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.
The Philippine military, through its attack dogs Pastor Alcover and Jovito Palparan, are trying to discredit the Commission on Human Rights and its chairperson, Leila de Lima. Human-rights groups are understandably concerned. “Now that the CHR chairperson insists on the mandate of the commission, they consider her as an enemy,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez of Karapatan said. “That is the most dangerous mindset.”
Freedom from torture is a non-derogable right, meaning that states cannot violate this right under any circumstances, even in a state of emergency or martial law. By insisting that Melissa Roxas is a communist guerrilla, the Arroyo regime not only practically admits that it tortured her -- it seeks to justify the atrocity, thus violating the very international instruments that it had earlier agreed on.
Dukot's fearlessness emanates from its depiction of the truth about the worsening human-rights situation in the Philippines today. As Bonifacio Ilagan, the scriptwriter, put it: “It minces no words in pointing out the real perpetrators” of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
While Cory Aquino restored democratic institutions and became a symbol of integrity in governance, her regime remained beholden, if not hostaged, by the military and Washington. This resulted in massive human-rights abuses that were even worse in terms of number of victims than those committed so far under the Arroyo regime.
Video: "This Is For All of Us!" -- Melissa Roxas
Video: Melissa Hearing Turns Into a Witchhunt
Video: The Making of the Last Gloria Effigy
Days before the Sona, thousands of farmers, workers, students and activists braved the heat and the rain as they marched from the provinces of Southern Tagalog to Commonwealth Avenue. The march, called Lakbayan, is their way of fighting the regime’s abuses and asserting their basic rights.
Melissa Roxas’s description of the place where she was brought and tortured seemed consistent with what the CHR found during a visit to Fort Magsaysay. But military officials deny soldiers were behind the atrocity. “Fort Magsaysay is a tourist destination,” one of them told the commissioners.
Melissa Roxas at the hearing on her case before the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City. The hearing was still ongoing as of noon time Thursday. (Photos by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com) Click here for more on Melissa Roxas and her abduction and...
"I Don't Owe My Freedom to Arroyo"
Relatives and friends of Elizabeth Principe, the political prisoner released this afternoon from Camp Crame, held a protest rally in front of the police headquarters to demand Principe's freedom. In picture if Evangeline Hernandez, secretary-general of Hustisya!, a...
Elizabeth Principe’s release followed a protest by supporters today in front of Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police, and after Principe held a brief hunger strike to denounce the military’s attempt to prevent her from being freed despite a court order dismissing all charges against her.
Marie Hilao Enriquez, secretary-general of Karapatan, told Bulatlat that the military refused to release Elizabeth Principe’s clearance papers. “This is already a case of illegal detention since the court has already ordered her release,” Enriquez said. Principe was supposed to be freed Monday night.
Progressive groups under the banner of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan stage a pre-State of the Nation Address (Sona) protest on Tandang Sora corner Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Monday. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to deliver her last Sona on...
“How can we claim to be under a democracy when a political prisoner continues to languish in jail even as all the trumped-up charges filed against her have already been dismissed?”
Sarah Raymundo Talks About Her Case
The University of the Philippines is regarded as an institution where academic freedom is at its best. Ironically, the case of one of its professors, Sarah Raymundo, seems to go against the grain of the university’s liberal tradition.
Jeepney drivers in Litex, Quezon City, brave the rain to denounce the alleged manipulation of oil prices by oil companies. (Photos by Ronalyn V. Olea / bulatlat.com) Related stories: Massive Transport Strike Set on Monday; Groups Denounce Oil Firms’ ‘Greed’ For...
Students Walk Out of Classes Vs Cha-Cha
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