KABUL, Afghanistan – Four Afghan policemen and two Spaniards were killed in a 10-hour Taliban siege of a guest house near the Spanish embassy in Kabul's diplomatic quarter, the latest high-profile insurgent attack that ended early Saturday, December 12.

Multiple blasts and gunfire rocked the high-security zone after militants launched the raid Friday evening, just hours after President Ashraf Ghani voiced optimism that a peace process with the Taliban would resume within weeks.

"A group of suicide bombers attacked a guest house... one of the bombers detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate and opened the way to other attackers," the interior ministry said.

"Unfortunately... four policemen were martyred and seven civilians were wounded."

The government in Madrid confirmed that two Spanish policemen were also killed during the assault, which saw the powerful car bomb rip open the gates of the embassy compound.

The blast sent a thick plume of smoke into the sky and was followed by multiple explosions through the night along with sporadic bursts of gunfire. 

Security forces near the embassy ducked from gunshots as they hauled away a limp body and two wounded men through the dark to a waiting ambulance – one bleeding from the head, the other a policeman with a gunshot wound to his leg.

The guest house was left scarred with shrapnel and littered with piles of rubble. 

Madrid denounced the assault as "an attack on Spain".

The interior ministry said 12 guests from the facility in the wealthy enclave of Sherpur were rescued, but did not confirm their nationalities.

Afghan officials said the last of the four assailants was killed in the early hours of Saturday.

The attack follows a deadly 27-hour Taliban siege of Kandahar airport this week as the militants ramp up attacks despite the onset of the harsh winter season, when the fighting usually calms down.

The Taliban also claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, saying the guest house had been the target.

The wealthy enclave of Sherpur is home to several foreign NGOs and the residences of senior government officials, including controversial former warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, Afghanistan's first vice-president.

'Expecting talks is foolishness'

The attack comes just days after Ghani's high-profile visit to Pakistan, where he shored up international support to restart peace talks with the Taliban.

As the president held talks in Islamabad on Wednesday, at least 50 people were killed in a long Taliban siege of Kandahar airport, the largest military installation in southern Afghanistan.

Eleven suicide attackers breached the high-security complex, which also houses a joint NATO-Afghan base, taking families hostage and triggering firefights with soldiers.

"By mounting big attacks, the Taliban are making clear that they are not interested in peace talks," Kabul-based analyst Jawed Kohistani told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Or that they are keen to wrangle big concessions from Kabul before they come to the negotiating table."

As the country grapples with a Taliban upsurge, Afghanistan's spy chief on Thursday quit his post, laying bare disagreements with Ghani over his diplomatic outreach to Pakistan, long blamed for nurturing the insurgency.

The resignation of Rahmatullah Nabil on Thursday highlighted the domestic backlash Ghani faces over his attempts to repair strained relations with Islamabad.

The president has staked considerable political capital in advocating bonhomie with Afghanistan's neighbour. 

Ghani shrugged off Nabil's criticism on Friday, saying Pakistan had promised to go after Taliban factions that refuse to stand down.

"Without positive support from Pakistan, won't the war in Afghanistan keep dragging on?" Ghani asked a press conference on Friday.

"The time has come for different Taliban factions to choose peace... the talks will start in the coming weeks."

But the Taliban rebuffed his remarks.

"The mujahideen are making rapid military gains, capturing territory and destroying enemy centers," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter.

"Expecting us to surrender and come for talks is foolishness." – Mushtaq Mojaddidi, AFP/Rappler.com

LE BOURGET, France (UPDATED) – The Philippines is set to adopt the UN climate change agreement as it appears in the latest draft, according to delegation spokesman Tony La Viña.

"We have recommended to the delegation head, Secretary Manny de Guzman, that the Philippines, in the plenary session that's happening soon, adopt or recommend the adoption of the Paris agreement in toto, or without any change in the text because it already has the full package," La Viña told Rappler a few minutes after a meeting of the Philippine delegation.

During the meeting, De Guzman, who heads the Philippine delegation, said the team would accept the latest version as the final agreement.

"This is a historic agreement. We've gone this far. Let's maintain it," he told the group who had gathered to analyze the clean text of the pact released by the French presidency of the UN climate summit in Paris (COP21).

This decision means that at a plenary slated to happen at 5:30 pm (12:30 am on Sunday, Manila time), the Philippines, represented by De Guzman, will declare the Philippines' acceptance of the agreement.

The Philippines will also not join calls to open the text, meaning to put the agreement up for discussion again.

Big wins for PH

The UN climate pact, which may or may not be adopted by other countries at the plenary, is generally good for the Philippines, said La Viña.

In fact, some of its key provisions were penned by Philippine negotiators. (READ: 4 crucial things PH wants from the UN climate pact)

"The [government] agencies are quite happy about what we have here. We actually think we’ve shaped the agreement. That’s good for the Philippines, good for our people," he told Rappler.

The major wins are the following:

• Reference of the 1.5°C target
• Inclusion of human rights in the preamble
• Inclusion of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage (WIM)
• Use of the term "climate justice"

Though the Philippines had wanted the concrete target of the agreement to be to hold global warming below 1.5°C instead of below 2°C, it's still the first time that the 1.5°C target made it to a major climate agreement.

The specific line in the text commits the world to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels."

The Philippines' "leadership in the CVF [Climate Vulnerability Forum] really made that possible," said La Viña, referring to the country's chairmanship of a group of high-risk countries who have been the strongest supporters of the 1.5°C warming cap.

The line in the preamble that requires actions against climate change to consider human rights obligations is also the "original language" that came from the Philippine team.

The final draft of the Paris climate agreement is the first international deal to mention "climate justice," a phrase that means a lot for a country with negligible carbon emissions yet with among the greatest losses to climate-linked disasters.

'Concerns' with some provisions

Despite the gains, the Philippine team is still concerned with certain parts of the agreement.

For instance – a line stating that loss and damage from climate impacts cannot be the basis for establishing liability of carbon polluters.

But the good news is that this line is no longer in the operative part of the agreement, as it had been in a previous draft.

"It's not part of the legally-binding language in the agreement so it's not as harmful as it would be. Otherwise, it would be a red line," said La Viña.

The current text still allows the Philippines to take it up again in the next UN climate change summit.

