The Catholic Church and the Davao City government are waging a fierce battle against each other over contraception. Women like Hazel Baraw get caught in the crossfire. By Germelina A. Lacorte DAVAO CITY — Life for Hazel Baraw, 28, hardly changed after she got married. Before, she used to work as domestic helper, earning a…

How the new value-added tax law adds to the suffering of Davao’s women and mothers. By Grace Uddin DAVAO CITY – Ever since her husband, a house painter, started getting fewer clients last year, Miranda, a 41-year-old mother of one, started working as a bet taker in their community for the illegal gambling called “last…

The series of violent incidents in Diwalwal last October – a huge fire, a gas poisoning, and a cave-in – could be part of the plot by vested-interest groups to drive small-scale miners out of Mount Diwalwal. By Daisy C. Gonzales DIWALWAL, the Philippines — Alma Placio, 33, looked exhausted. She just had a baby.…