U.S. MILITARY   The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said that it will raise the issue of the Visiting Forces Agreement and US military aid during protests timed with the visit of United States Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.

HEALTH   “The tobacco industry is training its guns and armor not for battle but to entice our young children to smoking addiction and lead them to suffer from tobacco-related deaths. Expect the industry to launch more sophisticated marketing and public relation gimmicks to penetrate the Asia Pacific market where governments are starting to implement stricter bans on smoking and tobacco advertising and promotions,” said Dr. Maricar Limpin, FCAP Executive Director.

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.

ONDOY   By seeking to convince its readers that the effects of Ondoy were “felt equally by rich and poor” and that it was a “great equalizer,” the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the most influential newspaper in the Philippines, was attempting to bolster the view that the Filipino class system had nothing to do with the disaster, and that the lives of all Filipinos are shaped by the same forces of nature, even by fate or by God.

POLITICS   Former Bayan Muna representative and human rights defender, Joel Virador, announced plans Saturday to enter local politics by seeking a council seat for the first district this city come 2010 local elections.

POLITICS   “We challenge the Comelec to explain to us and to the many OFWs who have been clamoring for MSP to run why, at this time that we are stronger now to run for a seat, COMELEC is denying us this legitimate right!” said Connie Bragas-Regalado, chairperson of Migrante Partylist.

ONDOY AND PEPENG   “Today, WFP is here to support the government’s efforts to help the people of the Philippines overcome this calamity. I have no doubt that together, we can.” — World Food Program director Josette Sheeran

AGRICULTURE   Farmers and civil society groups called on Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap to calibrate and carefully strategize rice importation so as not to sacrifice support for the farmers devastated by typhoons ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’.

Iloilo City, 21 October 2009- Greenpeace activists and Iloilo residents are urging the local government to pull the plug on a plan to operate a coal-fired power plant in this city. The group calls the illegal, premature back-filling of the proposed site, despite the obvious environmental impacts it will create and strong public opposition to [...]

ECONOMY & BUSINESS   While the government bears down on small businesses and producers, warning them against profiteering in the wake of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, it has allowed Shell, Caltex and Petron to increase oil prices at will.

MEDIA   A photojournalist was detained and interrogated at the house of Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas Sr. last 16 October 2009 for “taking photos of the house without permission.” Iloilo is a province approximately 467 kilometers from Manila.

POLITICS   Various religious, youth, cause-oriented and civil society groups are set to hold a march throughout the city of Manila on June 30 to sustain efforts opposing the Constituent Assembly being planned by allies of the President. The protest action has also been billed as a countdown to the State of the Nation Address of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on July 27.