The New Year does not promise ‘more of the same’: it will start with a major US military escalation in the Middle East but it will likely end with a greater military debacle, ensuring deepening political crises and increased economic instability both in the Middle East, the US and Latin America. By James Petras Posted…
Year: 2006
After the Con-Ass Debacle, the Elections
Having seen the country’s major political pillars festering under the hands of the elite – the presidential office, Congress and the electoral system in particular – the bourgeois election will serve as an opportunity for broadening the masses’ political consciousness about genuine people’s governance and establishing real democratic institutions. By the Policy Study, Publication and…
Political Killings, Part of U.S.-Phil. Counterinsurgency Strategies
(Conclusion) Extrajudicial executions, meant to create terror among the populace, are main fare in U.S.-directed counterinsurgency strategies in Vietnam and El Salvador during the latter part of the 60s and early 80s respectively. It is now being seen with increased intensity in Iraq and the Philippines. It is not surprising though, as Iraq, together with…
Propping up a Bankrupt, Illegitimate Regime
(Second of three parts) U.S. support for the Arroyo regime has been steady even when President Arroyo was deeply enmeshed in a crisis and was almost ousted in 2005. Its political support did not waiver even when President Arroyo declared a state of national emergency in February 2006. The support of the U.S. is one…
Southeast Asia and the Philippines: The Second Front in the U.S. ‘War on Terror’
(First of three parts) Southeast Asia caught greater attention from the U.S. after the latter launched its “war on terror” in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. Southeast Asia, most especially the Philippines, provided U.S. Pres. George W. Bush with a venue to project the “global war on terror”. And…
Christmas Outside Prison Walls
One may see “limited joy” this Christmas in the faces of three men who walked out of prison on December 11, a day after International Human Rights Day. They may be considered “free men” now but for them, the struggle to be free continues as they join a society that they say remains imprisoned by…
Asian Rights Body says Arroyo Gov’t Can’t Deliver Justice to Victims
The Philippine government is showing little signs of willingness or capacity to deliver justice to victims of human rights violations. This is the assessment made by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a non-government organization promoting human rights issues in Asia. The AHRC made this assessment in a report it issued Dec. 21.…
Japan Aid Threat Prompts GMA to Act on Peasant Leader’s Killing
Is there a connection between acting on a case of political killing and the Japanese government’s release of funding for an irrigation project? BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat.com Seven months after the incident, a human rights watchdog in the Cordillera said that Task Force Usig of the Philippine National Police (PNP)…
Ang Paskong Mahal ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas
Ni Mykel Andrada Inilathala ng Bulatlat.com Nung nagsisilbi pa ako bilang Vice-Chairperson ng University Student Council ng U.P. Diliman (2001-2002), dalawang palisiya ng administrasyon ng U.P. laban sa mga estudyante ng unibersidad ang naipatupad. Dalawang bagay ito na umukilkil sa akin ng matagal dahil para akong ginulpi-de-gulat sa pagpapatupad nito. Isa rito ang Revitalized General…
Singapore Urban Legends
NI ROLAND TOLENTINO Bulatlat.com Unang Bersyon: Mga nasagap kong balita sa Singapore: 1. Uso pa rin ang pamamalo. May iba’t ibang laki at taba ng yantok na mabibili sa mga lumang tindahan, depende sa laki ng batang papaluin. 2. Hindi pwedeng pag-usapan ang yaman ng pamilyang Lee, ang namumuno sa bansa. 3. Bawal ang chewing…
The Bishops – Missing the Historical Moment
The tendency to counterpoise “prayer” and “protest” served the ends of Malacanang to diffuse, diminish and blunt the political impact of the broadly-supported action against con-ass, Cha-cha and, verily, against the Arroyo regime itself. By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo BusinessWorld Posted by Bulatlat.com It took some effort to sustain enthusiasm for the “prayer rally” originally called by…