Provisions on climate finance, capacity-building, and technology transfer to help vulnerable countries prepare for typhoons, drought, sea level rise, and more climate impacts also have much room for improvement, said La Viña.

"But we recognize that this is a negotation and this will have to continue to really advance [these issues]," he added. – Rappler.com

PARIS, France – The global climate deal that the United Nations (UN) climate change conference (COP21) is about to forge in France on Saturday, December 12, may not be as ambitious and strong as civil society groups hoped, but they say it is a significant step in reducing the risks.

Major green groups and activists expressed cautious optimism on the deal that has been tabled by the French Presidency, awaiting endorsement from 195 ministers who drilled through contentious drafts in the past two weeks in Le Bourget.

"The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned. This deal puts the fossil fuel industry on the wrong side of history,” Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said.

Emma Ruby-Sachs, Avaaz acting executive director, noted that “if agreed, this deal will represent a turning point in history, paving the way for the shift to 100% clean energy that the world wants and the planet needs.

Meanwhile, Bill McKibben, 350.org co-founder, noted that “every government seems now to recognize that the fossil fuel era must end and soon,” but he cautioned that "the power of the fossil fuel industry is reflected in the text, which drags out the transition so far that endless climate damage will be done.

On Saturday, 350.org lead a huge protest that defied the French government's ban on demonstrations in the wake of the November 13 terror attacks that left the city in shock. (READ: Defiance in Paris as #COP21 wraps up)

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Climate justice! People power! System change! <a href="https://twitter.com/rapplerdotcom">@rapplerdotcom</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/VoltaireTupaz">@VoltaireTupaz</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/atomaraullo">@atomaraullo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/shiela_rc">@shiela_rc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/YebSano">@YebSano</a> <a href="https://t.co/0tvWAFlP0S">pic.twitter.com/0tvWAFlP0S</a></p>&mdash; Climate Reality PH (@ClimateRealPH) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateRealPH/status/675685123615023109">December 12, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

An emotional French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who presided over nearly a fortnight of talks in Paris, delivered the proposal to ministers.

The deal would "aim at limiting warming of the planet since the Industrial Revolution to 'well below' 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and strive for an even more ambitious goal of 1.5C,” Fanius gave assurances. (READ: #COP21: Final draft of global climate pact out)

Fabius also announced the deal would set a "floor" in funding, in which at least $100 billion (92 billion euros) a year from 2020 would be channelled to help the developing world fight global warming.

"It is my conviction that we have come up with an ambitious... agreement," Fabius said, telling the ministers they would achieve a "historic turning point" for the world if they endorsed it.

Disappointment

Other groups expressed disappointment over the outcome if the conference, saying that the agreement offers a frayed life-line to vulnerable countries and communities. (WATCH: #COP21: Not ready for 1.5-degree-Celsius cap?)

"Only the vague promise of a new future climate funding target has been made, while the deal does not force countries to cut emissions fast enough to forestall a climate change catastrophe,” Oxfam executive director Helen Szoke said.

According to Samantha Smith, leader of the WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Initiative, efforts of countries from now on must be measured against their commitments.

She’s stressed, "most importantly, they still need to actually deliver on that goal going forward, which must include assistance for the poor and vulnerable who will suffer from the immediate impacts of climate change. – With a report from Agence France-Presse / Rappler.com

DAMASCUS, Syria – A powerful car bomb exploded near a hospital in the central Syrian city of Homs on Saturday, December 12, killing 16 people and wounding dozens, the provincial governor and a monitoring group said. 

Talal Barazi said the blast near the Al-Ahli hospital, in the Al-Zahraa neighborhood where most residents belong to the same Alawite sect as President Bashar al-Assad, killed 16 people.

Another 54 were wounded, some seriously, and being treated at hospitals throughout the city.

The vehicle used in the attack, which has yet to be claimed, had been carrying at least 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of explosives, Barazi added. 

There was no immediate information available on the situation inside the hospital, but the facades of many buildings appeared to have been severely damaged.

Debris from the explosion had punched through the windshields of cars parked along the street.    

Firefighters, security forces and dozens of other men packed into the residential street where the blast occurred, searching for victims and seeking to rescue the injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said 16 people were killed, and dozens wounded, adding that some of them are in critical condition. 

The attack comes just three days after hundreds of rebel fighters and civilians were evacuated from the city following a deal with the regime. 

The deal, overseen by the United Nations, will see Homs' last rebel-held neighborhood, Waer, turned over to government forces in exchange for humanitarian aid for besieged residents. 

'Body parts on the ground'

"The explosion was terrifying. Body parts were on the ground... It was one of the biggest explosions to hit Homs," a 28-year-old woman working in a neighbourhood coffee shop told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

"The blast left a huge crater, and people were running in every direction in fear of more explosions," she added. 

Syria's government condemned the attack, calling it a "cowardly terrorist explosion". 

"These terrorist explosions will not discourage the Syrian people from national reconciliation and fighting terrorism," said Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi in comments carried by state news agency SANA.

A second blast was heard in the city, but its cause was unclear, the Observatory said. 

Once known as the capital of Syria's revolution, Homs will be under the full control of the regime by the end of January. 

The Britain-based Observatory and local activist groups said a UN convoy carrying humanitarian aid was due to enter Waer Saturday morning, but there was no confirmation from UN representatives in Damascus. 

More than 250,000 people have been killed in Syria's conflict since it erupted in March 2011 with anti-government protests. 

Elsewhere on Saturday, 10 people, including a child, were killed in air strikes on the rebel-held town of Atareb in the northern Aleppo province, the Observatory said. 

It was unclear whether the strikes were conducted by government warplanes or Russia's air force, which has been carrying out an air war in Syria since September.

The monitor relies on a network of sources on the ground to collect its information, and identifies aircraft based on their flight patterns and munitions used. – Rappler.com

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – A 43-year-old woman claiming to be Senator Grace Poe's aunt, as well as the presidential aspirant's supposed "sisters," have expressed willingness to undergo DNA testing to help bolster her claim that she is a natural-born Filipino.

Lorena de Chavez introduced herself to Poe as her aunt  when they met after the senator led a Senate hearing on the Aksyon Radyo incident at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol on Thursday, December 10.

