The farmers of Hacienda Reyes – owned by the family of a town mayor in Quezon province – already bear the burden of an oppressive crop-sharing scheme. To make matters worse, when they ask for their rightful share their rights are violated, with not a little help from the military and the police. BY DENNIS…
Category: Human Rights
Labor Lawyers Bring Fight to CHR
For the failed abduction of one of its lawyers on Oct. 5, labor lawyers of the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center will file a case against an Army intelligence officer at the Commission on Human Rights on Monday, Oct. 30. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Labor lawyers of the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center (PLACE) will ask the…
Breaking Peace, Wrecking Lives in San Pablo
San Pablo’s reputation as a quite city has been broken by the recent killing of one of its residents amid the deployment of government soldiers in seven barangays (villages) along the railroad tracks. Now many residents call their city, a “terror zone.” BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com San Pablo City, Laguna (82 kms south of Manila)…
Rights Victims to Charge Arroyo in International Tribunal
Since they harbor no illusion that justice will be served in Philippine courts and even in a supposedly independent commission, families of victims of human rights violations have decided to bring their cases to the Permanent People’s Tribunal in the Netherlands. This was the same court that tried the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and found…
40 Farmers Arrested in Lucena
Posted by Bulatlat.com Forty farmers, including four of their leaders, were arrested in Lucena, Quezon while on a protest action Oct. 21 on the occasion of peasant month. About 200 protesters, mostly farmers, were holding a six-day farmers’ camp out in front of Don Domingo Reyes’ mansion in Brgy. Cotta, Lucena when the Philippine National…
Communique’ of the 3rd IAPL Congress
October 16 2006 Davao City, Philippines The 3rd Congress of the International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) was successfully held in Davao City from 12-14 October 2006. 7 people’s lawyers from Belgium, Brazil, India, Netherlands and Turkey and 1 activist law student from Afghanistan participated as foreign delegates. 17 people’s lawyers coming from different human…
So Young, So Committed, and So Much in Danger
Even as young lawyers, they have witnessed injustices being committed as they chose to defend the oppressed. And because they persist in handling “controversial” cases, Jobert Pahilga and Noel Neri have earned the ire of some of the country’s most powerful landlords and capitalists, as well as state security forces, and have become victims themselves…
Elderly Filipinos in America: Bored, Neglected and Longing for Home
The U.S. is currently the biggest source of remittances to the country. But behind the seeming affluent lives of Filipinos in the U.S. are stories of neglect, boredom, and longing that Filipino-American elders face. BY REYNA MAE TABBADA Bulatlat.com LOS ANGELES – The export of human capital to keep the economy afloat alters traditional modes…
Army Troops Scored for Alleged Torture, Harassment in Negros; ‘NPA minors’ were grade school students, rights group says
“We’re back to the martial law period, where military and police ‘hunt for NPA (New People’s Army) rebels’ but often (end up) making life more miserable for the innocent civilians and poor communities.” BY KARL G. OMBION Bulatlat.com BACOLOD CITY – “We are back to the martial law period, where military and police ‘hunt for…
Danger Stalks IFI Church; Another Priest Gets Threats
Many have fallen from their ranks. But like his beloved Bp. Alberto Ramento, who was slain October 3, Fr. Terry Revollido of the Iglesia Filipino Independiente (IFI) chooses to continue serving the church and the poor despite the dangers. BY AUBREY MAKILAN Bulatlat.com PANGASINAN – Many have fallen from their ranks. But like his beloved…
A Cry for Justice
There was nothing worth stealing from the bishop except the life he had dedicated to the fight for truth, social justice, a better lot for the exploited and oppressed and genuine peace. The authorities are not at all interested in finding out who would have wanted and benefited from snuffing out such a life. By…