A november 27-december 3, 2015 • neW YorK And neW JerSeY ASIAn JoUrnAL
Duterte leads in... PAGE A1 him, a “probinsyano.” “I am happy if I am leading or just equal to Poe. I am running on a matter of principle because I don’t want anyone messing up the Constitution.” Duterte said. “It’s a matter of principle and there are times and events in your life that you just do what
you have to do,” he added. Respondents were showed a list of five names (Binay, Duterte, Poe, Roxas and Santiago) and were asked, “If the following were candidates for President of the Philippines, whom would you vote for if the 2016 elections were held today?” Pulse Asia conducted face-to-
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From the Front Page face interviews with 300 respondents from Nov. 11 to 12, or less than two weeks before Duterte declared that he would seek the presidency in the May 2016 general elections. The privately commissioned survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Pulse Asia confirmed that it ran the survey. It was only on Nov. 21 when Duterte declared his bid for the presidency at a private party in Dasmariñas, Cavite province, a complete turnaround from his earlier statements that he was not seeking the highest elective post in the land despite appeals from his supporters. At the private party, the Davao mayor said Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party would be his running mate. Duterte and Cayetano are campaigning on a strong anticrime and corruption platform. Both are pushing for federalism as an alternative form of government to push for political and economic reforms throughout the country. Just two months ago, Duterte placed second in Metro Manila, 4 percentage points behind the then front-runner, Poe. Results of the Pulse Asia survey in September showed that Duterte got 27 percent, lower than the 31 percent obtained by Poe. Binay came in third with 26 percent, Roxas was fourth with 13 percent. Rich, middle class for Duterte Among members of the ABC socioeconomic class, Duterte received 38 percent, double the 19 percent obtained by Poe. Santiago got 15 percent, and Binay and Roxas each got 14 percent. Among members of Class D, Duterte received 34, followed by Poe with 28 percent; Binay, 21 percent; Roxas, 12 percent; and Santiago, 5 percent. Informed of the latest Pulse Asia survey, Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo of the Liberal Party said Roxas’ rating had increased by 7 points. Sought for comment, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, spokesperson for Poe, said: “We have yet to see the survey. To comment on a survey that has not been made public by any group is unfair and inconclusive. The method, sample, etc., are factors that must be considered.”
Failure not an option...
PAGE A1 binding agreement among countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. If no agreement is signed, countries will be free to continue their “business as usual” approach, thereby driving up global temperature by more than five degrees. “This is really the defining moment in our history. This agreement will essentially define the fate of humanity and our planet, our home planet. Are we allowing our planet to be very warm? Many islands are going underwater. Some nations are already thinking about migrating to other lands. This is a very basic human issue: Survival,” De Guzman said in a press conference on Wednesday during the 2015 Climate Change Consciousness Week at SMX Convention Center. “The Philippine delegation is attending the COP fully prepared to negotiate and deal with any possible emergency scenarios,” he added. Led by President Benigno Aquino III, the Philippine delegation, which is composed of 50
people, is represented by the Climate Change Commission (CCC), Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Energy, Department of Finance, Department of National Defense, Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, Department of Transportation and Communication, National Economic and Development Authority, and the Offices of the Executive Secretary and the Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection, among other government agencies. The negotiation sessions will focus on six core issues: Adaptation, mitigation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and transparency and other legal issues. All of these are “major” issues the Philippines is invested in, according to De Guzman, adding that the country will participate in all sessions, which will be held parallel to one another over the course of the event’s two weeks. Some members of the delegation
have also negotiated for the Philippines in past COPs. Representatives from civil society organizations, youth groups and professionals from the private sector who serve as advisers on climate change are also part of the Philippine delegation. Among those who will attend side events on behalf of the country are Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committees on climate change and finance, and Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, who has been a member of the board of the Green Climate Fund since 2012. Four other cross-cutting issues are also part of the Philippines’ focus: Equity, ambition, pre-2020 action and post-2020 financing. 2020 is the year the legally binding agreement, should it be signed, will take effect. Climate financing in particular is a sticky issue in this year’s talks. Of the 196 parties part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, only 154 submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) accounting for 86 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. The Philippines has committed to reduce its emissions by 70 percent by 2030, subject to funding to be given to PAGE A3
6 years later, still no justice...
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But for Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, who lost his wife Genalyn and two sisters, along with a number of female lawyers and staff in the Nov. 23, 2009 incident, “justice is still an elusive dream.” Genalyn was supposed to file the governor’s certificate of candidacy in the provincial capital of Shariff Aguak when their convoy, which included media groups, was stopped by more than a hundred men in Ampatuan town. All were shot and buried. Others were raped before they were killed. The body of reporter Reynaldo Momay was never found. Mangudadatu, then the vice mayor of Buluan town, was supposed to challenge a scion of the Ampatuan clan – then the most powerful political family in the region – for the gubernatorial post. Prosecution witnesses claim that Andal Jr. himself led the attack, an allegation he personally
RELIVING THE HORROR. A Tamaraw FX vehicle with license Plate No. UTG 234 is recovered from a shallow grave where the bodies of at least 50 of 58 victims of the Nov. 23, 2009, Maguindanao massacre have been found in Datu Ampatuan town, Maguindanao province. Six years after the tragedy, a manhunt for remaining suspects in the infamous Maguindanao massacre is ongoing. Of the 197 people accused of involvement in the mass killing, only 111 have been arrested and charged in court. Inquirer.net photo by Rem Zamora
denied when he took the witness stand last month to testify on his whereabouts during the incident. Other prominent members of the Ampatuan clan, including now deceased Andal Sr., were tagged as masterminds of the
crime. They have denied the allegations. Time ticking for Aquino admin When he was elected in 2010, President Aquino himself pledged that convictions would be issued PAGE A4