The pro-Chavez United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won 72 percent of the governorships in the November 23, 2008 elections and 58 percent of the popular vote, dumbfounding the predictions of most of the pro-capitalist pollsters and the vast majority of the mass media who favored the opposition. BY JAMES PETRAS INTERNATIONAL Posted by Bulatlat…
Month: December 2008
Sons of Sacadas
Sons of Sacadas. Three sons of agricultural workers gather sugarcane to eat. In Negros island, known as Sugarlandia, children are vulnerable to malnutrition and hunger. (Photo by OWEN BAYOG)
Gov’t Workers Say Christmas Bonus a Double-Edged Sword
The biggest alliance of government employees said that the P10,000 ($202.88) Christmas bonus that they are set to receive is supposed to be a welcome respite but is actually a ‘double-edged sword’. BY BULATLAT The Confederation for the Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) said that the bonus they are set to receive…
Green Groups Support Demand for Reduction of Global Carbon Emissions
An alliance of environmental groups, scientists and grassroots organizations expressed support to the call for a 40 percent reduction in carbon emissions, based on 1990 levels, by 2020 and by more than 95 percent by 2050. BY BULATLAT An alliance of environmental groups, scientists and grassroots organizations expressed support to the call for a reduction…
Japanese Advocate of Natural Farming Honored in a Film
Fukuoka Masanobu, a Japanese advocate of natural farming said, “With this kind of farming, which uses no machines, no prepared fertilizer and no chemicals, it is possible to attain a harvest equal to or greater than that of the average Japanese farm.” BY LYN V. RAMO Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (256…
A lesson from Pinocchio
OBL II Burdens Children – NGO report
The Arroyo government is the worst violator of children’s rights, as its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya II had put children directly in harm’s way, a non-government organization said in a report.
GRP-NDFP Talks Hit Snag over Ceasefire, NDFP Accuses Gov’t Panel of Lying
Government peace panel head Nieves Confesor said on Friday, December 5, that the Arroyo government is now ready to resume peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). She also said that both panels agreed to a ceasefire as a “good will and confidence-building measure”. But Confesor’s seeming optimism is not being shared by the NDFP. The NDFP released two press statements, December 4 and 6, saying that the informal talks actually hit a snag over the issue of ceasefire with the government trying to convert the talks into surrender negotiations.
Groups Urge Review of New UN Guidelines on Child Soldiers
Various groups have called for a review of the Paris Principles, the new guidelines adopted by the United Nations (UN) in defining child soldiers. By not distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants, the Paris Principles, they said, place children in rebel-influenced areas in danger as they are de-facto labeled as child soldiers and therefore, open targets…
Abducted Moro Activist Surfaced at CIDG Office
After being missing for six days, an abducted Moro activist was found in Camp Crame, slapped anew with kidnapping charges already dismissed in 2005. A human rights leader expressed fears that a police crackdown on Moros has been launched, yet again. BY DEE AYROSO HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Bulatlat For six days, Ahmad Hamja had desperately…
Ex-‘Tagaytay 5’ Detainee Launches Book of Poems
A literary critic described the former political detainee’s poems as ‘among the best to have come from the ranks of Philippine protest poets.’ A National Artist for Literature also praised Axel Pinpin’s courage to write poems while in detention. Tugmaang Matatabil (Mga Akdang Isinulat sa Libingan ng mga Buhay) is Pinpin’s second full-length book of…