NEWS AT A GLANCE

NUJP condemns killing of Damalerio slay witness
 
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) condemned Feb. 2 the murder of Edgar Amoro, main eyewitness to the May 13, 2002 murder of Pagadian editor and broadcaster Edgar Damalerio.

The group said the a major possibility for Amoro’s murder could have been a plot to jeopardize the case filed against Guillermo Wapile, a police officer charged with Damalerio's killing.

Amoro’s killing, the NUJP said, “is outrageous and gives lie to Malacañang's claim that it is on top of the grave situation faced by Filipino journalists.” It emphasizes why witnesses rarely come out to testify against the murderers of media practitioners, the group also said.

The Damalerio case was among several cases investigated by the recent fact-finding mission of the International Federation of Journalists and the NUJP. Bulatlat

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RP-US Mutual Defense Board is accountable for HR abuses – Anakpawis solon

Anakpawis (toiling masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran said Feb. 2 that Congress should summon the members of the joint RP-US Mutual Defense Board (MDB) and give a report on the Balikatan exercises held in the country last year, as well as divulge the MDB's plans for 2005 including the coming series of exercises. The MDB is composed of some 40 members from the U.S. Embassy, the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Beltran said that these members should be held accountable for all reports of abuses by U.S. troops and Philippines forces during the Balikatan exercises.

The congressman also said the Macapagal-Arroyo administration is determined to make the presence of U.S. troops in the country a permanent thing. He added that these exercises “remain a clear-cut violation of the country's sovereignty and patrimony laws” and the presence of the U.S. troops a violation of the Constitution. Bulatlat

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Cebu inmates’ deaths alarm rights watchdog

The Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (Karapatan)-Central Visayas expressed alarm Jan. 31 over cases of  “mysterious illness” that has claimed the lives of five detainees at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

Because of these deaths, the group questioned how the CPDRC spend its daily budget.  The group also said that the detainees have complained over allegedly foul and rotten rations. The detainees staged a “sit-down strike last December to raise these issues but was dispersed by local police,” the group said.

Detainees are brought to the hospital due to stomach pains and pulmonary attack. Karapatan-CV chair lawyer Pooch Cinco said the condition is not normal for a brand-new jail. Bulatlat

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Abused nanny in Canada

An abused overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Canada has been “rescued” by Filipino organizations there Feb. 1. The OFW who complained of overwork-underpaid condition under a Taiwanese family, has been assisted by various Filipino organizations under National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada (NAPWC).

“I didn’t want to have to complain but if I don’t say anything, what happened to me might also happen to another innocent nanny,” said the abused OFW.

The NAPWC attributed violence against migrant workers to the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP). It said that 93 percent of “modern-day slaves” in Canada are Filipinos. Filipino organizations in Canada have campaign for the scrapping of the LCP. Bulatlat

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