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Saturday, September 29, 2007
Riot at Shwe Dagon Pagoda East gate in Burma
A bloody crack down by military regime on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Burma has started. (Video courtesy of NikNayMan)
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End Myanmar Violence, Philippine Senate Calls
RESOLUTION ON BURMA CRISIS INTRODUCED BY PHILIPPINE SENATOR AQUILINO PIMENTEL AND ADOPTED BY THE SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES AS
RESOLUTION NO. 19, ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 26, 2007.
RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC), THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) AND THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN) TO END THE VIOLENT REPRESSION OF THE RULING MILITARY JUNTA UPON THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR
WHEREAS, on August 19, 2007, widespread peaceful mass protests began in Myanmar after the government hiked fuel prices; (which protests) could be traced to the deep-rooted dissatisfaction of the people with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962;
WHEREAS, despite government warnings banning all public gatherings of more than five people and the imposition of a nighttime curfew, tens of thousands of Buddhist monks, activists and other supporters (of the democratic movement of Burma) marched down the streets to demonstrate their dissatisfaction and grievances;
WHEREAS, on September 26, 2007, the military junta intensified its crackdown on the biggest pro-democracy demonstrations in twenty years by firing shots over the heads of large crowds in the main city of Myanmar; arresting a great number of protestors many of whom are Buddhist monks and killing and injuring some of them;
WHEREAS, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides under Article 9 that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile and under Article 20 thereof that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
WHEREAS, the Philippines as a member of the United Nations has an obligation to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms as stated in the UN charter:
NOW THEREFORE, be it
RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, TO urge:
1. The United Nations Security Council to immediately call upon the ruling junta of Myanmar to cease its repressions of the fundamental rights of the people of Burma and the use of force against the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators;
2. The European Union to use its influence to help bring about democratic governance in Burma to provide in a peaceful manner a democratic solution to the problems the country is facing; and
3. The Association of South East Asian Nations to demand that the ruling junta of Myanmar should immediately end its violent and brutal dispersals of the unarmed and peaceful demonstrators; to suspend Mayanmar from its membership in ASEAN; and if the ruling junta persists in abusing its own people, to expel Myanmar from ASEAN.
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RESOLUTION NO. 19, ADOPTED SEPTEMBER 26, 2007.
RESOLUTION URGING THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC), THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) AND THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN) TO END THE VIOLENT REPRESSION OF THE RULING MILITARY JUNTA UPON THE PEOPLE OF MYANMAR
WHEREAS, on August 19, 2007, widespread peaceful mass protests began in Myanmar after the government hiked fuel prices; (which protests) could be traced to the deep-rooted dissatisfaction of the people with the repressive military rule that has gripped the country since 1962;
WHEREAS, despite government warnings banning all public gatherings of more than five people and the imposition of a nighttime curfew, tens of thousands of Buddhist monks, activists and other supporters (of the democratic movement of Burma) marched down the streets to demonstrate their dissatisfaction and grievances;
WHEREAS, on September 26, 2007, the military junta intensified its crackdown on the biggest pro-democracy demonstrations in twenty years by firing shots over the heads of large crowds in the main city of Myanmar; arresting a great number of protestors many of whom are Buddhist monks and killing and injuring some of them;
WHEREAS, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides under Article 9 that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile and under Article 20 thereof that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
WHEREAS, the Philippines as a member of the United Nations has an obligation to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms as stated in the UN charter:
NOW THEREFORE, be it
RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, TO urge:
1. The United Nations Security Council to immediately call upon the ruling junta of Myanmar to cease its repressions of the fundamental rights of the people of Burma and the use of force against the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators;
2. The European Union to use its influence to help bring about democratic governance in Burma to provide in a peaceful manner a democratic solution to the problems the country is facing; and
3. The Association of South East Asian Nations to demand that the ruling junta of Myanmar should immediately end its violent and brutal dispersals of the unarmed and peaceful demonstrators; to suspend Mayanmar from its membership in ASEAN; and if the ruling junta persists in abusing its own people, to expel Myanmar from ASEAN.
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Friday, September 28, 2007
Aussie mining firm's lawsuit against Nueva Vizcaya dad slammed
Kalikasan PNE to mining firms, Arroyo administration: Stop harassing anti-mining LGU officials!
Clemente Bautista, Jr. Kalikasan-PNE National Coordinator
Pro-environment activists today vowed to launch an "international shame campaign" against an Australian-owned mining firm for filing a lawsuit against Romeo Tayaban, Mayor of Kasibu town in Nueva Vizcaya, who supported his constituents in opposing its exploration project.
Atty. Virgil Castrol, legal counsel for Oxiana Philippines Inc. and its foreign partner RoyalCo, Ltd.of Australia, filed a petition at the local court in Nueva Vizcaya Wednesday, asking it to cite Mayor Tayaban in contempt. Mayor Tayaban and the majority of his constituents are opposed to an impending exploration by Oxiana Philippines, Inc. in five barangays of Kasibu (Pa-o, Kakidugen, Paquet, Dine & Katarawan) under Exploration Permit RO2-0014, which was extended by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau up to June 2009 despite the opposition of the affected communities. A barricade set up by Kasibu residents since July 2, 2007 has so far successfully blocked the entry of Oxiana's drilling equipment into Pa-o.
In a statement, Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) National Coordinator Clemente Bautista, Jr. slammed Oxiana's "latest lawsuit against community leaders opposed to their dirty, damaging and unacceptable exploration project".
"We categorically condemn Oxiana for harassing Mayor Tayaban through this complaint and obstructing his duties as a duly-elected local government official as Mayor of Kasibu. As a responsible government official, Mayor Tayaban has staunchly stood by the wishes of his constituents to reject Oxiana's mining exploration project," Bautista said.
Bautista called attention to the fact that Mayor Tayaban is not the only LGU official who has been pressured to support the Arroyo administration's mining projects.
"DENR Secretary Lito Atienza even had the temerity to tell Palawan Mayor Edward Hagedorn to reverse his declaration of a mining ban in Palawan. Other LGUs have also faced similar pressure but have asserted their constituencies rights to reject large-scale foreign mining. This year, North Cotabato Vice-Governor Manny Pinol declared a 'no mining' policy in his area of responsibility. In January 2002, the provincial government of Mindoro Oriental passed a resolution enforcing a 25-year mining moratorium," Bautista said.
Bautista announced that Kalikasan PNE and its network organizations would be "embarking on an international shame campaign against Oxiana Philppine's Australian partner, RoyalCo Resources of Australia".
"We will be exhorting RoyalCo's financial supporters and business partners to desist from supporting a mining firm which indiscriminately harasses local government officials and grassroots leaders and thereby causing human rights violations and disregarding the principle of free and informed prior consent from mining-affected communities. We will also be reaching out to pro-environment Australians who should be aware of how much environmental destruction and community displacements are being caused by Aussie firms such as RoyalCo," Bautista said.
Bautista described Oxiana's complaint as a "classic case of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP)"
"SLAPPs are lawsuits ranging from libel to conspiracy used by powerful corporate entities against non-governmental individuals or groups defending issues of marginalized sectors, such as human, labor, peasant or consumer rights, environmental protection, national patrimony and the like," Bautista said.
"SLAPPs are a form of litigation filed by usually powerful entities against less financially-capable critics with the intention of intimidating and silencing them in the course of a lengthy and costly legal battle. Environmental groups in other countries have faced SLAPPs by commercial real estate developers, companies, and the like. In the Philippines, these "powerful entities" using SLAPPs are usually foreign-owned mining or logging firms or elite land-owning families who control and extract resources from vast tracts of lands," Bautista explained.
Bautista said that Mayor Tayaban is the 25th victim of a SLAPP suit by Oxiana in Kasibu. Oxiana earlier filed for a Temporary Restraining Order against 24 other indigenous people's leaders representing the Ibaloi, Ifugao, Kalanguya, Bugkalot, Kankaney, and Bontoc communities in Kasibu for holding the anti-exploration barricade, including Lucas Buay, an Ifugao leader and chairperson of the Council of Leaders of the Kasibu Inter-tribal Response Towards Ecological Development.
Other Philippine environmental advocates currently facing SLAPP suits include Frances Quimpo, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC-Phils), a non-government organization (NGO) facing a P10 million libel suit from Australian-owned mining company Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI) which operates the Arroyo administration's controversial flagship mining project in the environmentally-critical island of Rapu-Rapu in Albay, Bicol. CEC-Phils is one of the NGOs actively involved in the campaign for LPI's closure and a moratorium on mining operations in Rapu-Rapu.
LPI's Philippine partners, represented by Manuel Agcaoili, President of Rapu-Rapu Processing, Inc, and Bayani H. Agabin, Senior Vice-President of Rapu-Rapu Minerals, Inc., filed a complaint before the Pasig City Prosecutor's Office on July 9 against CEC-Phils' trustees, to answer for libel in their publication entitled "Rapu-Rapu A Struggle Against Mining Liberalization And Plunder In the Philippines". The publication was distributed when CEC-Phils visited and lobbied before Lafayette's financial shareholders in Australia last June 8.
Atty. Virgil Castrol, legal counsel for Oxiana Philippines Inc. and its foreign partner RoyalCo, Ltd.of Australia, filed a petition at the local court in Nueva Vizcaya Wednesday, asking it to cite Mayor Tayaban in contempt. Mayor Tayaban and the majority of his constituents are opposed to an impending exploration by Oxiana Philippines, Inc. in five barangays of Kasibu (Pa-o, Kakidugen, Paquet, Dine & Katarawan) under Exploration Permit RO2-0014, which was extended by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau up to June 2009 despite the opposition of the affected communities. A barricade set up by Kasibu residents since July 2, 2007 has so far successfully blocked the entry of Oxiana's drilling equipment into Pa-o.
In a statement, Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) National Coordinator Clemente Bautista, Jr. slammed Oxiana's "latest lawsuit against community leaders opposed to their dirty, damaging and unacceptable exploration project".
"We categorically condemn Oxiana for harassing Mayor Tayaban through this complaint and obstructing his duties as a duly-elected local government official as Mayor of Kasibu. As a responsible government official, Mayor Tayaban has staunchly stood by the wishes of his constituents to reject Oxiana's mining exploration project," Bautista said.
Bautista called attention to the fact that Mayor Tayaban is not the only LGU official who has been pressured to support the Arroyo administration's mining projects.
"DENR Secretary Lito Atienza even had the temerity to tell Palawan Mayor Edward Hagedorn to reverse his declaration of a mining ban in Palawan. Other LGUs have also faced similar pressure but have asserted their constituencies rights to reject large-scale foreign mining. This year, North Cotabato Vice-Governor Manny Pinol declared a 'no mining' policy in his area of responsibility. In January 2002, the provincial government of Mindoro Oriental passed a resolution enforcing a 25-year mining moratorium," Bautista said.
Bautista announced that Kalikasan PNE and its network organizations would be "embarking on an international shame campaign against Oxiana Philppine's Australian partner, RoyalCo Resources of Australia".
"We will be exhorting RoyalCo's financial supporters and business partners to desist from supporting a mining firm which indiscriminately harasses local government officials and grassroots leaders and thereby causing human rights violations and disregarding the principle of free and informed prior consent from mining-affected communities. We will also be reaching out to pro-environment Australians who should be aware of how much environmental destruction and community displacements are being caused by Aussie firms such as RoyalCo," Bautista said.
Bautista described Oxiana's complaint as a "classic case of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP)"
"SLAPPs are lawsuits ranging from libel to conspiracy used by powerful corporate entities against non-governmental individuals or groups defending issues of marginalized sectors, such as human, labor, peasant or consumer rights, environmental protection, national patrimony and the like," Bautista said.
"SLAPPs are a form of litigation filed by usually powerful entities against less financially-capable critics with the intention of intimidating and silencing them in the course of a lengthy and costly legal battle. Environmental groups in other countries have faced SLAPPs by commercial real estate developers, companies, and the like. In the Philippines, these "powerful entities" using SLAPPs are usually foreign-owned mining or logging firms or elite land-owning families who control and extract resources from vast tracts of lands," Bautista explained.
