By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld If a military takeover or a declaration of martial law as what happened in Thailand seems unthinkable today in the Philippines, it seemed equally implausible in 1972. But that didn’t prevent it from happening then; and there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen again. The key element…
Month: May 2014
A departure, a wake
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Six months before her 104th birthday my mother, Cecilia Cunanan Ocampo, quietly breathed her last at dawn on May 24. She passed away where she had wished she would: in our farmhouse amidst tall fruit trees and vast ricefields in Dampul (Barangay Sta. Monica,…
Kin urges gov’t to release NDFP consultant on humanitarian grounds
“Roy Erecre is ill. When he was arrested, he just had a series of laboratory tests and was diagnosed with venous insufficiency, peripheral arterial disease and diabetes.”
Negros Occidental, still a simmering social volcano as land disputes intensify
For 20 years agrarian reform beneficiaries waited out the snail pace processing of land distribution by the Department of Agrarian Reform only to be told that part of the land that was supposed to be awarded to them was taken by the provincial government while another part is being offered for lease to Dole Philippines.
Makabayan bloc urges Congress to probe death of Andrea Rosal’s baby
The denial of health care can be considered an act that impaired Andrea’s free will or degraded her human dignity under RA 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009.”– Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Emmi de Jesus
Groups blast health insurance firm for delay in reimbursements
“From the start, Gabriela has been pushing to abolish Philhealth and to give its budget to hospitals directly for spending on medicines, supplies, and salaries of health workers. Now the public really sees no benefits from this agency, and taxpayers are even burdened with paying for the bonuses of its officials, as if we are rewarding them for their botched job performance.” – Gabriela Women’s Party Re. Emmi de Jesus
Over 30 students kicked out of state university for protesting questionable fee
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Terry Ridon filed House Resolution No. 1160 calling on the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education to investigate the incident and hold the Earist administration accountable for “repressing students whose sole crime is to practice their constitutionally-guaranteed rights to free expression, speech, and peaceable assembly.”
North Triangle residents slam harassments, threats from ‘private guards’
“Why are you still fighting? There is nothing to fight for. You will all be demolished,” residents quoted a security guard who was threatening them.
The last kalesa maker
Did a neoliberal energy grab backfire? | Crimea: an EU-US-Exxon screwup
By PIERRE M. SPREY and FRANKLIN C. SPINNEY Counterpunch.org On 17 May, William Broad’s piece, “In Taking Crimea, Putin Gains a Sea of Fuel Reserves”, appeared in the New York Times. Broad explained how the annexation of Crimea by Russia changed the legal claims for exclusive access to the maritime resources for the littoral nations…
Rhetoric, statistics, and realities
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective A week ago, during the World Economic Forum, Pres. Benigno Aquino III delivered a speech boasting about the 7.2 percent GDP growth the country achieved last year. “We have always said that good governance is good economics, and the results of our reforms on the economic end are proving us…