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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
“This is a grotesque and irresponsible display of insensitivity to the Filipino people who suffered and have been victimized under Martial Law,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez, a martial law victim and secretary general of Selda, said of the tribute by the Cultural Center of the Philippines to the wife of the dictator Marcos.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
If Noynoy Aquino wins the presidency because he capitalized on the popularity and legacy of his mother, it should not surprise him that some people will put on his doorsteps the failures of the Cory administration not only to remind him of what she failed to do but to underscore what needs to be done. He can start with Hacienda Luisita.
“Most martyrs of the Church who actively denounced the abuses of government officials and military forces received series of death threats and were tagged as communists or NPA supporters by military,” said Nardy Sabino, secretary-general of the Promotion of Church People’s Response.
By MARYA SALAMAT
As Rachel Tiongson battles the powerful Chavit Singson, women leaders are castigating the Arroyo regime for shirking its responsibilities to uphold the law. They urge the president to “severely sanction” Singson for brutally beating up – at one point by using a tiger whip – the mother of his five children.
By ARNOLD PADILLA
No matter how oil firms deny the allegations that they are overcharging the consumers, the widespread public perception that oil companies are abusive and profit-hungry will remain. This will be the case as long as the oil industry is deregulated and oil companies are allowed to automatically increase their prices and at the same time not compelled to publicly divulge how they compute their price adjustments.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The murders of peasant activist Romulo Mendova and Father Cecilio Lucero, both of Eastern Visayas, have been blamed on the military’s Oplan Bantay Laya. In the case of Lucero, he had been publicly denounced by President Arroyo as “that communist priest,” according to the NDF. It is said that he was the first priest to have been murdered in Samar since Catholicism was introduced in the province 400 years ago.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
The Manobos of Surigao del Sur may be back home for now, but they still face the threats of militarization – even as they also have to contend with the burden of rebuilding their ravaged homes, schools, and livelihoods. View slideshow
By RITCHE T. SALGADO
Public school teachers in Cebu not only have to contend with low pay and backbreaking work – they are forced to make do in their classrooms, in many instances spending their own money on their students’ needs. Worse, the Department of Education frowns upon these teachers’ efforts to organize themselves and improve their plight.
By MARYA SALAMAT
“It is the experience of every nation that wherever there is a concentration of American soldiers for a prolonged period of time, exploitation and abuse of the local people ensued,” said Emmi de Jesus, secretary-general of Gabriela, the women’s group.
By DEE AYROSO
In a remote village in Samar, children are forced to go to school to another village, walking for hours to attend their classes, after the soldiers started coming in and committed atrocities. What happened to Bay-ang illustrates the extent militarization damages not just communities but the education of poor Filipino children, particularly in the countryside.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The International Day of the Disappeared on Aug. 30 was marked in the Philippines with a ringing of the bells to honor those taken by the regime -- a warning to the government that the families left behind by these desaparecidos “are watching” to make sure that, soon, “we will get the justice we deserve.” View slideshow
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