By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Italian missionary Fausto Tentorio foresaw six years ago that he would “die of bullets” someday. Although he was proven correct, that didn’t make his death right. Last week, Fr. Tentorio was shot dead outside his parish church in Arakan, North Cotabato. Typical of most…
Category: Commentary
Reign of assassins
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld President Benigno Aquino III has “vowed,” say media reports, to get the killers of Fr. Fausto Tentorio even if they should turn out to be members of the paramilitary groups he, Aquino, has refused to dismantle. The call has been made often for the dismantling of paramilitary…
Occupation bilang popular na protesta
Ni ROLANDO B. TOLENTINO Bulatlat.com “Occupy Wall Street.” At matapos ay naangkat na rin sa iba’t iba pang sityo sa mga syudad sa U.S., pati sa London, Athens, Milan, Frankfurt at Madrid. Laban sa corporate greed ang occupation. Sa Filipinas, tinangka na rin ang occupation sa Ayala Avenue, ang katumbas na financial center, at sa…
Killing the peace process
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld The cold-blooded murder of 59-year-old Italian missionary priest, Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, who was a champion of indigenous people’s rights, an anti-mining campaigner and a human rights defender, jolts us all to the reality that President Benigno Aquino III’s promise of change is nothing but empty rhetoric aimed at…
Self-inflicted
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld The destruction of the country’s institutions is proceeding apace. But it’s not the “enemies of the state” who’re subverting them; it’s the very institutions themselves, including those mandated to protect the state, that are doing it. “A bulwark of liberty.” “The protector of Philippine patrimony.” “The guardian…
Counterinsurgency has priority over peace talks
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Eight months have passed since the auspicious resumption by the Aquino government of peace talks with the National Democratic Front that Gloria Arroyo had suspended in 2005. But now the talks are stalled again, despite last February’s reaffirmation by the two sides of 12…
Impunity rears its ugly, brazen head
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com The killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, shocked the nation. While the impunity in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations still prevails, nobody expected that it would victimize a Catholic priest, not since the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship. The killing of Fr. Tentorio does not only show…
Elehiya sa mansanas at automatons
Ni ROLANDO B. TOLENTINO Bulatlat.com In the market place, Apple is trying to focus the spotlight on products, because products really make a difference. […] Ad campaigns are necessary for competition; IBM’s ads are everywhere. But good PR educates people; that’s all it is. You can’t con people in this business. The products speak for…
Stumbling blocks in the peace negotiations
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com The peace talks between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) have again hit a snag. The GPH is blaming the NDFP for putting the release of its consultants as a “precondition” for the talks. Even as the government panel committed to release…
Prometheus Bound: Mine
By Giovanni Tapang, PhD Bulatlat.com With the simultaneous attack of the New People’s Army against certain mines in Surigao del Norte, the issue of mining has come to fore in the national dailies and in discussion groups. We have seen video documentaries, news reports and community interviews that show how terrible the rape of our…
Mining despoils Surigao del Norte
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star The New People’s Army’s well-executed raids last Monday on three mining firms in Claver, Surigao del Norte razing a smelting plant, 28 heavy equipment, 132 dump trucks and nine barges, but not physically harming or killing anyone has provoked all kinds of reactions. One…