A National Internal Security Program (NISP) briefing paper dated May 5, 2006, a copy of which was obtained by Bulatlat from reliable sources, bared a systematic campaign by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) directed against partylist groups tagged by the government as “communist front organizations.” BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat A National Internal Security…
Day: February 4, 2007
Sub-Contracting Keeps Women Workers Browbeaten, Underpaid
Contractualization is a scheme that allows capitalists to replace their workforce with ease according to market demands. For the management, this translates to maximization of profits but for the laborers, this system denies them the security and benefits of a regular job while being paid very low wages. By Reyna Mae Tabbada Bulatlat Women workers…
Bulatlat and Compatriots’ Voices from Afar
Based on the data periodically provided by our web counters, the greater bulk of visits to Bulatlat are from countries or areas with high concentrations of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and overseas Filipinos (OFs): the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, and the Middle East. OFWs and OFs thus form an important segment of our…
Tomas Osmeña and the Vigilantes of Cebu City
If there is any local politician who has managed to court controversy for the alleged presence of vigilante groups in his turf other than Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, it is Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. He admits there are such groups in his area of responsibility, but says “that’s the way it is” and…
Surmounting Economic Woes Together (Last of two parts)
Journalists agree that media workers need real unions that go beyond being lateral guilds – without discounting, however, the help that the latter can extend to media people. BY KARL G. OMBION AND RYAN LACHICA Bulatlat BACOLOD CITY – Danilo Alcoriza, a columnist and a founding member of the Union of Journalists of the Philippines…
The Negros Press: Keen on Unionism, but Constrained (First of a two parts)
Media workers in Negros see the gains they could reap from organizing their ranks. However, they are weighed down by a number of constraints. BY KARL G. OMBION AND RYAN LACHICA Bulatlat BACOLOD CITY – Forming a union here is like flying to the moon – arduous but just the same possible. Broadcasters and journalists…
Health Groups Decry ‘Patronage Politics’
The P294-million remaining budget of the Department of Health (DoH) for the last quarter of 2006 will be of great use, but unfortunately not to the health department and its services. Despite the intractable logistical matters and the great need for resources that have been festering our public healthcare system, the Department of Budget and…
Weekly Protests in RP, Big Mobilization in HK Set vs New POEA Policy
Calling the new guidelines of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration as a “sugar-coated extortion scheme,” OFWs in Hongkong and Migrante International, the local organization of OFWs, are planning more protest actions and bigger mobilizations. BY AUBREY MAKILAN Bulatlat Weekly protest actions in the Philippines and a big mobilization in Hong Kong are already set to…
Melo Commission – Still No Surprises*
It is important to point out that while the Melo Commission report is kept under wraps, with only alleged parts of it revealed piecemeal, as suits the purposes of Malacañang, there can not be any meaningful nor even worthwhile response to it except that of continuing caution, if not skepticism. What the human rights organizations,…
Arroyo is Engaging in Double Speak and Cover-ups
The directives issued by President Arroyo, in response to the report of the Melo Commission, were not meant to get to the bottom of the killings but to continue with the cover-up. Only the recommendation to seek the involvement of foreign investigators is worth noting. But then again, under what framework will these investigators work?…
Kin of Luisita Martyrs Benefit from Union Struggle
They did not die in vain. The families and co-workers of the Hacienda Luisita martyrs said that in spite of the tragedy, they are slowly benefiting from what their kin and comrades gave their lives for.