Bautista said that Mayor Tayaban is the 25th victim of a SLAPP suit by Oxiana in Kasibu. Oxiana earlier filed for a Temporary Restraining Order against 24 other indigenous people's leaders representing the Ibaloi, Ifugao, Kalanguya, Bugkalot, Kankaney, and Bontoc communities in Kasibu for holding the anti-exploration barricade, including Lucas Buay, an Ifugao leader and chairperson of the Council of Leaders of the Kasibu Inter-tribal Response Towards Ecological Development.
Other Philippine environmental advocates currently facing SLAPP suits include Frances Quimpo, Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Concerns-Philippines (CEC-Phils), a non-government organization (NGO) facing a P10 million libel suit from Australian-owned mining company Lafayette Philippines Inc. (LPI) which operates the Arroyo administration's controversial flagship mining project in the environmentally-critical island of Rapu-Rapu in Albay, Bicol. CEC-Phils is one of the NGOs actively involved in the campaign for LPI's closure and a moratorium on mining operations in Rapu-Rapu.
LPI's Philippine partners, represented by Manuel Agcaoili, President of Rapu-Rapu Processing, Inc, and Bayani H. Agabin, Senior Vice-President of Rapu-Rapu Minerals, Inc., filed a complaint before the Pasig City Prosecutor's Office on July 9 against CEC-Phils' trustees, to answer for libel in their publication entitled "Rapu-Rapu A Struggle Against Mining Liberalization And Plunder In the Philippines". The publication was distributed when CEC-Phils visited and lobbied before Lafayette's financial shareholders in Australia last June 8.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Karapatan's Enriquez reports to UNHRC on the continuing extrajudicial killings in the Philippines
Ruth Cervantes, Public Information Officer
Speaking before the United Nations Human Rights Council yesterday afternoon in Geneva (September 24, 11PM Philippine time), Karapatan Secretary General Marie Hilao-Erniquez reported that the killings have not stopped and that "the measures implemented by the Philippine government did not and will not resolve the killings."
Enriquez said that from January to July 2007, there were 60 cases of extrajudicial executions and that from January to June 2007 there were 17 cases of disappearances, 12 cases of torture, 113 cases of illegal arrests and thousands became victims of forced evacuation.
Karapatan attributes the unabated human rights violations to the two underlying causes already pointed out by Prof. Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajdicial Killings, who visited the Philippines in February this year and issued his initial report in March.
Enriquez said, "The Arroyo government to this day continues with the 'vilification' of most groups on the left of the political spectrum as 'front organizations' for the armed groups thereby rendering such groups to be accordingly considered to be legitimate targets."
The second cause identified by Alston and is still presently in effect are the aspects of the "Government's counter-insurgency strategy that encourage or facilitate the extrajudicial killings of activists and other 'enemies' in certain circumstances."
Enriquez, who spoke on behalf of the entire Philippine NGO delegation, including Mrs. Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, told the UNHRC "Mrs. Burgos and other members of our NGO delegation made the long trip here to Geneva to beseech this Council to prevail upon the Philippine government to make good its commitments in the pledges it made to the General Assembly when it sought reelection to this Council in May of this year."
Enriquez also called to mind the declaration of martial law in the Philippines 35 years ago on September 21 and said that "the impunity by which violations were committed by state security forces at that time continues to this day even as martial law survivors have not been recognized and indemnified by this administration which just made promises to do so."
Calling on the attention of the UNHRC, Enriquez said, "Our country has long been depicted as a democracy in Southeast Asia and as such it must be compelled to adhere to human rights standards and international humanitarian laws. It must resolve cases of human rights violations and render justice to victims. We hope that the Human Rights Council bears this record in mind when the Philippine government is reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review."
The statement made by Enriquez before the UNHRC was supported by the World Council of Churches, the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
Enriquez said that from January to July 2007, there were 60 cases of extrajudicial executions and that from January to June 2007 there were 17 cases of disappearances, 12 cases of torture, 113 cases of illegal arrests and thousands became victims of forced evacuation.
Karapatan attributes the unabated human rights violations to the two underlying causes already pointed out by Prof. Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajdicial Killings, who visited the Philippines in February this year and issued his initial report in March.
Enriquez said, "The Arroyo government to this day continues with the 'vilification' of most groups on the left of the political spectrum as 'front organizations' for the armed groups thereby rendering such groups to be accordingly considered to be legitimate targets."
The second cause identified by Alston and is still presently in effect are the aspects of the "Government's counter-insurgency strategy that encourage or facilitate the extrajudicial killings of activists and other 'enemies' in certain circumstances."
Enriquez, who spoke on behalf of the entire Philippine NGO delegation, including Mrs. Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos, told the UNHRC "Mrs. Burgos and other members of our NGO delegation made the long trip here to Geneva to beseech this Council to prevail upon the Philippine government to make good its commitments in the pledges it made to the General Assembly when it sought reelection to this Council in May of this year."
Enriquez also called to mind the declaration of martial law in the Philippines 35 years ago on September 21 and said that "the impunity by which violations were committed by state security forces at that time continues to this day even as martial law survivors have not been recognized and indemnified by this administration which just made promises to do so."
Calling on the attention of the UNHRC, Enriquez said, "Our country has long been depicted as a democracy in Southeast Asia and as such it must be compelled to adhere to human rights standards and international humanitarian laws. It must resolve cases of human rights violations and render justice to victims. We hope that the Human Rights Council bears this record in mind when the Philippine government is reviewed under the Universal Periodic Review."
The statement made by Enriquez before the UNHRC was supported by the World Council of Churches, the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development, the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
Monday, September 24, 2007
FG's Alphabet Song
The China ZTE National Broadband Scandal involving First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos.
Download the new protest ringtone! AB-ZTE-FG!Saturday, September 22, 2007
NUJP Statement on media harassment and threat
Joe Torres Jr., NUJP chairperson
Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary-general
September 22, 2007
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines is alarmed over reports that no less than the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has prevented a reporter from covering legitimate news events in Mindanao, particularly in the province of Basilan.
The banning of Julie Alipala, a reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, from covering ongoing military operations in Basilan is a violation of press freedom and the people's right to know as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution. She has also repeatedly received threats because of her reports on military operations in Basilan and Sulu that exposed lapses and abuses on the part of the AFP.
The NUJP looks at the military's action against a legitimate media practitioner as pure harassment and an indication of the military's penchant for human rights violations. The NUJP is also deeply concerned for her safety.
What makes this even more alarming are reports that another journalist has received death threats for exposing corruption in the government.
Philippine Star's Jarius Bondoc sought assistance after receiving death threats allegedly due to his exposé on the controversial $330-million contract for the government's national broadband network project with China's ZTE Corp.
Bondoc has been receiving text (SMS) messages warning him that he could be shot or his office bombed anytime for his exposes.
The NUJP calls on the authorities to look into these incidents even as we urge the military to stop harassing media practitioners, especially in the provinces.
The banning of Julie Alipala, a reporter of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, from covering ongoing military operations in Basilan is a violation of press freedom and the people's right to know as enshrined in the Philippine Constitution. She has also repeatedly received threats because of her reports on military operations in Basilan and Sulu that exposed lapses and abuses on the part of the AFP.
The NUJP looks at the military's action against a legitimate media practitioner as pure harassment and an indication of the military's penchant for human rights violations. The NUJP is also deeply concerned for her safety.
What makes this even more alarming are reports that another journalist has received death threats for exposing corruption in the government.
Philippine Star's Jarius Bondoc sought assistance after receiving death threats allegedly due to his exposé on the controversial $330-million contract for the government's national broadband network project with China's ZTE Corp.
Bondoc has been receiving text (SMS) messages warning him that he could be shot or his office bombed anytime for his exposes.
The NUJP calls on the authorities to look into these incidents even as we urge the military to stop harassing media practitioners, especially in the provinces.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Karapatan denounce censorship on 'Rights' ads, slam MTRCB for acting as GMA's censorship body
Ruth Cervantes, Public Information Officer
The human rights group Karapatan today denounced the banning of 'Rights,' a series of public service advertisements on human rights by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).
"It is clear as day that this is censorship and that the MTRCB is acting as the Arroyo administration's censorship body," said Ruth Cervantes, Public Information Officer of Karapatan.
Karapatan said that the MTRCB's X rating on 'Rights' is a form of violation of freedom of expression and the right to information because it prevents the public from viewing the film and being informed about the inviolability of their rights.
Cervantes said, "The independent film makers merely gave a visual expression to what is in the news and what is really happening in the country – the spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and generally the sorry state of human rights violations. Now the MTRCB says it's not fit for public viewing. This is like martial law."
Karapatan questioned the basis of MTRCB for saying that it undermines duly constituted authorities. "That guideline constitutes prior restraint. The public service ads have in fact wanted to bring to the attention of the public that accountability in government and the rule of law should be restored. Moreover, the film intends to make criminals liable, which falls under the MTRCB's guidelines that films should not glorify criminals and condone crime."
The MTRCB, which was created during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos is still in effect a censor's board, and clearly contravenes freedom of speech and expression enshrined in our Constitution and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Karapatan said it will continue to support efforts of artists and film makers in their initiatives to espouse the worthy cause of human rights and said they will join them in the fight against censorship and repression.
"It is clear as day that this is censorship and that the MTRCB is acting as the Arroyo administration's censorship body," said Ruth Cervantes, Public Information Officer of Karapatan.
Karapatan said that the MTRCB's X rating on 'Rights' is a form of violation of freedom of expression and the right to information because it prevents the public from viewing the film and being informed about the inviolability of their rights.
Cervantes said, "The independent film makers merely gave a visual expression to what is in the news and what is really happening in the country – the spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and generally the sorry state of human rights violations. Now the MTRCB says it's not fit for public viewing. This is like martial law."
Karapatan questioned the basis of MTRCB for saying that it undermines duly constituted authorities. "That guideline constitutes prior restraint. The public service ads have in fact wanted to bring to the attention of the public that accountability in government and the rule of law should be restored. Moreover, the film intends to make criminals liable, which falls under the MTRCB's guidelines that films should not glorify criminals and condone crime."
The MTRCB, which was created during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos is still in effect a censor's board, and clearly contravenes freedom of speech and expression enshrined in our Constitution and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Karapatan said it will continue to support efforts of artists and film makers in their initiatives to espouse the worthy cause of human rights and said they will join them in the fight against censorship and repression.
Filipinos must resist Arroyo's terrorism with the same fervor in opposing Marcos' martial law
Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan Public Information Officer
Romy Luneta, SELDA National Secretariat
Human rights organizations under the banner of Karapatan, which includes the organization of martial law victims and former political prisoners called SELDA, today joins the public demonstration at the Liwasang Bonifacio to mark the 35th anniversary of the declaration of martial law.
As we pay tribute to the thousands of Filipino heroes, both living and dead, who have fought the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos, we call on our compatriots to resist the Arroyo regime's terrorism with the same fervor.
We also pay our highest tribute to 33 of our colleagues and the 358 activists who were martyred in the defense of human rights. They made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives for our people's rights. We salute our colleagues in the field, especially those who incessantly face but continue to defy threats and intimidation in order to document cases of rights violations and assist victims and their families.
There is a new dictator and kleptocrat in Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her cohorts under an undeclared martial law. Her regime have already recorded 886 victims of extrajudicial killings, 355 victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 184 enforced disappearances and 799 victims of torture in her six-year rule.
Historian Alfred W. McCoy said there were 3,257 victims of extrajudicial killings in the 14-year martial rule of Marcos. Various human rights organizations recorded 769 victims of enforced disappearance from 1971 to February 1986.
As in the past, the perpetrators of human rights violations, mainly state forces and death squads under their direction and control, continue to enjoy impunity because the Commander-In-Chief has allowed, abetted and countenanced violence committed against women and men, children and the elderly in all sectors of society.
To this day, the words of former Senator and anti-dictatorship stalwart Jose "Pepe" Diokno rings true "If we do not struggle with all that we can have and do all that we can to vindicate our rights, we not only condemn our rights to death; we also condemn our hopes and dreams, our present, and our children's future. Which course shall we choose?"
