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Lumad School in Surigao Persists Amid Continuing Threats

By MARIFE MAGBANUA
Students and the teachers of an alternative boarding school for Lumads in Surigao del Sur pick up the pieces after being displaced by militarization for 40 days.
US Congress Withholds Military Aid to the Philippines Due to Human Rights Abuses

By RONALYN OLEA
The United States Congress has withheld the US$2-million military aid to the Philippines in 2010 due to human rights concerns.
Filipino Nurses in Canada Vulnerable to Exploitation, Misleading and Abusive Policies

By JHONG DELA CRUZ
Filipino nurses have the longest record of migrating, as well as the longest history of abuse. This abuse is a result of aggressive, profit-driven, exploitative policies of both their point-of-origin and destination countries. One of these is Canada, one of the most popular destinations now for Filipino nurses.
Sidebar: Filipino Nurses in Canada -- In Search of a Better Life (An Interview with Evelyn Calugay)
Luisita’s Peasants Determined to Continue Struggle Despite Threat of Eviction

By ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
The ex-farm workers of Hacienda Luisita had been reaping the fruits of their labor through a “cultivation campaign” that allowed them to plant what they needed and supported their livelihood. But the plantation has decreed that they should stop what they’re doing and leave. Unfazed, the farmers are bracing for another tough fight ahead.
Coal-Fired Plants Undermine Arroyo’s Approval of Climate-Change Law

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
The Arroyo administration will have to work extra hard to prove that it is sincere in addressing climate change and its impacts. Signing the climate-change bill into law is one thing – approving the operation of coal-fired power plants, which have been identified as one of the dirtiest power-generation methods, makes a mockery of it.
Distressed OFWs in Maldives Return Home, No Thanks to Philippine Government

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
One would think that, with all the billions of dollars in remittances that it rakes in, the government would be concerned enough about the plight of distressed OFWs and ensure that those who want to escape from their abusive employers abroad can easily go back home to safety.
In Proposals, ILO Puts Burden of Respecting Workers’ Rights on Arroyo Regime

By MARYA SALAMAT
A high-level team of the UN’s International Labor Organization has proposed, among others, trainings and "continuing education" for the Philippine police, military, the judiciary and the labor department on how to respect union rights and uphold labor laws.
Sidebar: Responses to ILO High-Level Mission
Class and Ondoy: The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Ideological Distortions

By GILL H. BOEHRINGER
By seeking to convince its readers that the effects of Ondoy were “felt equally by rich and poor” and that it was a “great equalizer,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the most influential newspaper in the Philippines, was attempting to bolster the view that the Filipino class system had nothing to do with the disaster, and that the lives of all Filipinos are shaped by the same forces of nature, even by fate or by God.
Regime’s Counter-Insurgency Campaign Drives Mindanao Lumads Homeless

By CHERYLL D. FIEL
Like the Moro in many parts of Mindanao, evacuation has become a way of life for the Lumads . They would rather sleep in schools, at village halls or town gymnasiums than stay in their villages and bear the brunt of military operations.
As Philippines Reels from Calamity, ‘Big Three’ Hike Oil Prices; ‘Greed’ Denounced

By MARYA SALAMAT
While the government bears down on small businesses and producers, warning them against profiteering in the wake of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, it has allowed Shell, Caltex and Petron to increase oil prices at will.
In Historic Gathering, Filipino Priests Vow to Be More Active in ‘Political Realm’

By MARYA SALAMAT
It what appears to be a challenge to the assertions of conservative groups and the government that the Church should not be involved in politics and the “affairs of the state,” Catholic priests from all over the country -- in a historic first -- gathered to discern and discuss their role amid these turbulent times.
‘Northern Samar Is Becoming a Killing Field’

By MARYA SALAMAT
According to Monsignor Walter Cerbito of the diocese of Catarman, Northern Samar, nobody is safe anymore in his province, not even priests, as the militarization intensifies. The murder of the Reverend Cecilio Lucero only underscored the worsening human-rights violations there.
Marked for Death: Brutal Murder of Samar’s Father Lucero Linked to Oplan Bantay Laya

By RITCHE T. SALGADO
Even with the memory of the Reverend Cecilio Lucero’s death still fresh in the minds of the people of Northern Samar, the military continues to implement the counter-insurgency program in the province, targeting civilians.
Various Groups Launch ‘Ondoy’ Relief Operations

By RAYMUND B. VILLANUEVA
Aid operations went into full swing two days after “Ondoy” devastated Metro Manila and other parts of the northern Philippines as various organizations started distributing relief goods to calamity victims.
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