By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO Bulatlat.com MANILA — The Philippine National Police (PNP) is using the legal system to harass leaders of an indigenous people’s organization in Surigao del Sur. According to a report from the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) in the Northern Mindanao Region (NMR), 37 indigenous members and leaders of the…
Month: September 2012
Playing the China card
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com A few days ago, a photo of China’s first aircraft carrier was published on the front page of a major daily. There appears to be no other reason for China’s aircraft carrier to merit the front page but the much-reported tension between the Philippines and China over the Scarborough shoal and…
Oscitant
An urbanite demonstrates his mood as he waits for a ride home at the end of a working day. (Hong Kong)
Gangnam style, o flavor o fluke of the month
Ni ROLAND B. TOLENTINO Bulatlat.com Noong bata pa ako at Magnolia Ice Cream ang pinakapopular na brand, buwanbuwan ay naglalabas ang brand ng “flavor of the month,” isang bagong ice cream combination. Sa gay lingo, ang ibig sabihin ng “flavor of the month” ay paborito, apple of the eyes, pinagkakatangi dahil angat sa iba nitong…
“Whatever Is Left Is Just Pieces of Bodies and cloth”: New report details the horror of living under drones
By JOHN KNEFEL Truthout | Report A new Stanford-NYU report, “Living Under Drones,” details the devastation to civilians – and possible war crimes – resulting from US drone strikes in Pakistan. On the morning of March 17, 2011, Ahmed Jan joined over 40 other people at a bus station in Datta Khel, North Waziristan in…
A free press could never be cowed nor silenced
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Last week, activists of the 1970s up to the present commemorated the 40th year of the declaration of Martial Law not only to recall those dark years but also to remind the people of the dangers of a dictatorship or its repressive instruments being revived. One of the legacies of Martial law was treating the press as a dangerous enemy that needs to be suppressed.
Martial law’s legacy of stifling the press persists
Above-ground alternative press: Open defiance to the Marcos dictatorship
Underground press during martial law: Piercing the veil of darkness imposed by the dictatorship
Above-ground alternative press: Open defiance to the Marcos dictatorship
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – When Ferdinand Marcos stifled press freedom, there were those who stood up for the truth. The alternative press, defined by Luis Teodoro, deputy executive director of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), as media outfits not tied to commercial and political interests, fought the Marcos dictatorship.…
Underground press during martial law: Piercing the veil of darkness imposed by the dictatorship
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – “The sound of the typewriter then was considered subversive.” Carolina “Bobbie” Malay said as she recalled the early years after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. When Marcos shut down newspapers, radio stations and television networks, she, along with her husband, Satur Ocampo, and other activists put up Balita…
Martial law’s legacy of stifling the press persists
By RONALYN V. OLEA Bulatlat.com MANILA – Forty years after the imposition of martial law, the Philippine media is still confronted with problems bearing imprints of the dictatorship. The enactment of the Republic Act 10175 or the Anti-Cybercrime Law is just one of the steps being taken against the press. Luis Teodoro, deputy executive director…
‘What progress?’ rights group ask
By RONALYN V. OLEA
During the 21st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Philippine government claimed that it has been complying with the recommendations put forward by the council during the Universal Periodic Review, but human rights and church groups think otherwise.
MILF expresses ‘guarded optimism’ in peace talks with government
By MARYA SALAMAT
While both panels are moving toward signing a framework agreement, the MILF said, there are still a lot of contentious issues, after which, there are still the compact and exit agreements to discuss.