Thus, we call on all compatriots to renew our commitment to defend our human rights in the face of fascism and join the families of victims in their quest for justice not only for their kin but also for the whole nation.
Let us continue to expose and oppose the US government and its puppet regime in the Philippines for instigating a dirty war against the Filipino people in order to remain in power and benefit from the existing unjust social system.
As we pay tribute to the thousands of Filipino heroes, both living and dead, who have fought the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos, we call on our compatriots to resist the Arroyo regime's terrorism with the same fervor.
We also pay our highest tribute to 33 of our colleagues and the 358 activists who were martyred in the defense of human rights. They made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives for our people's rights. We salute our colleagues in the field, especially those who incessantly face but continue to defy threats and intimidation in order to document cases of rights violations and assist victims and their families.
There is a new dictator and kleptocrat in Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her cohorts under an undeclared martial law. Her regime have already recorded 886 victims of extrajudicial killings, 355 victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 184 enforced disappearances and 799 victims of torture in her six-year rule.
Historian Alfred W. McCoy said there were 3,257 victims of extrajudicial killings in the 14-year martial rule of Marcos. Various human rights organizations recorded 769 victims of enforced disappearance from 1971 to February 1986.
As in the past, the perpetrators of human rights violations, mainly state forces and death squads under their direction and control, continue to enjoy impunity because the Commander-In-Chief has allowed, abetted and countenanced violence committed against women and men, children and the elderly in all sectors of society.
To this day, the words of former Senator and anti-dictatorship stalwart Jose "Pepe" Diokno rings true "If we do not struggle with all that we can have and do all that we can to vindicate our rights, we not only condemn our rights to death; we also condemn our hopes and dreams, our present, and our children's future. Which course shall we choose?"
Thus, we call on all compatriots to renew our commitment to defend our human rights in the face of fascism and join the families of victims in their quest for justice not only for their kin but also for the whole nation.
Let us continue to expose and oppose the US government and its puppet regime in the Philippines for instigating a dirty war against the Filipino people in order to remain in power and benefit from the existing unjust social system.
Military task force bans Inquirer reporter from Basilan coverage
ISABELA CITY , BASILAN -- Philippine Marine Corps Commandant Major General Ben Dolorfino confirmed to Zamboanga Inquirer correspondent Julie S. Alipala that she was being banned by the military from covering its operations in the strife torn island province of Basilan.Reports received by the Media Safety Office of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines and International Federation of Journalists quoted Dolorfino as saying, "When we were in Basilan, I was informed by (Task Force Thunder) officials there that they were under instruction from CSAF (Lt. General Hermogenes Esperon Jr.) that the Inquirer correspondent (Alipala) is banned to (sic) cover military activities, but I don't believe them."
According to Alipala, an undisclosed informant confirmed the Esperon's order which was reportedly relayed by Task Force Thunder chief Brig. Gen. Juancho Sabban himself.
Alipala sought to verify it with AFP spokesperson Lt. Colonel Bartolome Bacarro, who denied receiving such instruction from Esperon.
Alipala earlier earned the ire of military officials because of her reports on military abuses and lapses during operations. Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lieutenant General Eugenio Cedo in fact walked out of a press conference last August 21 after castigating Alipala for reporting on lapses in the August 18 clash in Unkaya Pukan town in Basilan. Fifteen marines were killed by the bandit group Abu Sayyaf in the incident.
Alipala also received threats after the incident and warned by contacts in the military that she should be careful.
JUAN, TAKBO
"Scenes in this film are presented unfairly, one-sided and undermines the faith and confidence of the government and duly constituted authorities for public exhibition." - MTRCB Review of RIGHTS
WATCH THE COMPLETE RIGHTS PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISEMENT AT youtube.com
Anna Isabelle Matutina
Coordinator / Filmmaker
RIGHTS Filmmakers initiative
Free Jonas Burgos Movement
Victor Tagaro
Overall Coordinator / Filmmaker
Free Jonas Burgos Movement
GMA’s undeclared Martial Law continues, Moro group says
COTABATO CITY – A Moro group here is calling for an end to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, intense militarization and human rights violations as the Filipino people commemorates the 35 years of dreadful martial law days from deposed former president Ferdinand Marcos to detested president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
SUARA Bangsamoro express apprehension on the continuing patterns and mounting cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country which already scored 886 and 179 respectively since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power in January 21, 2001.
Bai Ali Indayla, the group’s spokesperson in Cotabato City said, “The undeclared Martial Law of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo continues and the Moro people were not exempted to the escalating human rights violations. The recent skirmishes in Sulu and Basilan brought massive illegal arrests, abductions, tortures and evacuations of innocent Moro people.”
This year, the group documented several cases of government troops hitting civilians before and during their pursuit of July 10 ambuscade’s suspects. A 14 year old Abdulhakim Abilul was shot dead on January 18 by military in Kilometer 4, Kasambahan Village, Indanan, Sulu while on his way home from watching television in their neighbor’s house. “The military accused Abdulhakim as member of the Abu Sayyaf. His family was offered P15,000.00 to silence them,” Indayla articulated.
Another, Sarah Lumandong, 25, of sitio Marang, barangay Lower Sungkayot, Tipo-Tipo, Basilan was hit at her lower leg when the military fired mortars at her house as ground testing on August 8. The national dailies reported the incident as legitimate encounter between the military and the rebels in Tipo-Tipo.
On August 19, a report from the DSWD-ARMM stated that eight kids aged 4 to 16 years old from Indanan, Sulu were arrested and tortured along with their parents by the military’s Joint Special Operations Force.
The group criticized Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s order to government troops on August 13 to launch full offensives against rebels. “This only shows Arroyo’s callousness and cruelty. Our Muslim brothers are often the targets of her pointless war on terror,” the group emphasized.
“In her six-year reign, the Moro people had suffered so much. Arroyo continues to choose military might over genuine reforms. We cannot take another three more years of Marcosian rule – jampacked with corruption, anomalies and brutalities,” Indayla concluded.
SUARA Bangsamoro express apprehension on the continuing patterns and mounting cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country which already scored 886 and 179 respectively since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power in January 21, 2001.
Bai Ali Indayla, the group’s spokesperson in Cotabato City said, “The undeclared Martial Law of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo continues and the Moro people were not exempted to the escalating human rights violations. The recent skirmishes in Sulu and Basilan brought massive illegal arrests, abductions, tortures and evacuations of innocent Moro people.”
This year, the group documented several cases of government troops hitting civilians before and during their pursuit of July 10 ambuscade’s suspects. A 14 year old Abdulhakim Abilul was shot dead on January 18 by military in Kilometer 4, Kasambahan Village, Indanan, Sulu while on his way home from watching television in their neighbor’s house. “The military accused Abdulhakim as member of the Abu Sayyaf. His family was offered P15,000.00 to silence them,” Indayla articulated.
Another, Sarah Lumandong, 25, of sitio Marang, barangay Lower Sungkayot, Tipo-Tipo, Basilan was hit at her lower leg when the military fired mortars at her house as ground testing on August 8. The national dailies reported the incident as legitimate encounter between the military and the rebels in Tipo-Tipo.
On August 19, a report from the DSWD-ARMM stated that eight kids aged 4 to 16 years old from Indanan, Sulu were arrested and tortured along with their parents by the military’s Joint Special Operations Force.
The group criticized Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s order to government troops on August 13 to launch full offensives against rebels. “This only shows Arroyo’s callousness and cruelty. Our Muslim brothers are often the targets of her pointless war on terror,” the group emphasized.
“In her six-year reign, the Moro people had suffered so much. Arroyo continues to choose military might over genuine reforms. We cannot take another three more years of Marcosian rule – jampacked with corruption, anomalies and brutalities,” Indayla concluded.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Filipino human rights defenders in Geneva, Switzerland
A group of Filipino human rights defenders, led by Karapatan Secretary General Marie Hilao-Enriquez, are currently in Geneva, Switzerland to attend the UN Human Rights Council Session and lobby for help on worsening human rights situation in the Philippines.
Among the members of the Philippine delegation of HR Defenders include Mrs. Edita Burgos (mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos), Atty. Edre Olalia (Special Legal Consultant for Karapatan on UN Mechanisms and President of International Association of People's Lawyers), Ms. Susan Cruz of Bayan Central-Luzon.
Mrs. Burgos and Ms. Enriquez have met with the Brazilian ambassador to the UN and had likewise participated in a forum on women human rights defenders. (Ruth Cervantes-Karapatan Public Information Officer)
JPEPA expropriation provisions severely limits RP's freedom to direct wn economy
IBON-September 20, 2007
Senators from the Foreign Relations Committee who are conducting hearings today on the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) should consider provisions in the free trade pact that threaten the country's sovereignty as enough grounds not to ratify the agreement.
IBON research head Sonny Africa pointed out that, in order to protect Japanese investors, the JPEPA has a strict expropriation and compensation clause, which reads:
Neither party shall expropriate or nationalize investments in its Area of investors of the other Party or take any measure equivalent to expropriation or nationalization (hereinafter referred to in this Chapter as "expropriation" ) except: (a) for a publi c p urpose; (b) on a non-discriminatory basis; (c) in accordance with due process of law; and (d) upon payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation. " (Chapter 8, Article 95)
Africa said that with this provision, the JPEPA lays the basis for Japanese investors to challenge the Philippine government in court if it reneges on previously granted tax and customs duty exemptions. He pointed out the term "non-discriminatory " in the provision remains open to interpretation and does not necessarily permit the Philippine government to raise taxes at will.
He added that in a later provision, the JPEPA explicitly states that taxation measures may be considered tantamount to expropriation:
Article 95 shall apply to taxation measures, to the extent that such taxation measures constitute expropriation as provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 95. (Chapter 8, Article 104)
Africa said that if, for example, the government imposes added taxes in the future, Japanese firms can invoke the JPEPA to demand compensation for these taxes on the ground that these were not in place when the investors set up shop and so did not factor into their business plans and targeted revenue streams and profit estimates.
This provision is a brazen impingement on the sovereign right of the Philippines to tax economic activity within its jurisdiction. Africa added that it is even possible for "expropriation" to be broadly interpreted to mean not just a takeover of property but the virtual takeover or incidental loss of profits by Japanese firms as a result of new regulations being implemented.
IBON research head Sonny Africa pointed out that, in order to protect Japanese investors, the JPEPA has a strict expropriation and compensation clause, which reads:
Neither party shall expropriate or nationalize investments in its Area of investors of the other Party or take any measure equivalent to expropriation or nationalization (hereinafter referred to in this Chapter as "expropriation" ) except: (a) for a publi c p urpose; (b) on a non-discriminatory basis; (c) in accordance with due process of law; and (d) upon payment of prompt, adequate and effective compensation. " (Chapter 8, Article 95)
Africa said that with this provision, the JPEPA lays the basis for Japanese investors to challenge the Philippine government in court if it reneges on previously granted tax and customs duty exemptions. He pointed out the term "non-discriminatory " in the provision remains open to interpretation and does not necessarily permit the Philippine government to raise taxes at will.
He added that in a later provision, the JPEPA explicitly states that taxation measures may be considered tantamount to expropriation:
Article 95 shall apply to taxation measures, to the extent that such taxation measures constitute expropriation as provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 95. (Chapter 8, Article 104)
Africa said that if, for example, the government imposes added taxes in the future, Japanese firms can invoke the JPEPA to demand compensation for these taxes on the ground that these were not in place when the investors set up shop and so did not factor into their business plans and targeted revenue streams and profit estimates.
This provision is a brazen impingement on the sovereign right of the Philippines to tax economic activity within its jurisdiction. Africa added that it is even possible for "expropriation" to be broadly interpreted to mean not just a takeover of property but the virtual takeover or incidental loss of profits by Japanese firms as a result of new regulations being implemented.
IBON TO WTO HEAD LAMY: Aid shouldn't be used to promote trade
IBON-September 19, 2007
Development aid should not be used to promote the developed countries’ ‘free trade’ agenda, independent think-tank IBON Foundation said today, as World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy arrives in Manila to kick off an Asian Development Bank conference on Mobilizing Aid for Trade (AfT).
