BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Found by relatives on Dec. 5, the body of Jocelyn Diaz-Pernia, 34, showed bruises on the face and stomach and strangulation marks on the neck. Pernia’s case is not unique. She is in fact just one of 12 victims of domestic violence reported everyday. Pernia’s small concrete house was dim. The…
Category: Commentary
Everyone’s a Suspect
The Anti-Terrorism Bill, which the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is pushing for with support from the U.S., has been criticized by several sectors – including media groups – for containing a definition of “terrorism” so broad it may include even legal protest actions in its list of “terroristic” acts. It turns out we could expect a bill…
Burying People Power
Preventing changes in government through “People Power” uprisings is among the reasons for the proposal to shift to a parliamentary system, in which changing governments will supposedly be institutionalized rather than left to direct people’s action. BY CENTER FOR PEOPLE EMPOWERMENT IN GOVERNANCE Posted by Bulatlat.com Constitutional amendments via a are likely to take place…
VFA: A Threat to All Filipinos
The Philippines hosts United States soldiers allegedly tasked with training their counterparts in the Philippine Armed Forces. Six of these soldiers are accused of raping a 22-year old Filipina—an event that has correctly provoked questions on the wisdom of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). By Center for People Empowerment in Governance The Philippines hosts United…
Macapagal-Arroyo: Above Human Rights
Macapagal-Arroyo is not literally deaf and blind to the persistent protests and appeals here and abroad to cease the wanton violations of human rights. Out of lust for power, she has been consumed by her own “war on terror.” Crafted to stop the criminal activities of the ASG, used against the NPA and now as…
Macapagal-Arroyo: Above Human Rights
Macapagal-Arroyo is not literally deaf and blind to the persistent protests and appeals here and abroad to cease the wanton violations of human rights. Out of lust for power, she has been consumed by her own “war on terror.” Crafted to stop the criminal activities of the ASG, used against the NPA and now as…
Rape Case as a Political Issue
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye’s statement last week calling on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s opponents and critics to refrain from making a political issue out of the Subic rape case misses the whole point — that the rape of a Filipina by visiting U.S. troops cannot be anything but a political issue. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com…
Gloria Will Stand by the U.S. in Subic Gang Rape
The record of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the U.S. government reveals that she will not likely support any legal action against five U.S. Marines who are accused of gang-raping a Filipino woman on Nov. 1. By Bulatlat The record of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)…
Medical Transcription: Antidote to Brain Drain?
Four years after he graduated from a prestigious university here, Mark Dicaleng landed a job in a medical transcription (MT) company. He has only been with the company for a year but he is earning a five-digit income. By Lyn V. Ramo Northern Dispatch BAGUIO CITY — One need not go abroad to experience a…
Dousing the Embers of Hope
Canadian Gov’t Fails to Address Mining Abuses in RP The Canadian government is not taking any drastic action against human rights and environmental abuses of Canadian mining companies abroad, including the Philippines By Jennifer del Rosario-Malonzo Ibon Features The chances of getting the Canadian government to act on the proposals of the Parliamentary Standing Committee…
Killings A State Policy
It should be amply evident by now that the killing of Church people, lawyers, members of people’s organizations, and leaders and members of progressive party-list groups is part of a state policy to eliminate dissenters, left-wing personalities involved in the electoral process, and political activists. By the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CENPEG) It…