“The Lumad students went to Cebu to escape the repression brought about by the militarization in Mindanao only to experience continuing harm. It is the relentless attacks perpetrated by no less than the government that is wreaking violence in the lives of Lumad youths who only seek to go to school and learn.”
Carinderia vendors and consumers considerably lean on each other to combat the threat of food insecurity, but several vendors also stressed that they can’t hold on long enough and hope to receive subsidies from the government.
The stories in Sitio Compra and Sitio Buntog share many sad parallels. They are both stories of land-use conversion and violence against the nation’s dwindling agricultural communities. While peasants clamor for land reform, the Philippine government has deemed land-use conversion by large corporations as an acceptable substitute.
“It contradicts the proper protocols of handling children. Supposedly they should have been brought to a social welfare facility and not in an undisclosed place.”
Due to the COVID-19 lockdown imposed last year, students were not able to return to their communities. But with the government’s easing of travel restrictions, the university said plans have been made for their return. Four of the delegates, in fact, have already returned to their respective communities.
“Across the planet, the majority of front line workers, health care workers, home care workers, domestic workers, and farmworkers are women. Like the Earth, they are the least valued and protected,”
The case filed by a barangay chair in Nueva Ecija against a local community radio station over an alleged violation of Republic Act 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” has been dismissed due to lack of evidence.
Lawyers of journalist Lady Ann Salem and labor organizer Rodrigo Esparago asserted that the court’s decision dismissing the charges against the two is final and executory, thus, their clients should be released immediately.
“We welcome the court’s decision on Betty’s case and the upholding of truth and justice. This proves once again the non-existence of the police’s credibility.”
“Refunding the training fees in full is a financial relief to the eager claimants amid the impacts of the pandemic to their work and to the families they have left behind in the Philippines. This will also give them a sense of justice.”
“The Solicitor General’s allegation is nothing but a desperate attempt to discredit groups that stand firm in opposing the Anti-Terrorism Act, a law that is broadly criticized for the threats it poses against dissenters.”