BOBIGNY, France – A security exercise gone wrong saw tempers flare in a Paris airport, after fake explosive devices were discovered by FedEx workers in a ripped package, sources said Thursday, January 28.

Employees of the American courier service at Charles de Gaulle airport were shocked to find a pressure cooker filled with nuts and bolts inside a package in transit from the US to Tunisia.

On further inspection they discovered a container of other similar devices, along with what appeared to be detonators, said Frederic Petit, who represents the company's employees for the CGT union.

The staff alerted authorities of "imminent danger," and officials arrived to test the device using sniffer dogs and X-ray machines.

A security source at the airport said the devices were actually decoys bound for the US embassy in Tunisia that were being used for a training exercise.

"This type of delivery is not common, but sometimes takes place," the source told Agence France-Presse. "This is just the first time that a package has been opened."

But Petit slammed the exercise as "irresponsible," given the heightened security concerns since the Paris attacks in November, when jihadists killed 130 people. 

"Nobody was aware of this cargo," he said, adding that FedEx employees want to see such parcels banned from transit through France. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – First it was Twitter, next came Facebook.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is keeping up with the tech-savvy Filipino as it forged a partnership with social media giant Facebook on Thursday, January 28.

“We are very pleased to announce this groundbreaking partnership with Facebook, which we believe will enhance our ability to reach out with millions of Filipinos who have made Facebook a part of their daily lives both here and abroad,” said Comelec chairman Andres Bautista.

He said the primary goal of the partnership is to see “greater voter participation and meaningful engagement” in the May elections.

Present with him during the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) were two representatives from Facebook: Elizabeth Hernandez, head for policy for Asia, and Katie Harbath, politics and government outreach team global manager.

The Comelec-Facebook partnership will be focusing on 3 things: engaging voters to join the Comelec-organized debates, encouraging more people to vote on election day, and gathering major insights from online conversations.

“With this partnership that we’re announcing today, what we’re doing is we’re making it much easier for the 47 million Filipinos on Facebook today to gauge and process and make a real impact in this year’s elections,” said Hernandez.

Three days ago, Comelec also signed a MOA with Twitter for the country’s first #TwitterElection.

Crucial for debates

Comelec’s partnership with Facebook will play an integral role in the series of presidential and vice presidential debates the poll body is hosting with several media organizations from February to April. (READ: Rappler signs agreement on Comelec election debates)

According to Harbath, Facebook will help Comelec crowdsource questions for the debates that will be presented to the candidates. 

A key Facebook feature, called “Voter Megaphone”, will be made available for Filipinos as well. On May 9, election day, a special “I’m a voter” button will appear on users’ newsfeeds.

“We will be running our Voter Megaphone on election day to everybody in the Philippines [who] is over the age of 18. This megaphone, as you can see on the screenshot there, we’re reminding that it’s election day, asking to share that they are a voter, and allow them to get more information by directing them to the Comelec’s website,” explained Harbath.

“We believe that is a powerful tool for encouraging more people to vote because in 2012, we actually did a study in the United States that shows that people seeing their friends vote will actually cause more of them to go to the polls,” she added. 

Facebook will also consolidate major insights from conversations on Facebook and would make the information available to the public.

Harbath encouraged all candidates to create their respective Facebook pages so they will be able to use the features to be introduced through the partnership with Comelec.

Guidelines vs trolls?

But how does Facebook plan to keep the system free from trolls and propagandists who have begun infiltrating election conversations on the Internet? (READ: When trolls and propagandists occupy the Internet)

Harbath gave assurances they have protocols in place to determine fake accounts.

“On Facebook, we have a very strict real name policy. We require that people only have one profile and that they represent their true and authentic identity on our platform,” she said.

“We have many tools in place to look regularly for fake accounts and we apply those regularly to the point when we are comfortable in knowing the conversation that we are measuring, and the questions we will be crowdsourcing from will be actual voters and real people,” she added.

She said that while Facebook does not plan on measuring whether the content of online discussions will be positive or negative for a particular candidate, existing terms and conditions on what any user may or may not see on Facebook will still be applied.

Harbath added that Facebook will also explore other tools it can offer to Comelec that would allow voters to report election-related violations, and allow the poll body to act on them at the soonest possible time. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Acing a standardized exam is rare. Perfecting a standardized calculus exam is even rarer.

Seventeen-year-old Cedrick Argueta from Los Angeles has done just that – news that should make Filipino Americans proud.

Argueta, who got a perfect score in the Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB exam, is the son of a Filipina nurse and a Salvadoran maintenance worker, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday, January 27.

He is just one of 12 students around the world – out of a total of 302,532 who took the test in May 2015 – to get a correct answer for every single item in the standardized test, administered by the College Board, a non-profit institution.

Argueta also had perfect scores in the science and math sections of the ACT college-entrance exam, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) said in a news release Monday, January 25.

The results of the exam can be used as possible credit towards a college degree.

Cedrick's mother, Lilian Argueta said in an interview with the LA Times that Cedrick's accomplishment is "still sinking in."

She told the newspaper that she is "just thankful" for having "two perfect kids," a son and a younger daughter.

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A senior at the Lincoln High School in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Argueta is described as "unassuming," a kid whose interests include basketball and reading.

The LAUSD also noted that he is a volunteer at the Bonnie Brae Convalescent Hospital, where his mother and father, Marcos, both work.

Cedrick credits what the College Board calls as a "remarkable achievement" to "everybody else that helped me along the way," including his calculus teacher, Anthony Yom.

