BLOOD RUSH By SARAH RAYMUNDO Berdugo is derived from the Spanish verdugo, which means 1. executioner or a person who carries out the death penalty; 2. hangman in the gallows; 3. tormentor or a cruel person. “There is no reputation to besmirch" was Karapatan...
MANILA -- The National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) filed a manifestation at the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) on Tuesday regarding its recent resolution absolving the military from its liability on the enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas and her two other companions Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Jandoc. (Photos by Tudla Productions / bulatlat.com)
“Harry, listen to the innermost voice of your heart and correct the wrong done to this mother. Tell me where I can find my son.”
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Farmers groups said the presence of more military forces in the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation, which the farmers are claiming, will result in more human-rights violations against civilians. They also said that farmers will be facing renewed threats of eviction.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
The NPA said its guerrillas were not in the area where Leonard Co and two others were killed. It said it did not venture into the area because it was disadvantageous. “It is too heavily guarded by the 19th IB, the police, paramilitary and private security guards. Why would the NPA put itself at unnecessary risk when there are far better options for launching a tactical offensive?"
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
The youth group Anakbayan is not holding its breath that the new administration of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will do wonders to the country’s human rights situation. In the meantime, the group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Karapatan want the new military leadership to deal with the extrajudicial killings of activists.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
After watching the video, which was widely circulated on Facebook, many expressed shock and outrage, denouncing the Armed Forces of the Philippines as human-rights violators, while others simply commented how difficult it is to look at the video and not cry with anger.
NEWS RELEASE 22 February 2011 Labor NGO Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research, Inc. (EILER) expressed alarm over food giant Dole Philippines’ brazen harassment of a militant union amid the ongoing union election today as the company has brought in...
In these times of inhumanity, the thin line between being a journalist and an activist is blurred even more. I know in my heart that I owe no one an apology.
By MARYA SALAMAT
Today, Feb. 22, the workers at the largest plantation and cannery in the Philippines will hold a union election. The incumbent KMU-affiliated union, Amado-Kadena, is fighting to retain its dominance even as Dole Philippines uses a pro-management faction of the union against it while the US company, its allies and the military vilify and harass the union's members and officers.
Below are statements issued by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the New People’s Army: Conrado Heredia Command Front 20 Operations Command New People's Army–Southern Mindanao Press Statement 19 February 2011 CHC-NPA frees POW PO3 Sabatin; slams...
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Former Air Force Captain Joenel S. Pogoy, who spent two years in detention after being court-martialed for exposing corruption in the Air Force, says corruption in the military is worse than what is publicly known. The truth is, he says, many military officers -- from the time they are still lieutenants to the time they become generals -- are being taught by unscrupulous superiors to become corrupt.
The New People's Army in Southern Mindanao released today a sergeant in the Philippine Army after it cleared him of "counter-revolutionary" activities, the guerrilla group said in a statement.
[iframe http://www.senate.gov.ph/videos/live2.asp 680 600]
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
To the military, Acosta is a terrorist as defined in the Aquino government’s military campaign Oplan Bayanihan. But to many friends and colleagues from the University of the Philippines, he is nothing of the sort. He is a poet, songwriter, and activist.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA -- Lt. Col. George Rabusa, former budget officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 2000 to 2002, revealed the skeletons in the closet of the military. Rabusa testified anew Feb. 7 at the Senate inquiry on the...
Equally troublesome is the media tendency to speculate on Reyes’ state of mind, his reasons for his apparent suicide, and even who’s to blame for it (as the weekend approached, the Senate was turning into the villain responsible). While nothing much can be gained from it, the cost of this mindlessness is to bury under tons of verbal garbage the need to get to the bottom of the corruption metastasizing in an institution that claims national security as its exclusive mandate. By LUIS V. TEODORO / bulatlat.com
The government and the AFP have consistently harped on the line that the “insurgency” is the obstacle to development, to wit: "If only the armed rebels stop fighting the government and lay down their arms, there will be peace and development in our country". This kind of thinking is totally blind to the real roots of the armed conflict and is incapable of appreciating, much less grasping, the need to address these roots in order to achieve a just and lasting peace. By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO / bulatlat.com
It should be remembered that the corruption scandals that involved the Arroyo family were the subject of so many congressional inquiries and were made as basis for the impeachment complaints that were filed against former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. There are already numerous evidences that were gathered. And yet, the Aquino government has not yet demonstrated the political will to run after the Arroyo family. By BENJIE OLIVEROS / bulatlat.com
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Cause-oriented groups said today the death of former armed forces chief of staff Angelo Reyes should compel authorities to step up their investigation into the alleged massive corruption within the military.
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