By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA –Wearing a black dress, Monette Salaysay took the stage and began speaking. Her voice broke and her tears fell the moment she uttered the name of her husband, Napoleon, one of the 32 journalists killed in the Maguindanao massacre on November 23, 2009. “After two years, I thought I…
Category: Human Rights
Army intelligence agent, one of the abductors of two UP students – witness
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Witness Wilfred Ramos said Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio was the one who hogtied him and his father the day the two students and Merino were taken by some 20 armed men.
Repeal, not amend anti-terror law, rights groups tell Aquino
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – Reacting to President Benigno S. Aquino III’s proposal to amend the Human Security Act of 2007 , human rights groups told Aquino the law should instead be repealed. During the recent Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting, the Aquino administration cited amendments to the country’s anti-terror law as…
Amnesty International to Aquino govt: Release Ericson Acosta
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com MANILA – Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of poet and writer Ericson Acosta. In a statement posted on its website www.amnesty.org, Amnesty International said the Aquino government should either end Acosta’s detention without trial and release him or else promptly bring him to trial. Amnesty International…
Tribesman killed in Davao del Sur, military imposes food blockade
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA — A member of Taga-Kaulo tribe was killed inside his home in Sulok Talaod subvillage, Ticulon village, Malita, Davao del Sur, August 4, by suspected state agents. According to human rights group Barugkatungod, a man knocked on the door of Dioquino Scuadro’s house at around 10:15 that night. When…
An overview of the human rights situation in Eastern Visayas*
By ERICSON ACOSTA Bulatlat.com Many are surely wondering, why did the military detain Acosta? Why was he imprisoned? In what far-off corner of the islands could Barangay Bay-ang be found, and what could a writer and poet like Ericson Acosta possibly be doing there? In truth, these are vital questions, not just to the overly…
Military fails to present soldier linked to abduction of UP students
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – The soldier who has been implicated by one of the witnesses in the abduction of University of the Philippines (UP) students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan and farmer Manuel Merino remains unidentified. During the fourth hearing on the preliminary investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel this…
Special Report: Philippines- The unhealthiest of poor countries
By MARYA SALAMAT
Despite the promises of devolution, funding for health services is unable to keep up with local needs.
Sidebar: Not enough doctors, and nurses, in
Sidebar: Where do the sick go?
SECOND PART: LGUs try enterprise to cure shortage in health funding
Groups call for probe on abduction of 3 farmers in Negros
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – Peasant group Unyon ng mga Mangggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the abduction of three farmers by suspected paramilitary agents in Canlusong village, Enrique B. Magalona municipality, Negros Occidental. Farmers Michael Celeste, Gerald Abale and Jully Devero have been missing since…
News in Pictures: BTL Farmers Association filed case against CMU admin
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMIHAN-NMR
Church groups assail paramilitary group’s attack on schools for indigenous peoples
By LYN V. RAMO Bulatlat.com MANILA — The church-based group Rural Missionaries of the Philippines in Northern Mindanao Sub-region (RMP-NMR), which recently decided to reopen literacy and numeracy schools in Agusan del Sur and Bukidnon provinces is appalled by the recent attack of a paramilitary group against a Higaonon community. The June 30 assault, an…