By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star This week the P14.12-trillion Philippine banking system was the subject of news reports in two contrasting lights. On the one hand, Philippine banks — particularly the big universal and commercial banks — were praised for being well capitalized and “among the most best-placed [in…
Category: At Ground Level
Mindanao IPs cry: ‘Let us keep our schools!’
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star “Mindanao is no longer home for the Higaonons, for the B’laans, Ata Manobos and other indigenous people. Their leaders are either killed by the military and paramilitary groups or slapped with trumped-up criminal charges to bring them to prison. Their self-initiated schools are closed…
HR violations to hound P-Noy in his last SONA
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star A month hence President Aquino will deliver his sixth and last state-of-the-nation address. However much he may embellish his administration’s achievements on the economy, anti-corruption drive and governmental reforms, he will be hounded by at least two unresolved issues: his “dismal record” on human…
Revisiting labor contractualization
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star A year ago I discussed in this space how labor contractualization — where firms hire workers for short-term, non-regular employment without the benefits accorded by law to regular workers — has been a bane to Filipino workers since 1989, ironically, I said, under the…
A new stab at solving the housing backlog?
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star After 23 years of the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (RA 7279), the backlog in providing housing units for those needing them has burgeoned to at least 5.5 million today; the number is projected to rise to 12.5 million in 2030. About…
A rightful land reform
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star A “moral imperative and a political necessity” is how a militant peasant organization and advocates of genuine agrarian reform described the launching yesterday of a Philippine Land Reform Movement at the UP College of Social Work and Community Development. Averring that the Comprehensive Agrarian…
Downsides, upsides (?) in US free-trade policy
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star In 1993, then US President Bill Clinton had to fight hard to overcome his Democratic partymates’ “fierce opposition” to the passage in Congress of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Today another Democratic president, Barack Obama, is encountering similar opposition to his bid for…
My father cherished Kapampangan verse
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star The month of May evokes in me memories of joy and sadness. May is the month of fiestas. Where I was born and grew up, we have been celebrating two: May 4, the feast of Sta. Monica (the barrio of my birth) and May…
The threats to the press, within and without
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld May 3 was proclaimed in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly as World Press Freedom Day on the recommendation of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It has since been celebrated every year by journalists’ and media groups in over 100 countries, with UNESCO…
Can US take a softer, wiser tack on maritime row?
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Since my first column piece (this is the sixth) on our maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea, I have consistently urged the Aquino government to stand firm against Chinese incursions, but advised maximum use of diplomacy towards resolving the…
Foolhardy military steps to counter China bullying
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star It wasn’t just a foolhardy turn (as I wrote here last week) that the Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed with alacrity the Pentagon’s announced intention to deploy in the Philippines “various advanced air force, naval and maritime-domain equipment” — to be manned by US…