Day: August 14, 2010

By LYN V. RAMO Bulatlat.com MANILA — The European Union through its Manila office, the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines, and Dinteg, the Cordillera Indigenous Peoples’ Legal Rights Center, recently launched a five-year project that will enhance the capacity of indigenous peoples for a more consolidated political participation and representation in development.…

By LYN V. RAMO Bulatlat.com MANILA — A review of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), a mining moratorium and to put a stop to the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) became the rallying calls for more than 200 delegates representing the country’s 14 million indigenous peoples from more than ten regions in the…

By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We are willing to go into serious peace talks aimed at addressing the root causes of the armed conflict through fundamental social, economic, political and constitutional reforms.” – NDFP

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.

By ML MARIGZA NORTHERN DISPATCH Posted by Bulatlat.com BAGUIO CITY — Farmers groups have protested the field testing of genetically modified (GM) eggplants in the Philippines. Known as the Philippine Fruit and Shoot Borer (FSB)-resistant eggplants (Bt brinjal) or Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) eggplant, the Department of Agriculture has started multi-location field testing prior to commercialization.…

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Pointing to the public-private partnership in the development of the South Luzon Expressway as the culprit in the planned increase in toll fees, drivers’ group Piston warned that the planned hike plus the imposition of VAT on toll fees would trigger price increases as transport costs would likewise jack up.

By: www.nordis.net Posted by: Bulatlat.com MANILA — Over 50 indigenous leaders and representatives from different parts of the country including the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) marched to Mendiola August 9 to submit the Indigenous People’s Agenda to President President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. The group’s attempt to enter Malacañang to submit the Agenda to President…

Last June 14, 2010, Benjamin “Benjie” Bayles was killed in Negros Occidental. He was the 1,200th victim of what is seen a military campaign against civic society activists. Yet his case is different. For the first time, the suspects were arrested by the police. A dirty game is going on now. There military pressures to…

By NORTHERN DISPATCH Posted by Bulatlat.com MANILA — There’s another curious house call for the President. A group of indigenous peoples from different parts of the country, dressed in their traditional garb of g-strings and colorful headgear attempted to enter Malacañang Palace today to give President Benigno Aquino III the Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) Agenda, a…