He aims to gain admission into the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), "as the first step toward a career with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory," the LAUSD said. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Part of a ceiling collapsed in the Philippines' biggest airport Thursday,  January 28, slightly injuring a foreign passenger, the latest in a series of incidents at a facility seen as among the worst in the world.

The collapsed ceiling at a restaurant at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA 3) "slightly scratched" a male foreign passenger, according to airport spokesman David de Castro.

The passenger was treated for the injury but insisted on leaving on his flight for Japan hours later, De Castro told Agence France-Presse, declining to give more information on the passenger.

De Castro said the collapse did not involve the building's concrete ceiling but rather a facade on which the restaurant had affixed overhead lights.

"They are allowed to make their own construction inside these restaurants," he said, adding that airport authorities would investigate if substandard materials were used.

Terminal 3 opened in 2008 after a years-long legal row between the government and the Filipino-German consortium that built it, with the authorities citing breach of contract and a failure to conform with safety standards.

Designed to handle 13 million passengers annually, it was built to decongest the capital's older terminals.

While Terminal 3 has not suffered any major incidents since it underwent a major rehabilitation in 2013-14, according to de Castro, Manila airport's 34-year-old Terminal 1 has a much more unfavorable reputation.

Passengers have complained of leaking ceilings, collapsed floors, malfunctioning equipment, congestion, dilapidated facilities and rude or corrupt personnel.

It led to Manila topping a list of the world's worst airports compiled by the travel website "The Guide to Sleeping in Airports" from 2011-13.

However it has since improved its standing, and is no longer listed as the worst, partly due to decongestion as more passengers have begun traveling through Terminal 3. – Rappler.com

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Families should eat together again, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said Thursday, January 28, as he slammed individualism at a global Catholic congress here. 

“Restore the family meals,” Tagle said at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in Cebu City.

He explained: “The basic unit of the meal is the table, the common table. Nowadays, the basic unit of the meal is ‘my plate.’ And if I have my plate with food on it, I can go anywhere and by myself.”

“But that is not a meal,” he said. “That is just eating.”

“Individualistic persons know how to eat, but they don’t know how to participate in a meal,” the cardinal said.

The IEC is one of the biggest events in the Catholic Church. Drawing high-caliber Catholic speakers, the IEC aims to discuss the Eucharist, better known as the Mass. 

Part of the discussion is the  “social dimension” of the Eucharist, which includes everyday concerns such as eating meals. It also involves broader issues such as a “throwaway culture” in all sectors of society. (READ: Tagle hits bishops, parents, politicians over ‘throwaways’)

In a news conference later on Thursday, Tagle explained that his appeal to recover family meals is “addressed not just to families per se,” but to a wider community.

Common meals, common stories

“There are a number of factors preventing people from coming together and sharing,” he said.

One of these is traffic, which prevents mothers and fathers to come home in time for dinner.

“If we want to restore family meals, we should address the issue of traffic,” he said. 

Tagle then cited the experience of families “that are rather well off” and that “have a number of television sets, or a number of computers.”

“So instead of coming together in one table, around the same food, each one takes his or her own plate. ‘I go to my television, I go to my computer, I go to my iPod.’ And then we all eat. But not together, as a meal,” Tagle said.

“So can we have, for example, at least once a week, a time when: ‘Okay, no television! We face each other.’”

The cardinal explained: “It is during common meals that we also share common stories. We don’t only share food. We share life,” said the cardinal who also once stressed the value of rest in a busy world.

He also said that during meals, persons “develop sensitivity.”

He cited his experience whenever he eats with others. When he sees there is only one plate of rice and he is eating with 3 people, for example, he will get enough for himself while “making sure that there is rice left for 3 others.” 

“Trust, sharing, sensitivity are all developed around the meal table,”  Tagle said. “It’s not developed in a seminar.”

“So the moment family meals are absent, where, where do we learn sensitivity and all of those?” – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – A Frenchman, his Filipina wife, and their 4-year-old son were found dead inside a pickup truck on the popular Philippine tourist island of Palawan, police said Thursday, January 28.

The French embassy in Manila told Agence France-Presse it was in contact with the local authorities over the death of Jean Marc Messina, 54, his wife and their son, but the cause of death had yet to be confirmed.

The bodies of Messina, his 25-year-old wife Jewelyn Venturillo, and their son Guiliano, were found Wednesday in a pickup truck on a street in Narra, a small town of 65,000 people on Palawan, local police said.

"A local teacher called up the police about the pickup. We sent a team to the area and they discovered the bodies inside," Palawan provincial police spokesman Inspector Ric Ramos said.

Ramos and the Narra police both told AFP the bodies had been sent to the police laboratory for autopsy and the cause of death was being investigated.

Ramos said the family lived in Puerto Princesa, the provincial capital about 70 kilometers northeast of Narra.

Locals told police the truck had been parked in the area for several days before the discovery of the bodies, he added.

Many Westerners live on Palawan, one of the country's major tourist draws and famed for its wildlife, white-sand beaches, scuba diving sites and archaeological sites.

Camille Conde, press attache of the French embassy in Manila, said the local authorities notified its consul over the deaths.

"We're still figuring out what happened to the family," Conde told AFP. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – It's that time of the year again.

Students in public elementary and high schools nationwide may start registering for school year 2016-2017 on Saturday, January 30, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced recently.

In a department order issued on Tuesday, January 26, Education Secretary Armin Luistro said the goal of early registration is to "achieve universal participation and completion of the cycle."

With a massive advocacy campaign from January 30 to February 29, DepEd hopes to track children and young people and bring them back to school.

