BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com The Anti-Terrorism Bill, as passed by the House of Representatives on third reading, may be “used politically to erroneously charge with terrorism and improperly extradite” the known leaders of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) based in The Netherlands. The bill also demonizes national liberation movements which, a human…
Category: Human Rights
Abducted Youth Leader under NOLCOM Custody
BY ABNER BOLOS Gitnang Luson News Service Posted 10:00 p.m., Apr. 9, 2006 TARLAC CITY — Ronald Intal, the youth leader in Hacienda Luisita who was abducted allegedly by government troops and has been missing since April 3 may be alive and in the custody of the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM). Gonzalo Intal, 79, father…
International Groups Denounce Deportation of Bangladeshi Peasant Leader
By Gerry Albert Corpuz Bulatlat.com Can a foreigner be barred for entering the Philippines because of his or her previous participation in a protest action here? The answer is yes, going by the experience of a Bangladeshi peasant leader who was deported last March 30 even if his travel papers were in order. Three international…
Hooded ‘Witness’ a Military Asset, Says Rights Group
BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat.com When Jaime Fuentes, a witness of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the rebellion charges against six representatives and six other officials of progressive party-lists, removed his disguise, he was immediately recognized by volunteers of Karapatan-ST (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights-Southern Tagalog) as a military asset who harassed them…
Interfaith Pilgrimage Holds Rites to Oppose Mining in Siocon
BY TYRONE VELEZ Bulatlat.com For two years, Timuay (tribal chief) Jose Anoy has not been able to set foot at his home. Home is Mt. Canatuan, the most sacred place for the 2,000 Subanen people, which has been occupied and encroached upon by the Canadian mining firm Toronto Ventures, Inc (TVI) since 1994. But despair…
Pimentel Urges Release of ‘Sagada 11’
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat.com The 11 punks accused of being members of the clandestine New People’s Army (NPA) and raiding a military detachment in Cabiten, Mankayan, Benguet have found an ally in Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who has urged law enforcement authorities to investigate their arrest and detention.…
In Valencia, Mayor Gags Critical Commentator
Story and pictures by Grace Cantal-Albasin davaotoday.com Joash Dignos, a commentator critical of the mayor, said he continued broadcasting because he thought that was the only way to prevent the official from harming him. “I had to continue it, to inform the people about every step he was doing,” he said. “It was my refuge.”…
Alamara Disbandment Sought to End Terror in Paquibato
Paquibato leaders decry continued harassment of residents despite military’s assurance By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY – The disbandment of paramilitary units and the withdrawal of the firearms issued to them by the Philippine Army are some of the recommendations put forward in a City Council hearing last week that looked into the atrocities…
Factors behind Guinsaugon Disaster
BY DENNIS ESPADA Bulatlat The crisis facing thousands of survivors of a killer landslide that buried Barangay Guinsaugon in St. Bernard town, Southern Leyte more than three weeks ago refuses to rest. Despite concerted rescue and retrieval operations by the international aid groups, only 152 bodies were unearthed from the sludge zone while more than…
An Alta Village Fights for Life
BY ABNER BOLOS GITNANG LUSON NEWS SERVICE Posted by Bulatlat Barangay Diteki, a forest village in San Luis, Aurora, has battled mining and logging companies for years, and the 49 Alta (an indigenous people’s group) families who live in this sitio are now bearing the hardship of being outcasts in their ancestral land. San Luis,…
Missing Negros Labor Leader in Order of Battle
BY KARL G. OMBION AND RYAN B. LACHICA Bulatlat.com The family of Perseus Geagoni, missing organizer of the Negros Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), now strongly believes that the Army was responsible for his disappearance. His name is in the military’s list of “rebels” or “enemies of the state,” it has recently been found. BACOLOD…