Since the government’s major offensive against the rebels belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front started in 2000, hundreds of thousands of Filipino Muslims have been displaced. Although most have returned to their homes and lands, there are still thousands of them in refugee camps such as the one here, their numbers swelling each time the government conducts more offensives against the rebels.

The toll on civilians of the continuing military campaign in Mindanao continues to increase. Aside from the displacement of more than half a million residents, reports today indicate that air strikes against Islamic rebels killed children and their parents, including an 18-year-old pregnant woman. Read the reports here and here.

“Up to half a million people have been affected by the hostilities, and tens of thousands of them have had to flee their homes,” said the ICRC’s Dominik Stillhart. “Given the breakdown of the peace process, civilians will continue to suffer the effects of the armed conflict.”

Apart from the issues of custody arising from the Subic Rape case, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said that it also plans to question the “duration and scope of the seemingly permanent presence of US troops in Mindanao.”

By Carl Baker
Any peace settlement in Mindanao will require a serious rethinking of sovereignty in the Philippines and a lot of creative thinking about how to accommodate the interests of all parties.

“ANZ is lying through their teeth by saying they have no involvement in the OceanGold Didipio Gold-Copper mining project. The bank is listed as one of the top shareholders in the latest OceanaGold Corporation annual report,” said Clemente Bautista, national coordinator of militant environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE).
Kalikasan PNE was among [...]

High prices of commodities could also have been mitigated if government had not surrendered control over the oil industry by maintaining oil deregulation.

Hiring Bias, Harassment of Disabled Organizations Undermine Laws
(New York, September 5, 2008) – Despite recent positive steps, discrimination against persons with disabilities continues in China and organizations for the disabled face government pressure and harassment, Human Rights Watch said today on the eve of the September 6 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
“The Chinese government deserves praise [...]

Donor governments have failed not only to improve the quality of aid but also even to make progress towards delivering committed amounts, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

Indonesian officials said Indonesia’s main exports, such as agricultural products and timber, will continue to face high non-tariff barriers in the form of quality standards, while Japanese high-tech imports will be able to enter the Indonesian market with lower import taxes.

By Nandy Pacheco
Ang Kapatiran Party
“If we are what we are today – a country with a great number of poor and powerless people – one reason is the way we have allowed politics to be debased and prostituted to the lowest level it is in now.”

By Yvonne T. Chua and Luz Rimban | VERA FILES
(Conclusion)
When Quedancor negotiated with the banks, it was already in the red because of its various failed lending programs.
Second Part: Politicians Dip Hand Into Quedancor Funds
First Part: Quedancor Swine Program Another Fertilizer Scam

Still watching the Repubs and feeling uncharacteristically drained of energy; something about the spectacle is deadening. I can’t even take seriously the debate about Sarah Palin, the shrill outcry of “sexism!” whenever her credentials as a politician and/or as a soccer mom are questioned. Seems to me that there’s sexism in here, all right, but everybody misses what it is, exactly.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo today “scrapped a government peace panel negotiating an end to a deadly and drawnout Muslim rebellion in the nation’s south,” Agence France Press reported this morning.

Reuters reported this afternoon that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front has threatened to altogether abandon the peace process if the Arroyo regime does not sign the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
“We’re not only disappointed and frustrated over government’s decision to turn its back on the ancestral domain deal, we’ve completely lost trust and [...]

“In honoring the plunderers of this nation and letting them off easy without any punishment (like Erap) we not only condone their infamy; other rapists of this nation will also feel redeemed, convinced that they did no wrong. Then, they pave the way for future criminals to do the same, sure that, like Imelda and her gang, they will not be punished and that after their foul deeds, they can even preen in the limelight before a people without memory.”

Statement by Matthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
WASHINGTON, Aug 29, 2008 — For the second time in a month, Philip Morris International has had to withdraw sponsorship and promotion of a concert in a developing country after coming under international criticism for engaging in cigarette marketing that appeals to children.
This time, Philip [...]

The report provides powerful scientific evidence and guidance to governments around the world on how the tobacco industry uses and manipulates the media to encourage tobacco use and effective steps governments can take to protect the health of their citizens.