While the Philippines is not gaining any but even losing much of its sovereignty with the increased US military presence in its shores and airspace, the US is gaining a lot.
Day: July 4, 2012
Duplicity of Oplan Bayanihan: Bondoc Peninsula under siege
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Aquino government boasted that its new counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan is totally different from the infamous Oplan Bantay Laya of the previous administration. However, the mounting cries for justice of the people of Bondoc Peninsula in southern Luzon shows that it is different only in name, but the same in essence.
Children traumatized by military presence
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com LOPEZ, Quezon – From February to April this year, soldiers of the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) transformed the San Francisco Culong Elementary School into their sleeping quarters. Sometimes, the soldiers, holding their high-powered rifles, would enter the classrooms. In the villages visited by the Save Bondoc…
A meaningful homecoming
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Ka Eden, narito kami, anak mo at mga kasamahan
Aming ipinagpapatuloy ang gawain mo’y naiwan
Sumusumpa kaming itutuloy ang laban
Hanggang sa ganap na lumaya ang mahal nating bayan.
Humanitarian mission triumphs over attempts of military to sabotage activities
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com LOPEZ, Quezon – Determined to bring food, medicines and other relief goods to the impoverished and highly militarized communities in South Quezon, the Save Bondoc Peninsula Movement overcame one hurdle after another. The more than 300 delegation of the Save Bondoc Peninsula Movement’s mercy mission and peace caravan went to…
Counterinsurgency rears ugly head in South Quezon
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Oplan Bayanihan’s two-faced character is clearly shown in Bondoc Peninsula. Benign on one side, but terroristic on the other. – Karapatan
Nothing to celebrate, no real friendship in master-puppet relations, critics say
By MARYA SALAMAT
The partnership between US warship builder and developer AMSEC Huntington Ingalls Industries and Hanjin Heavy Industries practically transforms the Hanjin shipyard in Subic Bay into a US military base. – Gabriela Rep Luzviminda Ilagan
Sidebar: Groups disprove Aquino’s selling points in allowing greater US military presence
Former Pantranco workers cry foul over government move to halt settlement
The sale of Pantranco’s franchise could have made it possible for the former workers of Pantranco to receive their claims, but Transportation Sec. Mar Roxas stopped the sale. By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com MANILA – More than two decades after Pantranco, a Philippine government-owned bus company, shut down operations and locked out its employees, the government…
Military harasses grieving families of slain NPA rebels
By INA ALLCO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com MANILA — In the midst of their extreme grief, families of slain members of the New People’s Army and residents of Brgy. Camflora in San Andres, Quezon in Southern Tagalog are demanding that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) respect their rights to give their slain loved ones…