Category: Other Stories

By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
On the 37th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, activists and victims of the brutality of military rule drew parallels between the Marcos dictatorship and the Arroyo regime. “The bad dream known as martial law has become an absolute nightmare under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo!” one of them said. View slideshow

By (Bulatlat.com) Employees of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have protested the planned relocation of government-run Golden Acres Home for the Aged (GA) from its present home in Bago Bantay, Quezon City to Tanay, Rizal. They also opposed the plan to abolish the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC). The members…

By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
The issuance of questionable safe-conduct passes is just one of the many complicated ways in which the Philippine government has been handling what were supposed to be preparations for the resumption of its formal talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. It underscores what the NDFP deems to be an utter lack of sincerity of the Arroyo regime to pursue the peace process.

By MARYA SALAMAT
Since 2001 when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the presidency, the trade union movement, like other peoples movement in the Philippines, has been experiencing violations of their rights as humans and as workers in a level never before seen in our country’s post-Martial Law politics, the Kilusang Mayo Uno said. The group welcomes the first International Labor Organization-High-Level Mission to the Philippines this month.

By RITCHE T. SALGADO
For more than a decade now, Thelma Chiong has always made it a point to visit her daughters on their birthdays. This year, however, the visit was extraordinarily painful because a few days earlier, Mrs. Chiong had received word that one of her daughters’ rapists and murderers was going to be repatriated to Spain, a free man for all intents and purposes.

By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO DynCorp International, a US military contractor notorious for its mercenary work for Washington and which was the subject of numerous complaints for abuses in other countries, has been fencing off the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga for US troops. “How can a private, foreign corporation control a specific portion of a Philippine military camp?” Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares wants to know.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
While the right of indigenous peoples to their ancestral land is recognized by international agreements and conventions, indigenous peoples in the Philippines are relentlessly being driven away by mining, tourism and other so-called development projects. In Zambales alone, more than 70 mining firms are now operating, with some preventing the Aetas from entering what used to be their land.