By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com The recent revelation about corruption in the Bureau of Corrections, specifically the National Bilibid Prison, is not new nor shocking to anyone who is familiar with our prison system. Prison officials use the gangs to maintain peace and order in the jail compounds. In fact, anybody who is imprisoned has no…
Category: Commentary
Luis V. Teodoro | Oxymoron country
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld “MILITARY intelligence” is the preferred oxymoron — the contradiction in terms most favored — by activists, human rights workers, and some academics. But that martial law classic may yet yield to these more recent gems, courtesy of the Bureau of Corrections: “living-out prisoner,” and the even more…
Satur C. Ocampo | Fil-Ams: ‘President Noynoy, take charge!’
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star In the past several weeks thousands of families of informal settlers in the National Capital Region have had their houses or communities demolished or threatened to be demolished by the government and private business interests. In some instances, the demolitions were attended by violence…
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | For shame!
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld What is there left to do except decry – again and again – the brazen attempts of the country’s political elite to obliterate the people’s victory over authoritarianism, martial rule and the wanton plunder of the nation’s economy and resources, this time by allowing “full military honors” to accompany…
Satur C. Ocampo | From dream to nightmare
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star In the past several weeks thousands of families of informal settlers in the National Capital Region have had their houses or communities demolished or threatened to be demolished by the government and private business interests. In some instances, the demolitions were attended by violence…
Luis V. Teodoro | Forbidden fruit
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld THANKS TO some priests and bishops of the Catholic Church, and with considerable help from the media, the debate on the consolidated Reproductive Health bill (House Bill 4244) pending in the House of Representatives is turning into a murky exercise that’s spreading more disinformation than enlightenment. The…
Benjie Oliveros | Why disaster strikes
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis When Pagasa announced, early this week, that typhoon Chedeng might hit the country, local government officials frantically inspected and dredged rivers, canals, and drainage systems. They readied rubber boats and set up an emergency communication system. President Aquino called on his administration to aim for zero casualty. The people living near…
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | Taking a stand on RH
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld Having borne two children of my own and having struggled to do my part in raising a family while practicing my profession in the field of public health and avidly pursuing my social and political causes, I submit that I may have something worthwhile to say on the controversy…
Benjie Oliveros | Tough task ahead for the new UP president
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis When asked whether he would increase the tuition during his term, new UP President Alfredo Pascual replied with a resounding “No.” That was a bold declaration coming from a “dark horse” and an “outsider” who won the race for the UP presidency and a successor of former UP president Emerlinda Roman…
Sarah Raymundo | Ideological lessons on the struggle over wages
For Ka Bel, for all that he was and for all that we can be because of him By SARAH RAYMUNDO Bulatlat.com The latest P22 increase in workers’ Cost of Living Allowance in the National Capital Region (NCR) is yet another attack on labor. After a two-year pause on wage hikes, allegedly due to the…
Luis V. Teodoro | Casualties of failure
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld MEDIA ADVOCACY and journalists’ groups marked World Press Freedom Day last May 3 after a year (May 3, 2010- May 2, 2011) of continuing violence against the media. Iraq and Afghanistan, where they faced the usual perils of being caught in the crossfire between warring groups, and…