00:00The Senate majority denies talk of a Senate coup but says power sharing is possible in the future.
00:07The House of Representatives extends the suspension of Kiko Barzaga for
00:10quote, continued misconduct on social media. The Independent Commission EDCOM2 urges the
00:16government to shift away from using public schools as evacuation centers. The Washington
00:21Post begins widespread layoffs, drastically shrinking the storied newspaper. And Nobel
00:26Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa is recommended to the United Nations Scientific Panel on
00:31Artificial Intelligence.
00:40Senator Loren Legarda presided over the resumption of the Senate session on Wednesday, February 4,
00:45after it was suspended for more than an hour. This amid speculation she was set to become the
00:49chamber's first female leader.
00:52Thank you very much, Madam President.
00:54Senate Majority Floor Leader Mig Zubiri told Legarda after she banged the gavel to resume
00:58the session, adding that it was nice to see her at the Senate President's seat.
01:03There were only 10 senators when session resumed on Wednesday, all members of the majority bloc.
01:08Since Monday, there had been rumors that the minority bloc was courting Legarda to
01:12wrest the Senate presidency from Tito Soto. This after a draft Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
01:16report recommending plundered charges against Senators Cheese Escudero, Joel Villanueva, and
01:21Jinggoy Estrada over their alleged involvement in anomalous flood control projects.
01:26Talks about possible power sharing in the Senate were fueled by a photo posted by Senator Kiko
01:31Pangilinan of the majority bloc's meeting while session was suspended, with the hashtag
01:35power sharing. The meeting, joined by Legarda, apparently averted a Senate coup.
01:40The House of Representatives extends the suspension of Cavite 4th District Representative Kiko Barzaga
01:47due to his supposed continued misconduct on social media. The House adopted on Wednesday,
01:52February 4, the Ethics Committee recommendation to issue another 60-day suspension against Barzaga.
01:58Barzaga had already been slapped with the same punishment two months ago for social media posts
02:02that his colleagues found to be reckless. 238 lawmakers voted yes to continue his suspension,
02:08while 10 objected and 9 abstained. The Ethics Committee also condemns Barzaga's decision to
02:14ignore hearings on his suspension. Barzaga was present at the plenary on Wednesday and voted against
02:19the new suspension order. The penalty keeps him barred from house sessions, salary, and office privileges.
02:27The Second Congressional Commission on Education, or EDCOM-2, urges the government to shift away
02:32from using public schools as evacuation centers during disasters. It says this practice contributes
02:37to the country's learning crisis. The commission points out the law says schools should serve as
02:41temporary shelters only as a last resort and for a limited time period. Conversion into evacuation
02:47centers prompts schools to operate in temporary learning spaces. Citing data from the Education
02:52Department, EDCOM-2 also says over 10,000 schools were affected by calamities just from June to October 2025.
02:59It says disasters are now one of the most disruptive forces shaping the learning environment in the
03:04Philippines, repeatedly destroying school infrastructure and interrupting education at
03:08scale. EDCOM-2 reiterates the need for alternatives to the Department of Public Works and Highways to
03:13address classroom shortage, replace aging school buildings, and make infrastructure resilient to disasters.
03:20The Washington Post begins widespread layoffs that will drastically shrink the size of the
03:25storied newspaper affecting all departments. Executive editor Matt Murray informed the staff of the cuts,
03:31which will cut across the international, editing, metro, and sports desks. The post,
03:37owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, says in a statement, quote,
03:40The Washington Post is taking a number of difficult but decisive actions today for our future,
03:45in what amounts to a significant restructuring across the company. One Post reporter, speaking
03:50anonymously, calls the layoff a bloodbath. Those affected include Amazon beat reporter Caroline
03:55O'Donovan, Cairo Bureau Chief Claire Parker, and other Middle East correspondents and editors.
04:01The Employees Union, WAPO Guild, says on X,
04:03If Jeff Bezos is no longer willing to invest in the mission that has defined this paper for generations,
04:08then the post deserves a steward that will.
04:13Rappler CEO and 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa is among 40 experts recommended by
04:19United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez to join the Independent International Scientific
04:23Panel on Artificial Intelligence. The panel will serve as the first global scientific body on AI.
04:29Gutierrez says the panel will be dedicated to, quote, helping close the AI knowledge gap and
04:34assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies. The panel has been mandated to produce
04:40an annual report on opportunities, risks, and impacts of artificial intelligence, the first of
04:45which will be presented at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July. The proposed panel is
04:50equivalent to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change but for Artificial Intelligence.
04:55Canadian AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio and French National and Senior Director for Research and Engineering
05:01at Google DeepMind Joel Baral are also on the proposed list.
05:06And that's a day's wrap. I'm JC Gutinga. Thank you for watching. Click the link below for the full story.
05:11For more updates, download the Rappler app.
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