These are the department's targets for next school year:

• Enroll all 5-year-old children in kindergarten
• Reach out to out-of-school children and out-of-school youth and locate, identify, and enroll them
• Understand barriers to access to education and identify local solutions or interventions to bring learners to school, ensuring they do not drop out.

During DepEd's Kapihan on Thursday, January 28, Education Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo emphasized the need to reach out to the "last milers," including children with disabilities, and those in difficult situations and disadvantaged areas.

Early registration for SHS

Mateo said incoming Grade 11 students can also register, but the focus of the early registration will be students entering kindergarten, and grade levels 1 to 10.

The national early registration for the K to 12 program's senior high school (SHS) happened in 2015, from October 19 to November 13. (READ: 2015: Protest against K to 12 at its loudest, reaches the Supreme Court)

"Kaya natin ginagawa early registration kasi kailangang bigyan ng panahon ang ating mga paaralan para magprepara, hindi 'yung magugulat na lang 'pag pasukan na," Mateo explained.

(We conduct early registration because we need to give schools time to prepare so there won't be surprises with the number of enrollees on the first day of school.)

Over 21 million students enrolled in public schools for school year 2015-2016, while DepEd estimates around 1.2 million to 1.6 million students will enter senior high school's Grade 11 in June.

DepEd's estimate is close to the initial number of registrants for senior high school: 1.3 million students, majority or 1.1 million of whom are currently enrolled in public schools.

Of the 1.1 million, Mateo said 76% will remain in public schools, while 24% will go to private schools.

"'Yung pumunta ng private senior high school, ['yun ay] dahil 'yung track na gusto nila, hindi in-offer sa school na pinanggalingan nila (For those who will go to private senior high schools, the reason they're transferring is because the track they want will not be offered by their current school)," the assistant secretary explained.

About 172,000 students in private schools also registered for senior high school last year, but only 5.7% will go to public schools, while the rest will remain in private schools.

As for returning learners or those who graduated from the previous 10-year circle, around 17,165 want to enter Grade 11 this June.

Majority or 10,500 of the returning learners are interested to pursue the technical-vocational-livelihood track, 6,580 are interested in the academic track, and the remaining 85 are interested in the arts and design and sports tracks.–Rappler.com

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Two TransAsia Airways pilots caused a 2014 plane crash that left 48 people dead by flying too low as they attempted to land on an island during a typhoon, Taiwan's aviation authorities said Friday, January 29.

Taiwan's aviation body said the pilots flew below the minimum altitude required in poor visibility caused by Typhoon Matmo on July 23, 2014, in its final report into the airline's second fatal accident in a year.

The procedural mistake was widespread among TransAsia's pilots at the time, an aviation official said, endangering passenger and crew safety.

Ill-fated Flight GE222 was carrying 54 passengers and 4 crew when it slammed into trees and houses near Magong city airport in the Taiwan Strait's scenic Penghu islands, leaving just 10 survivors.

Two French nationals were among those killed in the island's worst air disaster in a decade.

"An airworthy aircraft under the control of the flight crew was flown unintentionally into terrain with limited awareness by the crew of the aircraft's proximity to terrain," the Aviation Safety Council said in the investigation report.

The ATR 72-500 propeller plane had deviated off course during thunder and heavy rain as Typhoon Matmo pounded Taiwan.

"They were not visual with the runway environment, contrary to standard operating procedures," the report said.

According to flight safety regulations, the pilots were required to maintain their altitude when their plane descended to 330 feet (100 meters), but the aircraft continued to descend.

"We found the pilots did not follow the standard operating procedure," council director Thomas Wang told reporters.

"Then we discovered TransAsia's team of pilots flying the ATR fleet also had similar problems, and we wanted to know why the carrier tolerated this among its pilots, and why the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) did not discover this while carrying out regular inspections," he said.

Wang said "the company's pilots were flying without abiding by standard procedures, part of a workplace culture which endangered flight safety".

According to transcripts of the plane's two black boxes, which record voices in the cockpit and other in-flight data, the co-pilot twice replied "no" when asked by the pilot whether he had seen the runway.

The investigation report identified a range of other aggravating factors, including poor communication of weather information to the flight crew, and coordination issues at Magong airport.

The Flight GE222 crash came 7 months before TransAsia Airways Flight GE235 clipped a bridge and plunged into a river in Taipei shortly after take-off with 53 passengers and 5 crew on board. Forty-three people died.

Disturbing cockpit transcripts from the second crash revealed by the council showed pilots trying to deal with an engine which had lost power, but then reducing the thrust of the other, functioning engine. – Rappler.com

LAGUNA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Japanese Emperor Akihito offered flowers Friday, January 29, at a shrine built in the Philippines for Japanese soldiers killed during Japan's brutal World War II occupation of the Southeast Asian nation.

The 82-year-old monarch and his wife, Empress Michiko, bowed twice while laying white bouquets at a table in front of the grey marble shrine, located in the lake town of Caliraya about 3 hours' drive from Manila.

In a half-hour event aired live in Japan by public broadcaster NHK, the imperial couple spoke and shook hands with former Japanese soldiers as well as relatives of their comrades killed in the Philippines.

"You have survived difficult times," Michiko said to one of the the soldiers in attendance.

Akihito, meanwhile, told another: "Take care of yourself, stay well."

The royals are winding up a five-day visit to the Philippines to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties as well as to honor those who died during the Japanese occupation.

Akihito has made honoring Japanese and non-Japanese who died in World War II a touchstone of his near three-decade reign – known as Heisei, or "achieving peace" – and now in its twilight.

