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By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO, MARYA SALAMAT and ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
After playing tough against the Luisita SDO during the first oral argument, the SC justices seemed to have "retreated" during the second hearing, forming a mediation panel for a "happy compromise." The peasants' desire for actual distribution of land, which the peasants say is no longer negotiable, should have been clear by now.
By MARYA SALAMAT
Three years and four months after the arrest of KMU National Council member and regional coordinator of Anakpawis Partylist Vincent ‘Bebot’ Borja, the Regional Trial Court will hear on Monday, Sept. 6, only its second hearing to date. The KMU calls his arrest and the delay in the hearings as an injustice.
The firing of reporter Wheng Hidalgo and other personnel, all from ABS-CBN’s Technical Operations Department, brought to 110 the number of workers from the network’s Internal Job Market dismissed since June 16.
By ALDWIN QUITASOL
“Contractualization is essentially an attack on the right of workers and the people to a living wage, to job security and to exercising trade-union rights. Any form of “protection” under a contractual employment status won’t be enough. Only unionization and regularization will truly protect contractuals.” – KMU
By MARYA SALAMAT
The newly-formed alliance RILES called on the public to oppose the MRT, LRT fare hikes, asserting that the trains should be for public service and not for generating profits for businesses.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL and
RONALYN V. OLEA
On the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, relatives of victims of enforced disappearances marched to Mendiola bridge to demand that their loved ones be surfaced and the perpetrators, including former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo be punished.
On August 30, Carina Judilyn Oliveros and her baby, escorted by at least 10 BJMP officers, were finally transferred to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, where they would detained for three months.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Casiano Abing is the sixth activist killed since President Benigno S. Aquino III assumed power. Human rights lawyer Katrina Castillo deems the killing a result of the extension of counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
After initially denying the petition for temporary release of Morong 43 mother Carina Judilyn Oliveros, the court, in deciding on the appeal filed by Oliveros’s counsel, ordered her and her son’s transfer to a hospital where she would be detained for a period of three months.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The book Oplan Bantay Laya: The US-Arroyo Campaign of Terror and Counterinsurgency in the Philippines not only explains why Oplan Bantay Laya is the most vicious counterinsurgency campaign but also puts in proper context the role of the US government in the state’s brutal campaign against the Filipino people.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Migrante International chairperson Garry Martinez told Bulatlat that he is not surprised if there are negative reactions coming from Hongkong nationals and its possible repercussions to OFWs. "We express our sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the victims," Martinez said, "We know how difficult it is to fetch a loved one who is dead."
“The president cannot feign neutrality in this issue, for his silence and inaction will mean an implicit endorsement of the unjust compromise deal orchestrated by Cojuangco-owned HLI,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said in a statement.
By LYN V. RAMO
Born to a peasant family, Eddie Cruz used to bring home rice, corn, vegetables and fruits to his siblings. His parents, Ligaya and Corsing, now make do with whatever food is given by well-meaning individuals and groups.
By MARYA SALAMAT
The decision of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz rejecting the claim of ABS CBN that there is no employer-employee relationship between the media network and the ABS CBN Internal Job Market and approving the union's petition for a certification election came after five months of struggle and the dismissal of 90 unionists.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Twenty armed men in three vehicles took her from her hospital room in handcuffs. She was separated from her baby. They took her away swiftly while her mother was settling her hospital bills. This detainee is not a high profile, dangerous criminal, but a health worker and political detainee.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Amid the heated public debate regarding the divorce bill filed recently by Gabriela, battered women such as Maricon Reazo await its passage to be given another chance at having a happy family life.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Dilapidated, crowded classrooms, shortages in textbooks, overworked and underpaid teachers, and stinking comfort rooms characterize most public schools in the country. But a grade one classroom in Talusan Elementary Schools stands out because entering it would make one feel that he is inside one of the more expensive private schools in the country.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
President Benigno S. Aquino III is “doing the exact opposite of his pronouncement that he will put closure to the human-rights violations of Arroyo and her cohorts. As commander-in-chief, he allowed the AFP to extend the counter-insurgency plan which was proven to have violated human rights.” Read more stories on Oplan Bantay Laya
By MARYA SALAMAT
The ABS-CBN IJM Workers Union asks President Aquino to stop the illegal dismissals, contractualization and union-busting at his “favorite” media network.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
and MARYA SALAMAT
A study on abortion in the Philippines argues that the government has committed violations of human rights by criminalizing abortion regardless of circumstance. Another study, done by Gabriela, finds that abortion is increasingly becoming acceptable to Filipinos.
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