For 11 years, Marinduqueños have been seeking justice from the various courts in the country and abroad to determine the liabilities of Marcopper Mining Corporation and Placer Dome, Incorporated (bought by Barrick Gold in 2006) over the disasters their 30-year mining operations have caused the people and environment in Marinduque island. Worse, Marcopper even has…
Ronalyn V. Olea
World Water Day: Unequal Water Distribution Behind ‘Water Crisis’
The water crisis, whether in the Philippines or globally, is a crisis underlined by the fact that majority of the poor people have no access to water while most of the water goes to the rich. BY ARNOLD PADILLA IBON Foundation Posted by Bulatlat Environment secretary Angelo Reyes recently raised the alarm over an impending…
World Water Day: Unequal Water Distribution Behind ‘Water Crisis’
The water crisis, whether in the Philippines or globally, is a crisis underlined by the fact that majority of the poor people have no access to water while most of the water goes to the rich. BY ARNOLD PADILLA IBON Foundation Posted by Bulatlat Environment secretary Angelo Reyes recently raised the alarm over an impending…
DENR decision unscientific, haphazard, and fraught with technical loopholes’ Experts Find No Scientific Basis for Rapu-Rapu Mine Re-opening
BY LISA ITO Bulatlat A four-person panel of independent experts recently scrutinized the basis of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR’s) for allowing the resumption of full commercial operations of the Lafayette mine in Rapu-Rapu, Albay and found it “unscientific, haphazard, and fraught with technical loopholes” at the very least. The panel was…
Labor Groups Say 10% Pay Hike Not Enough
Labor groups welcome the Executive Order 611 providing for a 10 percent salary adjustment for government employees, but insist this is not enough and only favors high ranking government officials. BY AUBREY MAKILAN Bulatlat Labor groups welcome the Executive Order 611 providing for a 10 percent salary adjustment for government employees, but insist this is…
The Other Cayetano
At Davao City’s Sasa village, the neighbors and coworkers of Joselito Cayetano are stumped by his decision to run for the Senate. They were stunned when he added the second name “Peter” to his certificate of candidacy. Alan Peter Cayetano, the opposition congressman who is running for senator, is not amused. Joselito Cayetano, a truck…
The Senatoriables: How They Stand on Major People’s Issues
The administration’s Team Unity and the Genuine Opposition, the two main contending forces in this year’s senatorial elections, have been exchanging challenges to a debate for the past few weeks. While both sides have agreed on a possible venue for the debate, they have not agreed on what issues to debate about. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN…
Like Thieves in the Night
Not only thieves prowl the night. In the dead of night, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration tried to transfer Rep. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna (People First) party to Leyte. It was also late evening when the government transferred Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith to the custody of the U.S. embassy. In Ocampo’s case they did so to…
Bayan Muna to File Raps vs. ‘False’ Leyte Witnesses
Bayan Muna (People First) general counsel and third nominee Neri Javier Colmenares revealed that they will file criminal cases of perjury against the witnesses who “falsely testified” against Rep. Satur Ocampo in Leyte. They will also file civil cases against these witnesses for “damaging and maligning” Ocampo and Bayan Muna. BY KAREN PAPELLERO AND JOHANN…
Oplan Bantay Laya: U.S.-Arroyo Regime’s ‘Final Solution’
Having run out of counterinsurgency options Bantay Laya I and II appear to be the U.S.-Arroyo regime’s “final solution” to the long drawn-out conflict. A novel and significant feature is its special emphasis on punitive measures in dealing with the political component of the insurgency. This includes suppressive measures against Congressional Party List representatives and…
Filipino Church Leaders Bring Issue of Slays before Int’l Bodies
Two of the nine-member Philippine delegation of human rights defenders named the “Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines” shared the outcome of their lobbying efforts before various international organizations and entities in a press conference last week in Quezon City. BY EMILY VITAL Bulatlat Two of the nine-member Philippine delegation of…