Ni Michael Francis C. Andrada I. Nang ibalita ng ABS-CBN ang pagpaslang kay Ka Fort, tila napaso ang dila ng istasyong nag-aastang naglilingkod sa sambayanan. Diumano, ang niratrat ng mga bala ay isang lider-manggagawa ng isang unyong nakawelga sa planta sa Laguna ng “isang malaking kumpanya.” Magtataka ka pa ba kung bakit matapos ang balita…
Bulatlat Contributors
Good Food, Good Life
By Kayan Liwari Nalalasahan mo ba ang lansa Ng dugong nanikit na sa labi ng tasa? Gumuguhit Sa sikmura ang init Ng kapeng pinapait ng galit Pinupunit Ang kaluluwa. Natighaw ba ng binotelyang tubig Ang uhaw ng tuyo mong bibig? Humihiyaw Ang bituka sa hapdi Ng lasong tahimik. Pinupunit Ang kaluluwa. At nang matunaw ang…
Peñafrancia in Milan
They celebrate the Peñafrancia festival even in Italy. The photo was taken Sept. 25 at the S. Gaetano Church on a street in Milan. Long-time residents of Naga City, Albay (449 kms. south of Manila) believe that an official from Peñafrancia, Spain settled in Cavite, a province south of Manila, in 1712. His daughter got…
Public Health on the Brink of Death
The Philippine public health system is on the brink of death, with the government spending less than a peso for the health of every Filipino each day while up to 50 percent of the national budget is automatically earmarked as payment for onerous debts. Result: doctors, nurses and other health professionals, working for low wages…
Total Collapse of Sugar Industry by 2010 Feared
Unless the government gives full protection and support to the sugar industry, the industry will be gone after 2010, when all the tariffs on imports of agricultural produce, including sugar are removed. If the government adopts a regulation policy, then the sugar industry might survive, according to small sugar landowners. By Karl G. Ombion BACOLOD…
First 100% Foreign-owned Mining Firm to Start Commercial Production
Since the Supreme Court ruling in December 2004 calling the 1995 Mining Act as constitutional, the government has turned its high gears to entice foreign mining companies to invest in the Philippines. Of about nine million hectares of potential mining land only 1.4 million hectares are covered by mining permits. An Australian company will start…
Death Squad Behind Lawyer’s Killing?
Norman Bocar, the lawyer-activist in Eastern Visayas who had called for President Macapagal-Arroyo’s removal, was shot Sept. 1 in the fashion used for the execution of activists in the region and in Mindoro Oriental. Both places had been placed under the command of now Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan. BY AUBREY SC MAKILAN Was a former…
`Cavite Gov Not Just Corrupt, But Also Anti-Farmer’ – Rural Groups
There is more to the embattled governor of Cavite than meets the eye. For long-time residents, particularly the farmers, he should be removed not only because of his penchant for stealing public funds, but also for alleged political repression and militarization of which poor peasants were at the receiving end. BY DENNIS ESPADA DASMARIÑAS, Cavite…
A Community of Their Own
Laughed at, insulted, discriminated, beaten up, oppressed and exploited, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders have been persistent in their struggle for their rights. Slowly but surely, they have moved forward. By Gilbert Pacificar and Bejay Absin Mikaila just finished his first year college education from a local university. Yet he has been initiated into the…
Likely to Make a Killing
The man sits in his store at the public market in Davao City, southern Philippines surrounded by sacks, bags, and basketsful of charcoal. He hardly looks like the lucky entrepreneur who has made big money, but with prices of petroleum products hitting record highs in the world market and power rates continuing to soar, more…
Full Circle
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo drove her opponents to bring their case to Congress, where she said she is ready to face impeachment. Her apparent intention was to take the steam off the mounting protests in the streets. But the impeachment complaints – which charged her with bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of pubic trust, and culpable…