By Jasper Almirante/ Bulatlat Bulatlat.com For 22 million elementary and high school students on June 6, all roads lead to schools they temporarily left last summer. For the coming school year, they are expected to learn from their underpaid, overworked teachers. They have to sift through pages of textbooks, outdated as they are and rare…
Month: June 2005
China, Venezuela and the USA – Trouble Brewing
By Saul Landau Progresso Weekly 26 May to 01 June 2005 Edition Bulatlat.com “So what did you think of China’s recent economic foray into Latin America,” I asked a university student. “Huh?” she replied. “I read something about it,” said another, “but I don’t remember any details.” “Why not,” said a third. “They make everything…
Bolivia: The People Take La Paz
By Luis Gomez From AxisofLogic.com Bulatlat.com In a march even bigger than yesterday’s, the residents of El Alto and the Aymara peasant farmers returned to La Paz this morning. More than 50,000 people covered an area of nearly 100 square kilometers: this time they didn’t just limit themselves to surrounding the Plaza Murillo, where the…
Bolivia is torn by the sharing of gas and oil
By Paulo A. Paranagua, translation by Siv O’Neall From AxisofLogic.com Bulatlat.com May 29, 2005 — Since Monday May 23, La Paz has been disrupted by thousands of demonstrators. Minors explode cachorros, tubes filled with dynamite. The roads are blocked, the access to the international airport closed. Buses do not run because they are afraid of…
Making it Big
Photo by Ace Alegre / Bulatlat Bulatlat.com Mountainous La Trinidad Valley, the Philippines’ strawberry capital some 260 kms north of Manila, last week made it to the Guinness Book of World Records by baking the biggest strawberry shortcake in the world. The cake, shown in photo taken last March 20 with its bakers, weighed 9,642…
Miners Cripple Underground Operations at Lepanto
A deadlock in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations prompted the more than 1,000 workers of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo) to go on strike last June 2. Lepanto, the lone gold producer in the country, earned around P2.7 billion in 2004 alone. The workers’ demand for a wage increase will only cost the company…
‘Where’s My Father?’
4 children among 20 missing persons in Samar Four children are among some 20 persons reported missing in Samar; 22 others have been summarily executed – all in just four months. Behind these alleged atrocities is Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan whose latest promotion in rank is under intense questioning in Congress. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com…
The School Below Sleeping Beauty
In just a few days, classes will begin. While most parents and students are busy buying school supplies and teachers are sprucing up their classrooms, a tribal community in northern Philippines is looking for ways to ensure that their children will be able to go to school this June. BY MAYETTE INIGUID Northern Dispatch Bulatlat.com…
Cordillera’s Woman Peace Pact Holder
Nanang (mother) Irene Baawa, 64, not only makes a mean native coffee but also serves as the de facto peace pact holder of an Abra tribe. Arthur L. Allad-iw Northern Dispatch Bulatlat.com Malibcong, Abra — Nanang (mother) Irene Baawa, 64, wakes up early in the morning. She boils native coffee in their dalikan (native stove).…
House Scolds DLR for Delay in Luisita Probe
Members of the Department of Land Reform’s Task Force Hacienda Luisita got a beating from the House Committee on Agrarian Reform for the much delayed report on its investigation on the implementation of the Stock Distribution Option in Luzon’s largest sugar estate, Hacienda Luisita, Inc. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com After nine months of investigation, the…
Back-to-School Woes Worst Ever
Per capita budget for education is P5,200 vs Japan’s P210,481, Thailand’s P46,314 The government has adopted a “business-as-usual” attitude in explaining preparations for the school opening. For progressive students and teachers, however, they will take the government to task for its abandonment of education as they provide an alternative analysis of the country’s educational system.…