The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has set June 10 as the date for initial land distribution in Hacienda Luisita but the parties to the dispute, including DAR, appear to be getting deeply embroiled in a tug-of-war.
Month: June 2006
Tagaytay 5: Adjusting to ‘Unimaginable’ Life
“Medyo bagong karanasan pero obligadong matutunan(It is a rather new experience and I’m obliged to learn it).” This was how 34-year-old poet Axel Alejandro Pinpin described his 30-day ordeal under police custody. BY DENNIS ESPADA (Bulatlat.com) “Medyo bagong karanasan pero obligadong matutunan (It is a rather new experience yet I’m obliged to learn it).” This…
Abductions, Torture, Killings and Lies: All in a Day’s Work for the Mercenary AFP
It’s now mid-2006, and the killings and abductions, as well as the AFP and Malacañang’s lies have yet to stop. BY DEE AYROSO (Bulatlat.com) In March 1989, Honor Ayroso, then a 21-year-old leader of the League of Filipino Students, was abducted. That week, nine other activists from Nueva Ecija also went missing. The 10 were…
Sorsogon Provincial Board Condemns Political Killings
In a recently-passed resolution, the Sorsogon provincial board stated that the political killings in the said province have already reached “horrific proportions” and that it has “sent fear” among Sorsogueños, “whose character were inherently God-fearing and peace-loving and has been subsequently besmirched.” BY ANGEL AYALA (Bulatlat.com) The provincial board of Sorsogon (604 km. south of…
Protests, Int’l Alarm Mark Beltran’s Third Month in Illegal Detention
Exactly three months have passed since Anakpawis (toiling masses) Party List Rep. Crispin Beltran was arbitrarily detained by the Arroyo administration. And the nationwide and international protests over the progressive parliamentarian’s illegal and unconstitutional detention show no signs of abating. BY LISA ITO (Bulatlat.com) Nationwide Protests The Manila police, however, dispersed the rallyists even as…
US Intervention in RP Stronger on 7th Year of VFA
Seven years after the concurrence by the Philippine Senate of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), critics reiterate the demand for the junking of the said agreement. They also hit the new RP-US accord which they say will further strengthen and widen the scope of US intervention in the Philippines. BY EMILY VITAL (Bulatlat.com) Seven years…
Peasants’ Unity in Struggle
Peasants are usually depicted as a hardworking people, perpetually hunched over their crops, their limbs half-buried in mud. Under the scorching heat of the sun, or the lashings of the rain, they stay on, either protecting their crops, or harvesting. But who will protect this neglected sector when the powerful come to take their livelihood…
Charges to Be Filed Vs LGU Officials in Lafayette MoA
Fr. Felino Bugauisan, assistant parish priest of Rapu-Rapu and chair of Sagip-Isla (Save the island), a multi-sectoral organization opposed to mining operations in the island off Legazpi City in Albay, threatened to file charges against LGU officials who allegedly accepted P100,000 in exchange for their signature to the MoA with Lafayette Philippines, Inc BY AUBREY…
Rising Tuition Pushes Youth Out of School
“Even as Filipinos now have reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the youth remained at the bottom under the administration of Arroyo. Education has become harder to reach and achieve,” says League of Filipino Students (LFS) High School chair Hiyas Garduce says of the Filipino youth’s current condition. BY ZOFIA LEAL (Bulatlat.com) Reynaldo and Roy…
This Retired Navy Officer Has No Place to Go
Sitting on the front porch of his quarters at the Bonifacio Naval Station (BNS), retired Navy Capt. Julian Advincula watched from a video camera the tape that captured how members of the Philippine Marines forcibly evicted his neighbor-colleagues from their own quarters at high noon of May 20. “Tingnan mo yang ginawa nila,” he said.…
Exit from Parliamentary Arena Would Be Victory for Persecutors – Satur
Bayan Muna (People First) Rep. Satur Ocampo admits that for a while, amid what he describes as “political persecution” of representatives from progressive party-list groups, there were those within their ranks who raised questions on whether it is still worth it to participate in the parliamentary arena. “If we leave the parliamentary arena, the anti-people…