A village chief and a councilor was shot dead after meeting with soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. Their companion, another councilor, is in critical condition. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Village chief Victorina Gomez with two...
In theory, the national budget can be a powerful mechanism for ensuring that public resources are used for the welfare of the majority. Unfortunately, narrow interests have perpetually hijacked the direction of Philippine economic policy and this is fully reflected...
Is Canada funding mercenaries in Mindanao? If this is true, this is not the first time that Canada has been accused of such. Private military companies earn about $100 billion yearly and mercenary armies through the years have been linked to areas where there is...
At the malls, I have tried different versions of humba: the Chinese pale version, the Ilonggo version, even the vegemeat version. In Digos City, I remember dining at a nameless carinderia where they cooked humba with lots of vinegar -- and eggplant. By Bejay Absin...
Street foods are popular nowadays not only because these are tasty but mainly because these are cheap and can easily take care of hunger. From sweet, sour, spicy, salty, to hot or cold, name it and you can find it in the streets of Davao and other cities and towns....
A sad Christmas awaits a family of a Negros-based labor organizer who has been missing since Dec. 5. Negros cause-oriented groups say it is the handiwork of the military which the latter strongly denies. A military officer, however, is quick to accuse the missing...
A Human Rights Day photo exhibit in Bicol couldn’t help but be gruesome. By Lino D. Interino III Legaspi City – A Human Rights Day photo exhibit in Bicol couldn’t help but be gruesome as it shows victims of human rights violations, in pictures. Dubbed as “Faces of...
The Philippine military has been using the Lumads in a village in Compostela Valley Province as human shields as it pursues its campaign against the communist New People’s Army. By Marilou M. Aguirre NABOC, Compostela Valley Province - From Davao City, one has to...
A village chief and a councilor was shot dead after meeting with soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. Their companion, another councilor, is in critical condition. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Village chief Victorina Gomez with two councilors,...
The family of Sofronio “Tatay Poloy” Enoc, the peasant leader who was killed among five others in a massacre on April 15, 2002, in Pangyan, Marilog District, is still hopeful that justice will finally come. By Marilou M. Aguirre DAVAO CITY -- Unmindful of her...
(para kay Andres Bonifacio at kanyang mga apo) Ni Angelo San Pablo Sa loob at labas ng bayan kong sawi Maraming hiráp at lubog sa lugami Walang katapusan hibik na mahapdi Nagpasalin-salin sa maraming lahi. Sa loob at labas, ang Imperyalista! Nagpapakasasa’t...
In memory of the Palo (Leyte) 10 BY RAYMUND VILLANUEVA The Good Book says: “From dust to dust.” But the government troops did not have to be Literal. The Palo peasants said: “Balik-uma!” (Back to the land!) But the government troops did not have to be Literal. The...
BAGUIO CITY – Her name is Ina Ubayyen and she claims to be 100 years old. She smokes her native tobacco as she waits for the next tourist to either to take her picture or rent her highland head gear for a photograph for only P5 ($0.09). Setting up shop in front of...
The Philippine public health system is on the brink of death, with the government spending less than a peso for the health of every Filipino each day while up to 50 percent of the national budget is automatically earmarked as payment for onerous debts. Result:...
The Hacienda Luisita strike, which paved the way for the revocation of the stock distribution option in the hacienda, is set to end this week. But both the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) and United Luisita Workers’ Union (ULWU) deem the strike as...
Power rates are expected to increase this December not only due to the value-added tax but also the government’s approval of the National Power Corporation’s application to increase power rates. At this point, even business leaders and power companies have...
Residents of an impoverished area are still deprived of steady water supply even if they regularly pay the rates imposed by the water company. While they initially welcomed their mayor’s support, they lament the inaction on the part of the water company and the...
The demise of Philippine-made shoes is a result of decades of government neglect and intensified by just a few years of aggressive liberalization under the World Trade Organization. By JP Andaquig IBON Features Shoemaking has always been the bread and butter of...
An anti-globalization alliance says the government’s fiscal crisis is all the more exacerbated because the government radically reworked the 1994 tariff rates on imported commodities, leading to a loss of P1 trillion in revenues. BY BULATLAT RESIST, the Philippine...
Is there a difference between retirement and retrenchment? Analyzing government policies on the rationalization of the bureaucracy, it appears that government officials want to encourage as much as 50% of the 1.4-million workforce to retire while at the same time...
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