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By RONALYN V. OLEA
“After this dialogue, there is still no clear resolution [on the Morong 43 case],” said Ofelia Beltran-Balleta, mother of Jane Balleta. “We came here with high hopes. After Aquino’s statement about the illegal arrest, we were expecting that he would soon order the release of the Morong 43.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
When the session resumed on November 8, members of the House of Representatives were being asked to vote on the proposed budget. ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio stood up and asked if they could still look into the amendments that were considered and included in the final version of the bill. The request, however, was denied.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
"Since (we) are still stockholders and beneficiaries of the subject land, we have the right to information on such matter and HLI is under obligation to disclose whatever nature or kind of agreement it has entered or it intends to enter into with Wahaha with the assistance of DTI," the statement of Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita read.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
“US troops have no business in Hacienda Luisita except to join the armed forces in stepping up the militarization and perpetuate a climate of fear as protesting farm workers persist in their demands for land," Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan said, "We want the US troops out of Luisita and out of the Philippines.”
By RONALYN OLEA
LFS chairman Terry Ridon said the greatest terror threat present in the Philippines is the continued US intervention. Gabriela Women’s Party Luzviminda Ilagan added that there is a terror scare because the ‘lopsided VFA not only allows the entry of terrorists in the country, it also guarantees their protection from suit and accountability.’
Sidebar: The VFA, A History of Abuses
Circuitous Road to Justice
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Big landowners in Negros Occidental have found another way to retain and re-concentrate the land in their hands: file criminal cases against peasants and farm workers.
Thousands of farmers from various provinces in Southern Mindanao held a protest-march dubbed “Martsa alang sa Yuta ug Hustisya!” (March for Land and Justice!) at Rizal Park, Davao City on October 22. Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao Region, farmers threw eggs with red paint at a poster bearing President Benigno Aquino III's face, calling him a total failure for not having the heart nor the political intent and morality to uplift the plight of hapless farmers in the region.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“The greatest challenge to the peace process is whether, this time, the President has the political will to surmount all obstacles and opposition... Running parallel is whether the peace process is really a problem solving endeavor or just an exercise to manage the conflict, as what previous presidents, deliberately or otherwise, did.” – MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which often dismiss accusations that soldiers are involved in extrajudicial killings, admitted that the suspected perpetrators in the extra judicial killing of Bayan Muna Negros member Benjamin Bayles are members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP). But this happened, Karapatan said, only after their own investigation revealed the true identities of the suspects.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Progressive groups have taken two tacks in their effort to remove Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez -- the filing of an impeachment complaint and urging President Benigno Aquino II to remove Gutierrez -- because, they said, Gutierrez is the biggest obstacle to the prosecution of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Sidebar: The Impeachment Complaint Against Ombudsman Gutierrez
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