Groups urge deeper probe on Luzon-wide blackout

By Dennis Carcamo

MANILA, Philippines - Poll watchdog Kontra Daya on Thursday called on Malacañang to order an investigation into the massive power outage that struck Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

"Malacañang should determine the true cause of the outage so that these can be prevented. We are quite concerned with the attitude of the Department of Energy that seeks to downplay the impact of the outage by saying that these things happen frequently," said Kontra Daya convenor Fr. Joe Dizon.

Dizon also called on the Commission on Election to discuss its contingency measures aside from the battery packs attached to the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, which would be used during the May 13 national and local polls.

"It is not enough that PCOS machines have battery packs. What about the entire polling precinct? What about the transmission and canvassing of votes? There are too many variables which cannot be addressed by the PCOS battery pack," Dizon said.

Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said it was too early for the government to immediately rule out sabotage if it has not yet undertaken a thorough probe of the power outage.

"From the reports we have gathered, the reasons for the outage were events external to the power plants. Something happened outside the plants that we are not yet aware of. That this event can affect five plants, through some kind of domino effect, is truly a cause for concern," Reyes said.

"Malacañang should make public a full report within the week, just before the elections. It should refrain from downplaying or trivializing the incident, by saying that these happen all the time, or that these can easily be fixed. We call on the people to be ever vigilant especially in the next few days," he added.

Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said in an interview with ABS-CBN News that the massive power outage that hit Luzon was caused by a technical problem at the Calaca 2 power plant in Batangas.

Petilla said that the Calaca 2 power plant tripped first and then it "cascaded" down to five other plants.

He said that they are now investigating why the Calaca 2 power plant's auto shut off did not work.

He explained that the Calaca 2 power plant should have automatically shut down, which would have activated its back-up generator and could have prevented the massive power outage.

"Yesterday six [plants] shut down because the auto-shut off of a power plant, for some reason, did not work. That is what we are investigating," Petilla said.

The energy secretary had assured that "there is no reason to believe" that Wednesday's massive power outage was “sabotage."

"Rest assured this won't happen on election day," he said.

Alaska overcomes 16-pt deficit to snatch Game 3 By Calvin D. Cordova Cebu Daily News

Not a few fingers would have pointed at RJ Razul had the Alaska Aces lost this one.

Jazul missed a layup that could have given the Aces the win in regulation but the second stringer guard more than made up for the crucial miss by coming alive in the overtime period to lead Alaska to a wild, 89-82 win over the San Mig Coffee Mixers last night in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal round of the 38th PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the jam-packed Araneta Coliseum.

Behind Jazul, the Aces dominated the overtime period where it limited the Mixers to just two points to salvage the victory that gave them a crucial 2-1 series lead.

Alaska, which lost the series-opener, needs just one more win to advance to the finals for the first time in the post-Tim Cone era.

Blown out in Game 2, 67-86, San Mig seemed headed for a big bounce back victory when they led by as many as 16 points in the first half and took a fat, 45-32 lead into the final two quarters of play.

The Mixers still had their way early in the third until rookie Calvin Abueva willed the Aces back into the game.

The energetic rookie scored nine straight points in 15-4 run as Alaska started to chip away at the deficit and went into the fourth down by just five points, 54-59.

In the fourth, Alaska turned to Jvee Casio to run the show as the diminutive point guard uncorked 10 straight points in a big rally that saw the Aces forcing only the second deadlock of the game at 70-all with 6:48 left.

Alaska finally stole the lead when Cyrus Baguio completed a fastbreak layup but San Mig tied the contest anew at 75-all with 1:29 left.

Alaska surged ahead again on a basket by Sonny Thoss but Joe De Vance canned a booming triple to hand the lead back to San Mig, 78-77, 54.2 seconds remaining.

Alaska import Robert Dozier threw the ball over in the next play and fouled James Yap seconds later.

Normally a deadshot from the free throw line, Yap could only make one of his two free throws for a 79-77 lead with 21.3 seconds to go.

Already out of timeout, Alaska was forced to inbound the ball at the other end of the court. Casio dribbled the length of the court before flipping a pass to Thoss, who scored underneath while being fouled by Marc Pingris.

Thoss made the bonus free throw and Alaska seemed just 13.2 seconds away from icing the big comeback win after taking an 80-79 edge.

