The government will happily announce drastically lower unemployment rates this June. But this is only because it changed the way it counts the country’s jobless, causing them to statistically disappear. BY SANDRA NICOLAS Bulatlat.com The Arroyo administration has a miserable employment record. Despite economic growth that it proudly trumpets, unemployment has been inexorably rising since…
Category: Bulatlat Perspective
99 Soldiers Killed in NPA Offensives in 4 Months
30 arms confiscated in Abra province The revolutionary armed group New People’s Army (NPA), in various statements, claims to have killed and wounded as many as 118 government troops and carted off at least 44 high-powered rifles in a series of offensives nationwide the past four months. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com The New People’s…
Bigger Tuition Hikes Greet School Opening
The Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) recent claim about a tuition increase freeze this year is turning out to be mainly for public consumption. As schools opened last week, more colleges had actually applied for tuition hike and, to top it all, this year’s tuition increases were higher compared to previous years. By Carl Marc…
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…
Gov’t Destroys .5 M Jobs, Record 5 M Jobless
The just released April 2004 employment figures, including nearly 5 million Filipinos without work, affirm the dismal failure of government economic policy. By Sandra Nicolas Bulatlat.com When the National Statistics Office released the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) on June 15, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri seemed to be talking from another planet. He said,…
Reversing Oil Deregulation: Nationalization as an Urgent Necessity
In the age of globalization, nationalization is seen as anathema to “development.” However, the current spate of oil price hikes warrants a re-examination of the concept of nationalization of the downstream oil industry to ensure affordability and accessibility of a very important product. By DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Bulatlat.com The spate of oil price hikes can…
Incredible Even Before Day One
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her supporters cannot just sit back as if all’s well with the world. Those crying fraud appear to have a convincing case in their hands and the administration is not helping matters by glossing over allegations of fraud. By Alexander Martin Remollino Bulatlat.com The walkout last June 8 on filibustering Sen.…
The Economics and Politics of the World Social Forum: Lessons for the Struggle against ‘Globalisation’
Table of Contents: ‘Globalisation’ I. How and Why the World Social Forum Emerged II. WSF Mumbai 2004 and the NGO Phenomenon in India By Research Unit for Political Economy Ground floor, Sidhwa Estate, N.A. Sawant Marg, Colaba Mumbai (Bombay), India 400005. http://www.rupe-india.org/index.html Posted by Bulatlat.com Introduction ‘Globalisation’ It became fashionable in the 1990s to use…
2004 Budget Based on Flawed Speculation
A review of the macroeconomic assumptions prepared by the Department of Budget of Management (DBM) shows that there are glaring contradictions in government projections. By DANILO ARAÑA ARAO Bulatlat.com According to news reports, the Senate took only five days to approve the national budget for 2004. A senator says that its swift passage “would ensure…
The Korean Peninsula: U.S. Military Aggression and Pyongyang’s Response
The presence of a socialist country in East Asia has been a threat to U.S. economic hegemony in the region although it has also served as a magnet that would justify U.S. military supremacy in the guise of “preserving democracy and free market.” By BOBBY TUAZON Bulatlat A peninsula in East Asia, the Korean Peninsula…