The WTO defines AfT as ‘donor funds’ channeled to finance trade-related technical assistance and infrastructure, plus aid used to develop productive (supply-side) capacity.
According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, development aid could be of assistance to resource-starved underdeveloped countries such as the Philippines . But this can only happen if aid is divorced from the ‘free trade’ economic agenda of rich donor countries and decisions over where it is channelled and how it is implemented are placed under the control of local shareholders.
Lamy’s intention of promoting aid for trade only affirms how the WTO dangles development instruments like aid to Third World countries such as the Philippines to force open their economies further. (end)
IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution established in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.
The WTO defines AfT as ‘donor funds’ channeled to finance trade-related technical assistance and infrastructure, plus aid used to develop productive (supply-side) capacity.
According to IBON research head Sonny Africa, development aid could be of assistance to resource-starved underdeveloped countries such as the Philippines . But this can only happen if aid is divorced from the ‘free trade’ economic agenda of rich donor countries and decisions over where it is channelled and how it is implemented are placed under the control of local shareholders.
Lamy’s intention of promoting aid for trade only affirms how the WTO dangles development instruments like aid to Third World countries such as the Philippines to force open their economies further. (end)
IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution established in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.
Scientists highlight need for a genuine national information network, not a network of lies, corruption and kickbacks
Dr. Giovanni Tapang
September 19, 2007
Scientists highlight need for a genuine national information network, not a network of lies, corruption and kickbacks,
When people do not have access to information services and telecommunications, and governance is hampered by slow coordination between the national and local government units, any improvement to the use and access of new technology is always welcome.
However, this should not be left to private companies to do, or worse, be a platform for corruption of a few. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case with the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal entered into by the government and the ZTE Corporation.
The NBN contract, instead of providing genuinely accessible communication facilities to the countryside, seemed to have been signed just to fatten pockets of some government officials. Even if the NBN deal improves the communications between government agencies, it will still fail to sustain a national communications network because of the corruption and kickbacks of the current administration and its dependence on foreign technologies, expertise and financing.
For instance, the envisioned network will be financed by a government loan from the Chinese government as an Official Development Assistance (ODA). ODAs involving tied loans will favor the Chinese government and Chinese companies but not the Filipino people. In the end, the
Philippine government will need to obtain millions from Filipino taxpayers to repay the debts incurred from the deal.
Another view is expressed by economists Fabella and de Dios, who assert that the NBN deal should be left to private telecommunications firms. They strongly abhor government control on the telecommunications industry which has expanded service coverage only in profitable areas. But was privatization ever beneficial to the people?
We can cite the power industry experience under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) as an example of the failed promises of privatization. Contrary to what has been claimed during the passage of the law, the EPIRA has not caused any real decrease in power rates. Aside from the initial and fleeting 30 centavo Power Act reduction, there has been no substantial decrease in power rates due to the EPIRA. Instead, the EPIRA has legitimized the onerous Purchased Power Adjustments from contracts entered into by the NAPOCOR and has
led to increasing rates.
As advocates of science and technology for the people, we from AGHAM maintain that infrastructures such as a telecommunications backbone should be a responsibility of the government. Such a network which can provide the countryside with accessible communications facility must be part of the government services provided to facilitate industrial activity, commercial trading and domestic day-to-day activities.
Improving telecommunication services by using modern technologies, without corruption and foreign interests, will always be a welcome development for the people.
When people do not have access to information services and telecommunications, and governance is hampered by slow coordination between the national and local government units, any improvement to the use and access of new technology is always welcome.
However, this should not be left to private companies to do, or worse, be a platform for corruption of a few. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case with the National Broadband Network (NBN) deal entered into by the government and the ZTE Corporation.
The NBN contract, instead of providing genuinely accessible communication facilities to the countryside, seemed to have been signed just to fatten pockets of some government officials. Even if the NBN deal improves the communications between government agencies, it will still fail to sustain a national communications network because of the corruption and kickbacks of the current administration and its dependence on foreign technologies, expertise and financing.
For instance, the envisioned network will be financed by a government loan from the Chinese government as an Official Development Assistance (ODA). ODAs involving tied loans will favor the Chinese government and Chinese companies but not the Filipino people. In the end, the
Philippine government will need to obtain millions from Filipino taxpayers to repay the debts incurred from the deal.
Another view is expressed by economists Fabella and de Dios, who assert that the NBN deal should be left to private telecommunications firms. They strongly abhor government control on the telecommunications industry which has expanded service coverage only in profitable areas. But was privatization ever beneficial to the people?
We can cite the power industry experience under the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA) as an example of the failed promises of privatization. Contrary to what has been claimed during the passage of the law, the EPIRA has not caused any real decrease in power rates. Aside from the initial and fleeting 30 centavo Power Act reduction, there has been no substantial decrease in power rates due to the EPIRA. Instead, the EPIRA has legitimized the onerous Purchased Power Adjustments from contracts entered into by the NAPOCOR and has
led to increasing rates.
As advocates of science and technology for the people, we from AGHAM maintain that infrastructures such as a telecommunications backbone should be a responsibility of the government. Such a network which can provide the countryside with accessible communications facility must be part of the government services provided to facilitate industrial activity, commercial trading and domestic day-to-day activities.
Improving telecommunication services by using modern technologies, without corruption and foreign interests, will always be a welcome development for the people.
The people are indignant and fed up with Gloria and Mike Arroyo's conjugal crimes of plunder--CPP
September 19, 2007
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today said "The Filipino people are fed up and indignant over the conjugal corruption of Gloria and Mike Arroyo. They are enraged over the shameless bribery-taking by the Arroyos and their retinue of rotten big bureaucrat capitalists."
CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal "Pocketting $130 million in bribes, and from a single contract at that, is completely callous and ruthless, especially in the face of the desperate economic conditions of the Filipino people. In committing these crimes of unprecedented scale, the Arroyo regime is only bringing itself closer to its gnoble end."
Rosal made the remarks in reaction to revelations made yesterday at the Senate investigation on the highly anomalous $329-million national broadband network (NBN) government contract with the ZTE Corporation."
Rosal said that "Joey De Venecia's relevations have very clearly and graphically shown that Mike and Gloria Arroyo, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. and a number of other Arroyo officials have been 'on the take' and currying favors from ZTE."
The younger De Venecia is a major stockholder and officer of the Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), whose bid to build the NBN "at no cost to the government," was totally ignored and wastebasketed by the Arroyo regime. Instead, it signed a contract with ZTE brokered by Abalos.
According to De Venecia, the ZTE contract is "ridiculously overpriced" by as much as 300% to make room for "commissions" of highly placed brokers and approving officials of the Arroyo government.
In his testimony, De Venecia revealed that First Gentleman Mike Arroyo tried to intimidate him into withdrawing his company's bid for the NBN project in an effort to force through the highly controversial $329 million ZTE contract. Mike Arroyo reportedly pointed his finger at the younger de Venecia and shouted at him to "back off" during a meeting meant to "reconcile" him with Abalos.
"The personal interference of Mike Arroyo in matters surrounding the deal has made it all too obvious that Gloria Arroyo is also on the take," Rosal pointed out. It is estimated that the couple and their cohorts pocketed $130 million in bribes from this single contract.
The senators also cited other circumstances that would point to Gloria Arroyo's involvement in the anomaly: her witnessing the signing of the ZTE contract in April 2007 in China, her invoking an executive order and memo circular to prevent government officials from attending the Senate investigation, her continued insistence on implementing the contract despite widespread opposition over revelations of high-level bribery and collusion, and her allowing her husband Mike to surreptitiously leave the country on the eve of the investigation.
Rosal called on all patriotic and democratic forces and the Filipino people to demonstrate their indignation and intensify their efforts and actions to bring down the incorrigibly corrupt, rotten and vicious Arroyo regime.
He also called upon allies of the ruling clique to "realize how despicable Gloria has become in the eyes of the people, renounce the conjugal corruption of Gloria and Mike Arroyo and take the side with the people in their ardent desire to put an end to the rotten bureaucrat capitalist rule of the Arroyo regime."
CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal "Pocketting $130 million in bribes, and from a single contract at that, is completely callous and ruthless, especially in the face of the desperate economic conditions of the Filipino people. In committing these crimes of unprecedented scale, the Arroyo regime is only bringing itself closer to its gnoble end."
Rosal made the remarks in reaction to revelations made yesterday at the Senate investigation on the highly anomalous $329-million national broadband network (NBN) government contract with the ZTE Corporation."
Rosal said that "Joey De Venecia's relevations have very clearly and graphically shown that Mike and Gloria Arroyo, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. and a number of other Arroyo officials have been 'on the take' and currying favors from ZTE."
The younger De Venecia is a major stockholder and officer of the Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), whose bid to build the NBN "at no cost to the government," was totally ignored and wastebasketed by the Arroyo regime. Instead, it signed a contract with ZTE brokered by Abalos.
According to De Venecia, the ZTE contract is "ridiculously overpriced" by as much as 300% to make room for "commissions" of highly placed brokers and approving officials of the Arroyo government.
In his testimony, De Venecia revealed that First Gentleman Mike Arroyo tried to intimidate him into withdrawing his company's bid for the NBN project in an effort to force through the highly controversial $329 million ZTE contract. Mike Arroyo reportedly pointed his finger at the younger de Venecia and shouted at him to "back off" during a meeting meant to "reconcile" him with Abalos.
"The personal interference of Mike Arroyo in matters surrounding the deal has made it all too obvious that Gloria Arroyo is also on the take," Rosal pointed out. It is estimated that the couple and their cohorts pocketed $130 million in bribes from this single contract.
The senators also cited other circumstances that would point to Gloria Arroyo's involvement in the anomaly: her witnessing the signing of the ZTE contract in April 2007 in China, her invoking an executive order and memo circular to prevent government officials from attending the Senate investigation, her continued insistence on implementing the contract despite widespread opposition over revelations of high-level bribery and collusion, and her allowing her husband Mike to surreptitiously leave the country on the eve of the investigation.
Rosal called on all patriotic and democratic forces and the Filipino people to demonstrate their indignation and intensify their efforts and actions to bring down the incorrigibly corrupt, rotten and vicious Arroyo regime.
He also called upon allies of the ruling clique to "realize how despicable Gloria has become in the eyes of the people, renounce the conjugal corruption of Gloria and Mike Arroyo and take the side with the people in their ardent desire to put an end to the rotten bureaucrat capitalist rule of the Arroyo regime."
HSA and the press
By Nini B. Cabaero, SunStar Cebu
September 18, 2007
THE community press lives a "very peripheral existEnce," to borrow the words of Cebuano historian Resil Mojares.
I understand it to mean that, aside from being physically far from the nation's capital, community or regional newspapers are generally less well-off than the national publications, have limited resources and, in many cases, they are less able to cope with attacks on their ability to perform their work.
Yet, community newspapers have the wide-scope task of reporting information of great significance to a number of people. This is information not normally available to or carried by the metropolitan newspapers.
Those in the community press share the same reservations about the Human Security Act (HSA) as those expressed by their counterparts in Metro Manila.
But there is for the community press the added complication of having fewer resources, going a longer distance, to address a growing threat.
I agree with critics of the HSA that the definition of terrorism is vague, the fundamental right to due process can be violated, papers and properties can be seized, and suspects can be placed under electronic surveillance.
Worrisome was the statement of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez last July 4 that the media may be wiretapped based on mere suspicion of involvement in terrorism or on suspicion of "co-mingling with terror suspects."
Co-mingling. In the 1980s, the term meant sympathizers or being sympathetic to the other's cause. Many journalists, Cebu journalists included, were arrested or placed on watch lists at the height of the anti-communism movement for the simple reason they interviewed or were invited to press conferences of the rebels.
Even before the HSA became law, community journalists were already more in danger than their counterparts in Metro Manila. Just count the number of journalists killed since President Arroyo assumed office and you will find more attacks on journalists in the countryside.
What can the community press do?
* Hold more forums to discuss this new threat to press freedom
* Come up with positions to amend or scrap the Human Security Act
* Create protocols for the protection of journalists
* Network with national and international organizations to have a bigger voice
* Create legal networks to assist journalists under attack
The Cebu press is already doing these. The annual Press Freedom Week celebration becomes the occasion to discuss such issues, network with other groups and re-enforce support systems.
