News

Waiting Game for North Cotabato Refugees

By Bong Sarmiento
In this Muslim-dominated region that has seen four wars since the late 1990s, thousands of homes in isolated villages await the return of their owners. For the moment at least, though fighting has flared up to the north of the region in Lanao Del Norte, the guns of war have fallen silent here.

8/20/08 08:09 AM Full Story

Lanao del Norte Atrocities Exposed MILF’s Weakness

By Carlos H. Conde
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has to rise above crude, often needless, violence. It has to make sure that its forces are above hooliganism. It must offer a humane alternative to the atrocity of the State that compelled the Moros to revolt in the first place. It has to live up to the ideals of a genuine revolutionary movement.

8/19/08 07:21 PM Full Story

The MOA, the Cha-Cha, and the US Ambassador

By Benjie Oliveros
So much controversy has surrounded the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on ancestral domain between the Arroyo government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Instead of engendering peace, it has led to the escalation of the conflict; instead of bringing about unity and the community of peoples, it has led to tensions between the MILF and the affected communities of North Cotabato.

8/17/08 07:40 AM Full Story

Critics Hit US ‘Intervention’ in Peace Talks

By Ronalyn Olea
After a High Court justice branded as “patently illegal” the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, the U.S. Ambassador was quick to deny any involvement in the aborted signing of the pact. But critics have pointed to the prominent role that the U.S. had played in the GRP-MILF peace negotiations.

8/17/08 07:37 AM Full Story

Probe Sought Vs Philip Morris for ‘Organizing’ Eraserheads Concert

In a letter to the Department of Trade and Industry and some lawmakers, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), an anti-tobacco group, urges an “immediate investigation” and for the Inter-Agency Committee-Tobacco to “take the necessary action to ensure faithful observance and implementation of the provisions of RA 9211 on tobacco sponsorship and advertising.”

8/14/08 09:18 AM Full Story

Anti-Tobacco Advocates’ Letter to DTI Asking Probe of Eraserheads Concert

August 7, 2008

Undersecretary Zenaida Cuison Maglaya
Department of Trade and Industry
Inter-Agency Committee-Tobacco
Makati City
Dear Madame,
Re: An Urgent Call for the IAC-T to Take Appropriate Legal and Enforcement Action regarding Philip Morris’ Sponsorship of the Eraserheads Reunion Concert Set on August 30, 2008, in violation of Sec. 26, RA [...]

8/14/08 09:12 AM Full Story

Eraserheads Reunion Concert: US Anti-Tobacco Group Slams Philip Morris’s ‘Devious’ Ploy

“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.

8/13/08 08:55 AM Full Story

Why MOA on Ancestral Domain Doesn’t Mean Much

The MOA has conditions that effectively exempt from the ancestral domain and BJE authority the mining, forest, and other resource areas covered by existing laws, executive agreements, and policies in favor of foreign corporations, local landowners, and other non-Muslim stakeholders. Likewise, the central government can always invoke “emergency situation” and “national interest” to exercise authority over energy resources.

8/11/08 09:53 AM Full Story

Burma: No Rights Reform 20 Years After Massacre

Olympics Open on Bloody Anniversary
(New York, August 7, 2008) – Twenty years after the uprising in Burma, the military government continues to sharply restrict fundamental rights and violently suppress dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. The anniversary falls as the Olympic Games open in Beijing, while the Chinese government gives crucial support to Burma’s repressive [...]

8/10/08 10:21 AM Full Story

CPJ ‘Gravely Concerned’ With Killing of Two Journalists Within a Week

New York, August 7, 2008—Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed radio commentator Martin Roxas today in the second brutal shooting of a broadcaster in the Philippines this week, according to local and international news reports.
Two men shot Roxas in the back as he drove his motorcycle from DYVR station in Roxas City, on the country’s central Panay island, [...]

8/10/08 09:50 AM Full Story

Capiz Broadcaster, Also from RMN, Shot Dead

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A radio broadcaster was killed on 7 August 2008 by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle in Roxas City, Capiz. Capiz is approximately 411 kms southeast of Manila.
Martin Roxas, program director of dyKR-Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) in Roxas, was shot in the nape. Roxas was himself on a motorcycle. He was pronounced [...]

8/10/08 09:47 AM Full Story

GenSan Broadcaster Dies, First of 2 Journalists Murdered in a Week

Dennis Cuesta used to anchor the hard-hitting prime-time radio program “Straight to the Point” on DXMD - General Santos. Apart from tackling corruption on air, he also heard out complaints from residents.

8/10/08 09:43 AM Full Story

A Tribute to Lorenzo Tañada, ‘Street Parliamentarian,’ Freedom Fighter

“Ka Tanny’s name became synonymous with freedom, justice and democracy as he stood at the forefront of the struggle against widespread poverty and inequality, corruption and tyranny…. Present-day politicians should emulate the brilliant example of Ka Tanny and his brand of nationalism and tireless engagement in the people’s anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggle.”

8/10/08 09:40 AM Full Story

‘Ambulancia’ Is First Filipino Entry in ‘Woodstock of Short Films’

“Ambulancia,” a short film written, directed, and produced by Richard Legaspi, will compete and have its German premiere at the 32nd Open-Air Film Festival Weiterstadt, which will take place from August 14 to 18 on the arcadian site of the Braunshardter Taennchen.

8/10/08 08:58 AM Full Story

Eraserheads Concert: Who’s Wagging the Dog?

Isn’t the profit of Philip Morris from existing smokers not enough, so that they had to lure more smokers, younger smokers? Is their any hope that a company like Philip Morris would be decent enough to exercise some amount of responsibility?

