By JOHN KNEFEL Truthout | Report A new Stanford-NYU report, “Living Under Drones,” details the devastation to civilians – and possible war crimes – resulting from US drone strikes in Pakistan. On the morning of March 17, 2011, Ahmed Jan joined over 40 other people at a bus station in Datta Khel, North Waziristan in…
Day: September 28, 2012
A free press could never be cowed nor silenced
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Last week, activists of the 1970s up to the present commemorated the 40th year of the declaration of Martial Law not only to recall those dark years but also to remind the people of the dangers of a dictatorship or its repressive instruments being revived. One of the legacies of Martial law was treating the press as a dangerous enemy that needs to be suppressed.
Martial law’s legacy of stifling the press persists
Above-ground alternative press: Open defiance to the Marcos dictatorship
Underground press during martial law: Piercing the veil of darkness imposed by the dictatorship
Above-ground alternative press: Open defiance to the Marcos dictatorship
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – When Ferdinand Marcos stifled press freedom, there were those who stood up for the truth. The alternative press, defined by Luis Teodoro, deputy executive director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), as media outfits not tied to commercial and political interests, fought the Marcos dictatorship.…
Underground press during martial law: Piercing the veil of darkness imposed by the dictatorship
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – “The sound of the typewriter then was considered subversive.” Carolina “Bobbie” Malay said as she recalled the early years after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. When Marcos shut down newspapers, radio stations and television networks, she, along with her husband, Satur Ocampo, and other activists put up Balita…
Martial law’s legacy of stifling the press persists
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – Forty years after the imposition of martial law, the Philippine media is still confronted with problems bearing imprints of the dictatorship. The enactment of the Republic Act 10175 or the Anti-Cybercrime Law is just one of the steps being taken against the press. Luis Teodoro, deputy executive director…
‘What progress?’ rights group ask
By RONALYN V. OLEA
During the 21st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Philippine government claimed that it has been complying with the recommendations put forward by the council during the Universal Periodic Review, but human rights and church groups think otherwise.
MILF expresses ‘guarded optimism’ in peace talks with government
By MARYA SALAMAT
While both panels are moving toward signing a framework agreement, the MILF said, there are still a lot of contentious issues, after which, there are still the compact and exit agreements to discuss.
Urban poor call for scrapping of housing law, justice for Guatemala residents
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Urban poor groups from various communities that have been demolished or under threat of demolition gathered near the Supreme Court to protest the way they are being treated by the government and the violations of their rights.
Environmental group blames “Philex, not God” over tailings pond leak
“Firm Frowns Over 1B Gov’t Fines” By ACE ALEGRE Bulatlat.com Tuba, Benguet (September 28, 2012) – Instead of blaming “God”, the environmental advocacy group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) pointed at Philex Mining Corporation’s own failure to erect proper structures to ensure safe mining operations in its Padcal operations here. Disputing claims…