The killing of labor leader Samuel Bandilla last Oct. 15 places at 20 the number of militant leaders slain in Eastern Visayas under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. By MAUREEN JAPZON Bulatlat.com TACLOBAN CITY – It was 10 p.m. last Oct. 15 when Samuel “Sammy” Bandilla was felled by assassins’ bullets in the vicinity of Barangay 65,…
Day: October 30, 2004
Two Treasure Hunters Tortured, Killed
The victims were almost unrecognizable as they lay at the funeral parlor. Some of their fingers were cut off and those that were not had chipped-off nails. They also sustained broken bones in different parts of the body and stab wounds in the stomach. Their bodies were literally black and blue all over. By DABET…
Dagupan Poor Give Way to ‘Bangus’
Dagupan City authorities want to build a bangus (milkfish) processing plant with a production capacity of 60,000 milkfish a day. If the local officials have their way, 274 households will be dislocated from their homes and transferred to a place devoid of basic services. By JONG DELA CRUZ Bulatlat.com DAGUPAN CITY – Is bangus (milkfish)…
Asia Brewery Workers Defy GMA’s Strike Freeze: Lucio Tan’s beer, a matter of national interest?
The labor department has assumed jurisdiction over a strike staged by workers of Lucio Tan’s Asia Brewery in Cabuyao, Laguna. Since when has beer, the unionized workers cry, been a matter of national interest? By DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com CABUYAO, Laguna – The machines of alcoholic beverage firm Asia Brewery Inc. here ground to a halt…
Water War: Ayalas Pit Themselves against Calamba Villagers
One of the Philippines’ mega-rich families – the Ayalas – are finding themselves locked in a war over water in Calamba City. Calamba residents their water source could be contaminated and worse, depleted because of a world-class golf course the Ayalas are building. By DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com CALAMBA CITY – Residents of this city, which…
Indigenous Groups Decry 7 Years of IPRA Law
Dumagat, Remontado and Mangyan indigenous peoples from Southern Tagalog picketed the office of the National Commission Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Quezon City where they held a traditional blood-letting ritual of a native chicken. The protest action was to condemn the enactment and seven-year implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) which they say is…
Canadian Mining Firm Driving Subanons Off Their Sacred Land: Siocon’s main water source damaged by erosion from open-pit gold mine
“TVI is not concerned about the spiritual aspect…or the ecological aspect. They are only concerned about the economic aspect. Do they intend to live alone and us to die?” – Gody Galos, Save the Siocon leader. By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com Mt. Canatuan in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte (390 kms. northwest of Davao in southern…
Grains of Truth: Food Producers Suffer Hunger, Poverty
“Kawitang palakol” and “gawat” are terms that refer to times when food is scarce, usually the weeks before harvest season when the farmers have spent all their money on fertilizers and pesticides and harvest time is still far away. The considerable increases in the prices of farm inputs and terribly low price of palay ((unmilled…
Gloria, Resign!:Thousands Mark Peasant Day vs Landlessness, Poverty, Hunger
The age-old issues affecting the peasantry – landlessness, hunger and poverty – were expectedly the main issues at the rally in observance of Peasant Day last Oct. 21. The protest action, however, also became an occasion to air the growing demand for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com “She assumed…