The Department of Agriculture (DA) is trying to gain public support for the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) by flaunting that the free-trade pact will secure some US$353 million (P15.6 billion) worth of existing agricultural and fishery exports to Japan. But the benefits, if indeed there will be any, will be cornered…
Category: Other Stories
UNP Students Call for Higher State Subsidy
Students from the University of Northern Philippines (UNP) through the initiative of Alliance of Concerned Students-Partido ng Demokratikong Mag-aaral (ACS-PDM), a campus party alliance, are now gearing up for the budget deliberation in Congress this coming November. BY ZOFIA LEAL Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 36, October 14-20, 2007 Students from the University of Northern Philippines…
Ilocos Student Publications Call on Media for Support
The official student publication of the University of Northern Philippines (UNP)-Vigan, Tandem, is currently experiencing campus press freedom violations. BY ZOFIA LEAL Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 36, October 13-20, 2007 VIGAN CITY (407 kms north of Manila) – The official student publication of the University of Northern Philippines (UNP)-Vigan, Tandem, is currently experiencing campus press…
Trajectories of Dissent: Potting the Philippine Student Movement
History illustrates that the youth is a critical catalyst of the revolution. Now that the Establishment has intensified its coercion, the students are called upon to formulate new modes of engagement. For the world is still characterized by dialectical contradictions; to remain passive is a grave transgression. BY ALAYSA TAGUMPAY E. ESCANDOR Philippine Collegian Posted…
Smoking Kill(ed)
“What better commodity could there be than a product that produces nothing but an insatiable desire for itself ?” Evidently, the product of the tobacco industry is not the cigarette, but the smoker. BY FRANK LLOYD TIONGSON Philippine Collegian Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 36, October 14-20, 2007 I am constantly hitting the wrong…
Sison: Actions vs NDFP Panelists Could Destroy Peace Talks
Even as he is still elated over his latest victory in the Dutch courts, NDFP chief political consultant and ILPS chairman Jose Maria Sison is calling on all supporters of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations to protest what he described as the “unjust actions” by the U.S., Philippine and Dutch governments. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat…
Tongue Tied: Foreign Students and the Limitations of the English Language
For the foreign student, learning English is only a means to an end. The option to learn English enhances his/her chances of landing a high-end job in his/her homeland. For the Filipino, on the other hand, mastery of the English language becomes essential for survival in an environment where English proficiency does not necessarily mean…
Delay in Land Distribution Allows Cojuangco Family to Sabotage Land Reform
It’s now almost two years since December 22, 2005 when the government declared with finality that the land in Hacienda Luisita should be distributed to the farm workers. Meanwhile, the Cojuangco family has not stopped in its effort to sabotage land distribution. BY RENE GALANG President, Asembliya ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA)…
National Broadband Network: Boon or Bane?
Much controversy has surrounded the Arroyo administration’s recent proposal to build a national broadband network (NBN) in tandem with a Chinese firm. Reports of corruption are rife; accusations are exchanged between the Philippine President Gloria Arroyo’s very own allies. But what is a national broadband network, really? And is this a project that most Filipinos…
Romulo Neri and the NBN Scam
CHEd chairman and former NEDA director-general Romulo Neri, soft-spoken and frail of build, hardly comes across as one who could cause an uproar. But he has created quite a stir by confirming, in a Senate inquiry, reports that he had been offered a bribe by Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos in connection with a broadband network…
Feast or Famine? RP-China Farm Deals and Local Agriculture
China is looking at the Philippines to meet its domestic food and energy requirements even as the Chinese economy is being restructured into an enormous assembly hub of manufactured goods for the American, Japanese and European markets. BY ARNOLD PADILLA IBON Features Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 34, September 30-October 6, 2007 During Chinese…