly. He growled at two former Presidents, Erap (Joseph Estrada) and GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo). He did it too to PRRD [President Rodrigo Duterte] when the latter went to our townhouse when he was still a candidate," said Panelo.

There was also a time Carlo refused to board a plane bound for the United States when the family was already in Japan for a layover.

Panelo stayed behind with Carlo at the Narita Airport as the rest of their family boarded the plane.

They spent 10 days in Japan because Carlo refused to ride a plane. He only agreed when the rest of the family returned to Narita from the US but even this took "strategic planning to  lure him to the plane," said Panelo.

Carlo's wake at the Cosmopolitan Memorial Chapels in Quezon City will be from January 6 to 10. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo faces graft charges for misusing his province's calamity funds after the Ombudsman on Friday, January 6, found probable cause to indict him.

Degamo faces 11 counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for using his calamity funds to pay for infrastructure projects in 2012.

After Typhoon Sendong hit Negros Oriental in December 2011, followed quickly by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake in February 2012, Degamo requested for assistance to repair damaged infrastructure.

The Department of Budget and Management (DMB) immediately released P480.7 million to the provincial government. The DBM, however, withdrew the Special Allotment and Release Order (SARO) for non-compliance with guidelines for infrastructure projects.

According to the preliminary investigation of the Ombudsman, a negative SARO means that projects funded by the release are no longer supported by appropriation and allotment.

It did not stop Degamo as he proceeded to award P143.2-million worth of contracts for infrastructure projects. The Commission on Audit (COA) issued Notices of Disallowance but the governor did not heed them.

"If respondents had reservations on the legality of the withdrawal of the positive SARO, they could have asked a higher executive authority or secured a judicial directive allowing them to retain control of the funds released to the province. This, respondents failed to do,” Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said in a statement.

As of posting, Rappler was still trying to reach Degamo for comment.

Ordered dismissed

Degamo, even after winning the elections in May 2016, was already ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman in June of the same year. But he refused to vacate his post until he managed to secure a 60-day Temporary Restraining Order (TRO).

Included in the graft charges are Provincial Treasurer Danilo Mendez, Provincial Accountant Teodorico Reyes and Provincial Engineer Franco Alpuerto. Mendez and Reyes were also indicted for 11 counts of Falsification of Public Documents.  

Also facing charges apart from provincial officials are Alejandro Lim, Jr of Lim General Contractor Corporation, Mark Anthony Clemente of CTC Builders and Supplies Inc, Danny Chan of AJAN Jeada Inc, Wilfredo Chu of Bigfoot Construction and Supply, Farouk Macarambon of Fiat Construction Services, Maribel Ranola of Legazpi Premium Development Corporation, and Ricardo Abriol Santos of Richmark Construction and Supply. – Lian Buan/Rappler.com

DHAKA, Bangladesh – An Islamist extremist accused of being one of the masterminds of last year's deadly siege at a Bangladeshi cafe was killed during a pre-dawn raid Friday, January 6, in the capital Dhaka, police said.

The bodies of Nurul Islam Marzan and another suspected extremist were found after officers raided a property in Dhaka's Rayer Bazar neighborhood, a spokesman for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We found two bodies. One of them was Marzan and another was a suspected extremist," additional deputy commissioner Yusuf Ali told AFP, adding that it was not yet clear whether Marzan died in a gunfight or committed suicide.

Ali said that Marzan, who was aged around 30, was "one of the masterminds" of the siege at the upmarket Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1 last year in which 18 foreign hostages were shot or hacked to death.

The Islamic State organization claimed responsibility for the cafe attack, posting images of the carnage as it happened and photos of the gunmen who had posed with the ISIS's black flag.

But Bangladesh police rejected the claim, instead blaming a new offshoot of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a homegrown militant outfit founded in 1998, for the attack.

Bangladesh authorities have accused the same group of being behind a wave of killings of religious minorities, foreigners and rights activists. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – After Chinese tycoon Huang Rulun, Filipino-Chinese businessmen will be the next to fund a mega drug rehabilitation center under the Duterte administration.

The center will rise in a military camp in Carmen, Bohol.

The donations from these businessmen will be coursed through a Cebu-based foundation, Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr said.

"Kausaban Foundation in Cebu City was responsible [for] sourcing the money for the construction of the rehabilitation center," Evasco told Rappler on Friday, January 6.

The organization is composed of Filipino entrepreneurs, some of Chinese descent.

