By MARYA SALAMAT
The commemoration of the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women (VAW) in the Philippines got a piercing highlight in the Ampatuan massacre that occurred two days before the anti-VAW’s day last week. “What happened in Maguindanao underscored the vulnerability of women amid fierce struggles as in an electoral struggle,” Gabriela partylist representative and aspiring senator Liza Maza said.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com Sa rurok ng ating kabataan, Lipos ng pag-irog at sigla Ikinulong tayo nang malaon Sa masikip at nakalulunod Na bartolina ng diktadura Kung saan pagong ang panahon Wari’y wala na tayong pag-asang Makalaya sa pintuang bakal Pinaghiwalay tayo hirang At sa labis na pagkaulila Laging humihiyaw ang puso ko Na…
In Davao City, journalists and lawyers light candles in Centennial Park calling for justice for their fallen comrades in the Ampatuan Massacre. Thirty journalists and two lawyers were killed in the worst election violence in Philippine history. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
By BENJIE OLIVEROS
The impunity in recent political killings in the Philippines could have emboldened the Ampatuan clan to commit the massacre. If the perpetrators of more than a thousand extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of political activists could walk scot-free, perhaps, they thought, they could get away with killing less than a hundred people.