ADVERTISEMENT
Media workers of an independent audio-visual group decried the harassment by the local police during the violent demolition of an urban-poor community in San Juan, Metro Manila.
MANILA -- Residents of Brgy. Corazon de Jesus in San Juan and their supporters marched to Don Chino Roces Bridge in Manila on January 28, to protest the violent demolition of their community on January 25 and to challenge President Benigno Aquino III to conduct a swift investigation. (Photo by Tudla Productions / bulatlat.com)
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Way before Tuesday’s demolition of the houses owned by informal settlers in Corazon de Jesus, a poor community in San Juan City, the former mayor and now congressman, JV Ejercito, had declared that the US White House was the inspiration for the new city hall that he would like to build in his city.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK | The Pinaglabanan residents did not need my tears. They needed help. And if reporting about their struggles and exposing what they had to go through could help, why would I deny it to them?
Pinaglabanan Residents' Last Stand
Pinaglabanan Folk Fight for Their Homes
By TUDLA PRODUCTIONS
Police and snipers have been sent by the San Juan City government to help in the demolition of an estimated 800 homes in Barangay Corazon de Jesus. The residents have set up a barricade to try to stop the destruction of their homes today. Follow the live updates here.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
For urban poor group Kadamay, buying an expensive car such as a Porsche is like Aquino saying "I do not care if prices are high for as long as I have the money to buy myself a nice car." The group also compared Aquino to a father who ate an entire roasted chicken for himself while his children are starving.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Shirley Pascua, 35, a housewife, thinks that the poor are getting poorer under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III. “He is proving to be a disappointment. The price of everything is going up,” she told Bulatlat.com.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The increase in the flag-down rates is good only if taxi operators won’t increase the “boundary” they collect from cabbies. 
Listen to cabbie explain why he is not in favor of the flag-down rate increase
By MARYA SALAMAT
There is hope that the proposed fare hikes of Manila’s two rail networks, MRT and LRT, can still be averted. And all it takes is for the public, mostly poor Filipinos that would be affected, to register their opposition to the increases.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
From an initial P4 billion in 2006, the cost of expanding and improving the South Luzon Expressway jumped dramatically to P12.5 billion by last year. This is being used to justify the increase in toll fees – an imposition that many view as not only patently anti-poor but the result as well of “evident corruption.”
Sidebar: Aquino Disappoints on Toll Hike but That’s Not a Surprise
“I see nothing wrong if President Aquino wants to honor the Philippine government's commitments to foreign investors, but what about his commitments to the Filipino people?”
By MARYA SALAMAT
“Health is about people, not profits. The provision of health services should never be contingent on the patient’s ability to pay or the public hospital’s capacity to generate its own income. The provision of health services should be guaranteed by government to its people." –- Health Alliance for Democracy
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The kuliglig is one of the quickest ways to go in and around Metro Manila's inner streets. It can navigate the smallest alleys with ease. If only the struggle by the drivers of these uniquely Filipino contraptions to keep their jobs and livelihood were as trouble-free.
Sidebar: Kuliglig, Pedicab Drivers Protest Highlights Lack in Jobs, Mass Transport
By MARYA SALAMAT
ALNAPEDKU, the group of kuliglig drivers who protested on Dec. 2, believes that the solution to the kuliglig problem is not an outright ban but regulation. The group is asking the government to recognize them formally as a mode of transport, since social practice has granted them that for years already.
Sidebar: Kuliglig Drivers Condemn Violent Dispersal by Police, Gain Lawmakers’ Support
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.
Save as PDF