A recently-signed free trade agreement between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would grant Japanese corporations unhampered access to the region’s markets, prohibiting ASEAN members to protect their own economy while allowing Japan to protect its domestic advantages. BY IBON FOUNDATION Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 12, April 27-May 3, 2008…
Category: Other Stories
JPEPA Highlights Gov’t Insensitivity to Nurses
Apologists for the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) continue to claim that the treaty’s ratification will mean more employment and foreign remittances for Filipinos. But JPEPA highlights the Philippine government’s insensitivity to nurses and caregivers. BY IBON FOUNDATION Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 12, April 27-May 3, 2008 Apologists for the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership…
14 Activists Swim Manila Bay vs JPEPA
Fourteen activists swam 10 kms across the Manila Bay, from Baccor, Cavite to Pasay City (near the Senate of the Philippines), on April 28 to dramatize their opposition to the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA). BY GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ Contributed to Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 12, April 27-May 3, 2008 Fourteen activists swam 10…
GMA Must Go: Symbolic Action at the UP Centennial Graduation Ceremonies
Amid the tight security of the University authorities, progressive faculty members, graduating militant students and non-academic personnel creatively made bold statements on the country’s deteriorating political and economic situation reiterating the position of the Diliman University Council that “GMA must go!” during the UP Diliman Centennial Graduation ceremonies last April 27, 2008 POSTED BY BULATLAT…
UP CWTS Students Participate in 2008 Cordi Day Celebration
The Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) was created through Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 as a result of the nationwide protest to abolish the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in 2001. One of its students at UP, who joined the recent Cordillera Day celebrations in Abra, says…
Envi Advocates Blame Arroyo Gov’t, Imperialism for Environmental Destruction
As the world commemorates Earth Day, environmental advocates and militant organizations linked arms and blamed the Arroyo government, for its aggressive promotion of mining in the country, and imperialism, for plundering the country’s natural resources in the name of profit, for the alarming rate of environmental destruction. BY EMILY VITAL Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 12,…
A Magnificent Seven and an Unknown Soldier: Black American Anti-Imperialist Fighters in the Philippine-American War
In remembering the atrocious treatment of the Filipinos in that war, it is fitting that we also remember those who refused to do the dirty work of their military and political leaders. Just as the American Anti-Imperialist League is remembered for its active, though ultimately unsuccessful, campaign to prevent the war, we should remember those…
Are Foreign Loan Agreements Not International Agreements?
There should be no more secret negotiations for foreign loans that only contribute to our nation’s impoverishment and human underdevelopment. In some Latin American countries, they do not allow foreign loan negotiations in the hands of unaccountable finance officials who are dreaming of eventually joining the World Bank or International Monetary Fund as economists. In…
Groups Appeal to SC: Reverse Neri Decision, Uphold the People’s Right to Know
No less than Chief Justice Reynato Puno received the open letter handed over by various anti-Arroyo groups when they held a caravan to Baguio last April 15. Bayan Chair Dr. Carol Araullo expressed hope that there is a chance for their petition to be heard. ”The SC majority that decided the Neri petition could have…
Big Landlords, Not Regional Wage Boards Determine Agri Workers’ Pay
Big landlords representing owners of haciendas and big sugar plantations determine the wages received by part-time and full-time agricultural workers across the country. BY GERRY ALBERT CORPUZ Contributed to Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 11, April 20-26, 2008 Big landlords representing owners of haciendas and big sugar plantations determine the wages received by part-time and full-time…
GMOs Not Solution to Food Crisis, Envi Group Says
Greenpeace calls on gov’t to heed UN warnings Greenpeace, an international environmental organization, has called on the Philippine government to heed the warnings of the world’s leading agricultural scientists that industrial agricultural practices and genetically-modified (GMO) crops will not solve the current food crisis. POSTED BY BULATLAT Vol. VIII, No. 11, April 20-26, 2008 Greenpeace,…