By NANCY MURRAY and KADE CROCKFORD Truthout.org International On August 5, 2002, President George Bush declared, “We’re fighting … to secure freedom in the homeland.” Strikingly, he did not use the word “nation,” or “republic,” but instead adopted a term, with its Germanic overtones of blood, roots and loyalty going back generations, for a country…
Day: September 9, 2011
The deadly labor behind our phones, laptops and consumer gadgets
By SOPHIA CHENG Commondreams.org International The world’s largest electronics manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, has a plan for ending the grisly run of worker suicides that have drawn it unwanted attention over the past two years: replace human workers with one million robots. It seems the best way to interrupt rising global outrage over worker abuse…
Solon seeks review of mining law
By ACE ALEGRE Northern Dispatch BAGUIO CITY – A senator is seeking a review of the 16-year old Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. Sen. Loren Legarda, who convened indigenous peoples all over Luzon at the Teachers Camp here Friday, said the law needs revisions so that issues on economic, social…
CIDG fails to present its 3 witnesses on Jonas abduction case
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO Bulatlat.com MANILA — The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police failed to present three of its witnesses during the Court of Appeals hearing on September 7, 2011 on Jonas Burgos’s enforced disappearance. “Just like what our lawyer told us, we were really not expecting that the…
Satur C. Ocampo | Invent, then make
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star It seems the land of opportunity isn’t America anymore (nor Europe). For Filipinos, anyway. Not right now. Despite the recovery of the big banks through massive government bailouts, the US economy — in deep recession since 2008 — grew by only 1.1 percent in…
US, Dutch and Philippine governments conspired to demonize Professor Sison – Committee DEFEND
By D. L. MONDELO Bulatlat.com AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – The recent Wikileaks expose’ of a 2007 cable from the US embassy in Manila (which was published in Manila newspapers) revealing the collaboration between the Dutch, Philippines and US governments to file false murder charges against Filipino political exile Prof. Jose Ma. Sison is merely a…
Bayan Muna tells Aquino to slow down on plans to forge new deals with China
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com In the wake of President Benigno Aquino III’s exuberant report regarding his supposedly successful business and diplomatic trip to China, Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares said the president should not be too eager to forge new deals. Aquino led a delegation of almost 300 business leaders on a trip…
GPH-MILF peace talks heading for an impasse
By MARYA SALAMAT
The MILF leadership, particularly its negotiating panel headed by Mohagher Iqbal, views the “3 in 1” proposal of the Philippine government for a peace agreement as “detached,” has “no connections” and has in fact “derogated the past agreements and consensus reached by the two parties in the past 14 years of negotiations.”
The long, difficult road to justice for mothers of 2 missing UP students
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“While we commend the courage of the mothers of Karen and Sherlyn, now human rights defenders themselves, in pursuing the criminal case, it is equally significant that the Aquino government must take concrete steps in making the roads to justice accessible for the victims and their families.” – Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development
Palparan bodyguard linked to abduction of 2 UP students a ‘no show’ during hearing
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – One of the soldiers linked to the abduction of two University of the Philippines (UP) students and his counsel was a no-show at the Department of Justice (DOJ) hearing today. Staff Sgt. Edgardo L. Osorio did not appear at the DOJ hearing on the preliminary investigation on the…
TRB postpones implementation of VAT on toll fees, BIR disagrees
By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com MANILA – Amid protests over what progressive groups call as “bogus public hearings” conducted by the Toll Regulatory Board this week over the planned imposition of the 12-percent Value-Added Tax (VAT) on toll fees, which it would pass on to motorists, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) announced yesterday they may not…