Category: Politics & Governance
Children of Morong 43 Speak Up: ‘Free Our Parents!’
In a press conference, the detainees’ children issued an appeal to the government. “As we are about to celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8, children of the 43 jailed health workers want their mother, sister and grandparents to celebrate the day together with them, outside Camp Capinpin and away from any harm, threat and abuse.”
The PGH Imbroglio: Battle for Directorship, Control of UP Board Traced to Questionable Deal
By MARYA SALAMAT
The Philippine General Hospital — the country’s hospital of last resort especially for indigent patients, a key training ground for students of the University of the Philippines, and the premier public hospital in the country — is currently embroiled in a mess over who should be its rightful director. It’s an imbroglio that has its roots to a multi-million peso lease contract.
Anti-VFA Groups Warn: SC Decision on VFA to Spur More US Intervention
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Supreme Court’s (SC) recent resolution upholding with finality the constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) sends a wrong message to victims of US atrocities, warned a Mindanao coalition.
Peasant Leaders to Aquino Sisters: Insulting Farmers Won’t Help Noynoy’s Campaign
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
“If they think that insulting Luisita farmers can help Noynoy’s campaign, they are absolutely wrong. They are further isolating their brother Noynoy from the peasantry, agrarian reform advocates, and the Filipino people,” Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano said.
On Mindoro’s Lubang Islands, a Clash Between Morals and Tourism
By LYN V. RAMO Bulatlat.com LUBANG, Occidental Mindoro — Village officials here have criticized the existence of a beach resort that might be condoning prostitution in a group of islands now being promoted as a paradise resort. Reacting to a report made by a group of researchers, at least six village chairmen of this town…
Gov’t Violates Election Laws by Fielding Own Partylist Groups
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Catholic priest Fr. Joe Dizon, convener of the anti-fraud and election monitoring group Kontra Daya, raised hell earlier this week over the Commission on Elections’s (Comelec) accreditation of a partylist group that is, by its own declaration, a project initiated by an official of the Arroyo administration and a prominent ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Election Watchdog Hits Accreditation of Government-Sponsored ‘Partylist’
PRESS RELEASE March 1, 2010 The anti-fraud and election monitoring group Kontra Daya today slammed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for having allowed a government-sponsored partylist group to run in the 2010 elections. Kontra Daya convener Fr. Joe Dizon said the “partylist group” Batang Iwas Droga, or BIDA, should not have been accredited for the…
Noynoy Not Averse to Curtailing Rights for National Security
By MARYA SALAMAT
In a presidential forum on human rights, Noynoy Aquino, amid hemming and hawing and qualifiers, said he favors a pre-Marcos-like Anti-Subversion Law. He said he is not averse to curtailing rights in the name of national security, although, he hoped “we will not have a situation that will necessitate that.”
Community Broadcasters Worldwide Condemn Impunity in the Philippines
By RAYMUND VILLANUEVA
More than 300 community broadcasters from 21 countries unanimously approved a resolution condemning the culture of impunity in the Philippines during the conclusion of the recent regional conference of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC)-Asia Pacific in Bangalore, India.
2010 Bets Told: Act on Poor’s Needs, Demands
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The demands of the urban poor communities included employment, housing projects and other pro-poor programs, which Kadamay pasted on a tarpaulin bearing photos of Philippine presidents since Marcos. All them, the group said, have failed to deliver on the demands of the urban poor.