Ronalyn V. Olea or Len to her colleagues loves to brew coffee strong enough to keep everyone in the newsroom awake. She’s a vegan and a bike commuter, braving the chaos of the road to get to meetings and errands.
Ronalyn V. Olea or Len to her colleagues loves to brew coffee strong enough to keep everyone in the newsroom awake. She’s a vegan and a bike commuter, braving the chaos of the road to get to meetings and errands.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Communist Party of the Philippines demands the release of its leaders and members, as well as the nearly 400 political prisoners in the Philippines. | Sidebar: 'Ka Bart' Is Member of NDF Peace Panel, CPP Reiterates
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Advocates of the Moro people's struggle for self-determination say the Aquino administration must first render justice to the victims of human-rights violations during the Arroyo regime before it can talk peace.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Two more of the so-called “Morong 43” were freed today, Dec. 28, after their lawyers convinced the court that the supposedly pending criminal cases that the police and military cited to prevent their earlier release involved namesakes.
Members of the Morong 43 and their children decorate a Christmas tree on Monday, three days after their release from prison after more than 10 months of incarceration. Some of the health workers said Christmas this year is one of their happiest ever. (Photos by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com)
33 of the 'Morong 43' Walk Free
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Another five of the ‘Morong 43’ are under the custody of the military. Lawyers insist they, too, should be freed because they are being held against their will and have been coerced by the authorities to turn against the others.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
and ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
BREAKING NEWS (Updated: 11:05 pm: Twenty-three female detainees have been released): Relatives and supporters of the political prisoners had been waiting for days for this moment to come, a week after President Benigno S. Aquino III ordered the dropping of charges against them. On Friday, they trooped to the court in Morong town in Rizal for the court’s release order and then, by nightfall, to Camp Bagong Diwa, where they waited for the authorities to free the detainees who had been jailed there for most of the past 10 months.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
"Aquino should promptly order a criminal investigation into the allegations of torture and ill-treatment in military custody," the New York-based Human Rights Watch said, reacting to President Aquino's order to drop charges against the Morong 43.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We are happy but we are still angered. In the first place, the Morong 43 are innocent. They should not have been detained,” Ofelia Beltran-Balleta, mother of Jane Balleta, one of the Morong 43, said in an interview with Bulatlat.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The announcement of Aquino is no less than a reaction to the highest form of protest by the Morong 43 and to the overwhelming support for their case," Roneo Clamor, husband of Dr. Merry Mia-Clamor, one of the 43, and acting secretary general of Karapatan, said.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“In my own little way, I will act [in support of you] without mentioning anything about the legal case. I am only coming from the sense that your dignity as humans should be respected. If human dignity is not respected, nothing else would be given value,” Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz told the male detainees during his visit at Camp Bagong Diwa.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL and
RONALYN V. OLEA
How can the government and the Armed Forces of the Philippines claim that it respects human rights when human rights defenders themselves are being the target of attack? How can there be claims of "change" when the lives of the majority remain the same, and even getting worse, and those who defend the rights of the poor and the oppressed are still being treated as "enemies of the state"?
Maricel Delen: A Human Rights Worker, a Widow, Now a Victim of Persecution
Fred Caña: A Human Rights Worker, Marked for Assassination by the Military
Kelly Delgado: Committed to the Defense of Human Rights Amid The Threats
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – For six years, Kelly M. Delgado, secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) has been experiencing harassments. On May 16, 2008, when Delgado was invited for a radio interview in Kidapawan City after...
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com After farm worker Benjamin Bayles was shot dead, Fred Caña, secretary general of Karapatan-Negros, exposed yet another case of extrajudicial killing. His advocacy for human rights and his exposé of cases of extrajudicial killings...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – Her presence of mind and a tip from a sympathetic journalist enabled Maricel Delen, 34, a staff member of Karapatan-Camarines Norte to elude arrest last November 22. That day, at around 10:30 a.m., combined elements of...
MANILA -- Members of the Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA) troop to the Department of Justice Monday to call for an end to human-rights violations against the Bangsamoro people. The MCPA also joined the call for the release of the 43 health workers and other political prisoners.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“An empty stomach doesn’t need empty doublespeak from Malacanang. We need our freedom,” the Morong 43 said in a statement.
BAGUIO CITY -- The Baguio-Benguet chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) strongly condemns the Presidential Security Guard (PSG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) maltreatment of a local reporter who was covering Pres. Noynoy...
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WCC Alarmed by Rights Violations