By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star As we celebrate Christmas, dear readers, let us extend our collective hand of solidarity to the survivors among the thousands of families, mostly the very poor, who have been ravaged by floods and landslides triggered by tropical storm “Sendong,” especially those in Cagayan de…
Category: Opinion
Ring in the old
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld If the Aquino III administration ignored warnings from the environmental and science communities long before Sendong that a disaster was coming in Mindanao, it wouldn’t be any more unique than past administrations. From 1992 to 2001 some 6,000,000 Filipinos were killed or injured by various disasters, whether…
Not a merry Christmas for Americans, Europeans
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star As the Christmas and New Year holidays approach, the air of economic uncertainty dampens the traditionally anticipated spirit of merriment and hope among the people in the United States and Europe. Why? The financial and economic measures requiring more austerity instead of more spending,…
Prometheus Bound: Disastrous Neglect
By Jose Leon Dulce Bulatlat.com As the year comes to a close, it now appears that Typhoon Sendong (international name Washi) is the eadliest storm of 2011. It affected more than 27,000 families in around 190 barangays, in 24 municipalities and cities in the 13 provinces of Region VI, Region VII, Region IX, Region X,…
Pursue rights violation cases vs GMA, minions
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star “Our gathering this morning is an opportunity to further assess the strengths and weaknesses of the present criminal justice system, and to come up with new and timely initiatives concerning the delivery of justice… Your decisions and the steps you take have implications integral…
Chief justice on trial
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld In our previous column entitled “Battle for Justice”, we said that a big battle is looming to bring the Arroyos to justice. Few outside the innermost circles of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino would have foreseen that the initial major skirmish would take the form of an impeachment move against…
Liar, liar
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld The main complaint by his mostly lawyer partisans against the impeachment of Renato Corona is that it was done too quickly, followed by claims that it’s an attack on the Supreme Court’s independence, and is unconstitutional besides. Minority Congressman and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ally Edcel Lagman is leading…
Prometheus Bound: Remembrance and resistance
By Frances Quimpo The history of protecting the Philippine environment and the country’s natural resources is a history of resistance: stories of valiant struggle and often untold sacrifices by people and communities to protect their lands, mountains, rivers, and seas from the threat of plunder for profit. In order to recognize the valiant struggles of…
Give political prisoners and peace talks a break!
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star With perseverance and assertiveness, political prisoners in various detention centers begin today a week-long fasting-hunger strike, culminating on December 10, International Human Rights Day. Their demand: Free all political prisoners! Joining the coordinated protest action are prisoners held at the National Penitentiary and those…
Battle for justice
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld Forces in the Philippine political landscape are gearing up for a major legal and political battle. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband’s attempts to leave the country and escape the proverbial long arm of the law, ironically by utilizing a favorable Supreme Court order, were foiled by Justice…
Forgetting and not knowing
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld In an attempt to validate his earlier claim that the country is under threat from “creeping martial law” during the Aquino III administration, Senator Joker Arroyo said last Tuesday that the Marcos martial law regime used the exact same argument — that the police powers of the…