De Chavez said she felt “lukso ng dugo” or an instant familial bond with Poe when she first met the senator.

De Chavez claimed that her older sister, Victoria Rodriguez, and Pacito Montañez – both dead – are Poe's biological parents.

De Chavez, a resident of Barangay East Valencia in Buenavista town, Guimaras, also claimed that Poe has two sisters living in Guimaras: Mayin, 40; and Magdalena, 38.

“We are very much willing to undergo DNA testing,” she said.

De Chavez said they had known ever since that Poe was a family member but only decided to surface now because of the senator's citizenship questions.

“Sang sini lang sang gin-question ang iya citizenship, amo to nga daw naluoy na kami sa iya. Ang gina-after namon subong nga mabuligan sia kag makilala n’ya na ang pamilya ya,” she said.

(Now that they're questioning her citizenship, we pity her. What we're after now is to help her and to get to know who her family is.)

Poe instructed her staff to get De Chavez's contact number so she can get in touch with her anytime with

The senator said she was "happy" with the latest development.

"Ako po'y masaya kung sakali totoo. Kung merong basehan, gusto ko ding magpa-DNA test kung sila ay papayag dahil malaking tulong din sana ito (I'm happy, in case it's true. If there is basis, we will seek their consent for a DNA test because this will be a big help)," Poe said.

Poe said she was able to talk to Chavez for about 5 minutes and told the  latter that they seem to have the same forehead. “Napansin ko pareho ang noo namin. Pero maraming naman yatang Ilonggo at mga taga Iloilo na pareho ang noo katulad ko.”

(I noticed that we had the same forehead. But I think there are a lot of Ilonggos who have the same forehead as mine.)

Poe, who faces several disqualification cases because of citizenship and residency issues, reiterated her stand that she has met all the requirements to run for president.

“Para sa amin, naniniwala kami sa kinatatayuan naming legal na basehan ngayon pa lamang. We believe in our legal arguments. It would be nice and might expedite the case if we could prove that I have actually blood relatives here in Iloilo,” she said.

Last month, two people took DNA tests to check if they're genetic matches to Poe, but both tested negative.

Poe, who was left and found in a church in Iloilo in 1968, was adopted by actors Fernando Poe Jr and Susan Roces. – Rappler.com

LE BOURGET, France – Here is the full text of the draft Paris Agreement, released Saturday, December 12, during the UN climate change conference in France. 

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- Rappler.com

LE BOURGET, France – Several leading scientists said Saturday, December 12, that the final draft of the Paris Agreement on climate change is a good start if the world wants to avert a potential global disaster.

"The final draft text recognizes the imperatives of the science community to tackle climate change," said Corinne Le Quere, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

"The 3 key elements to do it are there in some form: keep warming well below two degrees, practically move away from fossil fuels, and review each country’s contribution every 5 years so they scale up to the challenge," Le Quere said in a statement.

The document, in its latest form, "sends a clear signal to policy makers, businesses and investors to start the transition to a low carbon and climate resilient society," said Steffen Kallbekken of the CICERO research center.

Scientifically speaking, the new text in Article 4 of the final draft, which talks about the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), is "clearer in scientific terms than what we had before," said Joeri Rogelj, the lead author of the UN Environment Programme Emissions Gap Report.

"Importantly, the benchmarks in terms of global peaking and global emissions reductions are consistent with the 1.5°C and 2°C temperature targets," Rogelj said.

However, experts are still cautioning that the deal is just the beginning.

"Paris is a global starting point. Now we need action consistent with science to reach decarbonization by 2050 and sustainable development," said Johan Rockstrom of the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Diana Liverman, director of the Institute of the Environment of the University of Arizona, also said that the draft agreement shows a "significant step" in cutting human-induced climate change, but "certainly does not eliminate them."

Kallbekken also cautioned that the draft document does not say anything specific about countries' level and timing of emission cuts, and provides no "useful yardstick" for measuring progress.

"While not inconsistent with science, this does not reflect the best available science," he said.

Liverman also noted that funding for adaptation and loss and damage is "even more urgent."

"There is no indication of how much of the $100 billion a year in finance promised to developing countries in the agreement will be allocated to the vulnerable to cope with the impacts of climate change," she added. –Rappler.com

NAIROBI, Kenya – Seventy-nine "enemies" and eight government soldiers died during and after Friday's coordinated attacks on three military bases in Burundi, an army spokesman said on Saturday, December 12.

"The final toll of the attacks yesterday is 79 enemies killed, 45 captured and 97 weapons seized, and on our side eight soldiers and policemen were killed and 21 wounded," said Colonel Gaspard Baratuza.

The army on Friday said that 12 rebel gunmen had been killed and 21 captured, but on Saturday morning residents of different neighbourhoods of Bujumbura awoke to find at least 39 corpses lying in the streets.

"Fighting continued into the night and the corpses found in these neighborhoods this morning are enemies," said Baratuza. (READ: Dozens of corpses lie in streets day after Burundi attacks – witnesses)

Several witnesses accused soldiers and police of extrajudicial killings, describing security officers breaking down doors to homes, dragging out young men and executing them.

Some of the victims had their arms tied behind their backs while others were killed at close range, according to witnesses.

The army spokesman declined to comment on the details of the fighting and deaths.

The government collected the bodies from the streets of Bujumbura on Saturday and sources said they were swiftly buried in mass graves in the afternoon, "to prevent the spread of disease."

But some residents accused authorities of trying to hide evidence of massacres perpetrated by the security forces.

This week's violence is the worst since a failed coup attempt in May, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term which he won in July's elections.

Hundreds have been killed in protests, armed attacks and assassinations since the unrest began in April and more than 200,000 have left the country, according to UN figures. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – For two weeks, the world will converge in Paris for the most crucial environmental conference of our generation: COP21, or the United Nations climate change conference.

Will humanity finally come to an agreement on how to save our planet, or will the conference be another failure? This will be the main question on everyone's minds – and Rappler will be in the thick of the action in Paris.

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Follow Rappler's Voltaire Tupaz, Pia Ranada, Fritzie Rodriguez, and KD Suarez as they cover the negotiations, the side events, the rallies, and more, direct from France, via our live blog.

