An Inauspicious Start to a New Year
Day: February 6, 2011
Residents, Small-Scale Miners Act to Stop Encroachment of Large Mining Firms
By CHERYLL D. FIEL
Residents of Pantukan, a coastal town in Compostela Valley province, are locked in battle against two large-scale mining companies attempting to wrest full control of the area’s mineral resources. They also bewail the unfair advantage the government gives to these companies at the expense of small-scale miners.
List of Mining Tenements/Companies in Southern Mindanao
‘Morong 43′ Recall the Nightmare and the Struggle
From the time of the raid and their subsequent arrest to the nightly interrogations, they were told that they did not have rights. But the “Morong 43” struggled on internally and against their captors, interrogators, and eventually their prison custodians.
A Year After Ordeal, Life Goes on for Freed ‘Morong 43’ But Scars Remain
By MARYA SALAMAT
A year ago today, the military and police illegally arrested and detained the “Morong 43” health workers. While most of them have been freed and are now trying to pick up the pieces of their lives, many still have nightmares and still feel vulnerable and exposed to danger.
Sidebar: ‘Morong 43’ Recall the Nightmare and the Struggle | Dr. Alexis Montes: ‘The Journey Is Not Yet Ended’ | Related Stories: Lawyers Push for Immediate Release of One of Three Remaining ‘Morong 43’ Detainees | What Newsbreak Failed to Report About the ‘Morong 5′ | More ‘Morong 43’ stories, photos and video
Bayan Welcomes Cancellation of March 1 MRT/LRT Fare Hike, but will Remain Vigilant (PR)
Press Statement February 6, 2011 We welcome the announcement made by LRTA administrator Rafael Rodriguez that they will not push through with the planned fare hike on March 1. The deferment was announced yesterday at the public consultations held at the LRTA depot in Santolan, Pasig. The deferment is the result of the active participation…
New Way to Measure Poverty Denounced as Deceptive, Can Undermine Calls for Better Wages
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
A new poverty index that reconfigured the method of determining the extent of poverty in the Philippines has been criticized as deceptive and can be exploited by the government to declare that life has become better under the Aquino administration, critics said the other day.
‘After Log Ban, Aquino Should Cancel All Logging Permits’
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com MANILA — Activist environmental group Kalikasan-PNE welcomed President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Executive Order No. 23 saying that if genuinely implemented, the order can stop large commercial logging operations and slow down deforestation in the country. Malacañang issued EO No. 23 titled “Declaring a Moratorium on the Cutting and…