Duterte and the terrors of his ways
The very act of spreading fear reveals this administration's fear of the power of the people.
Duterte and the terrors of his ways
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Republikang Basahan
Republikang Basahan
Sa panahong maramihan pa rin ang nakararanas ng malawakang kakulangan sa pinakabatayang pangangailangan ng pag-iral ng tao bilang tao – pagkain, damit, tirahan, kalusugan, edukasyon – nananatiling mahalaga na palalimin ang kahulugan ng kalayaan. Sa panahong maraming pagbabanta sa unibersal nang kinikilala bilang karapatan ng lahat ng tao – makapagpahayag nang malaya, mamuhay nang walang takot, makapagtipon nang hindi sinusukol – nananatiling may saysay ang pagtalakay sa kahulugan ng kalayaan.
Balik-Tanaw | Trinity Sunday: A Reflection on the Trinity, the Great Commission … and the Anti-Terrorism Bill
Balik-Tanaw | Trinity Sunday: A Reflection on the Trinity, the Great Commission … and the Anti-Terrorism Bill
COVID-19 has revealed the deep roots of systemic injustice and reminds us why seeking justice, pursuing peace is essential. We have seen thousands of cases of extra-judicial killings, of arrests, of the intensification of attacks and threats against community leaders, human rights defenders, and political dissenters. Living out our faith in Jesus is more than ever important when laws like the Anti-Terrorism Bill of 2020 are enacted. The current Human Security Act of 2007 which will replace it is problematic enough
Debunking government’s defense of the anti-terror bill
Debunking government’s defense of the anti-terror bill
Who have been declared “communist-terrorists” by state security forces and the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict? Practically all sectoral organizations advocating for reforms and genuine change. They did not spread terror or cause panic among the public but called on the government to act on legitimate demands of ordinary citizens.
Joint Statement | We reject the Terror Bill
Joint Statement | We reject the Terror Bill
While we all agree that the fight against terrorism is important and needs the participation and cooperation of everyone, we maintain that the proposed law is open to abuse by despotic governments to visit terror against critics and the people in general.
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Pedagogy of the digitally oppressed
Pedagogy of the digitally oppressed
Education is under threat of being reduced into a mastery of prepackaged learning materials that are stored in downloadable files in the web cloud. Discovery of the new in the near future could simply refer to a browsing experience.
FIRST PERSON | Bike commuting on the 1st day of GCQ
FIRST PERSON | Bike commuting on the 1st day of GCQ
I realized it is easier to see yourself, at least in my case, bike commuting when you are working in an air-conditioned office mostly doing mental labor. Riding a bike for maybe 5-10 kilometers then becomes a welcome form of exercise to make up for the lack of physical activity during those long hours seated at your desk. That you are not stuck in traffic and you lessen your carbon footprint are also encouraging. But this is a position of privilege many bike commuters do not have. Many of them are forced to take on this burden of additional labor before and after a day of performing backbreaking work in factories and other such places where you actually sweat it out to earn a living.
First Person | Si Karletz, ang bundok na di mapapatag
First Person | Si Karletz, ang bundok na di mapapatag
“Basta aksyon, Bad yon” tawa naming lahat. Siguro nga, kung si Ka Bea, bilang chairperson ang ‘nanay’ ng organisasyon, si Ka Inday iyung tita mong makulit, si Karlets naman ang inabutan kong tito na ‘bad boy’ ng kilusan ng maralitang lungsod. Hindi dahil pasaway siya o mahirap pakisamahan, pero dahil may taglay lang siyang swabeng angas na maganda kasama mapakwentuhan, sa init ng pagtuligsa sa bulok na gobyerno, at syempre sa pagharap sa masa.
Balik-Tanaw | Pentecost: Together in one place
Balik-Tanaw | Pentecost: Together in one place
As we continue to live every day under the pandemic, as followers of the God of justice, I hope that we may never give in to the temptation to be silent and be complacent as the State and the ruling class slowly reveal to us the “new normal” that would only selfishly favor their interests. If we don’t learn to speak the tongues of the people, if we don’t shout with them their calls #MassTestingNow, #AyudaNgayonNa, and #SerbisyongMedikalHindiMilitar, we fail to do our crucial role as church-people.
The animal industry can be the next pandemic ground zero
The animal industry can be the next pandemic ground zero
Both influenza A (H1N1) and ASFV are not endemic to the Philippines. It has been established that the sources of these diseases came from imported meat or livestock.
Anti-imperialist light bulb in dark times
Anti-imperialist light bulb in dark times
Without undergoing a revolutionary process, governments in neo-colonies like the Philippines cannot plan. This government will always have to wait for imperialist dictates through neoliberal structural adjustment of the economy and culture. This government has no sense of nation because to think of nation and national sovereignty is to be up against imperialism, which has been the source of political and economic power by rich and corrupt Filipino politicians.
Ang 12 diablong katutubo, si Plasencia at ang demonisasyon ng mga Lumad
Ang 12 diablong katutubo, si Plasencia at ang demonisasyon ng mga Lumad
Ilang dantaon nang ipinakikita ng mga mananakop ang demonisasyon ng mga katutubo upang maipakitang lehitimo ang pananakop, pagsasamantala, at pagpapasunod sa mga ito.
First Person | Ang araw na kami’y nawala sa ere
First Person | Ang araw na kami’y nawala sa ere
Habang pinagninilayan ko ang mga pangyayaring ito, marahil ay bahagyang natalo ang mga Lopez ngunit mas malaki ang pinsala nito sa mga sambayanang Pilipino kasama kaming ilang libong empleyado. Ito ay dahil sa pinagdamutan na sila ng estado na makakuha ng libangan at impormasyon sa panahon na may kinakaharap na krisis ang ating bansa, lalo na sa mga komunidad na tanging ABS-CBN lang ang napapanood nila sa pamamagitan ng analog broadcast.
Balik-Tanaw | 7th Sunday of Easter: God is with us, let this be our prayer
Balik-Tanaw | 7th Sunday of Easter: God is with us, let this be our prayer
Let us be the feet of God, go to those who are in need. Let us be the hands of God, share and give whatever little that you have to those who are most in need. Let us be the mouthpiece of God, denounce that which brings pain and sorrow to our brothers and sisters in the margins.
Promote forests for health
Promote forests for health
Forest biodiversity plays a huge role in disease control by promoting good microbiota that compete with the disease-causing pathogens, and flora and fauna that compete with or predate on virus-carrying species to keep their populations in check.
Stop the US government’s $2-B arms sale to the Philippines
Stop the US government’s $2-B arms sale to the Philippines
Amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, the U.S. government is brokering a $2 billion arms sale to Duterte’s repressive regime, fueling a human rights catastrophe.
COVID-19 virus exposes missing government
COVID-19 virus exposes missing government
With billions of pesos at its disposal, from the nation’s coffers and from loans incurred in our name, this government still failed to institute even the minimum standards for COVID-19 response. Of the P380-billion COVID-19 budget under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, it has spent P12.32 billion for health or merely 3.2 percent of the total COVID-19 allocation.
What it means to be a lockdown protester in the Philippines
What it means to be a lockdown protester in the Philippines
Our hope lies in how we will face the pandemic not as mask-wearing individuals but as a group promoting medical measures, social reforms, and democratic rights. The pandemic demands medical attention, the crisis requires collective political action.
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