Even as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced during her State of the Nation Address that peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are likely to resume before the end of this month, the MILF’s negotiating panel has expressed skepticism about whether or not the talks can go very far.
By PHILIP PARAAN Culture Bulatlat.com MANILA — The State of the Nation Address (Sona) in many years has become a fashion event for legislators, their spouses and families. Touted to celebrate local fashion, even the media makes a staple of it and allots a special place in their coverage to have the attendees explain their…
Even as they did not always see eye to eye with her politically, several progressive groups and party-list representatives have paid tribute to former President Corazon Aquino. They recognize her role in the people’s struggles against tyranny, corruption, and greed for power.
The failures of her presidency notwithstanding, Cory Aquino will be remembered for helping restore democracy in the Philippines and dismantle the vestiges of the Marcos dictatorship. When the Arroyo regime increasingly became corrupt and autocratic, she again rose to the challenge. Cory fought tyranny to the very end.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com MANILA — Groups promoting Philippine-Cuban solidarity and the Cuban embassy in Manila paid tribute to the Cuban Five – Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who have been languishing in US jails for a decade – in an activity marking the 56th anniversary of what is now known as the Moncada Attack. The…
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com MANILA – Chants of “US imperialist, No. 1 terrorist!” and “Death to imperialism!” reverberated through the streets as over a hundred activists marched toward the US embassy in Manila earlier today to protest the meeting between US President Barack Obama and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The rally was spearheaded by…
Video: Arroyo’s Sona: A Litany of Lies
Video: The Making of the Last Gloria Effigy
Days before the Sona, thousands of farmers, workers, students and activists braved the heat and the rain as they marched from the provinces of Southern Tagalog to Commonwealth Avenue. The march, called Lakbayan, is their way of fighting the regime’s abuses and asserting their basic rights.
Thousands converged in other key cities across the country to denounce the Arroyo regime for the poverty, corruption, deception and repression in the Philippines.
In her ninth State of the Nation Address, President Arroyo painted a rosy picture of the Philippines – a world so much different from the one most Filipinos live in, her critics say.