8/08/08 08:47 PM Full Story

In Marketing Strategy, Tobacco Company Behind Eraserheads Concert Targets Teens

“Today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while in their teens…. It is during the teenage years that the initial brand choice is made.” — Philip Morris internal document, March 1981

8/07/08 01:32 PM Full Story

Here’s Why Eraserheads Reunion Concert Could Be in Trouble

I’m happy not because I may have been proven right (sort of) but because at least some eheads fans, it would seem to me, have been illuminated (or have conceded defeat in this debate) and are now singing a different tune about this whole event. They are now faced with the real possibility that the concert might not push through if the Department of Health, which issued the warning on Wednesday that Philip Morris was violating the Tobacco Regulation Act in sponsoring the concert, made good on its promise to sue the company.

8/06/08 11:12 PM Full Story

The Usual Can Be Criminal

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.

8/06/08 08:58 AM Full Story

Mindanao Radio Host Shot, Now in Coma

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.

8/06/08 08:48 AM Full Story

Anti-Tobacco Advocates Ask Eraserheads to Reject Tobacco Sponsorship of Concert

Tobacco control advocates are asking the Filipino band Eraserheads to be good role models for the youth and reject the sponsorship by a cigarette manufacturer of its much-awaited reunion concert on Aug. 30 in Manila.

8/05/08 08:59 PM Full Story

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THE NEWS IN PICTURES

Free at Last. The so-called Tagaytay 5 -- Aris Sarmiento, Axel Pinpin, Riel Custodio, Michael Masayes and Rico Ybañez -- shown here inside their prison cell during their incarceration, were freed yesterday. “The dismissal of trumped-up charges and release of Tagaytay 5 is a victory for human rights,” said Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan's public information officer. (Photo: freetagaytay5.net)

Displaced. Residents of North Cotabato have been the ones badly affected by the military offensives launched against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. "As the government continues to indiscriminately drop bombs on Moro and Christian villages in Aleosan and Pikit, more and more civilians are displaced," said Kawagib, a Moro human-rights group.(Photo: Suara Bangsamoro/arkibongbayan.org)

In One Roof. Villagers who fled their homes after the clashes last week between government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the south brought every human life with them, including their farm animals. They now live under one roof at an evacuation center in Pikit, North Cotabato. (Photo: Bong Sarmiento / Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project)

Emergency. A scene from "Ambulancia," a short film that tells of a painful twist in an ambulance driver's belief that a dying patient can be saved by running over stray animals on the streets. The award-winning film will be screened at the so-called "Woodstock of short films" in Germany. Richard Legaspi directed the film and it stars Alan Paule and Nor Domingo. (Contributed photo)

Sendoff. The Philippine Army dispatched today, Aug. 10, the 68th Infantry Battalion to Maguindanao. This battalion, together with the 46th Infantry Battalion from Samar, will augment the troops in Central Mindanao for the security operations that will be conducted to ensure peaceful elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao tomorrow. (Photo: Philippine Army)

Killings Denounced. Mindanao journalists gathered in General Santos City on Friday to denounce the recent attacks on their colleagues. On Monday, Dennis Cuesta, a Radio Mindanao Network commentator in General Santos, was shot and is fighting for his life. On Thursday, another RMN broadcaster, Martin Roxas of Capiz City, was shot dead. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

If This Wall Could Talk. With the pleasant scenery as a backdrop (and a constant reminder, perhaps, of a life they could have had), this poor family try to survive by actually living by the sidewalk outside the Chinese school in Davao City. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Undaunted. Activists from Anakbayan scuffle with the police as the Chevrolet Suburban carrying President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo passes by the junction before the newly built Bankerohan bridge in Davao City last week. The president was in the city for the declaration of the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi parties. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan/davaotoday.com)

Freedom Denied. Lex Adonis, a former broadcaster of Bombo Radyo in Davao City, inside the Davao Penal Colony, where he was jailed after House Speaker Prospero Nograles sued him for libel over a story involving the Davao congressman's alleged sexual relations with a woman other than his wife. Despite a court order, Adonis remains in jail. (File photo by davaotoday.com)

Tribute to Ka Bel. Activists, artists, friends and supporters troop to the Philippine Independent Church on Taft Avenue Monday night to honor AnakPawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, who died last week. Beltran will be buried in Bulacan today, after a ceremony honoring him at the House of Representatives, where he served for several terms as party-list congressman. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/pinoypress.net)

Rare Sight. Moro women students of a madrasah play volleyball during a break in barangay Ugalingan, Carmen, North Cotabato, last week. While Filipina Moros are considered relatively open in their lifestyle compared to Muslim women in other countries, scenes like this are not very common in Moro areas in Mindanao. (Photo by Keith Bacongco/AKP Images)

Ka Bel's Fight. An activist mourns the death of AnakPawis Rep. Crispin "Ka Bel" Beltran, who died Tuesday. Ka Bel's remains lie in state at the IFI Cathedral in Manila. His colleagues, family and friends have lined up a series of tributes. Click here for the schedules, as well as statements and poems honoring Ka Bel. (Photo by courtesy of arkibongbayan)

Displaced. Lumad families from Compostela and Monkayo towns, in Compostela Valley Province, seek refuge in Davao City after being displaced by intense counter-insurgency operations by the military in their communities this month. The 210 evacuees, of which 83 are children, are now staying inside a gym. The number of evacuees is expected to rise, according to NGOs. (Photo by Barry Ohaylan)