Two of those who were recently killed in Central Luzon have had brushes before with Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the man the victims’ relatives and friends claim as behind the killings. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA ANGELES CITY, Pampanga – The eldest son of slain Bayan Muna (BM) member Francisco Rivera, 34-year old Ricardo, was a picture…
Month: October 2005
New Alliance to Hold Palparan Liable for Rights Abuses
“Stop Palparan” is a newly formed group that aims to consolidate and coordinate moves to remove, investigate, prosecute and arrest the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. By Jhong dela Cruz Maxima Punzal, 64, of Norzagaray, Bulacan was among the many women and men who had joined together to seek the…
Migrante Scores DFA for ‘Whitewash’ in Slain OFW’s Case
The overseas Filipinos’ alliance Migrante International has accused the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of favoring a “whitewash” on the case of domestic helper Ivy Collantes Bautista, who was found dead Sept. 27 in her employer’s residence in Santander, Cantabria, Spain. BY BULATLAT The overseas Filipinos’ alliance Migrante International has accused the Department of Foreign…
The Enemy Within
The call for a snap election is a sure sign of desperation, not among the opposition but among Mrs. Arroyo’s own allies, many of whom are beginning to realize how incorrigibly focused she is on staying in power, even if it be to the entire nation’s detriment. By the Center for People Empowerment in Governance…
‘The Citizens’ Congress Has the Highest Moral Authority’
The citizens’ congress that will try President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is an alternative forum that has become necessary because of the impotence of traditional institutions and processes to address the serious charges being levied against the president. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA A citizens’ congress will try beleaguered President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the killings of 486 political dissenters…
Hacienda Luisita Workers: Bloodied but Unbowed
Union grieves for murdered Hacienda union chief “Ganun si kapitan. He would risk everything for us. It can only be those who feel threatened by him and the union who would want to kill him.” Thus said a Hacienda Luisita worker of murdered union leader Ricardo Ramos. BY DABET CASTAñEDA Bulatlat.com HACIENDA LUISITA, Tarlac –…
‘Palit-Bigas’ Prostitution
Or how rural women are trading sex for rice due to hunger The Philippines observed World Food Day this year amid an atmosphere of increasing hunger. Amid worsening hunger, a number of women in the rural areas – where food crops are grown – have been turning to what is called palit-bigas prostitution. BY ALEXANDER…
Stories of Hunger, Landlessness and Armed Struggle
Asia Pacific farmers, advocates meet in Negros conference Stories of hunger, oppression, government neglect, landlessness, greediness of agro-chemical transnational corporations, to democratic protest movements and armed struggle for genuine land reform and social change in Asia-Pacific are narrated by farmers and advocates of agrarian reform in the region during a recent conference in Negros Occidental.…
Gov’t Promotes ‘Suicide Seeds,’ Transgenics in Cordillera
First of two parts For generations, many farming villages in the Cordillera mountain region, northern Philippines were self-sufficient in food. But Marcos’ “Green Revolution” and, in recent years, trade liberalization have erased all that. Today, the production of major vegetable crops has fallen in the process uprooting tens of thousands of indigenous peasants. BY FERNANDO…
‘Destabilization Plot’ a Military Farce – Ka Satur
Party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna dismisses recent charges by top armed forces officials that he gave communist guerrillas P5 million to bomb Metro Manila as mere products of the “military’s wild imagination.” The charges surfaced on the eve of a big rally led by militant peasant groups in Mendiola, Manila. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA…
Repeating History
Repression invites more resistance than fear, and usually succeeds in achieving the exact opposite of its intention to intimidate. By the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CENPEG) The Arroyo regime is focused on survival, but is instead succeeding in strengthening already widespread opposition to it. The reason for this is simple and fundamental: it…