The contributions were made due to efforts of one of President Rodrigo Duterte's envoys to China, Fernando "Ding" Borja, who hails from Bohol. Borja accompanied the President during his state visit to China last September.

“I think we really have to extend our deep appreciation and gratitude to Mr Borja who really facilitated the support of the Chinese businessmen,” Evasco was quoted as saying by The Bohol Chronicleon Thursday.

Cebu firm to build

The Bohol drug rehabilitation center will be built by Cebu architectural firm ArchiGlobal Inc, according to Malacañang.

"The Department of Health signed the Memorandum of Agreement yesterday, January 4, 2017 with ArchiGlobal to build the next Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center inside the military camp in Carmen, Bohol," Presidential Spokesman Undersecretary Ernesto Abella said on Thursday, January 5.

ArchiGlobal, owned and headed by Filipino architect Michael Torres, specializes in architecture, interior design, and master-planning.

It was the firm behind several major real estate projects in Cebu like Apple One Equicom Tower and Grand Residences Cebu.

Abella added that ArchiGlobal Inc has conceptualized and designed "over 40 hectares of land development of residential condominiums and master-planned residential communities" and "over 150 square meters of floor areas for commercial and mixed-use building developments."

Initiatives for another high-capacity drug rehabilitation center comes after the Palace said the government is ready to more actively implement the "second phase" of the war on drugs which will focus on health and rehabilitation.

The Bohol mega drug rehab center will be the second such center under the Duterte administration.

The first is a 10,000-bed center being constructed in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, donated by Chinese billionaire Huang Rulun.

President Duterte himself attended the inauguration of its first phase in November 2016. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A recent report by international human rights watchdog Front Line Defenders said President Rodrigo Duterte "normalized the act of extrajudicial killing in his war on drugs" – a campaign which has already seen over 6,200 deaths in the Philippines in the last 6 months.

"In the Philippines – which already ranks as the most dangerous country in Asia for [human rights defenders] – President Rodrigo Duterte normalized the act of extrajudicial killing in his war on drugs, lowering the political cost of murder and thus raising the risk to defenders whose work threatens powerful interests," the Front Line Defenders said in its Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risk in 2016.

The report released this week said that at least 31 human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Philippines were murdered in 2016. The group also reported 31 deaths in 2015. 

"By calling for the extrajudicial killing of those involved in the drug trade, President Duterte has helped create an environment where murder is being promoted as an acceptable method of dealing with certain problems," the report read.

Duterte, however, often says contradictory things about his policy on drug personalities. In December, he denied allegations that killings being linked to his war on drugs are state-sponsored. (READ: Duterte: We will investigate mysterious killings)

He even warned the police and the military against killing innocent people, but months earlier he reminded soldiers that no matter how many criminals they kill in the line of duty, he will pardon them and even give them a promotion.

The Front Line Defenders in its report also called out Duterte for "threatening to kill HRDs because of their criticism of allegedly drug-related extrajudicial killings." (READ: Duterte's threats alarm rights groups)

The group pointed out that the President's threat "is liable to have a profound impact on the security of HRDs who are already at grave risk."

According to the group, many attacks in 2016 targeted indigenous or environmental rights HRDs in the Philippines who are opposed to extractive or polluting industries.

The report singled out indigenous peoples' rights defender Teresita Navacilla, who was shot dead by two unidentified armed men in Southern Mindanao.

"The attack was alleged to have been perpetrated by soldiers assigned to secure a mining project that the WHRD [woman human rights defender] campaigned against on environmental grounds. There was no progress in the investigation into her murder," the report said.

Global figures

Globally, a total of 281 HRDs were killed in 25 countries in 2016, and 49% of them were defenders of land, indigenous, and environmental rights. 

The report noted that "in the vast majority of cases, killings were preceded by warnings, death threats and intimidation which, when reported to police, were routinely ignored."

In a statement on Tuesday, January 3, Front Line Defenders Executive Director Andrew Anderson demanded "an urgent and systematic response" from 6 countries, including the Philippines, for the killings of HRDs.

"This report honors the hundreds of defenders killed in 2016. We mourn their loss and celebrate their lives and achievements. Each and every peaceful HRD killed is an outrage. The scale of the killings in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines is a bloody indictment of the governments concerned; it demands an urgent and systematic response," Anderson said.

In 2016, many HRDs worldwide were also harassed, detained, or subjected to smear campaigns and other violations. The report also documented hundreds of physical, legal, and social attacks on activists.

Criminalization, according to the Front Line Defenders, was governments' "first choice...to silence defenders and to dissuade others."

