BY BULATLAT Another activist was shot dead this morning in Calatagan, Batangas. Wilfredo Gonzales, 52, Bgy. Bucal, Calatagan, Batangas was gunned down while driving an Elf-truck, around 6 a.m. today by two motorcycle-riding men, human rights group Karapatan reported. Gonzales is a member of the Haligi ng mga Batanguenong AnakDagat (HABAGAT), provincial chapter of Pambansang…
Category: Breaking News
Court Orders Release of Labor Lawyer, 6 Other Activists
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat Judge Manuel Luna, Jr. of the Calapan City Regional Trial Court, Branch 40 issued this afternoon a release order for labor lawyer Remigio Saladero, Jr. and six other activists from Southern Tagalog who have been detained at the Oriental Mindoro Provincial jail for almost three months now while facing criminal…
Student Group to CHED: Enforce Tuition Hike Freeze
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat Members of the cause-oriented League of Filipino Students have called on the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Emmanuel Angeles to enforce a moratorium on tuition increases in light of the global economic crisis. The LFS members made this call during a picket-dialogue earlier today at the CHED office in…
Groups Slam Approval of Nograles Resolution on Cha-cha
Groups slammed the Committee on Constitutional Amendments for its approval of House Resolution 737 authored by House Speaker Prospero Nograles. House Resolution 737 seeks to amend Art. XII, Sec. 7 of the 1987 Constitution which states that only Filipinos and Filipino owned corporations can own private lands, utilize the country’s natural resources and operate public…
Youth Group: Pro-US Policies to Blame for Mass Lay-offs
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat MANILA — Members of Anakbayan and other youth groups staged a rally at the US Embassy here this morning to take the US to task for its role in the global economic crisis. They also lambasted the Arroyo administration for implementing what they described as pro-US policies, which they say…
Labor Organizer Arrested
BY BULATLAT Authorities arrested a labor leader around 2 a.m today at the Westdrive Subdivision, Barangay Labas, Santa Rosa City, Laguna. According to the Organized Labor Association in Line Industries and Agriculture (OLALIA-Kilusang Mayo Uno), labor organizer Leonardo Arceta, 51, was taken to the Santa Rosa Police Station and then transferred to Camp Vicente Lim…
Teachers Say No to Random Drug Tests in Schools
A national alliance of public school teachers called for the scrapping of a government plan to subject teachers and students to random drug testing. The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) have announced that they will implement a drug testing program in high schools, universities and colleges nationwide in response…
Detained Peasant Leader, Colleagues Fast for His Release
Detained peasant activist Randall Echanis and his colleagues from the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP or Peasant Movement of the Philippines), Pamalakaya, the Amihan Peasant Women’s Association, Anakpawis Party-list, and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines have been fasting the whole day to protest the latter’s continuing imprisonment. Echanis, deputy secretary general for external affairs…
Women’s Groups Stage Picket at HoR vs Cha-Cha
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat Members of the women’s groups GABRIELA and Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) this morning staged a picket at the House of Representatives to protest moves to amend the Constitution. The House Committee on Coonstitutional Amendments is holding a hearing today to tackle moves to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly.…
Solons Push for Probe on Use of SSS funds for Stimulus Package
BY BULATLAT Legislators want to investigate the use of Social Security System (SSS) funds for the Arroyo administration’s economic stimulus package. Recently, SSS President Romulo Neri committed P12.5 billion to the economic stimulus fund. Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Representative Liza Maza, Gabriela Representative Luz Ilagan and Anakpawis Representative Rafael Mariano filed a resolution today…
Farmers, Supporters Mark 22nd Anniversary of Mendiola Massacre
BY BULATLAT More than one thousand farmers and their supporters marked the 22nd anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre today. Twenty two years ago on January 22, 1987 at the historic Mendiola bridge, combined elements of the police and military opened fire at a rally of farmers demanding for genuine land reform. Thirteen farmers were killed…