It comes as no surprise that the current lockdown has become a de facto crackdown for some of those who dare speak up against the government.
Category: Opinion
Framing poverty
Letter to the Editor April 4, 2020 Much as we thank our friends in the media for highlighting the reality of uncertainty, some suggestions should be made in reporting the plight of the urban poor amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Feel-good stories that highlight resiliency help sell more papers, provide higher broadcast ratings and generate more…
Mass detention happens due to government’s lockdown inefficiency
As we witness the excruciatingly slow and inefficient governance of this administration, more lives are on the line – not only due to the dreaded disease but also due to hunger and desperation.
COVID-19: Paracetamol, ibuprofen and other anti-fever drugs should be avoided
The WHO should not expect at this time, while the pandemic is raging, to find published clinical and population-based studies specifically showing these negative effects in COVID-19 patients. Their main concern should be to protect COVID-19 patients from unnecessary risks because of irrational use of anti-fever drugs.
The COVID-19 pandemic brings to the fore the economic divide
COVID-19 has laid bare the class contradictions in Philippine society. Not only has it exposed the private sector for what it is – a profiteering class of capitalists, but it has also exposed the government and its institutions for what they are – tools of the same profiteering class to ensure that they can continue profiting.
Rodrigo Duterte’s unnatural disasters
But in the Philippines, the links between environmental degradation and militarization are intimate. Government counterinsurgency campaigns have been most violent in the regions of the Philippines with natural and mineral resources that are largely untapped by extractive projects, whether it’s Mindanao in the south or the Cordilleras in the north. Brandon was shot because he opposed a hydropower project that would have displaced indigenous communities in the north, while to the south, indigenous Lumad leaders have been killed and schools dedicated to the teaching of sustainable agricultural practices occupied under the guise of anti-communism.
A portrait of the security guard as a worker
But Paray was a wounded animal lashing out against the world that hurt him. This is the difference between a worker fighting against injustice and one fighting for their class. Alchie Paray is at once every single Filipino caught in the same situation, but at the same time, he is a reminder that we must all organize ourselves against the system that allows this exploitation to manifest.
Manila as a haven for Jewish communities
Fleeing Nazi Germany, many European Jews settled in the Philippines and in several ways contributed to the cultural enrichment of its Capital By DR. RAINER WERNING During their stay in Europe, Dr. José Rizal and other Ilustrados eventually also got in contact with Professor Rudolf Carl Virchow, who was one of the towering figures of…
The real score on China’s imperialism
The series of deliberate neglect and turning of a blind eye to China’s continuous incursions on our economy, territory and even military speak volumes on how our very own government positions itself among other countries under China’s patronage. We have surrendered so much to China’s destructive large-scale investments that masquerade as benign, friendly relations.
General Antonio Parlade and his low cunning
Because what Parlade is doing is taking a page from Palparan’s, and Marcos’, and ultimately, the CIA’s playbook. He thinks that barbarity will result in fear, and thus compliance. He thinks that the way to curb legitimate dissent is by becoming an aswang; a murderer in the night, and desecrator of the flesh.
Modern-day Marie Antoinettes
Villar and Marcos’ position in Philippine society echoes back to Marie Antoinette’s – a landed pseudo-aristocracy whose power stems from their stranglehold of economic production. These compradors and landlords have differ little from the old nobles of feudal societies.