Germanwings crash, Miriam for MVP, Mayweather sparring | The wRap

 Today on Rappler:

• Officials confirm, there are no survivors the Germanwings flight that crashed in France. 
• Senator Miriam Santiago endorses businessman Manny Pangilinan for the 2016 presidential elections.
• Watch Floyd Mayweather destroy his sparring partner.

150 DEAD IN GERMANWINGS PLANE CRASH IN FRENCH ALPS
Officials confirm no one survived the Germanwings flight 4U9525 carrying 150 people.
The plane crashed in the French Alps Tuesday, March 24 en route to Dusseldorf from Barcelona.
It’s the worst aviation disaster to hit France in decades.
The Airbus A320 reportedly plunged for 8 minutes in difficult terrain without any distress signal issued.
Aside from the 6 crew members… most of the 144 passengers were from Spain and Germany…
including two infants and 16 German teenagers returning from a school exchange in Spain.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says authorities “can’t rule out any theory” on the cause of the disaster….
But sources say the cockpit voice recorder was found damaged and was taken to Paris for analysis.
Authorities say it would take “at least a week” to search the remote site.
Germanwings is the budget carrier of Lufthansa.

LACSON, POE, PANGILINAN GET 2016 ENDORSEMENTS
Retired military and police officers push former Senator Panfilo Lacson and neophyte senator Grace Poe to work together and run for higher office in 2016.
In a paid ad published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer Wednesday the retired officers urge Lacson and Poe to forge a political alliance.
At least 4 3-star generals signed the newspaper ad: former Philippine National Police No. 3 Emelito Sarmiento, former Army chief Raul Urgello, former chief peace negotiator Rodolfo Garcia, and former Philippine Military Academy superintendent Edilberto Adan.
The retired generals said they picked the two politicians because they believe in their qualities as leaders who can solve the country’s “urgent problems.”
Apart from Lacson and Poe, businessman Manny Pangilinan also gets a push for 2016… from Senator Miriam Santiago.

MIRIAM SANTIAGO, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: I want you to think about Mr. Manny Pangilinan for president of the Republic of the Philippines.

Santiago says Pangilinan should be in government.

MIRIAM SANTIAGO, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: People like him should be elected into positions of leadership, not those from highly publicized careers. People from mass media are blinded on the qualifications for public office.

MIRIAM: MAMASAPANO AN ‘ORGY OF TRUTH-TWISTING’
More on Miriam: The Senator hits key players in the Mamasapano tragedy… saying they lied during the Senate hearing.
Santiago says the people involved were part of an “orgy of truth-twisting.”

MIRIAM SANTIAGO, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: Doon sa Mamasapano hearing, sari-saring sinungaling. Gusto ako i-impress. Actually, kino-kontrol ko mukha ko. Pero dito iniisip ko: Gago! Gago, gago, gago!

(They’re all liars. They all want to impress me. I was controlling myself. But here I’m thinking: Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!)

Santiago also says it was “unacceptable” for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front or MILF to say it did not know top terrorists Zulkifli bin Hir or Marwan and Abdul Basit Usman were staying in houses located 3 kilometers away from the MILF’s territory.

MIRIAM SANTIAGO, PHILIPPINE SENATOR: That’s an incredible claim. So they cannot pass a test of credibility and that casts a shadow on the whole report. I cannot accept the high value targets are living right there, maybe not just the fringes, right there in their heartland and they disclaim any knowledge.

MILF REPORT ON VIRAL VIDEO: BIFF, ARMED GROUPS ALSO IN THE AREA 
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front releases its findings on the Mamasapano clash.
In its report, the MILF denies its fighters ‘desecrated’ the bodies of the Special Action Force or SAF troops killed in Mamasapano.
The report also says SAF members used the bodies of their fallen comrades as human shields.
It adds the viral video “does not clearly show” that members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces or BIAF were behind the killing.
The BIAF is the armed wing of the MILF.
The report also says there were also other armed groups in Mamasapano, including the breakaway Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters or BIFF.
The Mamasapano clash put a newly-inked peace process in jeopardy, further delaying the creation of the Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL.
The Senate says it will resume hearings on the BBL after receiving the MILF’s report into the Mamasapano tragedy.

WATCH: FLOYD MAYWEATHER PUNISHES SPARRING PARTNER
Boxer Floyd Mayweather punishes his sparring partner in a video posted on Instagram.
Mayweather, who faces Manny Pacquiao on May 2 at the MGM Grand, is training at the Mayweather Gym in Las Vegas, while Pacquiao works out with trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
Mayweather’s uncle Jeff earlier said Floyd is vicious towards sparring partners this training camp with former two-division champion Zab Judah being one of his preferred targets.

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