Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 21 June 29 - July 5, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
News at a glance Church,
consumers unite vs. high power rates “GMA’s Epira is the Black Book of Evil Magic used by Meralco and other firms to fool and oppress consumers,” said Power spokesperson Lolita Donato. “GMA should be held liable for the devastating effects of the Epira which she endorsed and signed and her refusal to abolish the anti-people and immoral PPA.” * * * 50
Nestle workers, supporters hurt in dispersal CABUYAO,
Laguna –Fifty strikers and sympathizers were seriously injured when about 300
policemen and security guards dispersed their protest picket at Nestle plant in
Cabuyao, Laguna, June 23. The
workers were protesting the management’s refusal to implement the
Supreme Court decision instructing the former to go back to the
negotiating table regarding the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Most
of the victims sustained severe head wounds and broken limbs. On
the injured, 24 were brought to the hospital. Christopher Oliquino, a
sympathizer who suffered two hard hits on his head, had to be transferred to
Philippine General Hospital in Manila later that night due to continuous
bleeding and vomiting. The violent dispersal started at around 3 p.m. at gates 1 and 2 of the Nestle factory. Matrix Security Guards, the Regional Special Action Force and local police beat the workers with truncheons spiked with hacksaw edges and threw stones against the demonstrators. Nestle used fire trucks to help in the violent dispersal. *
* * OFWs
condemn arrest of Pinoys in Japan More
than 50 Filipinos in Japan have been arrested since June 17 by immigration
authorities in an alleged effort to flush out undocumented Filipino migrants in
Japan. *
* * Soldiers,
militiamen tagged in another case of summary execution Lupon,
Davao Oriental-- The death of three fighters of the New People’s Army (NPA)
and a 21-year-old female medical trainee on June 4 in Davao Oriental was not a
result of an encounter but of summary execution, a fact finding mission
revealed last week. Citing
its own investigation, human rights alliance Karapatan said the NPA fighters
were already hors de combat (or injured) when they were finished off by soldiers
of the 4th Special Force under the 8th SF Battalion. They
were shot in the chest at close range by soldiers armed with M16s, Karapatan
said. Residents
who first arrived at the scene of the incident testified that Ruby Jean Custodio,
21, Nerio Diosio, 33, Rodrigo Ungayo, 42 and Ruben Tanoy, 34,bore several bullet
wounds in their chests and other parts of the body. Two
of the alled NPA members, Diosio and Tanoy, were still wrapped in their malong
(printed blanket)when their bodies were discovered by residents at around 6 a.m.
the next day. Residents
said the blood oozing from Custodio’s body was still fresh when they arrived
two hours past her death. Karapatan said had Custodio been afforded proper
medical attention due prisoners of war, she would have survived the ordeal. Karapatan is demanding investigation of the elements responsible for the war crimes namely Sgt. Lubon, and the Cafgu militiamen identified as Pepe Interlison, Romulo “Molong” Gesta, Doming Orias, Jun Oano, a certain Pagong and a CVO identified as Tamlang, all from Libudon detachment, a few kilometers from the scene of incident. *
* * CPLA-AFP
integration means more tribal wars, Cordillera front leader says BAGUIO
CITY – The Cordillera People’s Democratic Front, the regional affiliate of
the National Democratic Front in the Cordillera, last week warned the
integration of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA) into the Armed
Forces will lead to more tribal wars. In
a statement written in Iloko, CPDF spokesperson Simon “Ka Filiw” Naogsan
warned that once CPLA forces are integrated into the AFP, the CPLA can
increasingly “lord over the tribes in the Cordillera.” Supplied with arms
and ammunition, he said, the CPLA will use these “for criminal purposes such
as robbery, holdup, marijuana planting, and drug syndicates.” He also warned
that the CPLA will use its arms to grab lands and territories as they did in
Betwagan, a village in Bontoc, Mt. Province. All
these will lead to more tribal wars and the disruption of the economic life of
communities, the CPDF spokesperson added. At
the same time, Ka Filiw explained, the AFP will have more excuses “to further
militarize the Cordillera which will lead to more human rights violations.” Naogsan
was an engineer and progressive congressional candidate who joined the New
People’s Army more than a decade ago. CPLA was founded in the late 1980s by Fr. Conrado Balweg who bolted the New People’s Army. Balweg has since been executed by the NPA in Cordillera. Bulatlat.com / Nordis We want to know what you think of this article.
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