MANILA – Philippine Airlines cancelled its morning service to Bangkok today and is closely monitoring developments in the Thai capital before deciding whether to operate its evening service.
Flight PR 730, scheduled to depart Manila at 10:30 a.m., was called off, as was the return flight, PR 731, which was scheduled to depart Bangkok at 2:00 [...]

NEW DELHI — Coordinated terror attacks struck the heart of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, Wednesday night, killing dozens in machine-gun and grenade assaults on at least two five-star hotels, the city’s largest train station, a movie theater and a hospital.

The Mumbai police said the attacks killed at least 75 people and wounded 240, according to preliminary reports. There were also reports that hostages had been taken in at least one of the hotels, with Americans and British nationals being singled out. READ THE STORY

“Once again, Philip Morris International has been caught engaging in cigarette marketing that appeals to children in a developing country and that would not be tolerated in the United States and other wealthier nations,” says Matthew L. Myers, president of the US-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

We Filipinos needed to re-calibrate our understanding of what’s usual or normal, the instant we began to move out into the world en masse. Unfortunately, that has been difficult, because of the re-feudalization accompanying migration, particularly for women.

Radio Mindanao Network talk show host Dennis Cuesta is in a coma after being shot five times at close range Tuesday while walking in a shopping mall in General Santos City.

By Fr. Shay Cullen
While a young girl was recovering from a horrific life of sexual abuse and trafficking, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave the state-of-the-nation-address to the Philippine congress last week and list the many achievements of her government for the past year curtailing the trafficking of women and children is not among them. She is [...]

The economist Mrs. Arroyo is trying to cheat the public over the so-called 50 percent reduction in texting rates which she pompously announced in her eighth State of the Nation Address yesterday,
according to consumer group TXTPower.
“The truth is, text messages may already cost less than 50 centavos. The forward march of mobile technology and the [...]

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an international anti-smoking group, has likewise praised singer Alicia Keys for forcing ****** to withdrawal as sponsor of her concert in Indonesia.

Pulling a 21-foot effigy of a sinking ship, members of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan marched from Tandang Sora Avenue to just beyond EVER Commonwealth to join other anti-Arroyo groups in a “People’s SONA”. The counter-SONA described the state of the nation as “a sinking ship with the captain even robbing its passengers”.

In a statement, the NUPL says it “strongly criticizes the recent spate of decisions by the Court of Appeals dismissing amparo petitions which are indicative of a failure to comprehend the intent and nature of the new judicial remedy that initially brought a ray of hope for the victims, families and human rights defenders. These decisions unfortunately disregard the actual state of human rights in the Philippines today that has prompted the promulgation of the new remedy in the first place.”

According to the July 2008 results of the IBON survey, 83.3% of residents in the National Capital Region believe that the government will not deliver on the commitments that Pres. Arroyo will make in her SONA. Only 5.9% said yes.

In a metro-wide survey conducted by IBON Foundation on July 12-13, 87.33% of respondents agree with the proposals to scrap the VAT on petroleum products.

PRESS STATEMENT 26 July 2008
Contact Person: VG Benosa, PLCPD Media Advocacy Officer, Mobile 0918-2936786
A PRO-POOR SONA MUST INCLUDE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND POPULATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
We challenge President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to take a stand and finally pronounce a clear and comprehensive national reproductive health and [...]

By Fr. Shay Cullen

The selfless commitment Christians of all denominations to live, risk their lives and suffer for the gospel values, human rights and to live out the mission of Jesus Christ to save the poor and the oppressed from pain and exploitation inflicted on them by the irresponsible rich and powerful, is at the [...]

While the Big Three oil firms in the Philippines claim losses due to under-recoveries, their mother companies abroad continue to report record billions in profits, according to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation.

Figures from the Department of Education (DepEd) show that participation rate at the elementary level, or the percentage of children aged 7-12 who are enrolled in public and private elementary schools, has fallen from 96.95% in SY 1999-2000 to 83.22% in SY 2006-2007.

The reported trip of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to the United States to meet with US president George W. Bush and presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama will mark another low point in RP-US relations, according to the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
“It will be an extravaganza of terror and economic plunder, the two [...]