2008 January – PinoyPress — Philippines news, opinion, blogs.

Archive for January, 2008

Class Suit Vs Arroyo Husband to Continue

A motion, the second filed by Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, husband of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to dismiss the class action suit filed against him by 40 journalists and three media organizations in response to his numerous libel suits has been denied by a Philippine court.
The journalists filed a P12.5 million ((US$276,600) class action [...]

1/23/08 03:46 AM Full Story

Philippine Consumer Group Slams Doctors for Spreading ‘Generic’ Myths

The consumer group, Cut the Cost, Cut the Pain Network (3CPNet) today accuses the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) of spreading myths about the questionable efficacy and safety of generic medicines further undermining the potential benefit of the bill seeking to provide the people with affordable and quality medicines.
“Their insistence to prescribe their preferred branded medicines [...]

1/23/08 03:46 AM Full Story

Satur tells bloggers: ‘People Power, still available to change govt’

People Power remains a tool for social change that is available to a
people who want to institute changes in government, said Bayan Muna
Rep. Satur Ocampo in a Bloggers Kapihan on Saturday at Kape Tasyo in
Anonas, Quezon City.
In his sharing with bloggers, Ocampo stressed that “Filipinos are not
frustrated over People Power 2, but with the dismal [...]

1/23/08 03:45 AM Full Story

PHILIPPINES: LOREN CALLS FOR MORE WOMAN POWER IN NATION BUILDING

SAN FABIAN, PANGASINAN – Sen. Loren Legarda last night (Jan. 19) called for more woman empowerment in nation building during the crowning of the fiesta queen of this town on the occasion of its annual fiesta celebration.
“Your chosen theme for [...]

1/23/08 03:44 AM Full Story

Philippines: No to Balikatan in Mindanao

Justice to all victims of human rights violations in previous Balikatan!
Kawagib Moro Human Rights organization urges the government to stop the holding of Balikatan exercises in Mindanao scheduled in February this year.
According to Kawagib, Arroyo government should consider the numerous human rights violations involving US soldiers in Mindanao. Previous Balikatan in Mindanao especially in Sulu [...]

1/23/08 03:44 AM Full Story

UAE seeks IAEA assistance on radioactive waste management

The UAE is currently joining force with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to devise guidelines for radioactive waste management in the oil and gas industries.
Director General of the Federal Environment Agency (FEA) Dr. Salim Al Dhahiri said:’ ‘The UAE is cooperation with the IAEA to chalk out a long-term strategy for disposal and [...]

1/23/08 03:43 AM Full Story

Abu Dhabi gets Dh20bn housing boost

The Government of Abu Dhabi has allocated an additional Dh20 billion to construct residential buildings for expatriates in response to the emirate’s housing crunch - bringing the total public investment to Dh56bn.
To oversee the expansion and run the housing complexes, authorities have also approved the creation of a new real estate firm, Abu Dhabi Commercial [...]

1/23/08 03:43 AM Full Story

Farmers crticical of jathropa planting, Biofuels Act

As the debate over the Biofuels Act gets hyped in the Senate, the militant farmers group, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas – Southern Mindanao Region, pitches-in its piece on the issue.
“Foreign-funded Jathropa plantations are encroaching on agricultural lands and it only adds to the existing laws and policies that cause food deprivation among the poor Filipinos [...]

1/23/08 03:42 AM Full Story

Philippines: Red Cross boosts capacity in Mindanao’s Sulu province

Manila/Geneva (ICRC) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the
Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) today inaugurated new premises for the local PNRC
chapter in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in the southern Philippines’ Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao. The province is one of the areas worst affected by armed conflict and
one of the [...]

1/23/08 03:37 AM Full Story

Indonesia: Tackling Radicalism in Poso

Jakarta/Brussels, 22 January 2008: One year after police operations in Poso, Central Sulawesi, there is cautious optimism that jihadi violence has come to an end, but justice, accountability and corruption problems need to be resolved.
Indonesia: Tackling Radicalism in Poso,* the latest update briefing from the International Crisis Group, looks at the impact of the January [...]

