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Organizers said the July 10 walkout was a build-up to a much bigger protest action on President Arroyo's ninth and last State of the Nation Address in Congress on July 27. "The youth shall make sure that this shall really be Arroyo's last Sona," Alvin Peters of NUSP said. View slideshow
Hard Times Indeed. While other people would try to get more than one job, the man in the picture tries to cope by selling two products -- water and ice cream, for everyday use and for treats and special occasions. (Photo by Raymund Villanueva) 
Emergency Rule? The recent bombings and the impending Cabinet reshuffle, which would put former generals in strategic positions, have led some to believe that the Arroyo government is preparing to declare another state of national emergency or martial law. (By Flon Faurillo)
Analysis Talk is rife that the Arroyo government would proclaim martial law, especially after the series of bombings that rocked several parts of the Philippines. However, the Arroyo regime sorely lacks the factors that enabled the dictator Ferdinand Marcos to successfully impose martial rule. The bottomline: if Arroyo declares martial law, she would be adding fuel to the fire of the people’ anger.
A farmer in Compostela Valley who last seen beaten and forcibly taken allegedly by soldiers on July 4 remains missing. Alvin Lopez, 25, a resident of Monkayo was hogtied and forced into a military vehicle during a military operation. Alvin’s mother, Erlinda, has filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights against the military’s 26th Infantry Battalion. Read the full story
The Americans, like the Europeans, have an inventory of what they call “barriers” in the Philippine Constitution that they want the Arroyo regime to remove through constitutional amendments. Meanwhile, the Constitution will have to conform with the Jpepa, the Philippine-Japan agreement, not the other way around. (Second of two parts)
While authorities dismiss the recent bombings in Quezon City, Jolo, Iligan City and Cotabato City as mere pre-Sona “noises,” critics, martial-law era activists and analysts believe that an Arroyo regime desperate enough to hold on to power is capable of anything, including using its iron fist on Filipinos.
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