In fact, arbitrary detention was reportedly widespread in 2016, ranging from a few hours of detention in Nicaragua to prevent HRDs from attending protests, to years-long house arrests in China.

Smear campaigns

The organization also called out another leader, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, for criticizing "activist left-wing human rights lawyers" who tried to hold British soldiers responsible for murder in conflict zones.

"This type of stigmatization of human rights defenders, and smear campaigns that place them in physical danger, are tactics employed around the world," said Andrea Rocca, Head of Protection at Front Line Defenders.

"Such comments feed an insidious narrative which questions the universal nature of human rights, and puts the burden on activists to defend the legitimacy of their peaceful, critical work."

The Front Line Defenders report also discussed the threats against HRDs in Bangladesh, and in European countries such as Hungary, Poland, Greece, and Turkey, where organizations assisting refugees face harassment due to the "increasing anti-immigrant sentiments and xenophobia." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said on Friday, January 6, that her office will address the complaint against former president Benigno Aquino III over his role in the Mamasapano clash before she steps down in 2018.

Morales made the statement in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the 2017 Tandang Sora Awards at the Tandang Sora Shrine in Quezon City, where she was an awardee.

The Ombudsman was asked when her office would complete its investigation into the complaint against Aquino and others in connection to the deaths of 44 Special Action Force troopers in a botched operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, in January 2015.

"Maybe this year, maybe next year. Matagal pa 'yun, and one and a half years pa (ako sa puwesto). Huwag mo sabihin it will take me one and a half years to conduct an investigation, hindi naman siguro," answered Morales, who is due to retire in June 2018.

(Maybe this year, maybe next year. It will take some time, and I still have one and a half years. Don't tell me it will take one and a half years to conduct an investigation. It won't take that long.)

She said the case is still being investigated to see if there are grounds for a preliminary investigation.

In Juy 2015, the Ombudsman's special investigating panel recommended the filing of administrative and criminal charges against 11 police officers, led by former National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima, in connection with the Mamasapano clash, but absolved Aquino of criminal liability. (READ: Mamasapano Clash: What did Aquino know?)

The fact-finding team concluded then there was not enough evidence to hold the former President accountable for the botched operation. Then Vice President Jejomar Binay had criticized the findings for exonerating Aquino.

Since he stepped down in June last year, 3 complaints have been filed against Aquino in connection with the Mamasapano clash. – Rappler.com

WASHINGTON DC, USA – The US House of Representatives voted Thursday, January 5, to condemn a UN resolution reprimanding Israel over its settlement activity, blasting last month's move by the international body as "an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peace."

The congressional measure passed 342 to 80, with broad bipartisan support. It noted in particular that the US administration's refusal to veto the controversial Security Council measure "undermined" Washington's decades-long position of opposing anti-Israel action at the United Nations.

Incensed US lawmakers – and President-elect Donald Trump– have assailed Barack Obama's outgoing administration for abstaining in the December 23 vote instead of vetoing the UN resolution, essentially clearing the way for its passage.

"I am stunned at what happened last month. This government – our government – abandoned our ally Israel when she needed us the most," House Speaker Paul Ryan told the chamber shortly before the House vote.

"It is time to repair the damage done by this misguided hit job at the UN," he added. "It's time to rebuild our partnership" with the Jewish state.

White House aides have said that while Obama is a firm supporter of Israel, he felt that after 8 years he had simply run out of ways to convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel building on Palestinian land is sabotaging hopes for peace.

The House measure, which is non-binding, calls for the UN resolution "to be repealed or fundamentally altered so that... it is no longer one-sided and anti-Israel" and allows all final status issues toward a two-state solution to be resolved through direct bilateral negotiation.

It also demands that the United States ensures that no action be taken at the Paris Conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict scheduled for January 15, that would impose an agreement on the two sides.

The French-organized talks, to be attended by around 70 countries – but not by Israeli or Palestinian representatives – are being held to reiterate international support for a two-state solution to the conflict.

A similar bipartisan resolution was introduced in the US Senate, where Republican Ted Cruz on Thursday slammed Obama and his administration, saying the failure to veto the UN measure marked their attempt "to lash out... at Israel with their last breath in office."

Cruz said he will propose legislation designed to cut US funding to the United Nations unless the anti-Israel resolution is repealed or made more balanced.

But some congressional Democrats insisted the Capitol Hill vote had more to do with taking a final jab at Obama than condemning his administration's lack of action.

