Two years ago, I participated in a basic masses integration (BMI) program that aims to facilitate our integration with and support for workers in their fight for just wage increase and benefits. The goal of our BMI now was to check up on how the workers are two years later. BY ALBERT LAWRENCE IDIA Northern…

A communist leader last week said the government’s P500-million ($12.15-million at an exchange rate of $1:P41.14 as of Dec. 14) amnesty fund supposedly to be released before the year ends will only be a source of corruption. BY ACE ALEGRE Contributed to Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 A communist leader last week…

BY IBON FOUNDATION Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) this week claimed that the country’s rich-poor gap was narrowing, citing the thinning ratio between the incomes of the top 30 percent and the bottom 30 percent of Filipino families. But independent think-tank IBON Foundation says…

These women may come from different roots and from various fields but all of them have shown exemplary commitment to the service of the people. They are true gems of the Filipino people. BY EMILY VITAL Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 Fourteen women were recipients of this year’s Gawad Eden Marcellana (GEM).…

The new secretary-general of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the first indigenous person to be elected to the position, vows to support the campaigns of indigenous peoples nationwide against large-scale mining. BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 BAGUIO CITY (246 kms…

The international community has again called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to decisively put a stop to the extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country, with the call registered recently by Japanese organizations. BY AT BENGWAYAN Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Vol. VII, No. 45, Dec. 16-22, 2007 The international community has…

“There is no other reason for (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s) wanting to revive the (Anti-Subversion Law) except to consolidate more authoritarian powers in her hands,” said Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. BY NOEL SALES BARCELONA Contributed to Bulatlat HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 It is a prelude to another martial rule. This…

The series of oil price hikes this year, numbering to as much as 16, has compounded the burden of Filipinos as the cost of basic necessities has become too steep for their pockets. For the families of drivers of public utility vehicle (PUV), the strain to make both ends meet is twice over. BY REYNA…

Examinees of the Civil Engineering Board Exam will file a TRO at the appellate court once the PRC rules unfavorably on their “no retake” petition. By dabet Castaneda Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 Civil Engineering aspirants who took the licensure exams on Nov. 17 and 18 vow to file a temporary restraining…

There’s no letting up. Before the Christmas break, various groups gathered together in an interfaith rally, Dec. 14 at the Roxas Blvd in Manila and reiterated calls for Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign. BY EMILY VITAL Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 45, December 16-22, 2007 There’s no letting up. Before the Christmas break, various groups gathered…