He has previously journeyed to other Pacific battle sites where Japanese troops and civilians made desperate last stands in the name of his father Hirohito.

On Wednesday, January 27 he bowed his head in sorrow during a somber ceremony at the Philippines' biggest war cemetery in Manila, vowing later never to forget the many Filipinos killed during the occupation.

Tens of thousands of Philippine and allied US troops died marching to Japanese concentration camps or in confinement during Japan's World War II occupation.

An estimated 100,000 Filipinos also died during the month-long campaign to liberate Manila in 1945, which saw aerial bombings and artillery flatten the city.

Akihito's visit is the first by a Japanese emperor to the Philippines and comes as the two countries strengthen economic and defense ties, partly to counter China's increasingly assertive actions in disputed regional waters.

Japan's perceived failure to properly atone for its wartime actions has been a constant source of friction with China and South Korea.

But the Philippines has been much more accepting, partly because Japan has given billions of dollars in aid.

President Benigno Aquino gave Akihito a red-carpet welcome and hosted a banquet at the presidential palace for him on Wednesday.

"The state visit of their Imperial Majesties... serves to strengthen the friendship between the Filipino and Japanese peoples as both nations mark the completion of six decades of harmonious relationship," presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma said Friday.

But the visit has been marked by small protests by women forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese occupation troops who are demanding a belated apology and compensation.

"The emperor's visit to the shrine is improper. Their soldiers committed many crimes in our country," Isabelita Vinuya, 84, told Agence France-Presse as she and nine other ex-sex slaves held candles outside the Japanese embassy in Manila on Friday. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The meeting of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko with Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) here on Tuesday, January 26, brought to Hidekazu Kumano fond memories of his own volunteer work in the country after World War II.

In the 1950s, Kumano was among the first Japanese volunteers here under the JOCV program of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), one of the world’s largest bilateral aid agencies.

Assigned in Benguet province to work with farmers, he was in his early 20s and was joined by 11 other volunteers from his country.

The Philippines was among the first 5 countries where early Japanese volunteers were dispatched for development work, according to a media release by JICA on Thursday, January 28. The other countries who received volunteers were Laos PDR, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Kenya.

For two years, Kumano was detailed with the Presidential Arms on Community Development in La Trinidad, Benguet, where he helped farmers cultivate mulberry trees. PACD is the forerunner of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

“The mayor gave me a small plot of land where I could work with community members in cultivating 860 mulberry saplings, and helped the town grow as many as 12,160 trees during my JOCV stay,” Kumano was quoted in the JICA release.

The volunteer stayed in an apartment, and has kept in touch with the landlord and his children after him. “My best memory as Japanese volunteer was the life-long friendship I had with the Filipinos I met and with my fellow volunteers,” he said.

2016 marks the 50th year of the JOCV program in the Philippines. More than 1,500 Japanese volunteers have been dispatched here during this period, and some of them, including Kumano, will return to the Philippines to celebrate this milestone.

“From working with communities, I learned the value of being a human being, that I could develop my capacity to accept diversity without losing my core ideas,” Kumano said.

After his stint as volunteer, Kumano continued with development work. He became a staff of JICA, where he assisted in programs in Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, India, and the Philippine offices. – Rappler.com 

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar – Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi applauded the military-stacked parliament on its final day in office Friday, January 29, as one-time enemies welcomed a power transition that will loosen the army's 50-year grip on power.

After a de-mob happy last session for sitting MPs, Suu Kyi congratulated her political opponents on "opening the road" for her party, which won a November election in a landslide.

Friday called time on a five-year term of a parliament that has fundamentally changed Myanmar's political landscape, delivered a shot in the arm to the economy and greater freedoms to society.

"I believe we can all co-operate for our country and people, whether it is outside or inside the parliament," said Suu Kyi, who was held captive for more than 15 years by the army.

Her address to lawmakers from across the political spectrum came at a party at the Naypyidaw parliament that included karaoke for normally po-faced army figures.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmakers will take their seats for the first time on Monday.

The back-slapping mood was in stark contrast to the acrimony and repression that characterized the junta years.

For decades Myanmar was seen as a basket-case run by paranoid generals who sunk the economy, crushed dissent and cut the Southeast Asian nation off from the rest of the world.

But reforms since 2011 steered by President Thein Sein have overhauled the country and culminated in the NLD election victory.

Suu Kyi is acutely aware of the deep challenges ahead to rebuild a country worn down by war, poverty and still under the influence of a powerful military.

Songs today, challenges tomorrow

Yet on Friday in a once unthinkable atmosphere of collaboration, MPs took to the stage to belt out farewell songs as more than a thousand lawmakers old and new tucked into a slap-up meal in a grand hall after the closing session.

Khin Aung Myint, the outgoing upper house speaker, was given an enthusiastic round of applause for his performance of a local favorite called "Village Policy".

The outgoing ruling party heavyweight had earlier given a joke-laden speech to the final session of the combined houses of parliament.

President Thein Sein on Thursday hailed the country's democratic progress as a "triumph" for the country's people.

He will remain in his post until the end of March, while the NLD will control the new parliament set to sit for the first time on February 1.

The party faces formidable economic and social challenges.

The military also retains huge powers, with a junta-era constitution giving unelected soldiers a quarter of all parliamentary seats as well as key government ministries.

The army-scripted charter also blocks Suu Kyi from becoming president because she married and had children with a foreigner.

The Nobel laureate, locked up by the former junta for 15 years, has vowed to rule "above" the president without revealing who the proxy ruler would be.