"It's subterfuge. This is about kicking a president on the way out, one more time," fumed House Democrat Gerry Connolly, who voted no on the resolution. – Rappler.com

TOKYO, Japan – Japan recalled its ambassador to South Korea Friday, January 6, to protest the placing of a statue symbolizing victims of Japanese wartime sex slavery outside its consulate in the city of Busan last month.

In a move likely to reignite the decades-old feud over the so-called "comfort women", Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga also announced that high-level economic discussions would be postponed.

"Japan and South Korea are neighbors," Suga said. "It's a very important country. It's extremely regrettable we had to take this action."

"We have repeatedly and strongly requested to the Korean side to take appropriate action to solve this problem," he added.

"But at this moment, the situation hasn't improved. That's why we informed them of these actions."

The statue – a copy of one that sits across the road from the Japanese embassy in Seoul – was initially removed after being set up by South Korean activists in the southern port city on Wednesday last week, December 28.

But local authorities changed tack and did not stop the activists from putting it back after Japan's hawkish defense minister Tomomi Inada offered prayers at a controversial war shrine in Tokyo last week.

Inada's visit last Thursday, January 5 to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors millions of mostly Japanese war dead – but also senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes – drew harsh criticism in South Korea as well as China.

'Very regrettable'

Besides the recall of ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine, Suga also said Japan is ordering home its consul-general in Busan and suspending discussions over a Japan-South Korea currency swap.

"The Japanese government will continue to strongly urge the South Korean government as well as municipalities concerned to quickly remove the statue of the girl," Suga said.

Japan's decision was described as "very regrettable" by South Korean Foreign Ministry Spokesman Cho June-Hyuck.

"Even if there exist difficult issues, the government emphasizes again that it will continue developing South Korea-Japan relations based on trust between the two governments."

Activists had first placed the new statue outside the consulate to mark their opposition to a South Korea-Japan agreement reached a year ago to finally resolve the "comfort women" issue.

Under that accord, which both countries described as "final and irreversible," Japan offered an apology and a one-billion yen ($8.6 million) payment to surviving Korean comfort women.

But critics said the deal did not go far enough in holding Japan responsible for its wartime abuses.

The statue in Seoul – a bronze of a young, seated woman with a small bird on her shoulder – has proved an extremely potent and popular symbol.

Japan says it should have been removed after the comfort-women accord was signed, but Seoul argued it had only agreed to look into the possibility of moving it.

For the past year, activists have maintained a 24-hour vigil to prevent the statue being taken away.

More than two dozen similar monuments have been erected around South Korea, and another dozen or so abroad in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. – Rappler.com

YANGON, Myanmar – The United Nations on Friday, January 6, said its human rights envoy for Myanmar will probe escalating violence in the country, including a military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims, when she visits next week.

UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee's 12-day trip, starting on Monday, January 9, will also take her to Kachin state, where thousands have been displaced by fighting between ethnic rebels and the army.

Intensifying clashes between Myanmar's military and ethnic minorities has undercut Aung San Suu Kyi's vow to bring peace to the country following her party's elevation to government last March.

The Nobel prize winner has also faced strong international criticism for failing to rein-in a months-long military crackdown on Rohingya villagers in northern Rakhine State.

Areas of Rakhine have been in lockdown since October, sending tens of thousands of the Rohingya minority fleeing to Bangladesh.

Lee has slammed the lockdown as "unacceptable" and called for an investigation into claims troops have raped, murdered and tortured civilians from the Muslim minority.

The army vehemently denies the allegations.

"The last few months have shown that the international community must remain vigilant in monitoring the human rights situation there," Lee said in a statement on Friday.

"Apart from what is happening in Rakhine, the escalation in fighting in Kachin and Shan (state)... is causing some disquiet regarding the direction that the new government is taking in its first year."

Lee's criticism of the treatment of the Rohingya, who are loathed by many within Buddhist majority Myanmar, has seen her face threats and demonstrations on previous visits.

Hardline Buddhist monk Wirathu caused outrage when he called her a "whore in our country" for criticizing controversial legislation considered discriminatory to women and minorities.

Myanmar's government says its troops in Rakhine are carrying out legitimate clearance operations to hunt down "terrorists" who attacked police border posts in October.

On Wednesday, January 4, an official commission probing the violence dismissed claims security forces are trying to force the Rohingya out of the country and said there was no evidence troops had carried out rape.

But days earlier the government detained 8 members of the police after a video emerged showing officers beating and kicking unarmed Rohingya villagers. – Rappler.com