By MARYA SALAMAT
The commemoration of the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women (VAW) in the Philippines got a piercing highlight in the Ampatuan massacre that occurred two days before the anti-VAW’s day last week. “What happened in Maguindanao underscored the vulnerability of women amid fierce struggles as in an electoral struggle,” Gabriela partylist representative and aspiring senator Liza Maza said.
By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com Sa rurok ng ating kabataan, Lipos ng pag-irog at sigla Ikinulong tayo nang malaon Sa masikip at nakalulunod Na bartolina ng diktadura Kung saan pagong ang panahon Wari’y wala na tayong pag-asang Makalaya sa pintuang bakal Pinaghiwalay tayo hirang At sa labis na pagkaulila Laging humihiyaw ang puso ko Na…
In Davao City, journalists and lawyers light candles in Centennial Park calling for justice for their fallen comrades in the Ampatuan Massacre. Thirty journalists and two lawyers were killed in the worst election violence in Philippine history. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
By BENJIE OLIVEROS
The impunity in recent political killings in the Philippines could have emboldened the Ampatuan clan to commit the massacre. If the perpetrators of more than a thousand extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of political activists could walk scot-free, perhaps, they thought, they could get away with killing less than a hundred people.
By Bulatlat.com “There is no more opportune time to celebrate genuine trade unionism than these times when our democratic rights are under siege, said Romualdo Basilio, chair of Kilusang Mayo Uno-Southern Mindanao region and provincial coordinator of Anakpawis Partylist, as the entire national progressive labor center gears up for a series of activities in celebration…
Killings
By Bulatlat.com In a statement condemning the Nov 23 massacre in Maguindanao of 64 people by “henchmen of a political warlord close to the Arroyo regime,” the National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas expressed doubts that justice would be easily obtained for the Maguindanao massacre or that warlordism would be solved soon. Father Santiago Salas, NDF-EV spokesperson,…
November 27, 2009 The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) demands the creation of an independent commission, to include media representatives, to investigate the Ampatuan massacre and the events that led to it. This is to help ensure that no whitewash will happen and to identify the roots and those responsible for this…
Today we say, “Enough.” Nov 27, 2009 The massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao goes beyond a rido or clan war. The sheer scope of barbarity, the brazenness of the murders betrays the perpetrators’ belief in being beyond the reach of the law. Women, lawyers and journalists – no one escaped the butchers’…
By RAY MCGOVERN truthout International Posted by Bulatlat.com “It took a lot of courage on Kennedy’s part to defy the Pentagon, defy the military — and do the right thing,” said Col. Larry Wilkerson, USA (ret.), according to Robert Dreyfuss in his recent Rolling Stone article “The Generals’ Revolt”. Wilkerson, who was chief of staff…
By FRANKLIN SPINNEY counterpunch International Posted by Bulatlat.com With President Obama poised to announce our “new” strategy in Afghanistan next Monday, the courtiers and pundits in Versailles on the Potomac seemed to have reached a consensus that he will opt for an escalation in Afghanistan of 35,000 troops. Such a policy announcement would be presented…