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By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Survivors of the Mendiola Massacre are left with bitter memories of that day 24 years ago, when soldiers and police fired their weapons at a group of protesting farmers. Their thirst for justice has kept them going in their continuing struggle for land.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Forging the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (Caser) is said to be the “meat” of the negotiations as it aims to resolve the root causes of poverty and lack of development in the Philippines.
Related Stories: Philippines Eyes Peace Pact with Reds in 3 Years as Talks Resume | Reporter’s Notebook: Covering the Peace Talks in Oslo | Caser Negotiations Will Be Tougher -- Jalandoni
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 INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
“Companies like OceanaGold that violate human rights and destroy the environment have no reason to stay and should not be allowed to operate in our country...” – Clemente G. Bautista Jr., national coordinator of Kalikasan PNE.
For Vendors, Harder Work for Lesser Profit
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Kentz, a major contractor that operates one of the world’s biggest nickel-cobalt refineries in the world, is accused of mistreating its Filipino workers, one of whom the company allegedly kidnapped to prevent the other abused workers from protesting.
“Agrarian reform is the main content of the socio-economic reforms embodied in CASER," the NDF's Luis Jalandoni said, referring to the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms that is the second substantive agenda in the negotiations. "Through genuine agrarian reform, we shall break the land monopoly of a few big landlords and implement free land distribution to our landless farmers and everyone who is willing to till the land,” Jalandoni pointed out."
By MACEL INGLES
"The challenges are great, but the possibilities for a peace agreement under the new presidency of Benigno Aquino are there,” Ambassador Ture Lundh of Norway’s foreign ministary said. “At the end of the day, however, it is the parties to the conflict that must prove decisiveness, boldness and political will to move forward, to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
Sidebar: Hacienda Luisita Case Should Be Tackled in GRP-NDF Talks — Farmers | At Start of Talks in Oslo, Reds Insist Manila Violated Agreements | 'Ka Bart' Is Member of NDF Peace Panel, CPP Reiterates
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas says Malacañang should make public the report made by NFA administrator Lito Banayo about massive overpricing of rice during Arroyo's regime.
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 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 JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Since Aquino became president, he has not made any significant policy that would alleviate the conditions of OFWs. Instead, his administration has allowed anti-migrant policies to continue and even reduced the budget for legal assistance for OFWs.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Denial of their rightful claim to the land they have been tilling for generations, forcible eviction, killings, and harassments continue to plague the peasantry even after the Aquino administration replaced the much-hated Arroyo administration.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The Aquino government, during its first six months in office, does not provide any indication that it is serious in addressing the problem of degradation of the environment and in mitigating the effects of climate change because it is leaning toward failed market-based solutions.
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 RONALYN V. OLEA
The Aquino government continues to implement Arroyo’s National Minerals Policy, said Piya Malayao, spokeswoman of KAMP. “Aquino’s private-public partnerships would further hasten foreign investments on mining at the expense of indigenous peoples,” Malayao added.
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