
A panel of three internationally acclaimed authors and experienced literary judges named Filipino author Miguel Syjuco the winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel Ilustrado, a fictional account of a young Filipino caught within a notorious scandal spanning over the Philippine history.
(The same novel also won the grand prize for the novel in this year’s Palanca awards. More about Syjuco and his novel here.)

By Yasmin Arquiza | Vera Files | Because of their rapid expansion, Davao’s big banana plantations are encroaching into the city’s built-up areas and farmlands, where small farmers grow crops and fruits that are sold in Davao City markets. Communities around these plantations have been complaining of health problems every time toxic pesticides would drift their way.
By Ninotchka Rosca | In my New York neighborhood, a 20-block run takes you to Argentina, Chile, Columbia, India, Pakistan, Philippines; 30 blocks and you’re in Africa, Jamaica and other places whose names escape even a geography fan.
“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.”
The “GMO-free rice restaurants” campaign, launched Wednesday at Fish and Co. restaurant in Ortigas Center, aims to gather the commitment of restaurants around the country to serve only GMO-free rice.
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.

They usually approach you in shopping malls and ask you if you already have a credit card. If you tell them that you don’t have one, they would then shove a paper in your hand, asking you to fill it up so you can enjoy the benefit of having a credit card. The banks have been increasingly using such a marketing tactic to encourage people to sign up for credit cards, which perhaps partly explains the explosion of credit-card use in the Philippines. But the next time one of these agents approach you, know this: a scam may have developed out of this aggressive marketing strategy by the banks.
A mini-controversy has erupted in the blogosphere. It involves blogger Connie Veneracion who, in a recent column in the Manila Standard Today newspaper, trashed Amado V. Hernadez’s “Mga Ibong Mandaragit” because she, her daughter and her husband didn’t get it.
Blogger Exie Abola wrote what Newsstand has called a “cogent” response to Veneracion’s tirade (”a complete evisceration” of Veneracion, Newsstand says). Others have weighed in, but of course. There’s Stuart Santiago, calling Veneracion “lazy,” “stupid” and “anti-Filipino.” Ouch.
Bonifacio Day Marked with Anti-Cha-cha Protest
Dancing the Cha-Cha over Money
Fisher Folk Battle Huge Mining Proposal and Its Defenders
On the November Elections and the Next Steps in Building the Anti-Imperialist Movement in the U.S.
3 of Tagaytay 5 File Damage Claims vs Police, Navy
Duterte-Nograles tiff over park prelude to 2010?
Urban poor group hits Arroyo on housing mega-sale
Military operations in ComVal is linked to mining – environmental alliance
San Isidro town govt to penalize cacao felling
Boston villagers recount tales of military abuses
Philippine Airlines Cancels Bangkok Flights Due to Political Tension
Selling People Overseas to Save the Economy At Home
Arroyo Survives as House Allies Junk New Impeachment Case
‘No Election’ Plot Revived; Arroyo Vows to Veto It
In Major Rebuke, UN Faults Philippines for Killings
Worsening Storm for Philippine Economy?
Smart to Junk Thousands of E-Load Dealers?
With Guns Blazing, de Venecia Testifies, Links Arroyo to ZTE Bribery Scandal
As US Economy Tanks, Philippines Gets Set for Downturn
Philippine Airlines Reports P5.7-Billion Loss in 6 Months
Davao Villagers Battle World’s Largest Mining Company PRESS FREEDOM By Carlos H. Conde | A Right of Reply law will undermine the Bill of Rights. It will intimidate journalists and prevent them from performing their watchdog functions because the potential cost of doing their job is rather high – fine, imprisonment or closure.
Save the Refugees in the Eastern Congo
HUMAN RIGHTS By Fr. Shay Cullen | A stronger, better-armed UN force is urgently needed to protect the hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children and youth in the Eastern Congo. Five millions have died over the past several years and the world hardly noticed.
Politics, Philippine StylePOLITICS By Benjie Oliveros | What do the Senate coup, the fertilizer and Euro generals scams, and the continuing extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and filing of trumped up charges against activists have in common? These show the rottenness of politics in the Philippines.
Aspartame: Sweet, Sweet PoisonHEALTH | BUSINESS By Carlos H. Conde | What convinced me that aspartame is not safe are not just the studies that have found its link to cancer but also the efforts of Donald Rumsfield and the biotech giant Monsanto in ramming this product down our throats.
Caterwauling About Hillary ClintonPOLITICS By Ninotchka Rosca | Semantical analysis will show it’s all driven by fear of a strong intelligent woman. Will she take orders? Whose foreign policy will it be – hers or Obama? Will she be working for him or for her own political interests? Blah, blah, blah.