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#ClimateChange: A Rappler special coverage

• FAST FACTS: What’s happening in Paris in December? 10 things to know
• TIMELINE: The long road to the climate summit of the century
• VIDEO: Climate change, explained by a kid
• SPECIAL REPORTS: Signals: Indigenous communities and climate change | Tug of War | Blame Game
• INTERACTIVE: The Commuter's Climate Change Calculator

WASHINGTON, United States – President Barack Obama on Saturday, December 12, praised the "strong" and historic" accord hammered out in Paris, which he said could mark "a turning point for the world" on climate change.

"The Paris agreement establishes the enduring framework the world needs to solve the climate crisis," the US leader said at the White House. 

"It creates the mechanism, the architecture, for us to continually tackle this problem in an effective way."

Obama added: "We came together around the strong agreement the world needed. We met the moment."

The US president praised the deal as "an enduring agreement that reduces global carbon pollution and sets the world on a course to a low carbon future."

He thanked his counterpart, French President Francois Hollande for hosting the talks "with patience and resolve," as well as the nearly 200 other nations that took parts.

"Together we've shown what's possible when the world stands as one," he said, cautioning, however, that the accord is just a first step toward taming climate change which if unchecked could eventually lead to global devastation.

"Even if all the initial targets set in Paris are met, we'll only be part of the way there when it comes to reducing carbon from the atmosphere, so we cannot be complacent because of today's agreement," said Obama.

"The problem's not solved because of this accord, but make no mistake, the Paris agreement establishes the enduring framework the world needs to solve the climate crisis."- Rappler.com

LE BOURGET, France – A 195-nation wrangle that ended Saturday, December 12, with a historic Paris pact to curb global warming had to be the anti-Copenhagen: as flawlessly organized as the 2009 summit was chaotic, as much a success as the other was a traumatizing blow for climate diplomacy.

By nearly any measure and all accounts, France pulled it off.

From the gourmet tofu sandwiches to the subtle handling of negotiations compared by one analyst to a 12-dimensional Rubik's Cube, the French hosts of the UN climate conference have been showered with praise.

"It's the most skillful diplomacy I've seen in the more than two decades that I've been going to this kind of meetings," former US vice president Al Gore told Agence France-Presse (AFP). (Full text: Paris Agreement on climate change)

"It's quite eerie, I must tell you," said WWF climate expert Tasneem Essop, a veteran of the often messy 21-year process, commenting on how negotiating deadlines were being met. "It never happens."

After the fiasco of Copenhagen –  which ended with some 115 world leaders scrambling overnight to save face and cobble together a political accord – hosting the next critical climate conference was a big risk. 

Getting virtually all the world's nations to agree on transforming the energy system underlying the world economy was bound to be tricky. 

But the French did not have to push hard for the assignment. "We were chosen, but I must point out that we were the only candidate," Fabius has said more than once.

Preparing the stage 

It was no secret that climate change was not at the top of French President Francois Hollande's agenda when he took office in 2012.

But as the conference loomed he got personally involved.

Hollande spoke frequently and forcefully on the need to beat back the threat ofclimate change, and focused especially on the plight of poor and vulnerable nations, underlying the need for hundreds of billions of dollars, euros and yen inclimate finance.

Two years ahead of the rendezvous, Fabius started to prepare the stage.

"I mobilised our diplomatic network, started organising international meetings, and put together my team," he told AFP in his windowless office at the sprawling conference centre on the outskirts of Paris.

The 69-year old former prime minister – both avuncular and severe, wire-rimmed glasses often perched on the end of his nose -- made 12 trips to China, and four each to India and Saudi Arabia, historically a spoiler in climate talks.

Days before the conference opened, Fabius made rapid-fire pitstops in India, Brazil and South Africa – all crucial for success. 

The cornerstone of Fabius' team was a diminutive, silver-haired ex-professor partial to Converse sneakers. 

Appointed France's top negotiator, Laurence Tubiana clocked tens of thousands of kilometres in the run up to the COP21 crisscrossing the globe to charm, coax, and cajole key actors in the climate drama.

She also managed to work in a quick appendectomy just before the gruelling conference began.

 Diplomatic masterstroke 

Inviting heads of state to kick-off the conference rather than to close it – as happened in Copenhagen – was a masterstroke, diplomats and analysts say.

In the Danish capital, ministers negotiating the deal were afraid to take decisions knowing their leaders were about to hit town, they said.

In Paris, China was the first to accept, and by the time world leaders gathered on November 30 – barely two weeks after the worst-ever terror attack in France – they numbered 150.

And then they went home, turning over the job of hammering out the deal to rank-and-file diplomats and ministers. 

"When I later talked with the negotiators, I could remind them: 'Your boss said that we need to get a positive result'," Fabius said.

Fabius also got high marks for "transparency", diplomacy jargon for an open-book process devoid of secret, back-room deals.

"There was no arrogance or pretentiousness," said Seyni Nafo, a negotiator from Mali and spokesperson for the Africa Group. 

Experts said the successful outcome also owed a lot to France's vast diplomaticnetwork, the second largest in the world after the United States.

"Conferences of this size only come along once or twice in a decade, and it's a complicated job to pull off," commented Camille Grand, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. 

"It's a success for Laurent Fabius, who really threw himself into it, and for Francois Hollande, who mobilised the heads of state and government." - with reports form Catherine hours, AFP/Rappler.com

WASHINGTON, United States – Five US states were immune to the bloody, perpetual series of mass shootings in the United States this year, which has seen more of them than the number of days gone by.

Experts debate whether the states were spared thanks to coincidence or if circumstances there make them a haven of peace.

As of December 2, 353 mass shootings have killed 462 people in 220 cities, according to the shootingtracker.com website. 

A total of 1,317 people were wounded, after adjusting for the latest toll from the last mass shooting, which saw a husband and wife couple kill 14 and wound 22 in San Bernardino, California, the deadliest such tragedy in three years.

If there is no slowdown to this frenetic pace, there will be as many such traumatic deadly events as there are days in the year. Or more. (Timeline: Deadly US mass shooting)

The count includes all events that have killed or wounded at least four people.

Hawaii, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming alone were spared such macabre fate.

All of them except West Virginia have not seen a single mass shooting since 2013, when the website first began its count based not on official figures but on reports obtained from media reports and other sources.