1/23/08 03:36 AM Full Story

The Arroyo Imbroglio in the Philippines

Over the course of Arroyo’s seven years in office, an already crisis-prone democracy has faced an unusually high number of travails… As the Philippines suffers one political crisis after another, its longstanding democratic structures become increasingly imperiled.

By Paul D. Hutchcroft

(Paul D. Hutchcroft, professor of political science at the University of [...]

1/20/08 11:11 AM Full Story

The Campaign to Save Windows XP

Plugged: I’m a long-time Windows user and I usually upgrade to its newest version. But when Microsoft launched Vista last year, I resisted the urge to change the Windows XP operating that’s running my laptop. Two reasons.
Read the full story

1/19/08 06:37 AM Full Story

Save Windows XP

I’m a long-time Windows user and I usually upgrade to its newest version. But when Microsoft launched Vista last year, I resisted the urge to change the Windows XP operating that’s running my laptop. Two reasons.

1/19/08 06:32 AM Full Story

Two influential U.S. senators assures Philippines of early passage of Filipino Veterans Equity Bill

Two senior members of the United States Senate have vowed to push the early passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill that would increase the benefits of some 18,000 surviving Filipino World War II veterans.
US Senators Daniel Inouye and Theodore Stevens made this known during their courtesy call on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo this afternoon in [...]

1/18/08 04:54 AM Full Story

Philippines: Arroyo cites Chinese-Filipino traders’ contributions to nation building

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed today her deep gratitude to the Filipino-Chinese businessmen for being her partners in building a progressive Philippines through their various socio-economic programs and projects that have benefited a number of people in many parts of the country..
“You have been practicing the virtuous tenets of your ancestral sage Confucius: generosity of soul, [...]

1/18/08 04:54 AM Full Story

ATO Chief Fired After FAA Downgrade

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo designated today Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza as the new head of the Air Transportation Office (ATO) in a concurrent capacity.
Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesperson Ignacio R. Bunye said Mendoza will replace Engr. Daniel Dimagiba who was acting ATO chief.
Bunye told members of the Malacanang Press Corps that the President has [...]

1/18/08 04:54 AM Full Story

Philippines economy stronger, more stable despite political theatrics — PGMA

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said today the country has grown ’stronger and more stable” as her administration continues to win the battle against coup plots and political theatrics.
The President made the assertion this afternoon during the 5th Biennial Convention and 10th Anniversary of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc. at the Manila Hotel amid reports of [...]

1/18/08 04:53 AM Full Story

Peace in Mindanao essential building block to secure Philippines’s future, says GMA

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed anew today her determination to forge a comprehensive peace settlement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), stressing that lasting peace in Mindanao is “one of the essential building blocks this nation can achieve to secure its future.”
The President reaffirmed her commitment to peace in Mindanao during the 5th Biennial Convention [...]

1/18/08 04:52 AM Full Story

LATEST STORIES FROM DAVAOTODAY.COM

Duterte-Nograles tiff over park prelude to 2010?

Urban poor group hits Arroyo on housing mega-sale

Military operations in ComVal is linked to mining – environmental alliance

San Isidro town govt to penalize cacao felling

Boston villagers recount tales of military abuses

STORIES BY CARLOS H. CONDE

40 die as Philippine ferry capsizes

Asia, too, feels the pain

As the MOA Unravels, What Now?

Peace process fraught with peril for Arroyo

Islamic separatists kill 28 in Philippines rampage

THE NEWS IN PICTURES

Spawn. This photo, taken by photojournalist Sonny Espiritu, won the Best Single Photo award in the recent annual PopDev Awards. The photo was first published by the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project with this caption: "An urban poor woman feeds her youngest child while washing clothes for a living and looking after other children. Modern contraception advocates say having fewer children would help fight poverty and hunger, but the predominent Catholic Church says there is no link between poverty and population, of which the Philippines has now almost 90 million."

