The New People’s Army has warned foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines Inc., telling the firm to abandon its huge mining project in South Cotabato or brace for attacks.

Bayan says that high prices of rice and fuel belie the government’s repeated claims of economic growth.

A new order allegedly aimed at eradicating the black market of kidneys may yet result in the exact opposite: the legalization and facilitation of the sale of human organs.

Of the 18,269 suspicious transactions the Anti-Money Laundering Council flagged for the past six years, none were linked to earnings by OFWs.

SPECIAL REPORT | By Jeremaiah M. Opiniano | Reliance on money from Filipinos overseas hasn’t helped the country get out of the poverty rut. In fact, according to an economist, remittances may be contributing to the persistence of high inequality in the Philippines.

The National Democratic Front in Mindanao today claimed that the Communist New People’s Army in Mindanao launched 350 offensives against the government last year.

The first Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council takes place on April 11.

Debt activists say that one way to prevent corruption in the Philippines is “to plug the funneling of funds from loans and aid which is the source of kickbacks.”

Farmers and civil society groups warn that the worst situation in the country’s rice supply is yet to come as they predict the prices of rice will soar to as high as P40 during the lean months of July to September.

It’s is not only because of the length of the president’s term but because of her continued implementation of the oil deregulation law amid public outcry, and her imposition of the reformed value-added tax (RVAT) on oil.

Poverty in the Philippines has become so prevalent that it can no longer be hidden, only downplayed through statistical manipulation.

BREAKING NEWS The ailment was discovered after Aquino, 75, underwent a series of tests because of hypertension and a difficulty in breathing in December. Since then, her daughter Kris said Monday, the former president had lost weight -– 10 pounds in two weeks — and suffered consistent coughing and a loss of appetite.

A survivor of stroke finds limitless opportunities to spread the word about the value of healthy lifestyle, especially to young people who are at the peak of their careers and fear nothing about the consequences of their habits, routines and, ultimately, their value for life.

By STEVEN ROOD | The Asia Foundation | The politicization of anti-corruption activities in the Philippines has long been a problem. When charges are used as part of the struggle for political advantage, the public can become cynical, believing that all officials are alike and nothing will change.

The Black and White Movement on Cardinal Vidal: “There is a difference between critical collaboration, which allows prelates to receive state funds while preaching political moderation from the pulpit, and being a puppet of the president.”

The US think tank The Heritage Foundation weighs in on the political turmoil in the Philippines. It says the ZTE scandal “has driven politics in the Philippines off the rails.” The US, it says, “should help it avert what has the potential to become a major constitutional crisis.”

Despite efforts by Philippine call center companies to glamorize the industry, call center agents are resigning, job-hopping, transferring or being fired by the hundreds as fast as they are being hired.

Joey de Venecia III, the first whistleblower in the ZTE scandal, regrets that his father, former House speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., had to pay a steep political price for his exposé. “Maybe it was his salvation,” Joey says of his father’ ouster as House speaker. But, Joey says, their relationship has never been better.