Her greatest test will be to work with the army as she keeps her sights on power.

"She has had a lot of obstacles and hurdles put in her path but she has come perhaps to the last one and the prize that she wants so much is within grasp," said Myanmar political analyst Khin Zaw Win.

"But she needs the help of the military,"

Observers say Suu Kyi and her colleagues will have to learn fast on the job to overcome their relative political inexperience.

Civil wars continue to rage in Myanmar's ethnic minority borderlands, despite a nascent peace process.

Corruption bedevils the country's creaking bureaucracy, while years of neglect also mean many of the nation's 51 million people still struggle to access basic services. – Hla-Hla Htay, AFP/Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – As Congress leaders announced the imminent death of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) in the 16th Congress, President Benigno Aquino III will continue to strengthen the gains in the Mindanao peace process, Malacañang said on Friday, January 29.

Palace Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr made the statement in a news briefing on Friday, when asked about the pronouncements of Congress leaders – and even BBL advocates in the House of Representatives – that it would be impossible to pass the bill before Congress adjourns early next month.

"Kung ano man ang pinal na kahihinatnan ng panukalang Bangsamoro Basic Law, hindi natitinag ang determinasyon ni Pangulong Aquino na itaguyod ang prosesong pangkapayapaan, at patuloy pa rin ang paghimok sa lahat ng sektor ng ating lipunan at sa lahat ng mga stakeholders to give peace a chance," Coloma said.

(Whatever happens to the Bangsamoro Basic Law, President Aquino remains determined to pursue the peace process, and to continue to urge all sectors of society and all stakeholders to give peace a chance.)

Lanao del Sur 2nd District Representative Pangalian Balindong had earlier waved the white flag on the BBL, saying Congress "wasted time" and did not pass the important measure.

The measure was gaining ground in Congress until the Mamasapano encounter on January 25, 2015,  which sparked public outrage. This prompted a number of lawmakers to reconsider their support for the proposed law that would give wider autonomy and bigger resources to the Muslim-dominated region in Mindanao.

Senate President Franklin Drilon said as much in an Interview on ANC on Thursday, calling the BBL a "victim" of the botched police encounter.

"We were on the way to approval of the BBL. The committee hearings were going smooth until the Mamasapano incident took place. In fairness to the legislative, we did our best but you can operate only in a political environment conducive to the passage of this bill....The environment became very toxic," Drilon said.

Next leader to sustain momentum

Coloma said Aquino "cannot be faulted for lacking in determination to see through the peace process" because of the fate of the BBL.

Malacañang is confident that even if the BBL is not passed during the 16th Congress, the peace process is unlikely to revert "back to zero," considering that a peace agreement was signed with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front under Aquino's  watch, after 17 years of negotiations. (READ: 'This is the crowning glory of our struggle')

"Napakalayo na nang narating, at sinoman ang magiging susunod na Pangulo ay tiyak na kikilalanin niya na...malaking progreso na ang natamo rito at hindi nga magiging makatuwiran na aatras pa tayo. Dapat lang ay isulong at ipagpatuloy ‘yung naumpisahan na para maging ganap ‘yung pagtamo ng mga layunin ng prosesong pangkapayapaan," he said.

(We've come so far. And anyone who succeeds the President would surely recognize the huge progress achieved in this regard, and it would not be rational to backtrack from it. Just continue what was started so that the goals of the peace process would be achieved.)

He said the government can undertake "confidence building measures" to show "good faith" to the other party, but did not elaborate.

Coloma also said that the government will "do all that it can" to sustain a high level of public awareness on the importance of the peace process to Mindanao. – Rappler.com

SEOUL, South Korea – A UN envoy on Friday, January 29, warned of a gradual erosion of the freedom of assembly in South Korea, and cited North Korea as an extreme example of what happens when such tendencies go unchecked.

Wrapping up a week-long visit, UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai praised South Korea's successful transition from military rule to democracy, but also highlighted signs that the country was moving backwards.

"I sense a trend of gradual regression on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association – not a dramatic shutdown of these rights, but a slow, creeping inclination to degrade them," Kiai said.

"I find that space for exercising the right to peaceful assembly has been shrinking over the past few years," he added.

In particular, he noted cases where government officials had restricted protests by citing the inconvenience they caused or by raising the specter of the security threat posed by North Korea.

And he expressed concern over police tactics used against demonstrators during rallies.

Last November, more than 60,000 people took to the streets of Seoul to protest the government's push for an unpopular labour reform plan and a controversial scheme to impose state-issued history textbooks in schools.

That protest – the largest South Korea has seen in nearly a decade – erupted into violent clashes between demonstrators and police using water cannons and pepper spray.

President Park Geun-hye condemned the rally as an effort to "deny the rule of law," urging strong measures against violent protesters.

But Kiai insisted that gatherings and demonstrations served a critical social role.

"They allow underrepresented groups to amplify their voices," he told a press conference in Seoul.

"Consider the alternatives. DPRK is a glaring example to avoid," he said, using the official acronym for North Korea.

"Protests helped make this country great, and openness has long been a tradition. I would urge both the people and the government of this country to cherish that legacy," Kiai said.

Critics of Park's conservative government say it is promoting a return to the authoritarian rule of her father, the late military strongman Park Chung-Hee.

Referring to some 1,500 demonstrators who were summoned for investigation following the November 14 protest, Kiai said such actions were deterring would-be participants.

"Organizers of peaceful assemblies should not be held liable, under any circumstances, for the criminal actions of others," Kiai said.