San Mig, however, got a huge break in the next play when Casio was called for a foul while trying to stand his ground over the shooting Bowles.

Time and time again, Bowles saved the Mixers with his late-game heroics but caved in this time as he missed his first free throw before making the next, tying the count at 80-apiece with 4.9 seconds left.

Alaska hurriedly inbounded the ball and Abueva quickly attacked the basket before dropping a pass to a wide-open Jazul, who missed the layup, much to the chagrin of the Alaska bench.

Jazul, however, didn’t let his team down in the overtime, opening the period with a three-point play before burying a triple as the Aces surged to an 86-80 lead.

PJ Simon converted a floater in the 3:31 mark but San Mig wouldn’t score from that point on.

Abueva took the Best Player of the Game honors with 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one block with no turnover.

BOX SCORES

ALASKA (89)- Abueva 24, Baguio 13, Casio 12, Dozier 11, Thoss 11, Jazul 6, Belasco 5, Hontiveros 3, Espinas 2, Dela Cruz 2.

SAN MIG (82)- Bowles 19, Barroca 15, Pingris 15, Mallari 7, Devance 7, Yap 7, Simon 6, Najorda 2, Reavis 2, De Ocampo 2.

Cops seize firearms, ammunition from Negros mayor's house

Police seized a cache of high-powered firearms and ammunition from the residential compound of a Negros Occidental town mayor during a predawn search Thursday.

The Philippine National Police used a search warrant to inspect the compound of Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña, radio dzBB reported.

Peña was not at home at the time the raid was conducted, but may face charges of illegal possession of firearms, Western Visayas police head Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. was quoted in the dzBB report as saying.

Among the high-powered firearms seized from the house were an AK-47 assault rifle, an M-16 rifle and a shotgun, along with a cal-.45 pistol.

The PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group was still conducting an inventory of the firearms and ammunition found in the raid as of Thursday afternoon, the dzBB report said.

Police have been intensifying their efforts against illegal firearms as the campaign period for the May 13 elections is in the homestretch. — BM, GMA News

Duterte to Davao voters: Choose my candidates or ‘die’

By Maila Ager
INQUIRER.net

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Vote for his candidates or “die”. 

It was a veiled threat but made in jest by mayoralty bet Rodrigo Duterte when he campaigned here Thursday night in the presence of President Benigno Aquino III’s youngest sister, Kris.

“Pag natalo ito si Louie Bonguyan dito, babalik ako, patayin ko kayong lahat (If Louie Bonguyan loses here, I will return and kill you all),” Duterte said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. He added in Visayan, “I will shoot you with an armalite”. 

Bonguyan is running for congressman in the second district of Davao City. 

“Gusto niyong mamatay [Do you want to die]?” Duterte asked the crowd. 

And when the people answered “no”, Duterte said told them to vote for Bonguyan whose victory, he added would be a reason for Kris to return in June. 

Duterte then turned serious when he talked about the President but repeated his “threat” before ending his speech. 

Duterte used the same line when he asked the people to support the re-election bid of Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who was present on stage along with another senatorial bet, former MTRCB chairperson Grace Poe. 

The mayoralty bet specifically asked the people to make Escudero the number 1 senator in the province, noting how he was only number 2 when he first ran for the Senate in 2007.

NBI sacks 3 over Mancao's escape

by Ciara Zambrano, ABS-CBN News

MANILA – National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Nonnatus Rojas has relieved from their posts several personnel in relation to the escape of former Police Sr. Superintendent Cezar Mancao.

Among those relieved are Rodrigo Mapoy, division chief of the Security Management Division, and NBI agents Pablo Relamante and Ibrahim Musa, who were the 2 guards on duty at the detention facility at the time of Mancao's escape.

Other officers and jail guards are also under investigation.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said she is not convinced that Mancao escaped without any help.

"Heads will roll, heads must roll, and we will not stop there," she said.

De Lima also clarified that while Mancao was covered by the Witness Protection Program, he was never officially a state witness. As such, he remains an accused in the Dacer-Corbito double murder case.

(UPDATE) Leftist rebels kidnap local candidate in Davao

(philstar.com) | Updated May 2, 2013 - 7:00pm

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Members of the leftist group New People's Army (NPA) seized a candidate for mayor in Baganga, Davao Oriental yesterday afternoon, police confirmed today.

Provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Jose Carumba said independent candidate Ronie Osnan was abducted by the NPAs due to his refusal to pay the permit to campaign fee.

Carumba said Osnan was kidnapped by at least 30 leftist rebels at Campawan village in Baganga town after a speaking engagement.

Police said Osnan was able to call his friends today morning to tell them that he is under the custody of the NPAs.

 

Bomb suspect's buddies covered for him, feds say

 

By Matt Smith, CNN 

May 2, 2013 -- Updated 0933 GMT (1733 HKT)

(CNN) -- A laptop, some empty fireworks and a jar of Vaseline landed three friends of Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in jail Wednesday, charged with trying to throw investigators off their buddy's trail.

Those are the items federal prosecutors say Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos took from Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in the hours after the FBI released photos of Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, the suspects in the marathon bombings. According to FBI affidavits, they quickly recognized their friend from the pictures.

When Kadyrbayev texted his friend to tell him "he looked like the suspect on television," Tsarnaev texted back "lol" and added, "come to my room and take whatever you want," the affidavit states. Phillipos, Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev went to the room, where Kadyrbayev noticed a backpack containing fireworks that had been "opened and emptied of powder," according to the affidavit.

"Kadyrbayev knew when he saw the empty fireworks that Tsarnaev was involved in the marathon bombing," the affidavit states.

 

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All three are accused of removing items from Tsarnaev's dorm room after the April 15 bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 260. According to the affidavit, they left with the backpack, the Vaseline -- which Tazhayakov believed could be used to make bombs -- and Tsarnaev's laptop.

Read the criminal complaint

By the time they got back to the apartment in New Bedford that Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev shared, the Tsarnaev brothers had been named as bomb suspects, and the three friends "started to freak out," Phillipos recounted after what the affidavit stated had been four previous interviews.

"According to Kadyrbayev, they collectively decided to throw the backpack and fireworks into the trash because they did not want Tsarnaev to get into trouble," the affidavit states.

Investigators found the pack, fireworks and Vaseline in a landfill last week after a two-day search. The complaint doesn't state what happened to the laptop.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov, both from Kazakhstan, were already in federal custody on immigration charges. They're charged with obstruction of justice, while Phillipos, a U.S. citizen, is charged with lying to federal agents probing the bombing.

Probe stretches from Boston to Russia 

Wednesday's developments come after more than two weeks of intensive investigation that has stretched from Boston to the restive Russian republic of Dagestan, where the Tsarnaev brothers' parents now live.

Federal officials say investigators remain very interested in talking with Tamerlan Tsarnaev's widow, Katherine Russell, about what she may have known about her husband's travel and associations, as well as about any encounters she may have had with the two suspects in the aftermath of the attack.

Latest on the investigation

Russell told investigators that she spoke to her husband after his picture appeared on national television as a suspect, two sources familiar with the investigation told CNN on Wednesday. The nature of the conversation remains under investigation, but the sources said there was some concern that Russell spoke with her husband but did not call authorities who were still seeking to identify the men in the photos.

Russell's lawyers had no immediate comment on that report. On Tuesday, attorney Amato DeLuca said Russell "will continue to meet with law enforcement, as she has done for many hours over the past week, and provide as much assistance to the investigation as she can."

Officials say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told investigators his brother was the mastermind of the attack. Investigators are looking into whether Tamerlan Tsarnaev was influenced toward radical Islam during a six-month visit in 2012 to Dagestan, a region where Russian forces are battling jihadist guerrillas.

 

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Facial recognition failed in Boston

 

The elder Tsarnaev's body remained unclaimed in a state medical examiner's morgue Wednesday. His wife wants his family to claim the body, DeLuca said Tuesday.

Lawyers say Dzhokhar's friends cooperated

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's friends made their first appearance before a judge Wednesday afternoon, when they were read the charges against them and informed of their rights.

All three started at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth in 2011, along with Tsarnaev. Only Tazhayakov is still enrolled, and he's been suspended "pending the outcome of the case," university spokesman Rob Lamontagne said.

They waived bail requests until a later court date. At one point, Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler admonished Phillipos, "I suggest you pay attention to me, rather than looking down."

Tazhayakov and Kadyrbayev appear in a photograph with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev taken in New York's Times Square during an earlier visit. They were taken into custody last month on charges that they had violated the terms of their student visas, Kadyrbayev attorney Stahl said last week.