I understand it to mean that, aside from being physically far from the nation's capital, community or regional newspapers are generally less well-off than the national publications, have limited resources and, in many cases, they are less able to cope with attacks on their ability to perform their work.
Yet, community newspapers have the wide-scope task of reporting information of great significance to a number of people. This is information not normally available to or carried by the metropolitan newspapers.
Those in the community press share the same reservations about the Human Security Act (HSA) as those expressed by their counterparts in Metro Manila.
But there is for the community press the added complication of having fewer resources, going a longer distance, to address a growing threat.
I agree with critics of the HSA that the definition of terrorism is vague, the fundamental right to due process can be violated, papers and properties can be seized, and suspects can be placed under electronic surveillance.
Worrisome was the statement of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez last July 4 that the media may be wiretapped based on mere suspicion of involvement in terrorism or on suspicion of "co-mingling with terror suspects."
Co-mingling. In the 1980s, the term meant sympathizers or being sympathetic to the other's cause. Many journalists, Cebu journalists included, were arrested or placed on watch lists at the height of the anti-communism movement for the simple reason they interviewed or were invited to press conferences of the rebels.
Even before the HSA became law, community journalists were already more in danger than their counterparts in Metro Manila. Just count the number of journalists killed since President Arroyo assumed office and you will find more attacks on journalists in the countryside.
What can the community press do?
* Hold more forums to discuss this new threat to press freedom
* Come up with positions to amend or scrap the Human Security Act
* Create protocols for the protection of journalists
* Network with national and international organizations to have a bigger voice
* Create legal networks to assist journalists under attack
The Cebu press is already doing these. The annual Press Freedom Week celebration becomes the occasion to discuss such issues, network with other groups and re-enforce support systems.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
SENATE BROADBAND PROBE
SENATE BROADBAND PROBE: Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, chair of the blue ribbon, and Sen. Mar Roxas chair of trade and commerce cmmittees, preside over the first hearing on the controversial multi-billion-peso national broadband deal between the government and China's ZTE Corp. Jose de Venecia III (second from left), part-owner of losing bidder Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), named First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo as the "mystery man" who told him to back off from the project. Also in photo are Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex T. Suplico, former information and communications technology commissioner Ramon Sales, Philippine Star columnist Jarius Bondoc; and Senators Aquilino Pimentel and Rodolfo Biazon.Source: Philippine Senate
Statement of Speaker Jose de Venecia on broadband probe
The national interest is foremost in the current Senate inquiry on the proposed national broadband network.
My son appeared before the joint Senate hearings in his own right as a stockholder of the Amsterdam Holdings, Inc.
He has assumed full responsibility before the joint committees for his actions and revelations, which he provided under oath. In the course of his testimony, he named the First Gentleman, Miguel Arroyo, as telling him to back off the NBN program. The First Gentleman has every right to come forward and air his side on the issue.
It’s now for the Senate to determine if Jose de Venecia III was straightforward in telling the unvarnished truth. My son has his own moral principles to guide him. He is his own man, strong enough to stand up for them.
In this issue, both my son and the First Gentleman must be transparent to our people.
The people have the right to know the truth, nothing less. Only the truth…the truth.
This issue is now before the Supreme Court and the Ombudsman. We have to await their decision.
Source: Public Relations and Information Department
Opening statement of Sen, Mar, Roxas, Joint Blue Ribbon Committee Probe on ZTE contract
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
NAIA3.
Power contracts with IPPs.
Mega-Pacific contract.
And now we have this ZTE contract.
Once again, we confront a project that has all the elements found in this contract and so many others like them that were problematic or overpriced.
When will we ever learn?
Is this a contract in search of a need, or is this a valid need searching for a solution? Amidst all the controversy of the "mystery man" and "mystery contracts," we have yet to establish beyond reasonable doubt, the most fundamental basis of this or any other project.
What is our need? What is the correct solution for this need? Is this contract the answer to our need? And are we paying the right price for this solution?
The burden is on the government and on those who advocated, negotiated and approved this contract. And that is the intent of our Committee for this hearing.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Malacanang’s fingerprints all over tainted ZTE deal,
Junk the contract one and for all -- Bayan
September 18, 2007
The revelations of Joey de Venecia III implicating First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in the questionable National Broadband Network project leaves little doubt that the Arroyo administration at the highest levels was involved in forging the onerous contract.
This was the statement made by the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan as it called on the public to protest shameless corruption and plunder in the Arroyo administration.
“The alleged involvement of the First Gentleman, Secretary Leandro Mendoza and the Chair of the Commission on Elections Benjamin Abalos shows Malacanang’s fingerprints all over the tainted contract. This is corruption on a grand scale taking place at the highest levels of government,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“With these revelations, pushing through with the contract would be politically costly for the Arroyo regime. With suspicions of corruption being affirmed, it would be political suicide,” Reyes added.
Bayan said that even if the young de Venecia stopped short of implicating President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the tainted contract, the public is acutely aware of the record of corruption of the Arroyo government.
“It taxes the imagination to say that the President had absolutely nothing to do with the tainted contract, especially if persons supposedly close to her are already being implicated. The fact that the Arroyo regime continues to justify the existence of the ZTE contract despite the protests, leads us to believe that the administration finds the deal very beneficial,” Reyes said.
“Whether or not President Arroyo was directly influencing the negotiations may not be the only issue here. At the end of the day, if Arroyo does not junk the deal, she becomes an accomplice to corruption,” Reyes said.
This was the statement made by the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan as it called on the public to protest shameless corruption and plunder in the Arroyo administration.
“The alleged involvement of the First Gentleman, Secretary Leandro Mendoza and the Chair of the Commission on Elections Benjamin Abalos shows Malacanang’s fingerprints all over the tainted contract. This is corruption on a grand scale taking place at the highest levels of government,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“With these revelations, pushing through with the contract would be politically costly for the Arroyo regime. With suspicions of corruption being affirmed, it would be political suicide,” Reyes added.
Bayan said that even if the young de Venecia stopped short of implicating President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the tainted contract, the public is acutely aware of the record of corruption of the Arroyo government.
“It taxes the imagination to say that the President had absolutely nothing to do with the tainted contract, especially if persons supposedly close to her are already being implicated. The fact that the Arroyo regime continues to justify the existence of the ZTE contract despite the protests, leads us to believe that the administration finds the deal very beneficial,” Reyes said.
“Whether or not President Arroyo was directly influencing the negotiations may not be the only issue here. At the end of the day, if Arroyo does not junk the deal, she becomes an accomplice to corruption,” Reyes said.
DENR's anti-poaching drive useless if JPEPA is ratified
Giant Japanese fishing fleets to cause more marine resource depletion than poachers
Clemente Bautista, Jr.
September 18, 2007
Even as it acknowledged efforts by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to curb foreign poaching in Philippine waters, an environmental watchdog group today warned that such initiatives would only be in vain if giant Japanese poachers would later on be allowed access through the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
In a statement, Kalikasan-Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) National Coordinator Clemente Bautista, Jr. said that "the threats of projected marine resource depletion under JPEPA could dwarf the volume of marine species lost to poaching".
"The anti-poaching initiative will be useless if "legalized" poachers under bilateral trade agreements are allowed access to Philippine seas. Sec. Atienza might end up cordoning Philippine waters away from poachers but unwittingly securing it instead for giant Japanese fishing fleets if the JPEPA is ratified by the Senate," Bautista said.
"At the very least, the Philippine fishing industry stands to lose billions of pesos in gross profits and thousands of metric tons of tuna reserves to "legalized" Japanese poachers under the JPEPA," Bautista said.
Militant fisherfolk group Pamalakaya previously disclosed that a single-sized 3,000-metric ton Japanese factory ship, accompanied by support fleet, could capture a minimum of 150 metric tons of frozen tuna per day once in Philippine waters, or around 50,000 metric tons of frozen tuna per year. If a Japanese commercial fishing company deploys four factory ships to fish in Philippine waters, the combined catch would be 200,000 metric tons a year, Pamalakaya said.
"It's possible that massive depletion of fishing areas will occur because there was no quota or maximum annual catch set anywhere in JPEPA," Bautista noted.
Bautista also pointed out that the waters most often riddled by poaching were the same areas being eyed by the Japanese commercial fishing interests.
"The areas in the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) being targeted by Japan's commercial fishing includes the Philippine Sea (eastern part of the Philippines) which runs from Batanes down to Davao, the Celebes/Sulu Sea and the South China Sea (western part of Palawan), which are regularly poached by Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Vietnam's fishing vessels as indicated by several reported apprehensions of their fishing vessels," Bautista said.
Sec. Atienza said he would be meeting with the missions of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan on the issue of poaching.
Bautista also called on the Senate to "investigate the clauses in the JPEPA pertaining to the fishing industry".
"Our solons should also take a good look at provisions which are definitely unconstitutional and biased towards Japanese interests with regards to the issue of the Philippine fishing industry. They will find further concrete basis to junk the JPEPA for good," Bautista said.
In a statement, Kalikasan-Peoples Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) National Coordinator Clemente Bautista, Jr. said that "the threats of projected marine resource depletion under JPEPA could dwarf the volume of marine species lost to poaching".
"The anti-poaching initiative will be useless if "legalized" poachers under bilateral trade agreements are allowed access to Philippine seas. Sec. Atienza might end up cordoning Philippine waters away from poachers but unwittingly securing it instead for giant Japanese fishing fleets if the JPEPA is ratified by the Senate," Bautista said.
"At the very least, the Philippine fishing industry stands to lose billions of pesos in gross profits and thousands of metric tons of tuna reserves to "legalized" Japanese poachers under the JPEPA," Bautista said.
Militant fisherfolk group Pamalakaya previously disclosed that a single-sized 3,000-metric ton Japanese factory ship, accompanied by support fleet, could capture a minimum of 150 metric tons of frozen tuna per day once in Philippine waters, or around 50,000 metric tons of frozen tuna per year. If a Japanese commercial fishing company deploys four factory ships to fish in Philippine waters, the combined catch would be 200,000 metric tons a year, Pamalakaya said.
"It's possible that massive depletion of fishing areas will occur because there was no quota or maximum annual catch set anywhere in JPEPA," Bautista noted.
Bautista also pointed out that the waters most often riddled by poaching were the same areas being eyed by the Japanese commercial fishing interests.
"The areas in the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) being targeted by Japan's commercial fishing includes the Philippine Sea (eastern part of the Philippines) which runs from Batanes down to Davao, the Celebes/Sulu Sea and the South China Sea (western part of Palawan), which are regularly poached by Taiwan, China, Indonesia and Vietnam's fishing vessels as indicated by several reported apprehensions of their fishing vessels," Bautista said.
Sec. Atienza said he would be meeting with the missions of China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Japan on the issue of poaching.
Bautista also called on the Senate to "investigate the clauses in the JPEPA pertaining to the fishing industry".
"Our solons should also take a good look at provisions which are definitely unconstitutional and biased towards Japanese interests with regards to the issue of the Philippine fishing industry. They will find further concrete basis to junk the JPEPA for good," Bautista said.
FARMERS MAY LOSE CONTROL OF 1.2 MILLION FARMLANDS UNDER RP-CHINA DEALS
IBON - September 17, 2007
Farmers may lose control of over a million hectares of farmland under four agreements on agriculture the Philippines signed with China last January, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.
At least four of the 18 agreements entered into by the Philippines with China required government to commit 1.24 million hectares for the cultivation of hybrid rice, hybrid corn and hybrid sorghum.
Last week, the Department of Agrarian Reform had announced it was looking at 400,000 to 500,000 hectares of land for agribusiness development under a memorandum of agreement with China signed January 2007. But the deals could ultimately cover as much as 8.8 million hectares of “idle alienable and disposable lands and forest lands.”
Land reconcentration, in which land distributed under land reform programs reverts to the landlords, is highly possible if these deals will be fully implemented. Past experience has shown that arrangements wherein farmers are asked to enter into production and marketing tie-ups with agri-business corporations lead not only to farmers losing control of their lands, but losing ownership altogether.