The UN envoy will submit a full report on his visit to the UN Human Rights Council in June. – Rappler.com

PALAWAN, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) ordered the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Palawan to proceed with the trial of former governor Mario Joel Reyes in connection with the murder of broadcast journalist and environment activist Dr Gerardo “Doc Gerry” Ortega.

Ortega used a radio show he hosted to frequently accuse Reyes and his brother, former Coron mayor Mario Reyes, of massive graft. Ortega accused the former governor of misusing the Malampaya fund, sourced from operations of the Malampaya gas and oil fields off the coast of the province.

In 2011, Ortega was shot in the head at point-blank range while shopping in Puerto Princesa, capital of Palawan – known as the country's last environmental frontier – but which has suffered from illegal logging, mining, and overfishing.

The SC’s Second Division dismissed for being moot the petition filed by then justice secretary Leila de Lima which sought to set aside a Court of Appeals (CA) ruling that declared null and void the creation by the justice department of a second panel to probe into the murder of Ortega.

The CA sided with Reyes who charged De Lima with grave abuse of discretion when she created the second panel after the first panel refused to take additional evidence believed to be crucial in determining probable cause.

The decision said De Lima’s petition was rendered moot “by the issuance of the warrant of arrest and the conduct of arraignment.”

Because Branch 52 of the Palawan RTC already issued an arrest warrant on March 27, 2012 against Reyes and his co-accused, it would be prudent for the SC to no longer entertain the petition of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

'Probable cause'

After the information is filed in court, it acquires jurisdiction over the case and any motion to dismiss the case to determine guilt or innocence rests on “the sound discretion of the court,” the SC said.

The ruling further said that the Palawan RTC has determined that “probable cause exists for the issuance of the warrant of arrest” against the respondent. As a result, jurisdiction has transferred to the RTC.

Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, Associate Justices Arturo D. Brion, Mariano C. del Castillo, and Jose Catral Mendoza concurred in the decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen.

The CA previously granted in March 2013 the petition of Reyes and reinstated the first resolution from the DOJ that cleared him and his brother of the murder charges.

The CA also said that De Lima should have reviewed the case herself rather than create another panel of investigators.

The Reyes brothers were arrested in September 2015 in Phuket, Thailand where they went into hiding after the issuance of arrest warrants against them. The two carried a P2-million bounty for their capture.

They remain detained at the Puerto Princesa city jail. – Rappler.com

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – The Maldives said Friday, January 29, it could extend the prison leave granted to former president Mohamed Nasheed to go to London for medical treatment after he hinted at delaying his return.

Nasheed, who is serving a 13-year jail term after being convicted on controversial terrorism-related charges, arrived in London last week.

He has hinted he may stay beyond the 30 days' leave the government granted him in a deal brokered by Sri Lanka, India and former colonial power Britain.

"Our belief is he would return. He is a man of great stature. I don't think there is a question of him not returning," the minister for legal affairs in the president's office Aishath Azima Shakoor told reporters in Colombo.

"If he requests an extension of medical leave, he will certainly get it."

Nasheed was accorded a red carpet welcome and received by Prime Minister David Cameron when he arrived in Britain last Thursday for spinal cord surgery.

The 48-year-old told reporters in London that he had not yet decided whether to return to the Maldives after his leave.

"I know the question you all want to ask is will I go back. This has been more eloquently answered by The Clash in 1982 when I was doing my A-Levels -- 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go?'" said Nasheed, who was educated in Britain.

"Let me be clear. I will go to the Maldives. I will definitely go to the Maldives, there is no doubt about that. But only the question is how and when."

Sanctions threat

Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the Maldives in 2008 and served for four years before he was toppled in what he called a coup backed by the military and police.

Last year, a court sentenced him to 13 years in jail on terrorism charges that were widely seen as politically motivated.

Maldives Foreign Secretary Ali Naseer Mohamed said his government did not have an extradition treaty with Britain and would not be able to force Nasheed to return.

Nasheed's high-profile lawyer, Amal Clooney, has argued for targeted sanctions including asset freezes in the European Union and United States and travel bans against leaders in the Maldives allegedly responsible for human rights abuses.

Nasheed's release had come about as a "direct result of the threat of sanctions," said another of his lawyers, Jared Genser.

But Maldives Foreign Secretary Mohamed said Friday it was "unfair" to impose sanctions on his country of 340,000 people.

"Those people who are in jail are there because they violated our laws," Mohamed said. "The Maldives cannot be penalized for upholding the rule of law."

Environment Minister Thoriq Ibrahim said international sanctions would affect the government's attempts to mitigate the effects of climate change on the nation of 1,192 tiny low-lying coral islands.

"In the case of sanctions, then definitely, the work we are doing (on climate change) will be hampered because we are also depending a lot on the international community, apart from our own funding," Ibrahim said. – Amal Jayasinghe, AFP/Rappler.com

TOKYO, Japan – Japan on Friday, January 29, restarted its third nuclear reactor since a country-wide shutdown in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, after a court ruled it was safe despite opposition from local residents.

The government and utility firms have been pushing to get reactors back in operation nearly 5 years after a huge earthquake and tsunami caused a disastrous meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The accident forced all of Japan's dozens of reactors offline for about two years in the face of public worries over the safety of nuclear technology and fears about radiation exposure.

Kansai Electric Power's No. 3 reactor at its Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, northwest of Tokyo, was switched on Friday afternoon, a company official said.