All three were questioned at length on April 19, when the manhunt for Tsarnaev was in full swing. Tsarnaev's brother Tamerlan had been killed in a gun battle with police early that morning, while Tsarnaev was captured alive but badly wounded that night. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is being treated for gunshot wounds at a federal Bureau of Prisons medical center in Devens, Massachusetts.

About a month before the marathon attack, Tsarnaev had told Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov "that he knew how to make a bomb," according to an FBI affidavit recounting the charges. Kadyrbayev told investigators that Tsarnaev "appeared to have given himself a short haircut" two days after the bombings.

Carjacking victim recalls experience

Kadyrbayev's lawyer Robert Stahl said his client "did not have anything to do" with the bombing and disputed charges that he tried to obstruct the investigation. And Harlan Protass, who represents Tazhayakov, said his client "has cooperated fully with the authorities and looks forward to the truth coming out in this case."

On Wednesday, he said Kadyrbayev was accused of a "technical violation" of a student visa "for not regularly attending classes." Federal law enforcement sources said at the time that the Kazakh students were being detained "in an abundance of caution" because authorities wanted detailed information on the Tsarnaevs' movements in the weeks and days before the attack.

Phillipos faces up to eight years in prison if convicted, along with a $250,000 fine; the charges against Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov carry sentences of up to five years and $250,000 in fines.

Alan Dershowitz, a prominent defense attorney and Harvard law professor, called the obstruction charge "weak," suggesting it was meant to pressure the suspects into providing more information on Tsarnaev.

"If that's the best the feds have now, then they're just squeezing," Dershowitz told CNN. "It doesn't sound like they have very much new here."

Early discussion of avoiding the death penalty

One of the reasons Kadyrbayev drew investigators' attention was because of changes to his Facebook page, a source briefed on the Boston probe said. Kadyrbayev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev changed their profile photos within 15 minutes of each other in the pre-dawn hours of April 19, while the Tsarnaevs were on the run, the source said.

Tsarnaev, who appears to have had access to a wireless device at that time, changed his to a black-and-white photo, while Kadyrbayev changed his photo to one of him wearing an Iron Man mask, the source said.

Global labor protests mark May Day

David Agren, Special for USA TODAY
1:56 a.m. EDT May 2, 2013

CHILPANCINGO, Mexico — Protesters armed with pipes, spray paint and slingshots marched through this state capital south of Mexico City, vandalizing public buildings to express opposition to teacher competency exams and the revoking of the right to sell their jobs to the highest bidder.

