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“Self-preservation” lurks in the shadow of the Arroyo agenda. Stepping down voluntarily at the end of her term will unleash a deluge of lawsuits to make her pay for the alleged crimes she had committed while in office since 2001. She must stay in power to shield herself against any lawsuit even if some observers believe being House speaker or prime minister does not necessarily give her legal immunity.

POLITICS   Several religious leaders have vowed to never abandon the Filipino people in their struggle to defeat the regime’s attempt to change the Constitution. Arroyo, they say, “has surpassed the brutality and evilness of martial law.

HUMAN RIGHTS   So-called intelligence reports that there will be a big rally on Monday is no excuse for the House and the PNP to resort to the violent dispersal of the camp-out.

“Why my name is included in the “order of battle” is a mystery. Unless, that is, the armed forces considers my and NUJP’s advocacy for press freedom, as well as pressuring the government to end the killings, as the work of enemies of the state. Unless the armed forces views my job and my writing as threats to this nation.”

POLITICS   By Sweet Mary J. Cawicaan |  Nationally speaking, the First Time Voters Network said roughly 60 percent of the 2010 electorate will come from the age bracket of 18 to 40 years old.

HUMAN RIGHTS   By Alan Davis  |  Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project  |  The Army’s reputation is either being maliciously attacked here and the document is a forgery – or it is genuine but its contents have been misinterpreted – or the claims made by those who have presented it are true. Either way, the story needs following up and is a matter of concern for us all — including the entire diplomatic and donor community.

PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCIPT (SENATE LOUNGE)
SENATOR MANNY VILLAR
21 MAY 2009
Q: On the Committee of the whole decision to proceed with the C-5 hearings
Villar: Kanina po ay ginanap nila ang hearing. Hindi naman ako nagugulat sa resulta. Ito ay inaasahan natin. Ito na rin naman ang inaasahan ng lahat na magiging resulta. Pagkahaba-haba nga ng prusisyon, sa [...]

MILITARY   The administration appears set to allow unspecified numbers of foreign military personnel into the country in early May 2009 for “disaster relief training exercises” despite the absence of treaties giving this legal basis as required by the Constitution.

HUMAN RIGHTS   Does the killing of anti-mining activist Eliezer ‘Boy’ Billanes highlight irregular links between some mining companies and the Philippine military - or was he killed by insurgents because it was feared he was about to be turned into a so-called military asset and informer?

HUMAN RIGHTS   By Claire Delfin |  While a very well-intentioned legal remedy, it is something that the Burgos family find “elusive.” Since August last year, they have been waiting for a Supreme Court decision on their plea for the high court to reconsider the Court of Appeals ruling, which stated Mrs. Edita Burgos had failed to show the military was behind the kidnapping of her son Jonas and that her evidence was either possibly fabricated or hearsay.

POLITICS   As administration allies push for amendments of economic provisions in the Constitution, research group IBON Foundation says that the resolution seeking to allow corporations to own land and land-based resources in the Philippines are based on an outmoded ideology which believes that liberalizing the economy to greater foreign investment will lead to development.

POLITICS   Progressive groups will launch a new wave of protest actions against Charter Change in April, calling on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to address the country’s economic crisis instead of prioritizing amendments to the Constitution.

POLITICS   Majority of Filipinos do not favor amendments to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, according to the latest nationwide survey conducted by research group IBON Foundation, Inc.

POLITICS   By the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)  |  Comelec’s technology creates the danger of placing the fate of the elections in the hands of a profit-oriented multinational company – the winning bidder – and on the Comelec which remains ill-prepared to run an election technology let alone in checking fraud.