The Fukui District Court last month overturned an injunction preventing Kansai Electric from restarting two reactors won by local residents, who argued it was not proven to be safe despite a green light from the national Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Kansai Electric – which Bloomberg News reported was the most dependent on nuclear power of all of Japan's utilities before the Fukushima meltdown – plans to restart the No. 4 reactor in late February, the official said.

Two reactors in the southern prefecture of Kagoshima, operated by Kyushu Electric Power, restarted in August and October, ending a two-year hiatus in nuclear power generation.

But many Japanese remain wary of nuclear power and thousands have refused to return to areas hit by the Fukushima meltdown over fears of radiation exposure.

Friday's restart drew immediate criticism from anti-nuclear campaigners.

"Allowing the restart of the Takahama reactors with potential fire safety hazards that would pose significant risk of reactor core meltdown is irresponsible," Kendra Ulrich, senior global energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, said in a statement.

"Once again, it may be the people of Japan who end up paying the price for their government's nuclear gambling." – Rappler.com

GENEVA, Switzerland (UPDATED) – The UN rights chief Friday, January 29, expressed alarm at new allegations of child abuse by foreign peacekeepers in the troubled Central African Republic, including cases involving European Union troops.

"Four of the girls said their abusers were attached to contingents operating as part of the European Union operation," Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said, adding that he was "extremely alarmed at continuing allegations."

Last year, allegations of sex abuse were levelled at soldiers serving with French and UN missions in the country.

"Two of the girls interviewed said they were raped by EUFOR soldiers, and the two other girls said they were paid to have sexual relationships with other EUFOR soldiers," a statement said.

"While the nationalities of some of the soldiers remain unclear, three of the girls said they believed their abusers were members of the Georgian EUFOR contingent. The four girls were aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the alleged abuse."

Reacting to the allegations, EUFOR said in a statement "the EU takes these allegations very seriously".

But the "responsibility for any investigation, disciplinary or criminal action remains in the hands of the contributing States," EUFOR added.

Zeid said UN human rights staff also interviewed two children who were allegedly abused in 2014 by soldiers from the French Sangaris force deployed to try contain a wave of brutal sectarian violence. (READ: 'Severe humanitarian crisis' in Central African Republic - relief agencies)

Fourteen soldiers from the French force are under investigation in France over allegations they forced children to perform sexual acts in exchange for food.

The girl and boy interviewed by the UN in the cases linked to the French were aged seven and nine respectively at the time of the alleged attacks.

"The girl said she had performed oral sex on French soldiers in exchange for a bottle of water and a sachet of cookies. Both she and the nine-year-old boy said that other children were abused in a similar fashion in repeated incidents involving several French soldiers," the statement said.

'Extremely serious accusations'

"These are extremely serious accusations and it is crucial that these cases are thoroughly and urgently investigated," Zeid said.

"Far too many of these crimes continue to go unpunished, with the perpetrators enjoying full impunity. This simply encourages further violations," he added.

Troops from the UN's MINUSCA force have also been accused of abusing children in the war-torn country.

A total of 26 cases involving UN peacekeepers have been reported.

"As more and more cases emerge, implicating more and more national contingents, it is also clear that all foreign military forces, whether UN or non-UN, must employ much stronger and more effective actions to prevent further abuse and exploitation – and not just in CAR," Zeid said.

The UN has not said which nationalities are involved nor specified how many troops have been accused, but sources say the soldiers are from Gabon, Egypt and Morocco.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon fired the head of the 10,000-strong MINUSCA force last year over the mounting number of cases, but the allegations have continued to surface.

Ban has warned that he is ready to throw out an entire peacekeeping unit if their country fails to prosecute soldiers accused of sex abuse. – Marie-Noëlle Blessig, AFP/Rappler.com

PARIS, France – The French government, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Le Monde newspaper on Friday, January 29, demanded that Burundi immediately free a French journalist and a British photographer arrested while reporting in the volatile central African nation.

"We were concerned to learn of the arrests of French journalist Jean-Philippe Remy and British photographer Philip Moore," Fabius said in a statement.

"I call on Burundi's authorities to proceed with their immediate release. Diplomatic procedures are underway."

The two men were covering the crisis triggered in April last year by President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to run for a controversial third term in office.

His quest to remain in power sparked weeks of street protests, a failed coup, frequent killings and a nascent rebellion.

The government has cracked down on the media, forcing independent outlets to shut down and driving some journalists into exile.

Remy, a correspondent for Le Monde newspaper has won several awards, including the 2013 Prix Bayeux-Calvados for his coverage of the war in Syria.

Moore, a freelance photographer, has frequently worked for AFP, Le Monde and other international publications, winning widespread acclaim for his photographs of conflicts in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as well as Libya, Somalia and Syria.

Le Monde demanded the release of the two men, who it said were arrested on Thursday afternoon while meeting with government opponents.

AFP chairman Emmanuel Hoog said the reporters "were arrested while carrying out their mission to inform" and demanded they "be released as soon as possible."

Hoog recalled that AFP's correspondent in Burundi, Esdras Ndikumana, who also worked for Radio France Internationale (RFI), was forced into exile after being arrested and beaten by government forces in August 2015.

"This new serious incident, after that suffered by our correspondent Esdras Ndikumana, indicates the extreme difficulty in reporting on the Burundi situation and the permanent threats to journalists' security," added Hoog.

Le Monde said Remy had entered the country on January 19, and Moore on January 21.

"Both had visas and were only doing their job by meeting all parties involved in the tensions in Burundi," said the paper. – Rappler.com

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – To sustain the Philippines' food security in the coming decades, the Department of Agriculture (DA) wants to attract younger Filipinos and encourage them to take up agriculture and farming courses.

