ADVERTISEMENT
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Big landowners in Negros Occidental have found another way to retain and re-concentrate the land in their hands: file criminal cases against peasants and farm workers.
Thousands of farmers from various provinces in Southern Mindanao held a protest-march dubbed “Martsa alang sa Yuta ug Hustisya!” (March for Land and Justice!) at Rizal Park, Davao City on October 22. Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao Region, farmers threw eggs with red paint at a poster bearing President Benigno Aquino III's face, calling him a total failure for not having the heart nor the political intent and morality to uplift the plight of hapless farmers in the region.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“The greatest challenge to the peace process is whether, this time, the President has the political will to surmount all obstacles and opposition... Running parallel is whether the peace process is really a problem solving endeavor or just an exercise to manage the conflict, as what previous presidents, deliberately or otherwise, did.” – MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which often dismiss accusations that soldiers are involved in extrajudicial killings, admitted that the suspected perpetrators in the extra judicial killing of Bayan Muna Negros member Benjamin Bayles are members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP). But this happened, Karapatan said, only after their own investigation revealed the true identities of the suspects.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Progressive groups have taken two tacks in their effort to remove Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez -- the filing of an impeachment complaint and urging President Benigno Aquino II to remove Gutierrez -- because, they said, Gutierrez is the biggest obstacle to the prosecution of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Sidebar: The Impeachment Complaint Against Ombudsman Gutierrez
By RONALYN V. OLEA
After President Benigno S. Aquino III granted amnesty to rebel soldiers, relatives and supporters pressed anew for the release of the Morong 43 and other political prisoners in the Philippines.
The ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Human Security Act of 2007 is the latest in a series of negative decisions the Supreme Court made with regard to human rights, lawyer Edre U. Olalia said.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Calling President Benigno Aquino III as "anti- migrant" for slashing the legal assistance fund for OFWs and failing to work for the protection of OFWs, migrant workers' groups identified with Migrante vowed to conduct more protests if he would not change track from pursuing an anti-migrant labor export policy.
Public utility drivers in the Philippines lament the seeming lack of government support and regard for their sector, but the country’s statisticians at least seem to give them due credit.
For the bigger bus companies plying the provincial routes to and from the National Capital Region, safety appears important enough that their regular drivers and conductors are given periodic trainings on road and driving safety. The regularity ranges from monthly to quarterly to twice a year.
By MARYA SALAMAT
SPECIAL REPORT The public and government officials, among them President Aquino, always blame drivers each time a deadly bus accident happens. What they don’t know or chose to ignore is that bus drivers and conductors are working under severe conditions imposed by greedy operators and ignored by government regulators, thus allowing these mishaps to happen in the first place. Sidebar: For Provincial Buses, Physical Condition of Drivers -- and Their Buses -- Are Key to Safe Travel | More Motorcycles Mean More Mishaps
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.
Save as PDF