Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap asked Benguet farmers for a year-round supply of vegetables for outlets in the National Capital Region (NCR) before he releases funds for road and other infrastructure. “We will support the farmers but they should first assure the volume of vegetables for the market,” Yap said in his meeting with Benguet mayors…
Ronalyn V. Olea
NCIP Grants Balatoc Tribe Priority Right over Ancestral Domain
Through a resolution, the seven commissioners of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) have formally granted to the Balatoc sub-tribe of Kalinga the priority right to develop and exploit the natural resources located in their ancestral domain at Balatoc, Pasil, Kalinga. The priority right covers the mineral land which was once covered by the…
Balatoc Land Sale Threatens NL, Cordi Food Security
Kalinga elders have disclosed that the food security of North Luzon and the Cordillera region will be threatened once the Batong Buhay Mines is reopened as a result of the reported sale of some 400 has.of the Balatoc ancestral domain. BY LYN V. RAMO Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat BAGUIO CITY (246 kms. north of…
Girl, 6, Climbs Mountains for the Environment
At the tender age of 3, she attended meetings of environmentalists and went to rallies denouncing dumping and using dumps as a waste management facility. Now aged 6, she has been climbing mountains to do her share in preserving the environment and to raise her battlecry,” No Waste.” Posted by Bulatlat While most children play…
Fil-Ams Welcome SC Decision on Pandacan Oil Depot
Not only are extra-judicial killings in the Philippines an important issue in the United States of America. Even local concerns in the country, at least in the opinion of U.S. concerned citizens and migrants, bear watching. BY BULATLAT Not only are extra-judicial killings in the Philippines an important issue in the United States of America.…
Advocacy Groups Critical of Changes in Canada’s Migrant Policy
The Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced improvements in its Temporary Foreign Worker program. But organizations of Filipino-Canadians and OFWs believe that the new policy of requiring live-in caregivers to remain with one employer to be eligible for a work permit for three years and three months is a violation of their human rights. BY SIKLAB…
Miners Falsely Accused and Imprisoned in Saudi Arabia Feels neglected and betrayed by the government
Experienced and hard working, 23 miners from Benguet had bright hopes for the future as they were offered P40, 000 ($821.81 at an exchange rate of $1=P48.673) a month salaries to work in Saudi Arabia. They expected to earn four times more than what they had been receiving here. But their fate turned for the…
Reign of Impunity
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Posted by Bulatlat The vital flaw which undermines the utility of much of the (Philippine) judicial system is the problem of virtual impunity that prevails. This, in turn, is built upon the rampant problem of witness vulnerability. The present message is that if you want to preserve your life expectancy, don’t act…
Crossing the Bridge
The U.S. government has been criticized for its inconsistent human rights policy and for using it as part of its proverbial “carrots and stick” strategy chiefly to gain concessions from governments. It supports tyrannical governments and deals with states that have gained notoriety for committing atrocities against their own nationals. By the Policy Study, Publication…
Think-Tank Belies Arroyo’s Claims of Economic ‘Gains’
Independent think-tank IBON Foundation belies Malacañang’s claim of an improving economy, and asks why the palace does not dare to hype the economic figures that really matter to the majority of Filipinos. BY IBON FOUNDATION Posted by Bulatlat Independent think-tank IBON Foundation belies Malacañang’s claim of an improving economy, and asks why the palace does…
Dirty Air, Dirty Air Monitoring?
Can a project for monitoring air pollution turn out to be as dirty as the air it is supposed to monitor? This is the question provoked by the DENR’s Air Monitoring Network Project, for which the government agency has been paying a contractor, through a foreign loan, to set up, maintain, and operate 10 air…