A proposal from a Baguio City councilor to turn the Marcos mansions in this city into a tourist hub is facing bright prospects, with a PCGG lawyer expressing openness to the idea. BY ACE ALEGRE Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat BAGUIO CITY – It was perhaps the first time in 20 years that the Marcos…
Day: October 22, 2006
Bayan Muna Gears for 2007 Elections
As it gears for next year’s congressional polls, Bayan Muna (BM) continues to campaign against charter change, a divisive issue in Congress. Fresh from celebrating its 7th anniversary, BM hopes to top the elections for the third time. By Reyna Mae Tabbada Bulatlat “Di mapipigilan ang pagsikat ng araw” (The sun is bound to rise).…
Private Schools Rake Profits from Arroyo’s Student Loan Program (Last of two parts)
How can a student loan program end up being profitable for a private school? Answer: When it is called PGMA-HELP. BY JHONG DELA CRUZ Bulatlat The name itself is a dead giveaway of what it seeks to do. What it actually does, however, is something else. PGMA-HELP stands for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Higher Education Loan…
Arroyo Allies Get Lion’s Share in Student Assistance Program (First of two parts)
What is wrong with a P185-million ($3.69-million) financial assistance program for college students? For one, this will be handled by legislators who were chosen on the basis of their political affiliation. For another, the funds are being released a few months before the 2007 elections. BY JHONG DELA CRUZ Bulatlat At first glance, the Emergency…
Breaking Peace, Wrecking Lives in San Pablo
San Pablo’s reputation as a quite city has been broken by the recent killing of one of its residents amid the deployment of government soldiers in seven barangays (villages) along the railroad tracks. Now many residents call their city, a “terror zone.” BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat San Pablo City, Laguna (82 kms south of Manila)…
Rights Victims to Charge Arroyo in International Tribunal
Since they harbor no illusion that justice will be served in Philippine courts and even in a supposedly independent commission, families of victims of human rights violations have decided to bring their cases to the Permanent People’s Tribunal in the Netherlands. This was the same court that tried the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and found…
40 Farmers Arrested in Lucena
BY BULATLAT Forty farmers, including four of their leaders, were arrested in Lucena, Quezon while on a protest action Oct. 21 on the occasion of peasant month. About 200 protesters, mostly farmers, were holding a six-day farmers’ camp out in front of Don Domingo Reyes’ mansion in Brgy. Cotta, Lucena when the Philippine National Police-Lucena…
Mines Operations Endanger UNESCO World Heritage Site
Palawan, the largest protected area in the Philippines and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is facing once again the ill-effects of mining operations. Catholic bishops and environmentalist groups are calling for a responsible mining policy to the outright revocation of all mining applications. Posted by Bulatlat While the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR)…
Cordillera Peasants, Women Hold ‘Foodless Day’ Earth’s 854 million people go hungry everyday
Representatives from Innabuyog-GABRIELA, an alliance of indigenous women, and the Alyansa dagiti Pesante iti Taeng Kordilyera (Apit-Tako or Peasant Alliance in the Cordillera Homeland), have come together to address the World Rural Women’s Day and the World Food Day. The economic crisis in the country, especially in the rural areas, is worsening, they say. BY…
On the October bombings in Mindanao: ‘These are the Handiwork of Groups Opposing Peace’
The bombings that took place in Mindanao earlier this month are the handiwork of people who want the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to completely collapse, the spokesperson of the Moro revolutionary group said. These, he said, are people who are…
The Bigger Picture
This is the latest in the wave of illegal, criminal assaults by a politically isolated regime against those who have the will and the capacity to bring about the broad united front of political forces necessary in order to rid the country of Mrs. Arroyo’s dastardly leadership. BY CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Business World Posted by Bulatlat…