A multipartite meeting involving the striking union, Lepanto management, local government and labor officials, coupled with several pre-dawn dispersal operations, failed to weaken workers’ resolve to push for their demands. BY Lyn V. Ramo and Abigail T. Bengwayan...
The current presidential crisis may be a threat to Macapagal-Arroyo but it is also an opportunity for the nation to wrestle with the fundamental question on what is the best solution. By Bobby Tuazon Bulatlat.com Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo faces the biggest threat to...
Political prisoner all set for freedom after 16 years inside prison Days before his liberty, long-term political prisoner Donato Continente lays out his plans outside prison: to volunteer for a rights watchdog, help his inmates in their search for freedom, lead a...
Despite stringent government regulations that ban the airing of the supposed wiretapped conversations between President Macapagal-Arroyo and Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, progressive groups are finding more ways to circulate the content of the...
At the ongoing strike of Lepanto mineworkers in Mankayan, Benguet, women and youths take turns to extend support. One of them, a young female pharmacology student in Baguio, shares a story. By Abi T.Bengwayan Bulatlat.com MANKAYAN, Benguet — Salem Dilem sits...
Remembering the first Filipino military victory in World War II On the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Bessang Pass, we honor its real heroes – the nameless farmers, soldiers, bolomen, haulers who supplied the fighters with ammunition, food and other war...
Interfaith Mission reports 2 rights violations every day This is one of those cases when cold figures can heat one up. From February to May alone, a total of 276 cases of human rights violations were recorded in Samar, involving the controversial Brig. Gen. Jovito...
Photo by Ace Alegre / Bulatlat Bulatlat.com No, this is not a baptism. The newlywed couple, caught by Bulatlat’s camera in Currimao, Ilocos Norte (464 kms north of Manila), have their heads washed by relatives with vinegar and rice straw. It is a traditional...
The mine workers’ strike at Lepanto’s Mankayan mines is on its third week but negotiations between company and the strikers on wage increases are on a deadlock. By Abi T. Bengwayan Northern Dispatch Bulatlat.com MANKAYAN, Benguet – Going on its third week of...
While crushing the insurgency is the immediate aim of a policy decision to use all means including torture, assassination, and the suppression of free expression, the opportunities for bureaucratic plunder the entry of foreign mining companies into the country...
As the Filipino people gear up for yet another campaign to oust a discredited President, not a few ordinary citizens have asked – what’s in store? Some opposition leaders have floated the chances of a simple resignation or a snap election while progressive blocs...
Angelina "Angie" Bisuña Ipong’s friends all say the same thing about her age. She does not look it. Not only is Angie a person so full of life but the wellness exercises that she religiously observes has made her unusually agile and energetic for her age. But life...
Aside from playing chess, playing the gong and dancing keep the strikers in high morale. Solidarity messages from individuals and groups visiting the picket lines further encourage the strikers to pursue their fight for higher wages and benefits. By Northern...
Malacañang resorted to statistical trickery to declare on June 15: “Unemployment rate drops to 8.3 percent.” But a closer look at the numbers shows that the jobs situation in the country is more dismal than ever. BY SANDRA NICOLAS Bulatlat.com There is, it seems,...
By Jasper Almirante/ Bulatlat Bulatlat.com President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s attempts at preempting an alleged destabilization plot by her political opponents have only put her in a position where she holds fort in a sand castle being battered by the waves....
“Tunggal dumawat tayo ti nayon a sweldo, ibaga da a bassit ti mapaspastrek a ganansiya ken maluglugi da pay” (Whenever we ask for just wage increases, the company tells us that it is not earning, that business is not good). Striking mine workers have all the more...
After stopping plantation and milling operations at Hacienda Luisita, cane workers and their families gear up for blocking the construction of one of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s flagship projects – a super expressway. By Abner Bolos Bulatlat.com The much-delayed...
Militarization heightens as Dole orders return-to-work A medical mission was prevented by the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo) from delivering health services to the more than 1,000 striking workers and their families. This, however, proves to be the...
Wage hike legislation nears 6 years President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo faces a punishment worse than impeachment if she continues to ignore the demand of workers for a legislated wage increase in the minimum daily wage by P125 ($2.26). A party-list legislator argued...
In the Southern Tagalog region, workers were given a minuscule increase in their minimum daily wage. What proves to be worse is that only a small segment can avail of the already miniscule increase, since those outside the so-called extended metropolitan area will...
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.
