00:00Today on Rappler
00:12A company linked to Zaldico ranks third among contractors of farm-to-market roads in 2024.
00:18U.S. President Donald Trump picks a Florida businessman as the next U.S. ambassador to
00:23the Philippines. Palestinians applaud in the streets of Gaza over news of a deal to end
00:28the two-year war. And Taylor Swift says she is, quote,
00:31too locked in on her fiancé Travis Kelsey to do the Super Bowl halftime show.
00:37High Tone Construction and Development Corporation, a firm co-founded by resigned
00:41Ako Bickel representative Zaldico's brother Christopher, was the third top contractor
00:45of farm-to-market roads in 2024. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian says high-tone bagged farm-to-market
00:51road contracts amounting to nearly 222 million pesos in 2024, citing recent data his office
00:57obtained from the Public Works and Highways Department. He suggests possible collusion,
01:01citing Hightone's unusually high number of awarded contracts and the Bickel region's
01:0580 farm-to-market road projects in 2024, the most among all regions. Gatchalian adds,
01:11the projects cost at least 30,000 pesos per meter.
01:14So, tingin ko hindi naman coincidental na ang pinakamalaking nakakakuha ng FMR is region 5,
01:21tapos pangatlong pinakamaraming nakuhang kontrata is connected kay Zaldico.
01:27He also cites extremely overpriced farm-to-market roads, costing up to over 348,000 pesos per meter.
01:34For reference, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. says the DPWH's standard cost for farm-to-market
01:41roads is an estimated 15 million pesos per kilometer, or 15,000 pesos per meter.
01:48Lee Lipton is U.S. President Donald Trump's pick as his country's next ambassador to the Philippines.
01:54He is a businessman from Florida and a newly appointed diplomat.
01:57If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Lipton will replace career diplomat Mary Kay Carlson,
02:02who first arrived in the Philippines at the start of the Marcos Jr. administration.
02:06Lipton is currently the interim permanent representative to the United States mission
02:10to the Organization of American States.
02:13If confirmed, he will take over a strong Philippine-U.S. relationship that has grown
02:17since the beginning of the Marcos Jr. administration and during the previous Joe Biden administration.
02:22Lipton's nomination as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the U.S. to the Philippines
02:27was made public early Thursday, October 9.
02:31Palestinians and the families of Israeli hostages erupt into celebrations on Thursday, October 9.
02:37This after news of a pact between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza and return home
02:42all the Israeli hostages, both living and dead.
02:45In Gaza, where most of the 2 million residents have been displaced by Israeli bombings,
02:49young men cheered in the ruined streets despite ongoing strikes in parts of the enclave.
02:53Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump's
02:58plan for the Palestinian enclave, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could open the way
03:02to ending a bloody two-year-old war that has disrupted the Middle East.
03:06If fully adopted, the accord would bring the two sides closer than any prior effort to halt
03:10a regional war.
03:14Taylor Swift is too locked in on fiancé Travis Kelsey of the Kansas City Chiefs this season
03:19to prepare for a Super Bowl halftime show.
03:21During her appearance in The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, she rejects rumors that she turned
03:25down the gig for Super Bowl 60 due to a dispute over ownership rights of the performance footage.
03:30She explains she will be too busy cheering for her fiancé.
03:34Can you imagine if he's out there every single week putting his life on the line, doing this
03:40very dangerous, very high-pressure, high-intensity sport, and I'm like,
03:46I wonder what my choreo should be?
03:48I'm just too locked in.
03:50She adds she never received a formal offer about the Super Bowl gig.
03:53And that's today's wrap.
03:57I'm JC Gutinga.
03:59Click the link below for the full story.
04:00Follow us on Rappers YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.
04:04Click the link below for the full story.
04:09Click the link below for the full story.
04:10Click the link below for the full story.
04:11Click the link below for the full story.
04:12Click the link below for the full story.
04:13Click the link below for the full story.
04:14Click the link below for the full story.
04:15Click the link below for the full story.
04:16Click the link below for the full story.
04:17Click the link below for the full story.
04:18Click the link below for the full story.
04:19Click the link below for the full story.
04:20Click the link below for the full story.
04:21Click the link below for the full story.
04:22Click the link below for the full story.
04:23Click the link below for the full story.
04:24Click the link below for the full story.
04:25Click the link below for the full story.
04:26Click the link below for the full story.
04:27Click the link below the full story.
Comments