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By MARYA SALAMAT
“The labor department itself has maneuvered to deceive workers with a supposed wage hike whose determination the capitalists hold now even more firmly in their hands.” – PAMANTIK–KMU
2nd part: In Calabarzon, workers get first taste of wage cuts via two-tier wage system
Sidebar: Latest poverty measure: excluding the poor from the poverty count
By MARYA SALAMAT
‘This recent dam failure in Padcal proves that large-scale mining operations clearly contribute to the increased vulnerability of communities to disasters.” – Kalikasan Partylist
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
“There's now a combined estimate of at least 12,000 to 14,000 undocumented OFWs in Saudi Arabia, higher than last year's estimate pegged from 8,000 to 10,000." – Migrante
By RONALYN V. OLEA
He was an Aeta who held his head up high while fighting for the rights of Aetas, indigenous peoples, and oppressed sectors of Philippine society. Ka Nelson was a “treasure of the Aeta people.”
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
"The RH bill is about women's access to healthcare, the right to informed choice. This is not an issue of population control or a question of religion or faith. Lawmakers, as well as the rest of the Filipino people, should focus on the state of women and children’s 'un-health', and this should be the primary consideration when lawmakers cast their vote to end debates and interpellation on August 7.” – Rep. Luz Ilagan, Gabriela Women’s party
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
"I cannot but be distressed by the continuing prejudice of our justice system against my son and other political prisoners like him.”
INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
“Instead of heeding the just demands of state workers for adequate remuneration and tighter price controls, Aquino targets public servants, whose basic take-home pay cannot them home.”– ACT
By MARYA SALAMAT
When President Aquino sought US support for joining the Trans Pacific Partnership during his US visit, the US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. declared…“[we] have to change laws, issue executive orders and frankly, introduce amendments to the Constitution.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
While the investigation into the death of two residents took a year to begin, the fight of the community to prevent the Araneta family from evicting them continues.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“The budget continues to prop up defective policies imposed by foreign creditors such as privatization while allocating huge resources for CCT dole-outs to conceal the harsh social impact of such programs and automatically setting aside a significant portion for debt servicing.” – Bayan
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“The rate at which human rights defenders are being killed in the Philippines is shocking.” – CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
By MARYA SALAMAT
The sudden “surrender” of one of the suspects after 26 years, and mysterious press release, raised the suspicions of labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno.
By SONNY AFRICA/IBON Foundation
In closing the 2012 SONA, President Aquino asked rhetorically: “Isn’t the agenda for change moving forward?” Unfortunately after two years, there is clearly no fundamental change and no systematic economic reforms taking place.
By MARYA SALAMAT
“It is high time to call a spade a spade: the Aquino government has demonstrated that it can no longer meet even the minimum demands of the Filipino people for environmental protection and the wise utilization of natural resources towards people-oriented development and industrialization.” – Kalikasan Partylist
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“And so this is justice under Aquino – torturers are given plum positions in the military, and the rich, powerful and notorious human rights violators like Palparan and Arroyo are mockingly free as preying vultures.” – Karapatan
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“It was so easy for the Aquino administration to let Arroyo get away with her crimes while political prisoners continue to languish in jail." – KMU
By MARYA SALAMAT
Aquino’s 90-minute speech, said to be one of the longest SONAs in recent memory, highlighted achievements that progressive groups shot down either as just a deception, a half-truth at best, or simply meaningless.
Sidebar: Groups press for release of activist, condemn violent dispersal of anti-SONA protests
Sidebar: Anti-SONA 2012 protests in regions against privatization, rights violations
Sidebar: Southern Tagalog, Central Luzon march vs land grabbing, militarization
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
“For several months now, local movements all over the Philippines have been picketing local offices of the Department of Health to protest the Aquino administration’s drive to either sell off or corporatize 26 public hospitals.” – Gabriela
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We saw how they brutalized the bodies of my parents. I saw the body of my mother, her stomach was slashed open, her intestines ripped out. My father's head, meanwhile, was shattered but he bore no wounds on his face.” -- Leslie, daughter of slain NPA guerrillas
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“Ever since he [Aquino] came to power, the education crisis has only worsened.” – National Union of Students of the Philippines
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