By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“There could be no reconciliation without justice,” President Benigno Aquino III declared during his inaugural speech. But the means by which he intends to run after the former Arroyo administration, the Truth Commission, is being criticized by progressive groups for being a dud.
Related story: Truth Commissions, a Failure in the Country, Successful in Other Countries
Misery Still
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – President Benigno S. Aquino III issued his first executive order creating the Truth Commission to investigate cases of corruption during President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s nine-year rule. What have the previous commissions created by the government achieved so far? How do these compare to the truth commissions in other…
By MIICHAEL BARKER CounterPunch Posted by Bulatlat.com The history of tea is a history of imperialism, and so one should be suspicious when someone offers you, not one, but Three Cups of Tea. This bladder bursting offer however is exactly what Greg Mortenson has served up to the world with his semi-autobiographical bestseller Three Cups…
by: The F Word | GRITtv | Video Report Posted by Bulatlat.com The flooding in Pakistan has displaced 2 million people, killed at least 1600 and affected 14 million. It should be affecting all of us. A disaster of global proportions, requiring a global response, as Gwynne Dyer noted on our show not long ago,…
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The Water for the People Network is blaming the privatization of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage Systems for the water shortages. It warns that the plans of the Aquino administration to fast track more privatization projects, through its planned public-private partnerships, would result in higher rates of basic utilities and services.
‘Bungkalan’ Improved Lives of Farmers
Hawi Boys
Food for the Soul
After the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council ordered the revocation of the SDO in Hacienda Luisita, the farmer beneficiaries launched what they call a “bungkalan” or the cultivation of idle Luisita land. It was both a political statement and a matter of survival for the farm workers who were facing extreme poverty in the hacienda owned by President Benigno S. Aquino III and his family. Farmers who participated swear that their lives improved after the “bungkalan.” 
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By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise | BusinessWorld Posted by Bulatlat.com The so-called compromise agreement announced by the management of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) comes ahead of an upcoming decision of the Supreme Court on the legality of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) decision to revoke the 16-year-old stock distribution option (SDO). The SDO…