Spearfishing (Diadi, Nueva Vizacaya). Little boys spearfishing for little fishes with little success. (Photo by Raymund Villanueva / Bulatlat.com )
Day: April 20, 2009
Dead or Not?
Is it dead, or is it not? Considering the desperation of the Arroyo regime, the threat of Charter change will always be there for as long as the various resolutions filed in the House of Representatives are not withdrawn.BY Flon Faurillo/bulatlat.com
Why Gloria’s P330-B “Stimulus Package” Will Fail: A Critique of the Economic Resiliency Plan (ERP)
Part 1 of a two-part series Publicized as a “stimulus package”, the Economic Resiliency Plan (ERP) is criticized even by neoliberal economists as severely lacking in funds to stimulate economic activity amid the global downturn. Aggravating these funding problems is the perennial shortfall in government revenues to support its expenditures thus, government will further increase…
Lifting of Deployment Ban, Subjecting More OFWs to Abuse
It was only a few years ago when the Arroyo administration issued a total deployment ban to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar and Iraq because of “unstable security conditions”. Fast-forward to the present. The Arroyo administration has now lifted the deployment ban claiming that the security conditions have “improved”. But has the protection of labor and…
Kin, Friends Renew Calls for Surfacing of Abducted Cordi Activist
The family, clan, colleagues, as well as friends of missing Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) member James Moy Balao held a photo exhibit and information drive on enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings at the public market of La Trinidad, Benguet on April 17, the 213th day of his disappearance. BY ALDWIN QUITASOL Northern Dispatch HUMAN RIGHTS…
Going Through the Eye of a Needle: Availing of the P50K Loan for OFWs
Through the reintegration program of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), a National Livelihood Support Fund was launched to “assist” overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were retrenched due to the global financial crisis. But retrenched OFWs have to comply with the stiff requirements and be prepared for the long haul before they would be able…
Over 18,000 Lose Jobs in Country’s Largest Export-Processing Zone
When Bulatlat last visited Arnold Redondo, which was early last February, he still had his job as a production operator at Eighttech Manufacturing Corporation, one of the companies operating at the Cavite Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) which is the largest export-processing zone in the country – though he and his co-workers had been working for…
Something Reeks in Government Housing
Alan Codizar’s family noticed the smell after two months inside their house in Catalunan Grande, a village about five kilometers from downtown Davao. “We thought it was the dog,” recalled Codizar’s wife Lourdes, “So, we moved the doghouse somewhere else but still the smell lingered.” Later, they opened the sewage at the back of the…
Latin America Changes: Hunger Strikes in Bolivia, Summits in the Carribean
Bolivian President Evo Morales just completed a five-day hunger strike to push through legislation that allows him to run again in general elections this December. And at this weekend’s Summit of the Americas, US President Barack Obama will meet with Latin American presidents who may end up giving some economic advice to their troubled neighbor…
Election Exclusion in Haiti: Obama’s First Foreign Policy Disaster?
The Washington-based group the Haiti Priorities Project recently dispatched a team of 70 pollsters throughout Haiti. According to their findings, “Only 5 percent of potential voters nationwide say they are ready to go to the polls in order to elect 12 senators for the upcoming elections on April of this year.” In polling from several…
Mankayan Readies Suit VS Lepanto for Dumping Cancer-causing Asbestos in Landfill
Mankayan town officials are readying a damage suit against Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company for dumping asbestos-containing materials in Barangay (village) Sapid. BY ACE ALEGRE Contributor Bulatlat MANKAYAN, Benguet (348 kms north of Manila) – Mankayan town officials are readying a damage suit against Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company for dumping asbestos-containing materials in Barangay (village) Sapid.…