Day: October 23, 2009

Mrs. Edita Burgos, mother of abducted peasant organizer Jonas Burgos, left for the United Kingdom last week to attend a forum organized by Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines-United Kingdom (CHRP-UK), Amnesty International-UK and the British trade union group Unison, which aims to highlight the problem of enforced disappearances in the Philippines.

By GILL H. BOEHRINGER
By seeking to convince its readers that the effects of Ondoy were “felt equally by rich and poor” and that it was a “great equalizer,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the most influential newspaper in the Philippines, was attempting to bolster the view that the Filipino class system had nothing to do with the disaster, and that the lives of all Filipinos are shaped by the same forces of nature, even by fate or by God.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Congressman Mikey Arroyo seemed to have their roles down pat by now. When the big three oil companies raised oil prices yet again this Oct. 20, despite the disaster-wracked times and despite charges of persistent overpricing thrown their way, these three government officials just continued their role – speak like they want to change the situation but allow the oil companies to have their own profitable way in the end.