“The Arroyo government, like its predecessors, is led by big landlords and compradors who have vast and entrenched economic and political interests in most of what the MOA defines as the Bangsmoro homeland. It is inconceivable that the national government as well as the local warlords and other vested interests who benefit tremendously from the present set-up would easily give up the Bangsamoro homeland to the Moro people.”

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”.

New studies by the University of the Philippines - Center for Labor Justice (UP CLJ) and the Bangkok and Manila-based policy think tank Focus on the Global South revealed
Arroyo’s slow progress towards achieving key targets on economic growth, poverty reduction, and job generation.

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.”

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.

The Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project through journalist Vincent Sawabi listened to different voices in Sulu – the young and old, the politicized and otherwise, the believer and the cynical – on the impact of the recent kidnapping to their province and to their lives. Listen to know if peace will remain elusive to their island, once known for its bountiful natural riches and culture.

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.

There is a growing clamor for the removal of the VAT on petroleum products to ease local prices, especially since it adds from P4 to P6 peso to pump prices. Just recently, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines echoed the same demand. But the Arroyo government flatly rejected it. What is it with the VAT that the Arroyo government is so adamant at rejecting all proposals to remove this form of taxation on petroleum products?

In the guise of fighting terrorists and extremists, Australia wants to get a foothold in the southern Philippines through the Status of Forces Agreement. The presence of the Abu Sayyaf, or any bandit group for that matter, is a convenient reason for the Australian government to engage in military intervention, in partnership with the United States, in areas around Mindanao.

Children across the Philippines are being denied the right to an education which is contrary to Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states that “everyone has the right to education.”

The ABS-CBN team and their fixer deserve credit for keeping focus on a story and going where the story is to see for themselves and not simply reporting from Manila and helping perpetuate stereotypes through ignorance. The day Sulu or any other place becomes a no-go zone for journalists will be a black day indeed. That said, while ordinary people and critical issues and challenges deserve the oxygen of publicity always, we should also ask whether the same applies to a renowned group of kidnappers.

In a statement to mark World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, WHO said the tobacco industry preys on the vulnerability of young people, knowing that they underestimate the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine. WHO called on policy-makers to support the ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion.

The warden of the Davao Penal Colony in Davao del Norte has not released radio broadcaster Alexander Adonis despite being paroled by the Department of Justice Board of Pardon and Paroles as early as December 2007 and the posting of a bail bond for another libel case. Adonis was jailed after one of the country’s most powerful politicians, Davao City congressman and now House Speaker Prospero Nograles, sued him for libel.

Leila de Lima. (Photo by John Alliage Morales/Inquirer.net)

For somebody who barely warmed her seat, the actions and statements by Leila de Lima, the new chair of the Commission on Human Rights, are impressive, probably unprecedented. Let’s just hope that this is not ningas-cogon, that de Lima is motivated by a genuine concern for human rights and not by the need to prove her mettle.

Between February 4 and May 14, 2008, the Asian Legal Resource Center has been alerted to 17 murders in General Santos City and it is believed that this is not an exhaustive list. Seven of those murdered, including a 16-year-old boy, have been accused by the police investigators of having criminal records, being former detainees or persons involved in committing motorcycle robberies. In several other cases, the victims are persons illegally working as motorcycle taxis, who were killed when criminals stole their motorcycles.

The anti-poverty groups Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and Womanhealth Philippines have raised alarm over the reported increase in fetal deaths due to short gestation and low birth weight as shown in the latest study of the National Statistics Office released this month.

A military man as peace adviser? A hawk for the dovish tasks of peace negotiations? It shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Arroyo regime of ironies and mockery has done as badly and even worse. It’s a national security regime disguised as a democracy, a reign of assassins cloaked in legal cloth. It’s a regime of mockery in which an Hermogenes Esperon for peace adviser makes as much sense as a Raul Gonzalez for justice secretary.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, based in New York, has written to Supreme Court chief justice Reynato Puno expressing its “grave concern” about the recent ruling of a Cebu Court of Appeals to indefinitely suspend the murder trial of journalist Marlene Garcia-Esperat.