The RP-China farm deals may also threaten the country's food security as more and more lands are shifted from food staples such as rice, to production of crops for biofuels. Since the mid-1990s, the country is already completely a net food importer from being a net food exporter in earlier years.
China 's rapid economic expansion makes it one of the most voracious consumers of fuel in the world and thus, its demand for biofuels is expected to grow in the coming years. But since domestically China prioritizes food production over need for biofuels production, it is turning to East Asian producers such as the Philippines to meet its growing biofuel needs.
The Philippine Biofuels Act of 2006 does not prohibit corporate growers from converting lands dedicated to food crops to large-scale bioethanol and biodiesel production for export if they find it more profitable than producing crops for domestic food consumption.
At least four of the 18 agreements entered into by the Philippines with China required government to commit 1.24 million hectares for the cultivation of hybrid rice, hybrid corn and hybrid sorghum.
Last week, the Department of Agrarian Reform had announced it was looking at 400,000 to 500,000 hectares of land for agribusiness development under a memorandum of agreement with China signed January 2007. But the deals could ultimately cover as much as 8.8 million hectares of “idle alienable and disposable lands and forest lands.”
Land reconcentration, in which land distributed under land reform programs reverts to the landlords, is highly possible if these deals will be fully implemented. Past experience has shown that arrangements wherein farmers are asked to enter into production and marketing tie-ups with agri-business corporations lead not only to farmers losing control of their lands, but losing ownership altogether.
The RP-China farm deals may also threaten the country's food security as more and more lands are shifted from food staples such as rice, to production of crops for biofuels. Since the mid-1990s, the country is already completely a net food importer from being a net food exporter in earlier years.
China 's rapid economic expansion makes it one of the most voracious consumers of fuel in the world and thus, its demand for biofuels is expected to grow in the coming years. But since domestically China prioritizes food production over need for biofuels production, it is turning to East Asian producers such as the Philippines to meet its growing biofuel needs.
The Philippine Biofuels Act of 2006 does not prohibit corporate growers from converting lands dedicated to food crops to large-scale bioethanol and biodiesel production for export if they find it more profitable than producing crops for domestic food consumption.
Estrada's conviction heightens the people's desire to punish Arroyo and put an end to the rotten ruling system
September 15, 2007
Former President Joseph Estrada was convicted of charges of plunder by a regime that is guilty of far heavier and numerous crimes. In convicting Estrada, Gloria Arroyo has succeeded only in heightening the people's desire to punish her innumerable crimes of plunder and murder, and put an end to her regime and the entire rotten system of government in the country.
The special court that tried and convicted Estrada acted in full compliance with the dictates and machinations of Malacañang. For the past years, Malacañang has been using the Estrada trial up to the very last hour to exert political pressure and dangle special priviledges in exchange for deals with the accused.
In convicting Estrada, Arroyo's aim is to counteract and forestall the continuing challenge of the Estrada camp questioning the legitimacy of her regime and pushing for its overthrow. Riding on the historical necessity and validity of EDSA-2, Arroyo now wants to put away Estrada for good, deprive him of his assets and prevent him from further supporting the opposition and the widespread clamor to put an end to her rule.
In doing so, however, Arroyo is succeeding only in burning all possible bridges of reconciliation between rival reactionary camps, driving deeper the political wedgebetween the ruling regime and the reactionary opposition. She is intensifying the level of factional violence and, thus, further weakening and shaking the entire bankrupt ruling system.
The crisis of the ruling social system has become so severe that the spoils of pillage can no longer be shared in peace between those in and out of power. Arroyo and her rotten ilk have become more and more atrocious and calloused in plundering the economy and oppressing the people. They hunger for more and more billions amidst the depleting national resources and the growing impoverishment of the masses of the Filipino people.
Since the onset of the ruling regime in 2001, Gloria Arroyo and her conspirators have amassed and dispensed among themselves hundreds of billions of pesos through unprecedented scales of crooked schemes. The numerous anomalous contracts and projects, bribery, and scams under the Arroyo regime—from the IMPSA bribery at the very onset of the regime to the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, from the fertilizer funds scam to the ZTE broadband deal—all dwarf the plunder case against Estrada and make him look like a saint.
The conviction of Estrada has only further emboldened the Filipino people to ever more determinedly expose and fight the hypocrisy, deceptions and utter rottenness and brutality of the Arroyo regime, even as Malacañang exerts every possible effort to muffle the people's outcry, stonewall investigations and suppress criticism.
The illegitimate and utterly rotten, corrupt and criminal Arroyo regime is in no position to render justice in the charges against Estrada. It is absurd for one guilty of plunder on a far bigger scale to be making judgments on another accused of it on a smaller scale. Justice, after all, can never be had from criminals.
The Filipino people have rendered judgment on the crimes of the past regimes. They have done so in EDSA-1 and EDSA-2 and will do so against the Arroyo regime. They are the ultimate arbiters of history.
The people are extremely indignant and exasperated at the unprecedented and staggering proportions of the crimes of plunder and murder committed by Gloria Arroyo against the Filipino people. She has been repeatedly indicted and found guilty in mass protests, public proceedings and people's tribunals in the country as well as abroad. By continuing to advance the people's war and intensifying mass protests and all other forms of resistance against the regime, the Filipino people seek to execute this judgment and punish Gloria Arroyo. In time, she will be overthrown and punished for all her crimes.
The Filipino people demand justice for the plunder and atrocities committed by the imperalists, the reactionary ruling classes and their big bureaucrat and fascist officials. The people's thirst for justice can only be fully quenched by putting an end to the thieving and brutal US-Arroyo regime and eventually overthrowing the entire semicolonial and semifeudal rule and system.
The special court that tried and convicted Estrada acted in full compliance with the dictates and machinations of Malacañang. For the past years, Malacañang has been using the Estrada trial up to the very last hour to exert political pressure and dangle special priviledges in exchange for deals with the accused.
In convicting Estrada, Arroyo's aim is to counteract and forestall the continuing challenge of the Estrada camp questioning the legitimacy of her regime and pushing for its overthrow. Riding on the historical necessity and validity of EDSA-2, Arroyo now wants to put away Estrada for good, deprive him of his assets and prevent him from further supporting the opposition and the widespread clamor to put an end to her rule.
In doing so, however, Arroyo is succeeding only in burning all possible bridges of reconciliation between rival reactionary camps, driving deeper the political wedgebetween the ruling regime and the reactionary opposition. She is intensifying the level of factional violence and, thus, further weakening and shaking the entire bankrupt ruling system.
The crisis of the ruling social system has become so severe that the spoils of pillage can no longer be shared in peace between those in and out of power. Arroyo and her rotten ilk have become more and more atrocious and calloused in plundering the economy and oppressing the people. They hunger for more and more billions amidst the depleting national resources and the growing impoverishment of the masses of the Filipino people.
Since the onset of the ruling regime in 2001, Gloria Arroyo and her conspirators have amassed and dispensed among themselves hundreds of billions of pesos through unprecedented scales of crooked schemes. The numerous anomalous contracts and projects, bribery, and scams under the Arroyo regime—from the IMPSA bribery at the very onset of the regime to the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, from the fertilizer funds scam to the ZTE broadband deal—all dwarf the plunder case against Estrada and make him look like a saint.
The conviction of Estrada has only further emboldened the Filipino people to ever more determinedly expose and fight the hypocrisy, deceptions and utter rottenness and brutality of the Arroyo regime, even as Malacañang exerts every possible effort to muffle the people's outcry, stonewall investigations and suppress criticism.
The illegitimate and utterly rotten, corrupt and criminal Arroyo regime is in no position to render justice in the charges against Estrada. It is absurd for one guilty of plunder on a far bigger scale to be making judgments on another accused of it on a smaller scale. Justice, after all, can never be had from criminals.
The Filipino people have rendered judgment on the crimes of the past regimes. They have done so in EDSA-1 and EDSA-2 and will do so against the Arroyo regime. They are the ultimate arbiters of history.
The people are extremely indignant and exasperated at the unprecedented and staggering proportions of the crimes of plunder and murder committed by Gloria Arroyo against the Filipino people. She has been repeatedly indicted and found guilty in mass protests, public proceedings and people's tribunals in the country as well as abroad. By continuing to advance the people's war and intensifying mass protests and all other forms of resistance against the regime, the Filipino people seek to execute this judgment and punish Gloria Arroyo. In time, she will be overthrown and punished for all her crimes.
The Filipino people demand justice for the plunder and atrocities committed by the imperalists, the reactionary ruling classes and their big bureaucrat and fascist officials. The people's thirst for justice can only be fully quenched by putting an end to the thieving and brutal US-Arroyo regime and eventually overthrowing the entire semicolonial and semifeudal rule and system.
Monday, September 17, 2007
DIABETES SECRET
What to Eat - What to Avoid
FOODS TO AVOID
It is always advisable to avoid some foods if you are diabetic such as refined sugar, sweets, syrups, glucose, jam, molasses, fruit sugar, ice-cream, cakes, pastries, sweet biscuits, chocolates, soft drinks, condensed milk, cream and fried foods. Fats like butter, ghee and hydrogenated vegetable oil should also be avoided. White sugar and white flour should be reduced drastically. Avoid all processed foods, junk food, pastries, cookies, canned and preserved foods. They contain harmful preservatives and lot of salt. Avoid soft drinks since these have a lot of sugar. Try to avoid fried foods from your diet.
Smoking results in the using up of oxygen in the body. It will result in less of oxygen needed by the body to metabolize glucose. So smoking should be avoided.
FOODS TO BE LIMITED
Salt consumption should be reduced to a minimum. You will get enough salt form the vegetables and fruits you eat. Reduce animal foods especially red meats. Reduce poultry and egg. Reduce caffeine and alcohol. Do not drink tea and coffee more than 2 cups a day. Try to replace it with green tea or herbal teas like Parsley tea, Blueberry leaf, Tea made of tender walnut tree leaves, Water in which kidney bean pods have been cooked is good diabetes.
Do not consume alcohol in empty stomach. Alcohol on an empty stomach can cause low blood glucose or hypoglycemia.Foods that should be consumed in moderation are honey and other
natural sugars like palm sugar, dates which can be used instead of white sugar. Remember these should be consumed in very little quantity only.Pasta, coconut, other nuts, unsweetened juices,
eggs should be limited. You can replace it with whole grain, unpolished rice and Soya products. Try to eat whole grain bread instead of white flour. Fats like olive oil and peanut oil are
more advisable that hydrogenated fats. Low fat food like skimmed milk and low fat home made cottage cheese can be taken in moderation. You can also substitute it with yogurt. Sea food
and fish also can be taken in moderation.
RECOMMENDED FOODS
Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
An alkaline diet with natural food is recommended. Wholegrain, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and dairy products form a good diet for the diabetic.
Raw vegetables can be taken in high quantities. It has been found that cooked foods raise blood glucose higher than raw, unpeeled foods. Cooking destroys many of the enzymes and some vitamins and minerals.
Eat at least five fruits every day. Fruits like grape fruit, pomegranate juice, Indian blackberry, banana, granny smith apples, fig, cranberries, black berry, kiwi fruits, and citrus fruits are highly recommended. It can be taken as a snack. Cucumber, Lettuce, onion garlic string beans cucumber radish, tomato, carrot, leaves; spinach turnip, cabbage and Jerusalem artichoke are good for diabetes. Colorful vegetables are good for the functioning of pancreas. Drink Fruit juices without sugar. Brewer's yeast and sprouted alfalfa and mung beans are good for the body. Unripe banana also can be cooked and eaten.
The most important of all is eating high fiber diet which lowers need for insulin. It releases energy into the body slowly. It has also been found that diabetes decreases and may even disappear in people eating a high fiber or whole food diet. High fiber diet has more chromium and chromium is very good for people with diabetes.
Eat lot of potassium rich foods like raw peanuts, tomato, bananas, melons, dried peas, potatoes, apple cider vinegar, skimmed milk powder, wheat but do not take potassium supplements.
