“We are expecting that these attacks against the welfare of the urban poor would continue this 2014. But we will continue to push and fight for our rights, for our livelihood and for decent pay.”
Bulatlat.com’s 2013 Yearender Multimedia report
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Third part of four series First part | 13 natural and man-made disasters of 2013 Second part | ‘We Should Legalize Everything’ and Other Shocking Sound Bites of 2013 1. Martilyo. Robbers belonging to the ‘Martilyo Gang’ used a hammer and crowbar to rob jewelry shops in SM North Edsa,…
Growth is becoming more exclusionary with every year of the Aquino administration and its unreformed economic policies By IBON FOUNDATION MANILA — The year 2013 has seen more rapid economic growth, rising foreign investment, and praise from international agencies and big business – yet also falling job generation, rising unemployment, soaring prices, growing poverty, and…
For progressive unions, Aquino’s ‘stellar economic growth’ and ‘industrial peace’ are rosy reports that cheer only the corporate few who benefit from it. For the working majority, the claims sounded more like a taunt because it rested on what they call as ‘false claims’ or deception, coupled with repression.
2013 is the defining year for the Aquino administration. First, the country entered the midterm of the Aquino presidency. All that has been happening in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the country is now a result of the Aquino administration’s own policies. It could no longer shift the blame on its predecessor, the much-hated Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Second, the Aquino administration faced the very issues that it raised against the previous administration: corruption, bribery, trapo politics, and political dynasties; and impunity in human rights violations and killings of journalists. Third, President Benigno Aquino III declared that it would finally settle, this year, the decades-old land issue involving the Cojuangco-Aquino clan. Fourth, its ability to respond to crisis was severely tested by the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall and a devastating earthquake, which hit the country at a time when the Filipino people has barely risen from two strong typhoons that hit the country late last year.
So how did the Aquino administration fare?