The outcome owes in part to the relatively low population density in those states, experts say.

Wyoming, home to 584,000 people, is the least populous state, according to 2014 estimates from the US Census.

North Dakota, with 739,500 people, is the fourth least populated state (ranking 47th out of 50 overall by population).

"Naturally, we would expect that states with smaller populations would have fewer mass shootings, on average," University of Alabama criminologist Adam Lankford told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The most populous state, California with 38.8 million people, had the second biggest number of shootings so far this year -- 25.

Florida, which counted the most – 27 – shootings, has a population of 19.9 million, making it the third most populated state.

'Lucky this year' 

The five states are also among the most rural. Most lack major cities, except for Hawaii, with Honolulu having a population of about 375,000.

So people in these states are less likely to live in cities than those in most other US states.

"This affects their risk and probability of experiencing a mass shooting," Lankford said.

"Although school and workplace shootings do occur in towns and other rural areas, there are many types of mass shootings that mostly occur in cities, such as mass shootings that arise from gang violence, organized crime, and other criminal activity."

But their immunity to these incidents is counterintuitive.

None of these five states, except for Hawaii, has adopted strict gun control legislation, and it is often easier to own one there than elsewhere in the United States.

Wyoming namely does not regulate the transfer or possession of machine guns and no state permit is required to purchase a rifle, shotgun or handgun.

That earns it an F from the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, an advocacy group. North Dakota and West Virginia also get that lowest possible grade.

New Hampshire fared just a hair better, with a D-. 

Hawaii, in contrast, got a B+, because of its license and registration requirements, ban on assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines, child access prevention requirements and restriction on openly carrying of handguns and long guns.

An increasingly frustrated President Barack Obama has repeatedly called for stricter gun control legislation, but his calls have gone unheeded.

The easy flow of weapons, experts say, triggers more mass shootings because guns can end up in the wrong people's hands.

There have been numerous shootings in those five states, but always fewer than four victims.

"None of them have done anything innovative or effective to prevent mass shootings, it just happens to be an unfortunate coincidence," said Adam Winkler of the UCLA School of Law.

Winkler, who wrote "Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America," said there was "no doubt" that gun rights advocates will point to the lack of mass shootings in those states as proof that less gun control means more safety.

Yet "it is very difficult to reduce mass shootings, mainly because most of the guns used in these shootings are purchased legally," he added. 

"I don't think it is possible to stop mass shootings at the state level, even if, of course, they can take some actions."

Lankford thinks it has more to do with coincidence than anything else.

"I think these states have been lucky this year, and in the future they are unfortunately more likely to experience some mass shootings," he said.

Mass shootings remain "very rare" events in the United States, with a population of nearly 320 million, said James Jacobs of New York University School of Law.

"It is unlikely that any policy initiative can prevent such rare events," he added, noting that California has some of the nation's strictest gun controls.

So shootings can take place at random, and "luck could continue" for those five states, according to Jacobs. - Shahzad Abdul, Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com 

LE BOURGET, France – Tired but victorious.

This was how the head of the Philippine delegation to the UN climate talks in (COP21) described the mood of the team minutes after leaving a plenary during which the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted by over 190 states.

“I think I can speak for the rest of the delegation, we are very tired. Because these past days, these marathon negotiations, we really lacked sleep,” said Emmanuel “Manny” de Guzman, also a Climate Change Commissioner, on Saturday, December 12, the last day of COP21.

The night was a moment of achievement for the 158-member delegation who endured over two weeks of negotiations, grappling with complicated text to ensure the final agreement will have the Philippines’ interests at heart. 

COP21 President and French foreign minister Laurent Fabius’ sealing the deal with his gavel was greeted with thunderous applause and standing ovations from multiple halls in the sprawling conference venue.

For some members of the Philippine delegation, some of whom even attended the first UN climate negotiations in 1995, it was a culmination of years of effort.

“This is a victory for all. This is a victory for humanity because we’ve found a common ground. We have a universal and balanced, ambitious, and acceptable agreement,” said De Guzman.

Tense lead-up

The entire Saturday had been a tense one as countries awaited the release of the final draft of the agreement until around 11:30 am, Paris time.

Country delegations then spent around 4 hours analyzing each line of the document and attending meetings of negotiating blocs they were part to agree on a position.

A turning point during these crucial hours was the decision of the largest negotiating bloc, G77+China, to adopt the final draft without any changes. The Philippines belongs to this bloc.

The group of over 130 developing countries is influential due to sheer numbers and membership of China, now the world’s top carbon emitter.

A member of the Philippine delegation inside the G77+China meeting said the mood in the room when this decision was made was “very celebratory.” Rounds of applause greeted every statement.

De Guzman offered the world’s victory to farmers and fishermen back home in the Philippines.

“Sa climate change agreement na ito, mayroon tayong masasabing pag-asa. Pag-asa na maiangat natin ang kalagayan ng ating magsasaka, mangingisda at protektahan natin sila sa impact ng climate change,” he said. 

(In this climate change agreement, we can say there is hope. Hope for us to uplift the conditions of our farmers and fisherfolk, and to protect them from the impact of climate change.)

Farmers and fishermen are among the most at risk of suffering from climate change because their livelihood is intimately tied with nature’s balance.

Intense drought can cause certain crops of farmers to die out. Warming ocean waters and coral bleaching can harm marine ecosystems, thereby reducing fish catch for fishermen.

Not to mention the fact that it’s farmers and fishermen who often have to start from scratch when a strong typhoon hits their communities.

Though lacking sleep, De Guzman said many Philippine delegation members would celebrate with Paris-based Filipinos who offered to throw them a party that night. 

It would be a night of victory for the team, but also of gratitude. – Rappler.com

LONDON, United Kingdom – British Prime Minister David Cameron is prepared to drop a key demand in order to strike a deal on renegotiating Britain's membership of the European Union, several newspapers reported Sunday, December 13.

London had sought to limit access to state benefits for migrants from within the EU, but that demand could be set aside if other ways of limiting migration were agreed instead, the Telegraph, Times and Independent reported, citing government sources.

The idea, which would have forced EU migrants to wait four years before accessing state benefits in Britain, had been a key point in Cameron's renegotiation of Britain's membership of the 28-member bloc, ahead of a referendum on whether the country should remain in the EU due by the end of 2017.

