The brutal killing of 57 people in Maguindanao, including some 30 journalists, should be seen as a watershed moment for the Philippines, according to two United Nations human rights experts.

PCCI believes that further discussion or debate on this issue will just exacerbate, if not derail the current efforts by both the government and private sector in concretely addressing the challenges of the global recession and allowing the economy to function effectively for the benefit of our citizenry.

OIL CRISIS   Amid the uproar over the Malacañang-imposed oil price ceiling, Executive Order (EO) 389 is apparently a mere government public relations gimmick, according to Ibon Foundation.

HUMAN RIGHTS   US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should press President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines to prosecute military members responsible for politically motivated killings, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch said that the historically close relations between the US and the Philippines and the direct US support for the Philippine military, places particular responsibility on the United States to press the government to end the military’s involvement in human rights violations and to prosecute those responsible.

The biggest global alliance of OFWs paid their last respects to former President Corazon Aquino as she was laid to rest at the Manila Memorial Park at Paranaque City by calling her the opposite of President Gloria Arroyo in terms of caring for the welfare of OFWs.
“OFWs in almost 200 countries across the world mourns [...]

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“Self-preservation” lurks in the shadow of the Arroyo agenda. Stepping down voluntarily at the end of her term will unleash a deluge of lawsuits to make her pay for the alleged crimes she had committed while in office since 2001. She must stay in power to shield herself against any lawsuit even if some observers believe being House speaker or prime minister does not necessarily give her legal immunity.

POLITICS   Several religious leaders have vowed to never abandon the Filipino people in their struggle to defeat the regime’s attempt to change the Constitution. Arroyo, they say, “has surpassed the brutality and evilness of martial law.

POLITICS   According to SWS, the decline in the President’s overall satisfaction rating was due to the worsening dissatisfaction in the Visayas and Mindanao.

HUMAN RIGHTS   One hundred cases including 180 human rights violations on peasants, fisherfolk, peasant women and agri-workers from 2001 to 2009 were filed at the National Democratic Front of the Philippines–Joint Monitoring Committee (NDFP-JMC) on Monday by progressive groups.

LABOR   The Alliance of Concerned Teachers said Malacañang had imposed a wage freeze on civilian personnel from 2001 to 2007 but during the same period it substantially upgraded the salaries and benefits of military and police personnel.

POLITICS   Disapproval and distrust were most noticeable in Metro Manila where 62 percent said they disapproved of the president’s performance and 67 percent said they distrusted her.

HUMAN RIGHTS   The US State Department said that “… arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the security services and political killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors continued to be major problems.”

POLITICS   Results of a recent survey by IBON Foundation show that 7 out of 10 Filipinos do not want President Arroyo to remain as the country’s chief executive.

House Resolution 737, which Speaker Prospero Nograles is reportedly maneuvering to have approved at the Lower House, is both politically deplorable and economically destructive.
Pushing for the approval of HR 737 betrays how the administration is rushing to force the legal process of charter change (Cha-cha), to beat the 2010 deadline when Pres. Arroyo’s term ends. [...]

POLITICS   “What would be highly unacceptable to the people all over the world is another Gloria,” says congressman.