The Mexico teachers protest was among many demonstrations worldwide for May Day, a day when labor unions traditionally head to the streets to demand more pay and benefits and job protections.
Unions in Greece, where government jobs have been cut because of overspending of taxpayer money, held a strike that brought ferry and train services to a halt.
"We are here to send a message to … those in power in Europe, that we will continue our struggle against unfair, open-ended policies that are destroying millions of jobs," said Kostas Tsikrikas, leader of Greek public sector labor union ADEDY.
More than 100,000 Spaniards angry at budget cuts and higher taxes imposed to solve a nationwide budget deficit took to the streets in 80 cities. Under banners reading "Fight for your rights," union leaders called on the government to reverse its austerity drive.
May Day events in Turkey turned violent when some demonstrators threw stones and gasoline bombs at police. Security forces used water cannon and tear gas to prevent crowds from accessing Taksim Square.
But it was Mexico, the protests were criticized by residents who accuse teachers of focusing more on leftist politics than helping change a school system that fails to educate children adequately.
"There's Marxism in all of the teaching, right from the start," teacher Arturo Castaño says of his alma mater, the Escuela Normal Rural Raúl Isidro Burgos, which takes pride in having produced teachers that have gone on to participate in guerrilla movements.
President Enrique Peña Nieto introduced measures — now enacted — shortly after taking office Dec. 1, to improve teaching in a school system whose students receive some of the lowest scores on standardized exams.
Many residents in Chilpancingo expressed frustration with the teachers, saying they've had to make other arrangements for their children or enroll them in private schools.
"There are some good public school teachers, but a lot of bad ones that don't have the proper training," Esther Cruz, a stationary shop employee and mother of three, says.
Teachers in this state, which spreads south of Mexico City across marginalized mountainous regions, argue that the changes stealthily "privatize" education by imposing fees on poor parents. They insist the exam process is a trick to fire teachers and them hire them back on hourly salaries without full benefits.
"This has nothing to do with education. it's an administrative measure," 30-year veteran teacher Román López, says of the changes. "We have dilapidated school infrastructure (in Guerrero) and the education reform does nothing to fix that."
The former head of the 1.4 million member National Education Workers Union, Elba Esther Gordillo, has been accused of embezzling approximately $200 million in union money spent in part on a luxury home in Coronado, Calif., and shopping sprees at Neiman Marcus.
Teachers in Guerrero have forced the local governor, Ángel Aguierre, to back down and propose a different version of an education reform to be applied locally.
They've kept up the pressure with protests, which included burning the headquarters of four political parties, storming the state congress, surrounding stores such as Wal-Mart and blocking the busy Acapulco-Mexico City highway. Teachers encouraged their students to join in the acts.
Castaño says the leftist curriculum in some regions is a way of addressing the difficulties of rural Mexico, where poverty is pervasive and many work for low wages picking sugar cane and tomatoes in northern states. Students arrive at school hungry and the infrastructure is so lacking that kids bring buckets to school for fetching water from a nearby creek for cleaning and drinking.
Parents pitch in money, Castaño says, to pay the school's monthly electricity bill.
Elsewhere, in Indonesia, tens of thousands of workers rallied for higher pay and other demands. Some carried banners reading: "Sentence corruptors to death and seize their properties" to protest a proposal for the government to slash fuel subsidies that have kept the country's pump prices among the cheapest in the region.
In the Philippines, 8,000 workers marched in Manila to demand more pay and regular jobs instead of contractual work. Some rallied outside the U.S. Embassy, torching a wooden painting stamped with the words "low wages" and "union busting" that depicted Philippine President Benigno Aquino III as a lackey of President Obama.
More than 10,000 Taiwanese protested a government plan to cut pension payouts to solve worsening fiscal problems. In Cambodia, more than 5,000 garment workers marched in Phnom Penh, demanding better working conditions and a salary increase.
In Havana, tens of thousands of Cubans joined the communist nation's traditional May Day march in the Plaza of the Revolution. This year's event was dedicated to Cuba's ally, the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez.

Civil society group backs Team Oca

By Annabelle L. Ricalde 

CALLING for a change in leadership in Cagayan de Oro City, civil society group Managsilingan Ta has openly expressed its support to the candidacy of Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar “Oca” Moreno and Councilor Edgar Cabanlas as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, including the entire ‘Team Oca.’

Mitos Ortigas, Managsilingan Ta convenor, said that the city “needs a leader who could inspire, mobilize, energize and synergize its people to feel up to the challenge of development.”

The group declared on Wednesday its support to Team Oca and the candidacy of barangay chair Rolando Uy of Barangay Carmen as congressman in the first district.

The endorsement was held a week after Managsilingan Ta endorsed the candidacy of re-electionist Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez (second district).

The multi-group alliance also recommended a set of agenda for the endorsed candidates to fulfill once in office.

Among these: improvement of water system, health program for the poor, increased budget allotment for the J.R. Borja City Hospital, peace and order, environmental preservation and cleanliness, enforcement of traffic rules and regulations, transparency of the city hall, and balanced integrated urban-rural development.

“Managsilingan Ta believes in ‘servant leadership’ that is open to public dialogue, genuinely pro-people, and driven to promote community-development and participatory and transparent governance,” Ortigas added.

Candidates Moreno and Cabanlas are thankful to the group for the said endorsement because it has also inspired them.

Moreno said the decision of the group transcends personal consideration and preference knowing that the endorsement and support for the entire Team Oca is not that easy for the Managsilingan Ta because some of its members also have relatives from other party.

In the same way, Cabanlas also appeals to the group to give him a chance to prove his worth as there are doubts about his credibility because of his past association with Mayor Vicente Emano.

“I won’t make further explanation, hangyo ko lang, hatagi ko og chance (I ask that you give me a chance). Dako ang akong garbo nga inyong gi-endorse (It is my great pride that you have endorsed me), and what is important now is to correct the wrong system in the city government,” he added.

With these, Managsilingan Ta is hoping that the new administration will be working hand in hand with the community in order for them to become effective leaders.