The labor secretary’s “assumption of jurisdiction” power is being used to ban all strikes and has caused bloodshed in the workers front. This is like reliving martial law, militant labor unions say.
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Hacienda Luisita dispersal: Shots Were Fired During Lull in Scuffle
From the testimony of a worker at the front lines of the Hacienda Luisita picket and the unedited version of a footage taken by an independent media practitioner, police started firing at the strikers during a lull in the fighting. The scenes from the unedited footage, shown Dec. 1 at a hearing of the Senate…
Hacienda Luisita Belongs to Cojuangco Tenants, Ex-DAR Exec Says
In a deal with government funders 46 years ago, Don Jose Cojuangco pledged to distribute the land now occupied by Hacienda Luisita to tenant farmers. A former director of the Department of Agrarian Reform says a court order binds the Cojuangcos to do so. By Dabet Castañeda Bulatlat.com The Cojuangco family, owners of the embattled…
The Hacienda Luisita Massacre, Landlordism and State Terrorism
The public outrage ignited by the Luisita Massacre should also keep an eye on other potential flashpoints that could lead to similar acts of state terrorism. There are several other plantations, large estates as well as development projects and mining exploration areas in many parts of the country that have been militarized. By Bobby Tuazon…
Hacienda Luisita Grinds to a Halt; Workers Vow to Continue Protest
It may be an uphill battle, but the 4,000 workers of Hacienda Luisita, Inc. decided to take matters into their own hands by declaring a strike last Nov. 6. Armed with a sense of history and social justice, their leaders vow to continue the protest and now they are demanding the land which should have…
Marcopper Death Toll Reaches 3: Community, Environmental Groups Press for Justice
The mining operations have long been stopped but the toxic wastes dumped by Marcopper and Placer Dome from 1975 to 1991 into Marinduque’s Calancan Bay, a major water and food source in the area, has claimed yet another life. By Bulatlat.com Ambeth Relloque, 18, was to be brought by ambulance to the Philippine General Hospital…
NUJP Hosts IFJ Tolerance Prize for Southeast Asia
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines will host the Tolerance Prize for Southeast Asia administered by the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The awarding will be held on June 25 at the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel in Manila. A forum on media and its role in reporting racial and ethnic issues will…
Public Warned: Brace for Higher Water Rates, Poorer Services
The broad-based Water for the People Network has warned the public, particularly Maynilad’s customers, to brace for higher water rates and poorer services from the water firm as the approval of Amendment No. 2 to its Concession Agreement with the MWSS nears. The Water for the People Network also called on the general public to…
The Untold Story of Hacienda Luisita Workers
Holding a multi-colored bayong (plastic market bag), Mang Pering, a retired sugar farm worker, looked half-scared and half-exited. Inside his bayong was a panti (fish net made of nylon) and some dry clothes. He is on his way to the nearby river where he hopes to get some fish so his family would have something to eat for the day. But before he left, he said he only had one wish: “Sana hindi ako mahuli ng gwardya” (I hope the guard won’t catch me).
Talks on Social and Economic Reforms Will Be Tougher — Jalandoni
A few days after the issuance of the Oslo Joint Statement by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), following the conclusion last Feb. 14 of the recent round of formal talks between the two parties, Bulatlat.com’s Alexander Martin Remollino (AMR) interviewed NDFP chief…
NEWS AT A GLANCE
Court denies mother’s plea for sick child Zenaida Llesis, the 46-year old political detainee who gave birth to a girl at the Bukidnon Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center last year, went on hunger strike last Jan. 20. Llesis, who has been detained since Aug. 2002 for being an New People’s Army (NPA) suspect, took the…