In a statement in time for its 41st anniversary on Dec. 26, the Communist Party of the Philippines said: “The NPA can take the initiative of developing armed city partisan warfare and launching special operations against enemy facilities and antipeople enterprises in order to force the enemy forces to go on guard duty and put more of its troops on the defensive. The movement of enemy units can be hampered by sapper operations, mine warfare, sniping and other small team operations. These appear to be mere pinpricks but have far reaching demoralizing effects on enemy troops.”
After Ampatuan Massacre, 2009 a Record Year for Journalist Killings Worldwide
At least 68 journalists worldwide were killed for their work in 2009, the highest yearly tally ever documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the organization said in its year-end analysis. The record toll was driven in large part by the election-related slaughter of more than 30 media workers in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, the deadliest event for the press in CPJ history.
December 11, 2009, 06:24 AMCHR to military: Respect and protect human rights during martial law in Maguindanao
“Consciously put in place protections for human rights during martial law in Maguindanao,” the independent Commission on Human Rights urged the government including the military during International Human Rights Day (10 December).
December 11, 2009, 06:22 AMMaguindanao, its political elite and a culture subservient to corruption
CHR chair Leila de Lima: “In spite of the scale of efforts to directly or indirectly curb corruption, we come face to face with the realization that the breadth of the problem is not only significantly larger than the efforts against it, but corrupt practice has enjoyed a longevity and permanent entrenchment that requires nothing short of a society-wide transformation. Nothing illustrates the breadth of the issue more completely than the very issue occupying the most of the front page news – the Maguindanao Massacre. Maguindanao and the entrenchment of its political elite expounds the pervasiveness of a culture subservient to corruption across all stakeholders, from local and national duty-bearers, to an entire provincial population of rights-holders.”
December 11, 2009, 05:47 AMMartial law dilutes the Philippines’s human rights and democratic gains
The fundamental principles of legality and due process have been abandoned, with security forces having unprecedented powers given by the head of state under this martial law.
December 4, 2009, 09:45 AMLawyers will wear black armbands, ribbons in courts
The NUPL’s Committee for the Protection and Welfare of Lawyers said that the death of Attys. Brizuela and Oquendo brings the total number of lawyers and judges killed to 24 and 15, respectively, since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power in 2001.
Here’s why oil companies are scared shitless of EO 839
To a certain degree, Executive Order 839 questioned the lies long peddled by the oil companies and staunch defenders of neoliberalism about neoliberal free market economics. If left unchallenged, EO 839 could become a precedent in policy making: that the government, in the name of public good and welfare, could take decisive action against abusive corporations.
November 10, 2009, 03:25 PMIs China ready to challenge the dollar?
GEOPOLITICS In recent months, speculation has focused on the future of the U.S. dollar, due largely to comments by senior Chinese officials that have led some commentators to conclude that the Chinese are ready to ditch the dollar and usurp its role as the world’s reserve currency with the renminbi.
November 10, 2009, 03:20 PMFr. Shay Cullen | A child-safe Internet is what we want
BIO | MORE POSTS
I learned that there are softwares that can really filter and block access to terrible web sites that show children being abused. Every image of child abuse is evidence of a terrible crime being committed.
"Audio Slideshow: The hills of Maguindanao, bathed in blood". (Click to view pictures and listen to report) (Photo by Carlos H. Conde)
"Sampayan ng Bayan". During its Third Congress on March 27-28, 2009, members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-US Chapter staged protest actions against RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement through a "Sampayan ng Bayan" where a clothesline with painted shirts spelling out "JUNK VFA" was wrapped around General MacArthur's statue in Los Angeles, California. (Photo courtesy of Bayan-US)
CANDLES FOR BILLANES Members of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) and other multisectoral groups held a candle lighting activity on March 13, 2009 at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani to denounce the increasing number of extrajudicial killings in the country; the most recent was environmentalist and anti-mining activist Eliezer Billanes. (Photo by Kalikasan-PNE)
Goodbye, Rebelyn Thousands joined the funeral march for Rebelyn Pitao, the daughter of a top Communist leader, in Davao City on Saturday. The protesters demanded justice for the schoolteacher, who was brutally murdered allegedly by military agents. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan)
PROTEST OVER REBELYN. Hong Kong human rights groups condemn the abduction, torture, rape and killing of Rebelyn Pitao in a picket protest held on March 11, 2009 at the Philippine Consulate General. (Photo courtesy of BAYAN-Hong Kong)
BERDUGO. Posters accusing the 10th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as "berdugo" (butcher) are posted in major streets in Davao City. The New People's Army (NPA) accused the 10th ID to be behind the killing of 20-year old Rebelyn Pitao, daughter of NPA rebel leader Leoncio Pitao. (Photo by Ruby Thursday More/AKP Images)
Around 10,000 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gathered at the football field of Agro-Industrial Foundation College of the Philippines in Davao City on Saturday, March 7, 2009 for their 3rd Grand Summit Gathering with MNLF founding chair Prof. Nur Misuari. Some of the MNLF members traveled from as far away as Zamboanga provinces just for the half day gathering. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)
Teachers Demand Better Wages. Dozens of public-school teachers take to the street of Manila to demand better wages. They also criticized a proposed law that would give soldiers better salaries than those in the civilian bureaucracy. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)
Beach Boy. A taho (soybean custard) vendor plies his trade in a seemingly desolate landscape, which is actually a beach in Opol, Misamis Oriental. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/PinoyPress)
Lumad Protest. Some 200 indigenous peoples coming from different parts of Mindanao staged a protest at the gate of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan, Davao City, on Monday, March 2, 2009, to denounce the human-rights abuses allegedly perpetrated by the military in the indigenous communities. They also called for the repeal of the Mining Act. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)
Ban Balikatan. Activists from the group BAN Balikatan in Bicol held protest rallies on Feb. 25 to denounce the holding of the US-Philippine Balikatan exercises in the region. They criticized President Arroyo for being a "puppet" of Washington. (Photo courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)
Reds seek activation of NPA hit squads in cities 12:56 pm After Ampatuan Massacre, 2009 a Record Year for Journalist Killings Worldwide 12:28 am CHR to military: Respect and protect human rights during martial law in Maguindanao 06:24 am Maguindanao, its political elite and a culture subservient to corruption 06:22 am U.S. Must Improve Responsiveness to Mass Atrocities; Absent UN Action, Make Clear Willingness to Act on Its Own, Says New CFR Report 05:57 am Martial law dilutes the Philippines’s human rights and democratic gains 05:47 am Martial law in Maguindanao sets ‘most dangerous precedent’ 09:08 am Lawyers will wear black armbands, ribbons in courts 09:45 am