Include soluble fiber in your meals like barley, oatmeal, almond meal, dried beans, kidney beans, cooked black beans, peas, cereals, chickpeas, Bengal gram which has low glycemic index, Black gram, lentils and corn or garbanzo beans to helps considerably in reducing blood sugar levels. Soy products like tofu, tempeh, soymilk, soya powder, soy bean sprouts, nuggets etc are also very good in containing neurological complications in diabetes. You can make bread out of any of the whole grains. Get a lot of soluble fiber into your diet. When you eat lots of bread, cereal and starchy vegetables you will get enough of starches which is very helpful for diabetes.
Insoluble fibers, found in bran (oat bran, wheat bran), whole grain breads, whole grains and nuts, act as intestinal scrubbers by cleaning out the lower gastrointestinal tract. Fiber cleans your intestinal tract by moving out the food so that it wouldn't stay there and putrefy. Butter milk and yogurt diet are very beneficial.
It is always advisable to avoid some foods if you are diabetic such as refined sugar, sweets, syrups, glucose, jam, molasses, fruit sugar, ice-cream, cakes, pastries, sweet biscuits, chocolates, soft drinks, condensed milk, cream and fried foods. Fats like butter, ghee and hydrogenated vegetable oil should also be avoided. White sugar and white flour should be reduced drastically. Avoid all processed foods, junk food, pastries, cookies, canned and preserved foods. They contain harmful preservatives and lot of salt. Avoid soft drinks since these have a lot of sugar. Try to avoid fried foods from your diet.
Smoking results in the using up of oxygen in the body. It will result in less of oxygen needed by the body to metabolize glucose. So smoking should be avoided.
FOODS TO BE LIMITED
Salt consumption should be reduced to a minimum. You will get enough salt form the vegetables and fruits you eat. Reduce animal foods especially red meats. Reduce poultry and egg. Reduce caffeine and alcohol. Do not drink tea and coffee more than 2 cups a day. Try to replace it with green tea or herbal teas like Parsley tea, Blueberry leaf, Tea made of tender walnut tree leaves, Water in which kidney bean pods have been cooked is good diabetes.
Do not consume alcohol in empty stomach. Alcohol on an empty stomach can cause low blood glucose or hypoglycemia.Foods that should be consumed in moderation are honey and other
natural sugars like palm sugar, dates which can be used instead of white sugar. Remember these should be consumed in very little quantity only.Pasta, coconut, other nuts, unsweetened juices,
eggs should be limited. You can replace it with whole grain, unpolished rice and Soya products. Try to eat whole grain bread instead of white flour. Fats like olive oil and peanut oil are
more advisable that hydrogenated fats. Low fat food like skimmed milk and low fat home made cottage cheese can be taken in moderation. You can also substitute it with yogurt. Sea food
and fish also can be taken in moderation.
RECOMMENDED FOODS
Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
An alkaline diet with natural food is recommended. Wholegrain, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and dairy products form a good diet for the diabetic.
Raw vegetables can be taken in high quantities. It has been found that cooked foods raise blood glucose higher than raw, unpeeled foods. Cooking destroys many of the enzymes and some vitamins and minerals.
Eat at least five fruits every day. Fruits like grape fruit, pomegranate juice, Indian blackberry, banana, granny smith apples, fig, cranberries, black berry, kiwi fruits, and citrus fruits are highly recommended. It can be taken as a snack. Cucumber, Lettuce, onion garlic string beans cucumber radish, tomato, carrot, leaves; spinach turnip, cabbage and Jerusalem artichoke are good for diabetes. Colorful vegetables are good for the functioning of pancreas. Drink Fruit juices without sugar. Brewer's yeast and sprouted alfalfa and mung beans are good for the body. Unripe banana also can be cooked and eaten.
The most important of all is eating high fiber diet which lowers need for insulin. It releases energy into the body slowly. It has also been found that diabetes decreases and may even disappear in people eating a high fiber or whole food diet. High fiber diet has more chromium and chromium is very good for people with diabetes.
Eat lot of potassium rich foods like raw peanuts, tomato, bananas, melons, dried peas, potatoes, apple cider vinegar, skimmed milk powder, wheat but do not take potassium supplements.
Include soluble fiber in your meals like barley, oatmeal, almond meal, dried beans, kidney beans, cooked black beans, peas, cereals, chickpeas, Bengal gram which has low glycemic index, Black gram, lentils and corn or garbanzo beans to helps considerably in reducing blood sugar levels. Soy products like tofu, tempeh, soymilk, soya powder, soy bean sprouts, nuggets etc are also very good in containing neurological complications in diabetes. You can make bread out of any of the whole grains. Get a lot of soluble fiber into your diet. When you eat lots of bread, cereal and starchy vegetables you will get enough of starches which is very helpful for diabetes.
Insoluble fibers, found in bran (oat bran, wheat bran), whole grain breads, whole grains and nuts, act as intestinal scrubbers by cleaning out the lower gastrointestinal tract. Fiber cleans your intestinal tract by moving out the food so that it wouldn't stay there and putrefy. Butter milk and yogurt diet are very beneficial.
Go to http://www.micronutra.com/diamaxol.html for more info.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Know a world where software sharing is a freedom
Local Free and Open Source Software Groups Celebrates Software Freedom Day 2007
Rick Bahague, SFD project coordinator
September 15, 2007
More than a hundred computer enthusiasts and users braved the morning rainshower Saturday, September 15, to meet at the ASTI Building in the UP Diliman Campus to celebrate this year's Software Freedom Day.
"Open source software is a viable alternative to proprietary operating systems and applications. There is high quality free software available to run your computer for office and home use. There are even well polished games for the gaming enthusiast", said Rick Bahague of the Computer Professionals' Union (CPU), one of the main organizers spearheading the Philippine celebration of Software Freedom Day 2007.
"Here is a world where no users are pirates and software sharing is legal. Free and open source software (FOSS) is the affordable software alternative especially for a third world country like the Philippines", he added.
Rep. Teddy Casino of Bayan Muna partylist presented updates on the status of FOSS Bill in the Philippine Congress. Bayan Muna filed the FOSS ill last year with mixed reactions from the industry and local FOSS groups. The Charge d' affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Manuel Perez Iturbe will share their FOSS policies in their country.
"The government will continue to be dependent to proprietary and foreign software technologies unless it actively supports FOSS initiatives and give preference to the use of FOSS in institutions. However, it will take a strong political will for countries to be independent in software technologies using FOSS. The case of Venezuela should be noted." Bahague added.
Computer users from local software developers, academics, gaming enthusiasts and even children attended the celebration. A video link, provided by ASTI, to Davao FOSS enthusiasts and SFD celebrations in Vietnam gave a live view of celebrations elsewhere. Booths featuring the use of FOSS for programmers, ordinary users and NGOs were also set up. Kits were distributed to early participants and the media to introduce them to excellent softwares without the usual restrictions in licensing fees of proprietary software.
Software Freedom Day is a global event organized by more than 133 free and open source (FOSS) groups spread in more than 90 countries. The local celebration is participated by more than 10 groups including UP Linux Users' Group, UP ACM, International Open Source Network, local linux users' groups and peoples' organizations supported by local companies like Stratpoint Technologies, Q-linux Labs, Morph labs, and Promethost.com. The Advance Science and Technology Institute will be providing facilities for video streaming of the event and video casts of Davao celebrations.
The Computer Professionals' Union is a group of volunteers advocating information technology for the people. CPU has developed free software for use of different peoples organization. It has recently released the human rights monitoring system at code.google.com.
"Open source software is a viable alternative to proprietary operating systems and applications. There is high quality free software available to run your computer for office and home use. There are even well polished games for the gaming enthusiast", said Rick Bahague of the Computer Professionals' Union (CPU), one of the main organizers spearheading the Philippine celebration of Software Freedom Day 2007.
"Here is a world where no users are pirates and software sharing is legal. Free and open source software (FOSS) is the affordable software alternative especially for a third world country like the Philippines", he added.
Rep. Teddy Casino of Bayan Muna partylist presented updates on the status of FOSS Bill in the Philippine Congress. Bayan Muna filed the FOSS ill last year with mixed reactions from the industry and local FOSS groups. The Charge d' affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Manuel Perez Iturbe will share their FOSS policies in their country.
"The government will continue to be dependent to proprietary and foreign software technologies unless it actively supports FOSS initiatives and give preference to the use of FOSS in institutions. However, it will take a strong political will for countries to be independent in software technologies using FOSS. The case of Venezuela should be noted." Bahague added.
Computer users from local software developers, academics, gaming enthusiasts and even children attended the celebration. A video link, provided by ASTI, to Davao FOSS enthusiasts and SFD celebrations in Vietnam gave a live view of celebrations elsewhere. Booths featuring the use of FOSS for programmers, ordinary users and NGOs were also set up. Kits were distributed to early participants and the media to introduce them to excellent softwares without the usual restrictions in licensing fees of proprietary software.
Software Freedom Day is a global event organized by more than 133 free and open source (FOSS) groups spread in more than 90 countries. The local celebration is participated by more than 10 groups including UP Linux Users' Group, UP ACM, International Open Source Network, local linux users' groups and peoples' organizations supported by local companies like Stratpoint Technologies, Q-linux Labs, Morph labs, and Promethost.com. The Advance Science and Technology Institute will be providing facilities for video streaming of the event and video casts of Davao celebrations.
The Computer Professionals' Union is a group of volunteers advocating information technology for the people. CPU has developed free software for use of different peoples organization. It has recently released the human rights monitoring system at code.google.com.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Junk failed air pollution monitoring project for good, green groups tell DENR Sec. Atienza
Clemente Bautista, Jr. Kalikasan-PNE National Coordinator
September 14, 2007
Green activist group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) today called on Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Sec. Lito Atienza to junk a controversial and dysfunctional air pollution monitoring project supported by his predecessor, Sec. Angelo Reyes.
In a statement, Kalikasan PNE National Coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr. said that the $1.3 million Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Project between the DENR and Emissions Technology Inc. (ETI), a Guam-based company, failed to produce credible data on Metro Manila's state of air pollution and should be terminated.
Kalikasan PNE, an umbrella network of environmental groups, and militant fisherfolk organization Pamalakaya brought the controversial project to the attention of Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casino. Grilled by the solon during the House budget deliberations this week, Atienza said that he would be reviewing the project.
"We beg to rebut Sec. Atienza's assertion that the latest Letter of Undertaking (LoU) submitted by ETI President Robert Wilson to Sec. Reyes dated July 16, 2007 only means that the DENR basically showed the "intention to proceed with the contract. On the contrary, the LoU expressly states that the DENR-EMB shall pay ETI the full amount of US$1,314,776.49 within five days after ETI posts a performance bond of only US$44,000," Bautista said.
"Had this project not been exposed to the public earlier, the DENR might have paid ETI the full payment for their dysfunctional air pollution monitoring stations around Metro Manila," Bautista said.
"The Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Project clearly failed to produce credible data that can be of substantial use to reducing air pollution in Metro Manila. ETI should also be made accountable for its litany of technical and legal shortcomings and failures during the project's implementation. We strongly urge Sec. Atienza to junk the project with finality and scrap any proposal to pay ETI its back dues," Bautista said.
"The levels of air pollution in Manila are hitting record-highs and are yielding silent but deadly effects on the people's health and the environment. What's atrociously unfortunate about the Ambient Air Monitoring Project is that the defective data it produced will not help in creating policies that can mitigate or reduce current levels of pollution in Metro Manila," Bautista said.
"At least five thousand Metro Manilans are dying each year from the effects of such unmitigated air pollution. Thousands more are getting sick with respiratory diseases exacerbated by exposure to various pollutants in the air," Bautista said.
Recent findings by the Philippine Environment Monitor, a joint report of the World Bank and the DENR, showed that an estimated 4,968 premature deaths occur annually in Manila (accounting for around 12 percent of all deaths in the metropolis) due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases from exposure to poor air quality, Bautista noted.
The Ambient Air Network Project is a US$6 million project between the DENR and a joint venture between ETI and Industramach Inc. (IMACH) since 2002, which set up ten (10) air monitoring stations throughout Metro Manila meant to measure ambient air (or air outside and surrounding an air pollution source location) and pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter and total suspended solids.