Dropping the demand would allow for a referendum to be held as soon as July 2016, the Independent reported. EU leaders are due to discuss reforms to Britain's membership in a summit in Brussels this week.

"Levels of migration from the EU to the UK are a major concern for the British people... What matters most is to fix the problems, not the precise form of the arrangements," the Independent quoted a government source as saying.

The Telegraph, meanwhile, cited a senior British official as saying: "The four-year requirement is the basis for the discussions. That is the PM's idea but if there are other ideas that are better he would be willing to accept those."

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. - Rappler.com 

ZEELAND, Netherlands – Had nature been left to take its course much of the Netherlands would be a muddy swamp and the tiny coastal nation would never have risen to be the eurozone's fifth largest economy.

More than half of the country's 17 million people live in low-lying at risk areas, but thanks to hard work, perseverance and a lot of technical savvy they snuggle safely behind an ingenious network of 17,500 kilometers (10,800 miles) of dykes, dunes and barrages.

After struggling against the seas for hundreds of years, the Netherlands prides itself on being the "safest delta" on the planet and now exports its expertise around the world.

As water levels rise thanks to climate change and turbulent weather patterns unleash fierce storms, Dutch know-how in protecting low-lying areas has turned the country into the leader in its field.

"It's thanks to our history," Infrastructure Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen told Agence France-Presse. "We have been battling for centuries to hold back the seas."

Just like the legend of the boy who stuck his finger in crumbling dyke, necessity has been the mother of invention.

Dutch companies now account for some 40 percent of the global dredging business open to international competition.

"Water is not so much a threat, but an asset. It can bridge economy and ecology," said Henk Ovink, the country's special representative on water issues.

More than 70 percent of the country's gross domestic product is produced on land at risk of flooding. Amsterdam's sprawling Schiphol airport – the fifth busiest in Europe – should by rights be a playground for fish.

Floods trauma

The turning point for the Netherlands came in 1953 when devastating floods swept in from the North Sea killing 1,835 people and leaving 72,000 homeless in the southwest.

Traumatised and shocked, the Dutch decided the only way forward was to improve their sea defences.

"Now Holland's level of protection is 100 to a 1,000 times better than most other countries," said Bart Schultz, a researcher at the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education based in Delft.

The Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier is a gargantuan construction stretching an impressive nine kilometres (five miles) between the southern islands of Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland. 

Thanks to a series of massive sluice gates it can completely close off the mouth of the estuary, preventing the unpredictable North Sea from surging through.

But simpler solutions also work. A huge man-made sand bank, bigger than 200 football fields, was inaugurated in December 2011 just south of The Hague.

Like a pregnant belly it juts out into the sea from the beach, and swept by the winds and tides protects the beautiful dunes behind from erosion.

According to the UN's Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change, the oceans rose some 19 centimeters (seven inches) from 1901 to 2010.

They predict sea levels will now rise from 26 to 82 centimeters by 2100 compared with the end of the 20th century.

Deltas at risk 

And the world's burgeoning and resource-rich delta zones where some 10 percent of the world's population lives are at the greatest risk, according to the Delta Alliance organisation.

It's here that Dutch technology has proved so valuable. Some 2,500 Dutch firms work in the water industry, doing some 17 billion euros of business every year, said Lennart Silvis, director of the Netherlands Water Partnership.

After Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in August 2005, the Netherlands played a huge role in reconstructing the city's sea defences.

That led to an increased cooperation with the United States, and when Hurricane Sandy hit New York and Jersey in 2012, Dutch help was again called upon.

"There is often huge interest after a disaster. But we would like to see greater preventative work which will help protect people in the long term," said Schultz van Haegen.

In Southeast Asia, Dutch experts have worked to shore up defences from Jakarta to the Mekong delta.

"Obviously we need to protect against the water, but there are other aspects of urban planning such as purification and access to drinking water, or even how to build roads," said Silvis.

Learning to live with the water has also spurred creative thinking – Dutch experts are researching how to farm with salt-water, or how to produce energy by mixing salt and fresh water.

From building floating platforms off the Philippines to restoring wetlands areas in Kenya and Uganda, it seems there are no limits.

And there's even a little room for some luxury, when it comes to mastering the seas. 

Sand islands shaped into a palm-tree and a network of islands formed like a map of the world off Dubai are the work of the Dutch international dredging company Van Oord.  - Nicolas Delaunay, Agence France-Presse/Rappler.com

BANJUL, Gambia – President Yahya Jammeh has declared the Gambia "an Islamic state", but stressed that the rights of the Christian minority in the small west African country would be respected and that women would not be held to a dress code.

The announcement came as the president addressed supporters in the coastal town of Brufut on Thursday, December 10, and the comments were later broadcast on state television and repeated on his website.

"Gambia's destiny is in the hands of the Almighty Allah. As from today, Gambia is an Islamic state. We will be an Islamic state that will respect the rights of the citizens," he was quoted as saying on the presidential website.

In television footage of the address on GRTV, seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday, December 12, the president did not go into detail about what the change would mean for the country, but he reassured Christians and followers of other faiths they would be able to worship freely.

"Christians will be given their due respect. The way of celebrating Christmas will continue," he said, adding that no one had the right to interfere with others' "way of life".

He also warned against trying to impose a dress code on women.

"I have not appointed anyone as an Islamic policeman. The way women dress is not your business," he said.

An impoverished former British colony nestled within Senegal, and famed for its white-sand beaches, the Gambia has a population of nearly two million, 90 percent of whom are Muslim.

Of the remainder, eight percent are Christian and two percent are defined as having indigenous beliefs.

Colonial past 

Jammeh, 50, a military officer and former wrestler from a rural background, has ruled the country with an iron fist since he seized power in a coup in 1994.

Opponents say he has become increasingly paranoid, regularly reshuffling his ministers and keeping only a tiny circle of trusted allies close to him.

He cultivates the image of a practicing Muslim, and is often seen holding a Koran or prayer beads, and of promoting an aura of mysticism.

He also regularly rails against the Gambia's colonial past, blaming it for many of the country's woes. In March 2014, Jammeh said Gambia will drop English as its official language, without specifying which of the country's indigenous tongues would replace it.

