Evicted and starved, Hacienda Dolores farmers fight for their land
The farmers were living peacefully, tilling the land to feed their families until two private companies began evicting them and claimed their land.
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The farmers were living peacefully, tilling the land to feed their families until two private companies began evicting them and claimed their land.
“The houses look good. But we do not have livelihood there. We have electricity and water but we do not have money to pay our bills.” – Purita Dayao
Part Two: From danger zones to a death zone
Each paper that was raffled not only contained the name of the farmworker beneficiary but also the corresponding lot allocation that has already been pre-determined. Farmworker-beneficiaries were never asked to pick random lot allocations from the tambiolo.
Same, same bad pork: ‘Chop-chop’ contracts, duplicate projects, etc.
“It is difficult to teach especially when there are distractions…The burden to make learning more exciting and interesting is on us, but how can we do it if the government does not even provide for our basic needs?” – Alliance of Concerned Teachers
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“Don’t our officials feel betrayed? We are being bullied by China, we go to the US for help. In return, they sold us junk materials at a very high price, only to find out that US is also talking to China about possible mutual defense arrangements.” – Bayan Muna Rep.
These large foreign-controlled mining firms, in hopes of surviving the mining crisis, would intensify land grabbing of mineral-rich areas and extraction of mineral wealth. At the same time, it would cut production expenses. – Kalikasan PNE
“Even if the government manages to make the waterways as wide as one kilometer and as deep as 10 meters, if there is street-level flooding, everything would be useless.” – Geologist Ricarido Saturay
“When workers in Indonesia demand a wage hike, employers threaten them: ‘We would relocate to China.’ In China, employers threaten workers that they would relocate their factory to Vietnam. In Vietnam, employers threaten workers they would relocate to Cambodia. In Cambodia, employers threaten workers that they would relocate to Bangladesh.” – Asia Monitor Resource Center
See also: Indonesian workers battle high prices, low wages despite producing oil, registering growth rates
Asia-Pacific workers wage struggles to turn ‘formal’ rights into reality
“Aquino’s grandiose claims of economic growth based on cherry-picked economic indicators fail to hide the economic indicators that matter to ordinary Filipinos. Landlessness is growing; unemployment is rising; wages are being depressed; prices are soaring; and social services are decaying as they become more scarce,” Elmer Labog, chairman of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU).
The Aquino administration’s policies are no different from those that have been increasingly implemented over the last three decades and that have resulted in today's grossly distorted and unequal economy
“When I finally saw a doctor, I was told that I only have four to five years to live. Some PLHIVs who I knew back then have died because of the disease. But I am still alive because of the support and love of my children and my family.”
Read Also: Church people call for understanding, love, support for people living with HIV
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“True friends do not take advantage of your weakness, violate your laws, dump toxic wastes on your territory and meddle in your internal affairs.” – Renato Reyes, Bayan
This year, private water concessionaires are up for ‘rate rebasing,’ meaning they would substantially increase water rates to pass on the costs of their planned projects, some of which would not be implemented but will be charged to consumers anyway. This is aside from the usual rate increases.
Read also: Metro Manila experience: Poor water service, unjustified rate hike petition
“What happened in this election “are very serious concerns of the Filipino people….This constitutes a grave travesty of the peoples’ right to suffrage and the integrity of the votes”– AES Watch
Related Story: Comelec ‘shortcuts’ made votes vulnerable to manipulation – election watchdogs
There are 33 candidates for Senator vying for 12 seats in the upcoming May 13 elections. Some are names with political pedigree, some without. Some are worth considering, some raise eyebrows. But all of them are, as expected, promising great things and have packaged and repackaged themselves to court votes.
If pre-election surveys are to be believed, the final pre-election poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations on May 2 and 3 shows that nearly all who “got in” the Magic 12 are those with political pedigree.
Women’s activism is in their blood and they pursue it in the streets and within the halls of Congress.
There are many forms of contractualization in different industries.
“We are now on the road to recovering the environment we have lost,” claimed the DENR. While progressive groups say, “With the forests being converted into plantations and logging permitted by the government, the area has been denuded up to a point wherein a mere rain shower could cause a catastrophic landslide.”
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