Photo Essay: For Vegetable Vendors, Harder Work for Lesser Profit
For Vendors, Harder Work for Lesser Profit
Photo Essay: For Vegetable Vendors, Harder Work for Lesser Profit
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Cabbies Not All That Excited Over Hike in Taxi Fare
Cabbies Not All That Excited Over Hike in Taxi Fare
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The increase in the flag-down rates is good only if taxi operators won’t increase the “boundary” they collect from cabbies. 
Listen to cabbie explain why he is not in favor of the flag-down rate increase
Benjie Oliveros | Aquino Government Should Urgently Address Hunger Problem Instead of Denying It Exists
Benjie Oliveros | Aquino Government Should Urgently Address Hunger Problem Instead of Denying It Exists
The results of the SWS November 27-30, 2010 survey revealed that the prevalence of hunger worsened in a matter of three months.
Outrage by MRT-LRT Commuters Can Avert ‘Great Train Robbery,’ Groups Say
Outrage by MRT-LRT Commuters Can Avert ‘Great Train Robbery,’ Groups Say
By MARYA SALAMAT
There is hope that the proposed fare hikes of Manila’s two rail networks, MRT and LRT, can still be averted. And all it takes is for the public, mostly poor Filipinos that would be affected, to register their opposition to the increases.
Apart from ‘Shocking’ 300% Toll-Fee Hike, Philippines Has to Account for Dramatic Jump in SLEX Project Cost
Apart from ‘Shocking’ 300% Toll-Fee Hike, Philippines Has to Account for Dramatic Jump in SLEX Project Cost
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
From an initial P4 billion in 2006, the cost of expanding and improving the South Luzon Expressway jumped dramatically to P12.5 billion by last year. This is being used to justify the increase in toll fees – an imposition that many view as not only patently anti-poor but the result as well of “evident corruption.”
Sidebar: Aquino Disappoints on Toll Hike but That’s Not a Surprise
Aquino Disappoints on Toll Hike but That’s Not a Surprise
Aquino Disappoints on Toll Hike but That’s Not a Surprise
“I see nothing wrong if President Aquino wants to honor the Philippine government's commitments to foreign investors, but what about his commitments to the Filipino people?”
Aquino’s First 100 Days Disappointing Say Rights, Peasant Groups in Northern Luzon
Aquino’s First 100 Days Disappointing Say Rights, Peasant Groups in Northern Luzon
By ADELA DEYAEN WAYAS and KIMBERLIE OLMAYA NGABIT-QUITASOL Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat.com BAGUIO CITY -Human rights groups and a peasant organization in the Cordillera and Ilocos regions said they are disappointed with the performance of President Benigno...
Peasants Worry Mediation Panel May Prolong Luisita SDO Case
Peasants Worry Mediation Panel May Prolong Luisita SDO Case
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO, MARYA SALAMAT and ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
After playing tough against the Luisita SDO during the first oral argument, the SC justices seemed to have "retreated" during the second hearing, forming a mediation panel for a "happy compromise." The peasants' desire for actual distribution of land, which the peasants say is no longer negotiable, should have been clear by now.
SC Justices Demolish Cojuangco-Aquinos’ Justifications for Giving Farmers ‘Pieces of Paper’ Instead of Land
SC Justices Demolish Cojuangco-Aquinos’ Justifications for Giving Farmers ‘Pieces of Paper’ Instead of Land
By MARYA SALAMAT
Highlights in Wednesday’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court: Why farmers' shares of stocks were diluted, why new workers who were not party to the SDO in 1989 were given new shares, why shares were distributed within 15 years and not within three years as the law required, why the estate should not have been fragmented, why PARC’s revocation order is not a violation of the Bill of Rights, and why HLI’s failure to get DAR's "compliance certificate" could put SDO in trouble. 
Watch Bulatlat's video primer on the SDO | Read more about the SDO
News in Pictures: For Hoodwinked Farmer, Land Is So Much Better
News in Pictures: For Hoodwinked Farmer, Land Is So Much Better
Maximo Sebastian found himself joining the day long protest rally in front of the Supreme Court (SC) last August 18. He was calling on the magistrates to reject Hacienda Luisita Inc’s (HLI) petition against the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council decision to junk the sugar estate’s stock distribution option (SDO) scheme.
All Eyes Today on SC as Farm Workers, Cojuangco-Aquinos Battle Over Luisita
All Eyes Today on SC as Farm Workers, Cojuangco-Aquinos Battle Over Luisita
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Lawmaker says Supreme Court itself will be on trial. “The Hacienda Luisita land dispute is the first acid test of the Supreme Court under the Aquino administration. The Cojuangco-Aquinos have put the Supreme Court on trial here,” says Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano.
Contrary to What Cojuangco-Aquinos Say, Farming Improved Lives of Many Luisita Folk
Contrary to What Cojuangco-Aquinos Say, Farming Improved Lives of Many Luisita Folk
After the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council ordered the revocation of the SDO in Hacienda Luisita, the farmer beneficiaries launched what they call a "bungkalan" or the cultivation of idle Luisita land. It was both a political statement and a matter of survival for the farm workers who were facing extreme poverty in the hacienda owned by President Benigno S. Aquino III and his family. Farmers who participated swear that their lives improved after the "bungkalan." 
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Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | The Cojuangco Compromise Agreement
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | The Cojuangco Compromise Agreement
By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise | BusinessWorld Posted by Bulatlat.com The so-called compromise agreement announced by the management of the Cojuangco-owned Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI) comes ahead of an upcoming decision of the Supreme Court on the legality of...
Cojuangco-Aquinos Denounced for Using Millions to Lure, Deceive Luisita Farm Workers
Cojuangco-Aquinos Denounced for Using Millions to Lure, Deceive Luisita Farm Workers
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Ulwu chairman Lito Bais said the financial package from Hacienda Luisita management was meant to lure farm workers into the compromise-agreement bait. “They exploited the poverty of the farm workers and used money to deceive them,” he said. Bais also accused the Cojuangco-Aquinos of "hoodwinking" farm workers of hundreds of millions from earlier land deals.
In Crafting ‘Sham’ Deal, Cojuangco-Aquinos Turned to Leaders Who Had Earlier Betrayed Farm Workers
In Crafting ‘Sham’ Deal, Cojuangco-Aquinos Turned to Leaders Who Had Earlier Betrayed Farm Workers
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Kicked out of farmers' groups and the workers’ union in Hacienda Luisita, the two key signatories in the compromise agreement supposedly representing the farmer beneficiaries have a history of betrayal against the farm workers and collaboration with the Cojuangco-Aquinos.
Benjie Oliveros | With the ‘Compromise Agreement’, Hacienda Luisita Farmers Are Back to Where They Started
Benjie Oliveros | With the ‘Compromise Agreement’, Hacienda Luisita Farmers Are Back to Where They Started
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis Bulatlat.com The Hacienda Luisita agrarian dispute has been hitting the headlines recently. And it is not because the land has been distributed to the farmworkers in fulfillment of the 1957 loan agreement between the Cojuangco family and...
Live Webcast: Luisita Farmers Denounce Cojuangco-Aquino Deception
Live Webcast: Luisita Farmers Denounce Cojuangco-Aquino Deception
In this webcast, Lito Bais, president of the United Luisita Workers Union, Felix Nakpil and Federico Laza of Ambala, and Atty. Jobert Pahilga, lawyer for the farm workers, talk about the compromise agreement wangled by Hacienda Luisita management. They enumerate the alleged deception by the Cojuangco-Aquinos. Watch the webcast
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