The Bicol Region, located at the southernmost part of Luzon, is one of the places where the battle between the government and communist revolutionaries for winning the hearts and minds of the people is particularly intense. Mang Ricky and Aling Melba, interviewed by Bulatlat somewhere in the region, said that aside from the poverty they…
Category: Commentary
Low Purchasing Power Negates Recent Wage Hikes
The good news is that all regional wage boards in the country have granted wage increases. This obviously means that private sector workers nationwide are now entitled to higher wages. The bad news, however, is that the increase in wages is not enough to offset the decline in purchasing power. BY DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Bulatlat.com…
Merging Executive Policy and Military Strategy
In the long-drawn war against the Marxist guerrillas where force takes the lead, the country’s security forces have had a reproachable record in human rights threatening even legitimate political dissent, the peaceful advocacy of radical reform and, now, the use of the legislature to push for patriotic and progressive legislation. BY BOBBY TUAZON Bulatlat.com “We…
Skepticism over GMA Pronouncements
Let us zero in specifically on the question of violations of civil and political rights under Mrs. Arroyo’s watch. Why is it that we know that this government is not to be believed when it says it will stop political killings? BY CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO BusinessWorld Bulatlat.com A week after Mrs. Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo’s State-of-the-Nation (SONA) wherein…
Low Purchasing Power Negates Recent Wage Hikes
The good news is that all regional wage boards in the country have granted wage increases. This obviously means that private sector workers nationwide are now entitled to higher wages. The bad news, however, is that the increase in wages is not enough to offset the decline in purchasing power. BY DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Bulatlat.com…
The U.S. Doctrine of Counter-Insurgency in the ‘Silent War’
Second of three parts The deliberate use of terror is “a legitimate and highly effective tactical tool of unconventional warfare.” This unconventional warfare is designated as a “national policy” with the military assigned the primary responsibility in “the conduct of punitive operations” backed by police, paramilitary and civilian agencies. BY BOBBY TUAZON Bulatlat.com Accounts of…
‘Supermaid’ Solution Proves Permanence of OFW Deployment
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced last August 3 the upgrading of skills and knowledge of Filipino domestic helpers who want to work abroad so that they can become what she described as “supermaids.” The move is said to address the economic dislocation brought about by the evacuation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) deployed to war-torn Lebanon.…
Returning OFWs from Lebanon: Faces of Distress, Cries of Desperation
The joy and relief of Filipinos returning from Lebanon quickly turns to feelings of distress as they remember the hardships they endured abroad and realize the anxiety of being jobless in the Philippines. Seeing their distressed faces and hearing their cries, one would easily see the desperation that has compelled Filipinos to face so many…
Strong Peso Fails to Benefit Consumers
A strong peso is supposed to benefit consumers through lower prices of goods and services. Why is this not the case at this point? BY DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Bulatlat.com In the first quarter of this year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stressed that the people can benefit from a strong peso through lower prices of goods and…
LGU Pursues Case vs. Marcopper’s New Owners
The battle of the people of Marinduque to seek compensation for the damage created by Marcopper Mining Corporation, which was then owned by Placer Dome Inc., took a new turn as another corporation, Barrick Gold Corporation, took over. BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com The battle of the people of Marinduque to seek compensation for the damage…
Abductions, Torture, Killings and Lies: All in a Day’s Work for the Mercenary AFP
It’s now mid-2006, and the killings and abductions, as well as the AFP and Malacañang’s lies have yet to stop. BY DEE AYROSO (Bulatlat.com) In March 1989, Honor Ayroso, then a 21-year-old leader of the League of Filipino Students, was abducted. That week, nine other activists from Nueva Ecija also went missing. The 10 were…