Kung ang midya ay patuloy na nakakapanayam si Lozada, hindi ito nangangahulugang may tunay na demokrasya sa ating bansa. Kung si Lozada ngayon ay may kalayaan, ito ay dahil sa pagkilos ng mga taong simbahan at iba pang sektor ng lipunan para protektahan siya. NI DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Konteksto / Pinoy Weekly Inilathala ng Bulatlat…
Month: February 2008
People Power Fatigue?
The Arroyo government and its allies say that the Filipino people are tired of people power. Does this mean that the Filipino people are tired of condemning massive electoral fraud, putting a stop to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, resisting repression, fighting corruption, struggling against hunger and poverty? That is wishful thinking on the part…
7 Out of 10 See Themselves Poor
Many Filipinos also have trouble looking for jobs, paying bills Seven out of ten Filipinos believe that they are poor, according to the results of the latest IBON nationwide survey. BY IBON FOUNDATION Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 4, February 24-March 1, 2008 Seven out of ten Filipinos believe that they are poor, according…
In the Face of Compulsory AFTA Tariff Reduction in 2010: RP Sugar Fights for Survival
Philippine sugar industry leaders have recently intensified calls and lobby work to exempt local sugar from the compulsory tariff reduction program under the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). The AFTA seeks to eliminate all tariffs on imported sugar by 2010. BY KARL G. OMBION Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 4, February 24-March 1, 2008 BACOLOD City…
Balikatan 2008 Raises Fears of Rapes, Other Atrocities by U.S. Troops
This year’s RP-U.S. Balikatan military “exercises” in Sulu, Basilan, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, and North Cotabato start just shortly after two sexual assaults by U.S. troops in Okinawa, Japan – in which one of the victims was a Filipina. They also come less than three years after a Filipina was raped by U.S.…
O Bakwet* (Rights Victims Flee from Quezon Province)
By dabet castañeda HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 4, February 24-March 1, 2008 The intensifying militarization of Quezon province has forced 69 individuals to leave their homes and livelihood and literally run for their lives during the last quarter of 2007. Tales of fathers and mothers being harassed and taken to military camps…
Million-Dollar ‘Kickback’ Could Have Paid For Public School Shortages
BY THE EDUCATORS’ FORUM FOR DEVELOPMENT DEMOCRATIC SPACE Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 4, February 24-Marcy 1, 2008 Crisis in the Philippine education sector is deepening as manifested by high dropout rate, deteriorating quality, rising resource shortages, and intensifying exploitation of teachers. And yet the highest officials of the country are embroiled in billion-peso…
The Queen’s Gambit
The Arroyo government seems to have blundered in handling Rodolfo Lozada Jr. from the day the Senate summoned him to testify in a hearing on the NBN-ZTE deal. But the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s actions concerning Lozada were done with due consideration of the probable consequences to the government. It was all part of the queen’s gambit.…
Major Surgery
I am aghast that these senators whom we knew at the U.P. years ago are part of the regime’s counteroffensive to save a morally bankrupt leadership that has long deserved to be banished and replaced. But from the looks of it the whole political system may well undergo major surgery if not interment. BY ELMER A.…
Seven Green and Pro-People Tips for GMA’s Removal
BY KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT DEMOCRATIC SPACE Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 3, February 17-23, 2008 In light of the current NBN ZTE scandal, environmental activists from Kalikasan PNE offer seven handy tips for the Filipino people to keep in mind. 1.SEGREGATE the truth from lies, especially in the cases of the…
Water Contamination a Probability with Rodriguez Landfill
DEMOCRATIC SPACE Posted by Bulatlat Groundwater supply contamination is a legitimate and critical environment issue in Rodriguez, Rizal. I was there only last January 29 as part of a group of about 100 SVD priests, seminarians and lay partners who planted 300 plus narra tree seedlings on an eroding and denuded mountain. We did so…