“We want to make farming sexy again to younger Filipinos just like Farmville in your Facebook – colorful, sexy and rewarding,” Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said, referring to the popular farming simulation social network game.

The DA chief said that in the past 5 years, the average age of a Filipino farmer is 57 years. But a recent study showed that the average age bracket now ranges from 44 years old to 43 years old and even younger, following the introduction of new technological tools and farm mechanization.

“We’re encouraging the youth to take up agriculture courses because farming nowadays is not as hard as before, with the help of technology and farm mechanization equipment,” Alcala said. 

He added that the government's provision of modern farm implements resulted in high rice production over the past 5 years, based on a study of the United States Department of Agriculture. Alcala, however, admitted that the DA failed to achieve its target of 100% rice sufficiency in 2013. 

From 81% rice sufficiency in 2010, the Aquino government was able to improve rice production by 97%, or an increase of 18 million metric tons, according to Alcala. (READ: The future of food security)

Modernization needed

The DA chief also said that the Philippine agriculture industry needs to modernize starting 2016 to keep up with the liberalization of agriculture because of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration.

The regional integration aims to transform the region into a single market in Asia, where goods, services, investment, skilled labor, and capital move freely in the global market.

“We need to be competitive beginning 2016 to 2017, or else the Philippines will be left behind. That’s why we need to implement modern, mechanized farm technology to adapt and to be competitive in the market with the help of Filipino farmers, specifically the younger generation,” Alcala said.

He also expressed confidence that Filipino farmers "can be at par with the best farmers of the world" using new farming technology.

The DA chief visited the provinces of Sorsogon and Albay, where he led the distribution of P45 million worth of farm implements and high value crop seeds, among others, along with Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal and Albay Governor Joey Salceda.

The agriculture department has chosen Bicol region as a pilot area for crops that could withstand the impact of climate change.

Alcala noted that Albay is the sole province in the country that has kept up 100% rice stability, despite being battered by natural disasters every year.

Salceda said the introduction of high value seeds and climate resistant variety of palay has allowed annual rice production per hectare to double.

Alcala also said that the Philippines, which achieved 97% rice self-sufficiency last year, is now Asia's fastest rice producer after registering a 4.04% average change improvement in milled rice production from 2010 to 2015. – Rappler.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (3rd UPDATE) – A suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Shiite-populated eastern Saudi Arabia during Friday prayers, January 29, killing four people before worshippers disarmed and tied up his accomplice who had fired on them.

The state Al-Ekhbariya news channel quoted an interior ministry spokesman as saying four people died and 18 were wounded.

An initial ministry toll said two people were killed and seven hurt in the attack at the Al-Rida mosque in Mahasen, a neighborhood in the eastern Al-Ahsa region.

"We started to pray, and then we were surprised to hear shooting," said Mohammad bin Salman al-Ahmadi, 25, who was slightly injured in the attack.

"We rushed and closed the doors. After that they shot at the door trying to break in. The suicide bomber blew himself up and the door flew open."

Power inside went out, leaving the mosque in darkness and filled with smoke as a second attacker "randomly" shot at worshippers, who tried to hide, Ahmadi said.

"Eventually the worshippers attacked him and took away his gun and took off his suicide belt. We tied him up using our 'shemaghs' and held him till police came," he said, referring to a traditional cloth head covering.

Friday's incident was the latest assault on members of the Sunni-dominated kingdom's Shiite minority, after a string of shootings and bombings claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group.

The interior ministry said two suicide bombers were prevented from entering the mosque by security personnel.

"When security approached to intercept them, one of them responded by blowing himself up at the mosque entrance while an exchange of fire took place with another," it said.

The ministry said the second suspect was injured, and arrested with help from citizens.

"A suicide belt was found in his possession," it said, adding that automatic weapons were also recovered.

Increased security

Since deadly attacks claimed by ISIS last year against Shiite mosques in the kingdom's east, security has been increased and community guards now inspect visitors to houses of worship.

Friday's attack happened in an area largely populated by employees of the state-owned Saudi Aramco oil company, a resident said.

Most of Saudi Arabia's Shiites live in the kingdom's Eastern Province which includes Al-Ahsa, an oasis region where much of the kingdom's oil reserves are located.

A video circulated on social media purportedly showed the aftermath of the attack, where several people lay still on a carpet, surrounded by broken glass.

One man could be seen applying a tourniquet to the thigh of a victim whose white robe was soaked with blood.

"People were so angry," and apprehended one of the alleged suspects themselves, the resident told AFP, asking for anonymity.

"Police started shooting in the air so they could take him away."

Another resident said Mahasen is a mostly Sunni neighborhood, and the mosque that was attacked "is a house that they turned into a mosque."

ISIS, a Sunni extremist group, has claimed several deadly attacks against Saudi Shiites, whom the jihadists consider heretics, since late 2014.

Friday's bombing was the first against Eastern Province Shiites since October, when a gunman fired on faithful commemorating Ashura in the Qatif area, killing five before police shot him dead.

Ashura is one of the holiest occasions for the Shiite faith.

In June, four Shiites died preventing a suicide bomber from entering the hall of Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam city.

Days earlier, 21 people were killed in another Shiite mosque bombing in Eastern Province.

Groups claiming affiliation with IS said they carried out those blasts and the Ashura shooting.

During Ashura in 2014, gunmen killed seven Shiite worshippers, including children, in the eastern town of Al-Dalwa. The interior ministry said the suspects had links to ISIS.

The group has also claimed deadly attacks on Saudi security forces. – Rappler.com