By SONNY AFRICA
Amid the unfounded hype about a global economic recovery, the challenge for Philippine development remains to be in the direction of defying the imperialist globalization offensive and genuinely building the domestic economy.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
As the curtain was beginning to fall on 2009, the on-and-off peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) resumed in Kuala Lumpur, with both parties agreeing to begin talks on the drafting of a Comprehensive Peace Compact that would resolve the Moro question. The year, however, drew to a close without any far-reaching movement in the GRP-MILF peace process.
By MARYA SALAMAT
Human-rights violations in 2009 are “numerous and varied and no sector of society is exempted,” belying the Arroyo government’s claim that steps have been taken to improve the Philippine government’s human-rights record, according to Karapatan. And with Oplan Bantay Laya 2’s deadline in 2010 fast approaching, more abuses are certain to occur, it said.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
In 2009, the landlord-dominated Philippine Congress extended the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program for another five years. Did the landed legislators, among them President Arroyo’s close relatives, go against their interests in passing CARPER? Or did they simply lengthen the agony of Filipino peasants, given that the new program seems worse than the original?
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
While climate change is not a recent phenomenon and is a result of years of destructive practices, most Filipinos do not know much about it until recently. And it has been a hard lesson learned for many Filipinos as it took the destructive effects of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng to drive home the point. The devastating effects of climate change are more intense in poor countries where majority of the people live in poverty.
By MARYA SALAMAT
The year 2009 began, ended and paved the way to 2010 with the festering problem of joblessness for millions of Filipinos. The global financial crisis only revealed the stark reality of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s inherently flawed job-generation strategies. The Arroyo regime fell short of its employment target. Worse, thousands of jobs, especially in the export industry, were “massacred” in 2009 even as unionists faced violence, intimidation and murder.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo changed the face of labor migration in the Philippines. It pursued its labor-export policy aggressively, begging receiving countries to accept more overseas Filipino workers. In the meantime, it shirked its responsibilities toward OFWs in distress, in many instances even becoming complicit in the abuse of overseas workers.
By BENJIE OLIVEROS
While it would take more than a change in president to effectively address the worsening economic and political crisis, if Arroyo and her minions are able to get away with keeping themselves in power — by declaring a failure of elections, martial law, or charter change — the Filipino people would sink faster and deeper into the quagmire of backwardness and poverty.