The phenomenon of “people power” cannot be reduced to a purely spontaneous event triggered by some outrage but the result of an accumulation of favorable developments, build-up in the strength of organized forces and in the momentum of the mass movement as well as a triggering event. No one can predict way in advance when,…
Category: Streetwise
Para la Patria
The lot of the peasantry should be the prime measure of the health of the economy. BY CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise/Business World Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 36, October 14-20, 2007 The Arroyo regime has less than three years to go before its term ends in 2010. Malacanang’s strategy for surviving till then (which is…
The Crux of the Moro Problem*
It is clear why the Philippine government is not about to give up Mindanao or even only the acknowledged Moro ancestral domains to the Moro people. All talk about national sovereignty and the indivisibility of Philippine territory is just a convenient cover for the real reasons: ownership of land by big non-Moro landowners, including multinationals…
Tell That to the Marines
No matter how successful the government may be in conjuring a picture of improved peace and order conditions in Mindanao, the truth is bound to emerge sooner or later, as in the latest Basilan incident. BY CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise/Business World Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VII, No. 27, August 12-18, 2007 No matter how successful the…
Elections as Farce and as Protest
The farcical nature of the electoral process in this country has been laid bare, much worse than even our most dire predictions. BY CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO STREETWISE / BUSINESS WORLD* POSTED BY BULATLAT Vol. VII, No. 15 May 20-26, 2007 After the May 14 elections, are we any closer to the democratic society that our grade-school…
Reign of Impunity
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Posted by Bulatlat The vital flaw which undermines the utility of much of the (Philippine) judicial system is the problem of virtual impunity that prevails. This, in turn, is built upon the rampant problem of witness vulnerability. The present message is that if you want to preserve your life expectancy, don’t act…
Human Security Act: License to Kill*
How are we to believe de facto president Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when she proclaims that the new anti-terrorism bill, euphemistically named the Human Security Act, will be used against supposed bombers and not protesters? On the contrary, such fascist legislation will certainly give further license to the Arroyo regime-sanctioned death squads responsible for the political…
Elections: A Critical View
Mrs. Arroyo and other reactionaries are bound to fail because they overestimate their own strength and underestimate the people’s intelligence, determination and capacity to take destiny in their own hands. By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo BusinessWorld Posted by Bulatlat Not a few friends and even fellow activists have asked whether the right thing to do in the…
Melo Commission – Still No Surprises*
It is important to point out that while the Melo Commission report is kept under wraps, with only alleged parts of it revealed piecemeal, as suits the purposes of Malacañang, there can not be any meaningful nor even worthwhile response to it except that of continuing caution, if not skepticism. What the human rights organizations,…
The Bishops – Missing the Historical Moment
The tendency to counterpoise “prayer” and “protest” served the ends of Malacanang to diffuse, diminish and blunt the political impact of the broadly-supported action against con-ass, Cha-cha and, verily, against the Arroyo regime itself. By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo BusinessWorld Posted by Bulatlat.com It took some effort to sustain enthusiasm for the “prayer rally” originally called by…
The Bishops – Missing the Historical Moment
The tendency to counterpoise “prayer” and “protest” served the ends of Malacanang to diffuse, diminish and blunt the political impact of the broadly-supported action against con-ass, Cha-cha and, verily, against the Arroyo regime itself. By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo BusinessWorld Posted by Bulatlat It took some effort to sustain enthusiasm for the “prayer rally” originally called by…