The main opposition party on Saturday poured scorn on the president's unexpected proclamation of an Islamic republic, saying it had no legal basis.

"President Yahya Jammeh's pronouncement or declaration is unconstitutional, it has no constitutional basis and... it is an unlawful declaration," Ousainou Darboe, the secretary general of the main opposition United Democratic Party, told AFP. 

"It is becoming ridiculous that whenever he wants to divert pubic attention from what is happening in the country, he attacks colonialism," Darboe said.

Human Rights Watch this year branded Jammeh's regime one of the most repressive in the world, blaming paramilitaries and secret police for torture, disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

In 2013, Jammeh withdrew his country from the Commonwealth, saying it represented "an extension of colonialism". - Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines welcomes the Paris Agreement and pledges to fulfill its intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), committing to reduce greenhouse emissions conditionally by 70% by 2030.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio "Sonny" Coloma Jr said on dzRB Sunday, December 13, this pledge is “in solidarity with other nations that will provide support in terms of finance, technology and capacity building.”

He added that the Philippine government will "continually engage our people in the spirit of ‘bayanihan’ to work together in building disaster-resilient communities.”

The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015 by negotiators from 195 parties. The historic global climate pact aims to keep global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius and to help avert a planet-wide catastrophe.

The Philippine delegation led by Climate Change Commissioner Emmanuel de Guzman welcomed the accord and said the Paris Agreement is a “significant stride forward.” During the plenary session where countries adopted the pact, De Guzman said that while the accord may not be as perfect, it is essentially an acceptable one.

“We can build on it and make it better over time. We must now focus on its implementation and on the compliance procedures and will engage in the process,” he said.

At the start of COP21, President Benigno Aquino III called on nations to act and reach an agreement that “allows all voices to be heard and take into consideration the particular situations of all the nations that have taken this historic step to end decades of deadlock and take decisive climate change action,” Coloma said in his opening statement.

Among the major points of the Paris accord are the following:

• global temperature goal of 1.5 degrees
• inclusion of human rights as bedrock principle
• emphasis on ecosystem integrity
• commitment of support in finance, technology and capacity building for all adaptation and mitigation efforts
• inclusion of a loss and damage article that would ensure the recovery, restoration and resilience of communities, livelihoods and ecosystems. 

– Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – General Trias in the province of Cavite is now a city, making it Cavite's 7th city and the country's 145th. 

In a statement, the local government said election officer Armando Vencilao declared the ratification of the cityhood of General Trias, after majority of the voters favored the cityhood in a plebiscite on Saturday, December 12. 

While only less than half of the 56,440 registered voters participated in the plebiscite, the Commission on Elections saw no problem with this.

“It was observed that only around 20% of the total registered voters actually participated in the plebiscite. However [this has] no bearing on their decision to ratify the cityhood of General Trias as [the] law just calls for the majority of the votes as a basis for their proclamation,” Vencilao said.

In August, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act 10675, the law converting the municipality into a city. The law clarifies that the city would remain under the jurisdiction of the 6th legislative district, headed by Representative Luis Ferrer IV, the main author of the bill in the House of Representatives.

The conversion of General Trias into a city was approved, as it has met the requirements set by the Local Government Code:

•  A locally generated income of at least P100 million for the last two consecutive years (as certified by the Department of Finance)
•  A population of 150,000 or more (as certified by the National Statistics Office) or a contiguous territory of 100 square kilometers (as certified by the Land Management Bureau)

General Trias is only 81.46 square kilometers, but it has a population of 243,322 as of the 2010 Census.

The Commission on Audit (COA) also reported that the municipality generated a total income of P759 million "from local taxes, permits and licenses, service and business income and internal revenue allotments" in 2013.

Now that it is a city, General Trias would have a bigger share of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) than when it was a municipality. 

The number of councilors will increase from 8 to 10, starting in the May 2016 elections. – Rappler.com

HANOI, Vietnam – When Vu Thi Linh moved her family from their spacious rural home to a tiny rented room in Hanoi, she hoped her children would be able to get the education she never had.

The Linhs are among hundreds of thousands of people moving to Vietnam's bulging capital and southern Ho Chi Minh City every year, part of what the World Bank says is one of the fastest rates of urbanization in Asia.

But as economic growth accelerates, Vietnam's cities are struggling to cope with the huge numbers of people abandoning the grind of country life, while only the elderly and the young are left in the villages.

Linh moved to Hanoi in June after her 2 daughters won a place at a university in the capital.

"I didn't think life in the city was exciting, but because of my children's future, I've had to change my opinion," she told AFP.

"They have become more educated and now they don't want to come back to live in the countryside."

Since decades of war ended in 1975, Vietnam has developed rapidly from an impoverished nation plagued by food shortages to a middle-income country and World Trade Organization member.

Despite lingering issues in the banking and state-run sector, gross domestic product (GDP) is growing faster than expected this year and analysts say Vietnam is one of the only countries in Southeast Asian with swiftly rising exports.

Some 70 percent of the 90 million-strong population still lives off farming in rural areas, but top party leaders have said they want a "modern and industrialized nation by 2035."

Many move to the cities to work in export-orientated manufacturing - often in industrial zones on the outskirts of big urban centers - construction and services.

Better wages

For many of these new arrivals, life is not easy.

Linh has swapped 500 square meters of garden, fruit trees, and a vegetable plot in northern Thai Binh province for a 20-square-metee rented room she shares with her 2 daughters.

But the 300,000 dong ($13) she brings in each day as a cleaner and scrap metal collector is considerably more than what she would make in her village.

Le Van Mung moved to Hanoi a decade ago and has few regrets.

"Life in the countryside is too hard. We cannot make much money and we have to work really hard in the fields," he said.

Originally from northern Ha Nam province, Mung now works as an electrician and his wife runs a small restaurant. Together they earn some $600 a month - enough to pay for rent and schooling for their 2 children.

"Life is also not easy here in Hanoi. But we're trying to earn money for our children. I think they will have better lives than we do," he said.

Some 7.5 million people moved to Vietnam's cities between 2000 and 2010, according to World Bank figures, an urbanization rate of 4.1 percent. Among the 14 countries the Bank refers to as East Asia, only neighboring Laos and Cambodia have higher rates, it said.

