By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
“With the long history of fraud and manipulation involving the Comelec and other government agencies to favor the incumbent regime, the concerns about the automated elections are serious and require action. We have to be ready to mobilize in huge numbers, should there be a failure of elections. We cannot let Mrs. Arroyo take advantage of that situation to perpetuate herself in power.”
By ARNOLD PADILLA
In a poor country where one out of two people dies without receiving any medical attention, where more than half of the population do not have access to basic health care, community-based health workers who provide needed services to fill this health-care gap should be heralded as heroes, not thrown to jail and tortured.
Related blog post: The AFP is telling us we need more NPA guerrillas
By MARYA SALAMAT
Dr. Alex Montes is a retired surgeon. But even in retirement, he found time to serve the poor through the medical missions he organized and joined and through the trainings he conducted for community health workers and volunteers. Today, he is behind bars — abused, tortured and humiliated by a regime that is terrified by his passion.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
and RONALYN V. OLEA
Several medical and health associations expressed outrage today over the arrest, detention and alleged torture of 43 health workers. In a press conference at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in Manila, officials of these groups refuted the military’s claim that the 43 are communist rebels who were undergoing bomb training when they were arrested in a raid on Feb. 6.
By RENATO REYES JR.
We call on our friends here and abroad to intensify the calls for the release of the 43. We hope that the CA will issue a favorable ruling so that in the near future, the 43 will regain their freedom, be reunited with their families and continue with their work.
By BENJIE OLIVEROS
An illegal arrest backed by lies, the use of torture, denial of visitation rights even from the government’s own Commission on Human Rights, the fabrication of pieces of evidence and witnesses, the refusal to honor the order of the Supreme Court — all this point to what Makabayan senatorial candidate Satur Ocampo aptly called as a “grand slam day for impunity” and a “classic throwback to the martial law era.”
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
The Ilocos Region, particularly the two Ilocos provinces, is the main focus of a “humanitarian assistance” operation and this year’s upcoming Balikatan military exercises between US and Philippine troops.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
After three days, relatives and colleagues were finally able to visit the 43 arrested health workers through the intervention of Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Leila de Lima, who earlier denounced the military for refusing access to those detained.
The Senate, which had its finest moments when it blocked the railroading designs of the administration-dominated Lower House, is now revealing its worst form because the May 2010 elections are just around the corner and the Senate has always been a jumping board for those who would want to become president. Sad as it is, the disappointing state of the Senate and the sorry state of the election campaign, and the election itself, is merely a reflection of the dismal and backward state of Philippine society.