The reports of massive fraud are staring the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the face and Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos, Sr. and Commissioner Rene Sarmiento still refuse to conduct a thorough investigation and act swiftly to prevent further damage. And they refuse to do so only because there are no witnesses. Perhaps the Comelec is…
Month: May 2007
Amnesty International Report, May 2007-PHILIPPINES
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Head of state and government: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes International Criminal Court: signed A one-week State of Emergency was declared in response to alleged coup conspiracies. Rights of peaceful assembly were restricted and rebellion charges filed against prominent leftist politicians and others. Political killings of leftist…
Military Behind Killing of Pollwatchers in Bicol – Kabataan Party-list
Witnesses and evidences gathered by human rights and people’s organizations point to the military as the perpetrators in the abduction and killing of two Kabataan (Youth) Party-list poll watchers last May 15. BY ZOFIA LEAL Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 16 May 27-June 2, 2007 Last May 15, Ronilo Brezuela, 16 years old, and Roberto “Jun…
Wrong Medication
The issue regarding the signing of Republic Act 9439 into law is not so much on the greed for profit, nor people trying to escape from their responsibility to pay, but the issue is more anchored to the fact that it is the consequence of government’s failure to deliver basic social services to the people,…
Ka Paeng: Representing and Living the Life of the Marginalized
Washing and ironing his clothes, cleaning the house, washing the dishes, and weeding the farm. Other politicians would hire maids to do these things for them. But Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano, the poorest congressman in the country, lives up to his sector’s way of life. BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN Bulatlat Vol.…
Damdamin para sa Bayan
NI OLIVER CARLOS Inilathala ng Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 16 May 27-June 2, 2007 May mga damdaming pilit mang iwaksi Nukal di’t sisibol at di maikubli. Pag-ibig sa bayan pilit mang itanggi Mabibigkas pa rin nitong mga labi.. Pag-ibig na ito sa lupang nagkanlong Sa mga pangarap at musmos na layon, Pilit mang supilin sa…
Oy, Jonas!
(Kay Jonas Burgos, desaparecido) NI MARK ANGELES Inilathala ng Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 16 May 27-June 2, 2007 Noong mawala ang susi ng aparador, itinaob namin ang buong bahay. Bakit hindi kita hahanapin, Jonas, ngayong dinukot ka ng mga operatiba ni Arroyo? Waring umalingawngaw sa aking sintido ang iyong tinig: Aktibista ako! Aktibista ako! —…
Not for the Nearsighted
The thing the person in the picture is pointing to in Tatalon, an urban poor community in Quezon City, is not a state-of-the art transformer or electric equipment. Those are actually electric meters of the households in the community. The meter reader from Meralco, the electric distribution utility, has to use a pair of binoculars…
Centerstage: ARMM
As the national canvassing of votes for the recently-concluded senatorial and local elections continues to go full-swing, all eyes are on the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) – as massive fraud is alleged to have taken place in two of the region’s provinces while failure of elections has been declared in another. BY ALEXANDER…
RPA-ABB Headed for Split?
The leaders of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPM-P/RPA-ABB), a group that split from the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) in the 1990s, have begun accusing each other of corruption and gangsterism – and seem headed for a bloody showdown. BY KARL G. OMBION AND RICHARD PAUYON Bulatlat…
Cardinal Zen, Reaching Beyond Borders for Human Rights and Democracy
“I am a witness to the suffering of my struggling people, and I join them in their fight for liberation.” BY REY ASIS Asian Students Association Contributed to Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 16 May 27-June 2, 2007 A warm smile, a calm countenance, strong, unyielding conviction… These words best describe , recently-elevated cardinal of Hong…