Vietnam now has 23 million people living in cities, making it the 6th most urbanized country in East Asia, a major - and rapid - change.

"There are more well-paying jobs and opportunities than in the countryside," said Dang Nguyen Anh, director of Vietnam's Institute of Sociology in Hanoi.

Moreover, younger generations have turned their back on the traditional rural lifestyle.

"It is difficult to resist the attraction of city life," Anh told AFP.

Creaking infrastructure

Officials say around 100,000 people move to the capital every year and some 130,000 move to southern business hub Ho Chi Minh City.

For a country where the phrase "go home" translates literally to "go back to the countryside,” this is a major transformation.

The new arrivals - mostly students and unskilled workers - bring benefits, but also put "pressure on culture, education, traffic, health care," said Hanoi city official Pham Van Thanh.

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been struggling to build enough infrastructure - roads, water supplies, and drainage can hardly keep pace with the city's growth.

Traffic congestion has become a major issue, while schools and hospitals are overloaded, experts say.

In Ho Chi Minh City, some 85,000 new pupils enter the schooling system each year and, in some areas, up to half of these may be from other provinces.

Vietnam has a household registration system, which makes it more difficult for new arrivals to access free schooling and healthcare in the cities - although widespread corruption means there are ways around this.

Authorities make "no effort to minimize the number of migrants," Hanoi official Thanh said.

But this is also hurting rural areas. Whole swathes of the countryside are now made up of the elderly and the very young - with all the working-age adults heading to major cities or industrial zones.

Sociologist Anh said the changes are entirely understandable. "If you find a good job, you will not want to return to your former homeland," he said. – Tran Thi Minh Ha/Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – In a long list of Philippine chief executives including his own grandfather, Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II picked Benigno Aquino III as “the best president in Philippine history.”

During a Town Hall forum organized by CNN Philippines recently, Roxas was asked who he thought was “the best president in Philippine history except for your grandfather.”

“I would say Noynoy Aquino, undoubtedly,” said Roxas on Thursday, December 10, of the man who has endorsed his presidential bid for 2016.

He added: “Undoubtedly, ang tawag sa 'tin ay sick man of Asia, para tayong lumpo, may sakit, hindi tayo nakakasabay sa ating mga kapitbahay na bansa. Ngayon, tawag sa 'ti,  Asia's bright star. Malayo nang narating natin. Nagsimula lahat ito sa Daang Matuwid mula nung 2010. It's amazing what we can attain as a people, maglagay ng daang malinis at matuwid na pamunuan.”

(We used to be called the sick man of Asia, we were a lame duck, we were sick, we weren’t at par with our neighbors. Now we’re called Asia’s bright star. We’ve come a long way and this started because of Daang Matuwid in 2010. It’s amazing what we can attain as a people, if your leaders follow the straight path.)

Roxas was anointed by Aquino as his preferred successor when he steps down in 2016. He is also president-on-leave of the ruling party, which Aquino chairs. (READ: Aquino as 'minister mentor' under Roxas presidency?)

Aquino and Roxas go a long way. In 2009, Roxas was set to be LP’s standard-bearer for the 2010 national elections, he but slid down at the last minute for then Senator Aquino, whose numbers shot up following the death of his mother, democracy icon and former president Cory Aquino.

Instead, Roxas ran for vice president in 2010, but lost to then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay. Vice President Binay is now seeking the presidency too.

Six years later, it’s Roxas’ turn to vie for the presidency. His is a campaign that is hinged on the promise of continuity and of “Daang Matuwid (Straight Path),” the administration’s tagline for its good governance, transparency, and anti-corruption platform.

‘Rigorous debate’

But even if he thinks Aquino is the best Philippine president, Roxas said that he has had arguments with the President.

“The short answer is, yes, there have been times, but most of those disagreements were in speed for direction or timing of the decision,” said Roxas, responding to a question from the audience.

Roxas cited the 2012 impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was eventually found guilty of being dishonest in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth. The impeachment process was launched right before Christmas and ended 5 months later in May.

“There was a discussion and we ended up doing it before Christmas as opposed to January,” said Roxas.

Another instance, said Roxas, was with the country’s budget.

“There have been vigorous discussions about where to spend the money. The President is very, very clear in making sure that we actually solve problems as supposed to just make up or passing down the road,” he added.

Aquino allows “very rigorous debate” and “encourages it to improve the decision making,” said Roxas. “But at the end, once there's consensus and once that there is a decision, then we all support it,” he said, referring to Aquino’s Cabinet and allies.

But there was also an instance wherein Roxas, one of Aquino's closest advisers, was not consulted. Even if he was interior secretary, Roxas was kept out of the loop in a high-stakes police operation targetting top terrorists. (READ: President Aquino and the ghosts of Mamasapano)

5 years a success?

Asked if the last 5 years under Aquino “have been a success,” Roxas said yes. “Completely,” he added.

“Narating ng bansa natin ang antas sa ekonomya, sa pamumuhay, sa investments in infrastructure, 'tsaka sa services na generations na hindi pa natin nararating,” he said. (The country has reached a level of the economy, of standards of living, and of investiments in infrastructure and of social services that we haven’t reached in generations.)

Roxas went on to cite increases in the country’s capital outlay, from P170 billion in 2010 to over P580 billion in 2015, and wider reach in health care services.

This has been the LP's and Roxas’ approach since announcing his candidacy: numbers, statistics, and testimonies as supposed proof that “Daang Matuwid” is effective.

“Daang Matuwid” under a Roxas administration, he said, would follow the same “set of values” but would be applied under a different set of problems.

“So pagdating naman ng 2016, iba naman 'yung mga problema natin, problema of 'yung inclusive growth na tinatawag, problema ng tinatawag nitong mga infrastructure na dapat ng mapabilis ang paggawa,” he added.

(When 2016 comes along, our problems would be different. There are problems of inclusive growth, and of badly-needed infrastructure.)

While Aquino has been praised for gains in cleaning up government and for spurring the economy, his critics have pointed out that these economic gains have yet to be felt by the country’s poor. Transportation woes are also issues being hurled at him.

Roxas, as the ruling party's standard-bearer who also happened to be transportation chief for over a year, has had to answer these criticisms as well.  

Despite the administration's sore points, Aquino continues to enjoy high trust ratings. – Rappler.com