‘I Did Not Become President to Be Popular’ — Arroyo
Save as PDF‘I Did Not Become President to Be Popular’ — Arroyo
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Arroyo’s Legacy: Damaged Political Institutions, ‘Distorted and Disintegrating’ Economy
Arroyo’s Legacy: Damaged Political Institutions, ‘Distorted and Disintegrating’ Economy
When Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo delivers what is supposed to be her last State of the Nation Address this Monday, she will probably claim that she has accomplished what she said she had set out to do in 2001 and 2004. To her critics, however, the past nine years have been “the reign of Gollum.”
In CHR Hearing, Melissa Roxas Reiterates Abduction, Torture Charges Vs Military
In CHR Hearing, Melissa Roxas Reiterates Abduction, Torture Charges Vs Military
Melissa Roxas’s description of the place where she was brought and tortured seemed consistent with what the CHR found during a visit to Fort Magsaysay. But military officials deny soldiers were behind the atrocity. “Fort Magsaysay is a tourist destination,” one of them told the commissioners.
Elizabeth Principe: ‘I Am Raring to Rejoin the Struggle Against This Unjust Regime’
Elizabeth Principe: ‘I Am Raring to Rejoin the Struggle Against This Unjust Regime’
“My continued detention shows that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines is not serious in lifting the suspension of the Jasig. There is political pressure to keep me in jail. But they are no match against the mass movement who spared no effort in their support,” Principe said. 
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Earlier:
Principe Finally Freed from Camp Crame Jail
Military Blocks Release of Political Prisoner
Melissa Roxas: A Painful Journey from Home and Back
Melissa Roxas: A Painful Journey from Home and Back
A Bulatlat.com Exclusive Having to leave the Philippines for the United States when she was nine years old was a particularly painful experience for Filipino-American Melissa Roxas. Her desire to trace her roots brought her back to the country of her birth where, in May, soldiers kidnapped and tortured her for days.
UP Continues to Deny Tenure to Professor; Colleagues Cry Academic-Freedom Violation
UP Continues to Deny Tenure to Professor; Colleagues Cry Academic-Freedom Violation
The University of the Philippines is regarded as an institution where academic freedom is at its best. Ironically, the case of one of its professors, Sarah Raymundo, seems to go against the grain of the university’s liberal tradition.
‘Gathering Storm’ Awaits Arroyo in Last Months in Office and Beyond
‘Gathering Storm’ Awaits Arroyo in Last Months in Office and Beyond
A troubled economy, widespread joblessness, human-rights violations, corruption, and political maneuverings are whipping public discontent against Arroyo, warns Ibon Foundation.
Hanjin Gets Away With Murder While Arroyo Regime Turns Its Back on Workers
Hanjin Gets Away With Murder While Arroyo Regime Turns Its Back on Workers
What has the Department of Labor and Employment done about the health and safety violations that have resulted in more than 40 deaths and over 5,000 injuries in the three and a bit years Hanjin has been operating at Subic? What has happened to the Senate probe, which kicked off promisingly in early February amid a flurry of publicity about the then recent deaths at Hanjin?
For Jeepney Drivers and Truckers in the Philippines, a Long, Hard Slog
For Jeepney Drivers and Truckers in the Philippines, a Long, Hard Slog
Since the Arroyo regime expanded the value-added tax on oil and since the implementation of the oil-deregulation law, most jeepney drivers have to work long hours, often up to 14 hours a day. If they don’t, whatever money they earn for the day will only further enrich the oil companies -- and they go home penniless. Think about this the next time you are tempted to curse jeepney drivers for being uncouth, discourteous and undisciplined, as the government is wont to depict them.
Can Arroyo Afford to Declare Martial Law?
Can Arroyo Afford to Declare Martial Law?
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.
US ‘Wish List’ Vs Philippine Constitution Behind American Lobby for Cha-Cha
US ‘Wish List’ Vs Philippine Constitution Behind American Lobby for Cha-Cha
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)
Bombings Raise Specter of Martial Law
Bombings Raise Specter of Martial Law
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.
Apart from Politics, Pressure from WTO, US, EU Drives Charter-Change Bid
Apart from Politics, Pressure from WTO, US, EU Drives Charter-Change Bid
The political dimension of charter change has dominated the national agenda. But the constant driving force behind all the attempts since the last decade to modify the Constitution has been the external pressure coming mainly from the WTO, the US, the EU and Japan to create the sort of policy environment that will allow globalization to fully thrive in the Philippines. (First of two parts)
In the Farms and Plantations of Sabah, a Brutal Reality Confronts Filipinos
In the Farms and Plantations of Sabah, a Brutal Reality Confronts Filipinos
To many Filipinos in the southern Philippines, Sabah represents salvation. Beckoned by the vast palm-oil plantations in the Malaysian state, they go there in droves seeking employment that they could not find in their homeland. Once there, however, many of them are confronted with the reality of neglect and abuse that is far brutal than the one they had left behind.
For Triumph’s Workers, a Bleak Future Made Worse by DOLE’s Complicity
For Triumph’s Workers, a Bleak Future Made Worse by DOLE’s Complicity
The employees at Triumph International who are about to lose their jobs are wringing their hands over what awaits them in these difficult times. They are likewise upset that the labor department, instead of helping them, has been assisting the German company in its machinations to get rid of its workers.
Susan Fernandez: Teacher, Singer, Activist, Friend
Susan Fernandez: Teacher, Singer, Activist, Friend
To some, Susan Fernandez was an educator. To her children, she was a loving mother. To the many who have known her since the 1970s, she was a singer and a patriot, rendering songs that reflected the people’s yearnings.
Wilson Baldonaza: Philippine Progressive Labor’s Great Educator, Leader
Wilson Baldonaza: Philippine Progressive Labor’s Great Educator, Leader
Ka Wilson was a dropout from a poor family in Tarlac. But that did not stop him from becoming one of the most intelligent and passionate leaders of the progressive labor movement in the Philippines. Not even his sickness, to which he succumbed this week at the age of 55, prevented him from pursuing the Filipino workers’ struggle that he waged all his life.
Whatever Happened to Two Companions of Melissa Roxas?
Whatever Happened to Two Companions of Melissa Roxas?
One of them, Juanito Carabeo, is now with his parents but has refused to talk about the torture that he, like Melissa Roxas, went through. The other, John Edward Jandoc, has not been heard from, although the human-rights group Karapatan said he is now with a relative. He, too, refuses to talk about the abduction and torture.
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