To students and parents being burdened by annual tuition increases, a bill filed in Senate for the purpose of regulating these increases is a welcome development. But there are enough loopholes in the proposed bill that can defeat the very purpose for which it was formulated. BY REYNA TABBADA Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 42, November…

Public utility vehicle operators and drivers are facing a bleak Christmas with the latest oil price increase, said a transport group as it aired its sentiments against the government policy of downstream oil industry deregulation. BY LYN V. RAMO Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 42, November 25-December 1, 2007 BAGUIO CITY (246…

The Arroyo government has so far been able to rely on its lowly representatives in the House to block all efforts to impeach it; its old but loyal allies in Senate to keep investigations in check; and the chain of command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police to suppress any…

Botong did murals on historical events, myths, and national heroes – now safe subjects; what the Neo-Angono artists rendered in their now defiled mural is contemporary truth –the social and political reality largely attributable to the person the NPC board wanted to please. BY ELMER ORDOÑEZ The Other View / Sunday Times Posted by Bulatlat…

Any ruling regime should quake at being accused — much more proven — as one that cannot be trusted to execute foreign-funded projects reasonably “free” of corruption. The fact that the World Bank has taken official notice, enough to investigate and to suspend the loan while the investigation is pending, indicates that the Arroyo administration…

Australian unions are turning out to be at the forefront of the fight for OFWs brought into Australia under the Liberal government’s notorious S457 visa scheme. Filipino migrant workers in turn are making history in Australian labour records. BY ANIBETH DESIERTO MIGRANTE AUSTRALIA Contributed to Bulatlat COMMENTARY Vol. VII, No. 42, November 25-December 1, 2007…

Luisito Bustamante had two stories to tell about his ordeal under the custody of the military. He admitted before the court, during the hearing of a writ of amparo filed by his family, that he was a member of the NPA and that he was not tortured. But minutes after his release, he recounted the…

ILPS Supports the Strikes of Both the WGA and the Stagehands of For-Profit Broadway Against the Biggest and Greediest Media Behemoths in History BY PROF. JOSE MARIA SISON CHAIRPERSON, INTERNATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF PEOPLES’ STRUGGLE Democratic Space Posted by Bulatlat The International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS) supports both the strikes of the…

Asian Catholic student leaders vowed to take on the fight of the Cordillera’s indigenous peoples for the recognition of their human rights in a press conference last week that capped a week-long conference in La Tridinad, Benguet. BY KIM QUITASOL Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 42, November 25-December 1, 2007 LA TRINIDAD,…

In his 2005 inaugural address, President George W. Bush declared that the United States would support democratic movements around the world and work to end tyranny. Furthermore, he pledged to those struggling for freedom that the United States would “not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors.” Despite these promises, the Bush administration-with the apparent…

Cordillera indigenous peoples and workers’ groups condemned the mine safety week celebrations of the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau-Department of Environment and Natural Resources (MGB-DENR), saying that large-scale corporate mining is unsafe. BY KIM QUITASOL Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 42, November 25-December 1, 2007 BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) —…