Day: March 2, 2011

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Out of the 9,539 original complainants in a class action suit filed against the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, only 7,526 victims would receive compensation. “Are they telling us that we are not genuine victims? Where is justice for us?” said martial-law victim Carlos Bolito, 60, after learning he was not included in the list of claimants.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Migrante International criticized the Aquino administration’s crisis management — from the repatriation of OFWs to simply responding to the calls via their hotline numbers — as slow and inept. The group challenged the government to provide more than just livelihood assistance in dealing with jobless OFWs who would be flocking the country in the coming days.

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“Aquino’s ninth month in office coincides with the militant action of Filipino women on March 8. Just like giving birth to a child, the protest of women all over the country and overseas would be born after nine months of discontent over an administration found inadequate in action.” — Lana Linaban, Gabriela secretary-general

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
An essential aspect of the bill is the reorientation of the country’s mining industry based on the principles of social justice, respect for people’s rights and welfare, environmental conservation, defense of national sovereignty and patrimony, national industrialization, and agricultural modernization.