End The Violence. Members of the women's group Gabriela make known their sentiments about violence against women. They commemorated yesterday, Nov. 25, the "International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. (Photo courtesy of arkibongbayan.org)

Anti-GMA Protest in LA. Members of GABNet, the progressive Filipino women's group in the United States, outside the LAX Sheraton in Los Angeles last week to protest the persecution and killing of political activists in the Philippines. The protest was timed for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stopover en route to Peru for the Apec summit. (Photo courtesy of Ninotchka Rosca/GABNet)

Tagaytay on a Sunday. Kite-flying has become a favorite activity at the Picnic Grove in Tagaytay. On an overcast but generally pleasant afternoon last Sunday, dozens of kites colored the skies, complementing the view of Taal Volcano in the background. (Photo by Ayi Muallam)

Downed. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front released Friday this photo of some of its members playing with what the group claimed was an unmanned spy plane that crashed earlier this month. The front said the alleged drone was a property of the US military. More details here.

Hunger Amid War. This child refugee is one of the thousands affected by the war in Mindanao. The situation in North Cotabato and Maguindanao has deteriorated since renewed fighting between government forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) broke out in Aleosan and Midsayap, North Cotabato last Aug. 8, according to groups that held last month the National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission in North Cotabato and Maguindanao. (Photo courtesy of Kalinaw Mindanao/arkibongbayan.org)

Another Bayan Muna Leader Killed. Danny Qualbar, an officer of the Compostela Farmers' Association and coordinator of Bayan Muna was on his way to Compostela town Thursday afternoon to buy fish for his family when assassins in motorcycles shot him. Qualbar was the second Bayan Muna member killed this year in Compostela Valley. Top photo shows Qualbar’s eldest child grieving his death. (Photo by Jonald Mahinay/davaotoday.com)

Stairway to Heaven. Found in the middle of the forest, the cascading waters of Aliwagwag waterfalls in Cateel, Davao Oriental, looks like a descending stairway. No wonder it is considered one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Mindanao. (Photo by Grace S. Uddin / davaotoday.com)

Stop Militarizing Communities! Members of farmer's group Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao Region held a rally October 8 in front of the headquarters of the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Camp Panacan, Davao City. The group called for the pullout of troops conducting massive military operations in Tamayong in Davao City, Talaingod in Davao del Norte, Monkayo in Compostela Valley and in the towns of Baganga, Cateel, Boston in Davao Oriental and Lingig Surigao Del Sur. (Photo by Jonald Mahinay/davaotoday.com)

Land and Peace Concert. Students from Tribung Bayanga National High School perform before the crowd at Gaston Park in Cagayan De Oro City on October 23 night during the Yuta ug Kalinaw Concert. The two-hour concert was part of the Integrity of Creation Solidarity week that kicked-off last October 19. The week-long activity was a gathering of mining affected communities and support groups to discuss the issues affecting their communities. (Photo by AKP Images / Keith Bacongco)

Full Capacity. Normally, passenger vans are allowed to carry 14 people. But this one is apparently beyond its carrying limit as it negotiates the zigzag road in Sulop, Davao del Sur, a known accident- and landslide-prone area. (Photo by Keith Bacongco / AKP Images)

The Child as Vigilante. A 10-year-old boy carries a firearm and joins members of the Ilaga, an infamous anti-Moro militia, in its camp in Aleosan, North Cotabato. The child's father leads the dreaded vigilante group in the area. (Photo by Romy Elusfa/Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Under Repair. A "Skylab," the most common mode of transportation in the Agusan provinces and elsewhere in Mindanao, undergoes a repair at a shop in Butuan City. The motorcycle is fitted with wooden "wings" on both sides -- hence the moniker -- and is capable of carrying up to eight passengers. (Photo by Keith Bacongco / AKP Images)

Free At Last. Pastor Berlin Guerrero of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, shown above with wife Mylene, was released after 15 months in police detention. He had been abducted and went missing for days before the police came out to say that he was arrested on a murder charge, which his family and colleagues said had been fabricated. A court ordered him released on Sept. 11. (Photo by arkibongbayan.org)