The project drew controversy and opposition under Sec. Angelo Reyes' term at the DENR, when IMACH officially withdrew as a partner to the ETI on February 14 2005 after the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and the DENR's own legal departments recommended that payments to the ETI-IMACH be terminated and their contract be terminated due to the latter's failure to address technical and legal issues.
September 14, 2007
Green activist group Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) today called on Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Sec. Lito Atienza to junk a controversial and dysfunctional air pollution monitoring project supported by his predecessor, Sec. Angelo Reyes.
In a statement, Kalikasan PNE National Coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr. said that the $1.3 million Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Project between the DENR and Emissions Technology Inc. (ETI), a Guam-based company, failed to produce credible data on Metro Manila's state of air pollution and should be terminated.
Kalikasan PNE, an umbrella network of environmental groups, and militant fisherfolk organization Pamalakaya brought the controversial project to the attention of Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casino. Grilled by the solon during the House budget deliberations this week, Atienza said that he would be reviewing the project.
"We beg to rebut Sec. Atienza's assertion that the latest Letter of Undertaking (LoU) submitted by ETI President Robert Wilson to Sec. Reyes dated July 16, 2007 only means that the DENR basically showed the "intention to proceed with the contract. On the contrary, the LoU expressly states that the DENR-EMB shall pay ETI the full amount of US$1,314,776.49 within five days after ETI posts a performance bond of only US$44,000," Bautista said.
"Had this project not been exposed to the public earlier, the DENR might have paid ETI the full payment for their dysfunctional air pollution monitoring stations around Metro Manila," Bautista said.
"The Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Project clearly failed to produce credible data that can be of substantial use to reducing air pollution in Metro Manila. ETI should also be made accountable for its litany of technical and legal shortcomings and failures during the project's implementation. We strongly urge Sec. Atienza to junk the project with finality and scrap any proposal to pay ETI its back dues," Bautista said.
"The levels of air pollution in Manila are hitting record-highs and are yielding silent but deadly effects on the people's health and the environment. What's atrociously unfortunate about the Ambient Air Monitoring Project is that the defective data it produced will not help in creating policies that can mitigate or reduce current levels of pollution in Metro Manila," Bautista said.
"At least five thousand Metro Manilans are dying each year from the effects of such unmitigated air pollution. Thousands more are getting sick with respiratory diseases exacerbated by exposure to various pollutants in the air," Bautista said.
Recent findings by the Philippine Environment Monitor, a joint report of the World Bank and the DENR, showed that an estimated 4,968 premature deaths occur annually in Manila (accounting for around 12 percent of all deaths in the metropolis) due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases from exposure to poor air quality, Bautista noted.
The Ambient Air Network Project is a US$6 million project between the DENR and a joint venture between ETI and Industramach Inc. (IMACH) since 2002, which set up ten (10) air monitoring stations throughout Metro Manila meant to measure ambient air (or air outside and surrounding an air pollution source location) and pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter and total suspended solids.
The project drew controversy and opposition under Sec. Angelo Reyes' term at the DENR, when IMACH officially withdrew as a partner to the ETI on February 14 2005 after the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and the DENR's own legal departments recommended that payments to the ETI-IMACH be terminated and their contract be terminated due to the latter's failure to address technical and legal issues.
Friday, September 14, 2007
JOMA RELEASED FROM THE HAGUE PRISON
Photos courtesy of Mr. Eddie Flores and Orquidia Valenzuela of Munting Nayon Magazine, The Netherlands
Breaking News: JOMA FREED
Filipino Sison released
The Hague, 13 september 2007 - Today, the District Court of The Hague decided in camera that the accused Sison should be released from custody immediately.
The accused was arrested on 28 August 2007 and subsequently remanded in custody on the charges of participation of or incitement to the commission of the murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Gabasan Tabara and/or Stephen Alamo Ong, as well as the attempted murders of Ruel Murakami and/or Edmundo Ruiz y Martinez.
The District Court established that these serious offences have been committed in the Philippines and relate to disagreements inside the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and that the decision to commit these murders was taken within the party structure of the CPP.
Furthermore, the Court recognised that there are many indications in the files which support the point of view that the accused is still playing a leading role in the Central Committee of the CPP as well as in the military branch of the CPP, the New People's Army (NPA).
Nevertheless, the Court reached the conclusion in camera that the files do not include sufficient indications that the accused, while living in the Netherlands, committed the offences he is charged with, in deliberate and close co-operation with the perpetrators in the Philippines. Neither do they contain sufficient concrete indications that the accused incited others to commit these serious offences.
The text of the decision of the District Court in camera will be published today on this website under following LJ-number BB3484.
For further information you may contact the Press information office of the District Court of The Hague, tel. (+31) 70 381 1943.
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The accused was arrested on 28 August 2007 and subsequently remanded in custody on the charges of participation of or incitement to the commission of the murders of Romulo Kintanar and Arturo Gabasan Tabara and/or Stephen Alamo Ong, as well as the attempted murders of Ruel Murakami and/or Edmundo Ruiz y Martinez.
The District Court established that these serious offences have been committed in the Philippines and relate to disagreements inside the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and that the decision to commit these murders was taken within the party structure of the CPP.
Furthermore, the Court recognised that there are many indications in the files which support the point of view that the accused is still playing a leading role in the Central Committee of the CPP as well as in the military branch of the CPP, the New People's Army (NPA).
Nevertheless, the Court reached the conclusion in camera that the files do not include sufficient indications that the accused, while living in the Netherlands, committed the offences he is charged with, in deliberate and close co-operation with the perpetrators in the Philippines. Neither do they contain sufficient concrete indications that the accused incited others to commit these serious offences.
The text of the decision of the District Court in camera will be published today on this website under following LJ-number BB3484.
For further information you may contact the Press information office of the District Court of The Hague, tel. (+31) 70 381 1943.
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Court Decision
LJN: BB3484, Rechtbank 's-Gravenhage , 09.750006-06 (english translation) Print uitspraakDatum uitspraak: 13-09-2007
Datum publicatie: 13-09-2007
Rechtsgebied: Straf
Soort procedure: Eerste aanleg - meervoudig
Inhoudsindicatie: Termination of the accused's remand in custody. The accused was remanded in custody on the charges of participation of , alternatively incitement to the intentional and premeditated murders of R.K., A.G.T. and/or S.A.O. as well as the attempts to do so to R.M. and/or E.R. y M. The files do not provide a sufficient basis for the suspicion that the accused, while staying in the Netherlands, committed the offences he is charged with in deliberate and close co-operation with the perpetrators in the Philippines. Neither can indications be found for the presence of grave presumptions with regard to incitement to these offences.
Uitspraak
DISTRICT COURT OF THE HAGUE
CRIMINAL LAW SECTION
Public Prosecutor's Office number: 09.750006-06
On 7 September 2007, the Public Prosecutor submitted a demand aiming at an order to be issued for detention of:
[the accused]
born in [place of birth] on [date of birth]
currently held in the remand prison in The Hague (Unit 1).
The Court has examined the documents in this case.
On 7 September 2007, the accused and his counsel, as well as the Public Prosecutor were heard in camera.
The accused was remanded in custody on the charges of participation of, alternatively incitement to the intentional and premeditated murders of [R.K.] on 23 January 2003 (count 1), [A.G.T.] and/or [S.A.O.] on 26 September 2004 (count 3) as well as the attempts to do so of [R.M.] and/or [E.R. y M.] on 23 January 2003 (count 2).
The Public Prosecution Service takes the point of view that prior to, and at the time of, the commission of these serious offences, the accused was the chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Central Committee (CC), being a party body within the CPP, as well as that within the party structure, the CC takes the decisions and that the accused, being the chairman of both the CPP and the CC, for that reason may be held criminally responsible for the offences.
With regard to the question to be answered primarily, to wit if there are grave presumptions as provided for in article 67, third paragraph of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Court considers the following.
It is certain that the acts concerned were committed in the Philippines. In the opinion of the Court, it is clear from the investigation that the said acts related to disagreements within the CPP and that the decision to commit these offences was made within the party structure of the CPP, in which other persons and bodies were also involved. The question that will have to be answered is if, and if so, in what way, the accused was involved and may be considered as a co-perpetrator of these acts.
In order to assume participation in the commission of acts within the meaning of article 47 of the Penal Code, there should be deliberate and close co-operation and a joint commission of the offence.
The police files submitted to the court include many indications for the point of view that the accused has been involved in the CC of the CPP and her military branch, the New People's Army (NPA). There are also indications that the accused is still playing a leading role in the (underground) activities of the CC, the CPP and the NPA.
Without prejudice to the justified suspicion that the accused during the period described in the charges played a leading role in the aforementioned organisations, the files nevertheless do not provide a sufficient basis for the suspicion that the accused, while staying in the Netherlands, committed the offences he is charged with in deliberate and close co-operation with the perpetrators in the Philippines.
For that reason, the Court considers that the grave presumptions with regard to participation in the commission of the murders are not present. Neither can indications be found for the presence of grave presumptions with regard to incitement to these offences. The statements of the widows and the marksmen, to which the Public Prosecution Service appeals, only refer to the fact that they assume that the murders have been committed by order of the CC of the CPP and therefore an order originating from the accused being the chairman. However, that is insufficiently concrete to consider that grave presumptions are present.
The grounds that have led to the remand in custody of the accused are not, in any case no longer, present in the opinion of the Court, so that the demand should be rejected and the remand in custody should be terminated with immediate effect.
DECISION :
The Court rejects the demand of the Public Prosecutor and recommends
termination of the accused's remand in custody.
MESSRS. POUSTOCHKINE LL.M., president, SCHAAF LL.M. and STEENHUIS LL.M., judges in the presence of MS KOK LL.M., clerk of the court, pronounced this decision in camera in this Court on 13 September 2007.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Philippines radio broadcaster celebrates historic success in Supreme Court
IFJ - September 13, 2007
The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), in congratulating the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) on their successful petitioning of the Supreme Court to allow live coverage of the historic case against former president Joseph Estrada to be broadcast.
The outcome of the petition allows lives coverage of the historic case against former Philippines president Joseph Estrada to be broadcast.
Media outlets are still, however, restricted to broadcasting limited coverage of the case.
Nevertheless, it is a definitive step in the right direction, according to IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park.
''I congratulate all members of KBP and the supporting organisations on their outstanding win,'' Park said.
''It is further proof of the independence and strength of the Philippines' courts, as well as an exceptional win for organisations working towards press freedom in the region.''
The trial of former president Joseph Estrada has run for six years and is expected to come to a close within the next few days.
Estrada is on trial for plunder and perjury charges during his time as president of the Philippines.
The outcome of the petition allows lives coverage of the historic case against former Philippines president Joseph Estrada to be broadcast.
Media outlets are still, however, restricted to broadcasting limited coverage of the case.
Nevertheless, it is a definitive step in the right direction, according to IFJ Asia Pacific Director Jacqueline Park.
''I congratulate all members of KBP and the supporting organisations on their outstanding win,'' Park said.
''It is further proof of the independence and strength of the Philippines' courts, as well as an exceptional win for organisations working towards press freedom in the region.''
The trial of former president Joseph Estrada has run for six years and is expected to come to a close within the next few days.
Estrada is on trial for plunder and perjury charges during his time as president of the Philippines.
Don't be a pirate: get your software for free
Filipino Free and Open Source Community prepares for Software Freedom Day
Rick Bahague
September 13, 2007
"Know a world where no users are pirates and software sharing is legal" invites Rick Bahague of the Computer Professionals' Union (CPU).
CPU is spearheading the Philippine celebration of Software Freedom Day 2007 on Saturday, September 15 (http://sfd.cp-union.org). This year's celebration will be held at the ASTI Building in UP Diliman Campus.
Students, local software developers, users and enthusiasts are expected to attend the celebration.
Rep. Teddy Casino of Bayan Muna will be present to give updates on the status of FOSS Bill in the Philippine Congress. Bayan Muna filed the Bill last year with mixed reactions from the industry and local foss groups.
"The government will continue to be dependent to proprietary and foreign software technologies unless it actively supports FOSS initiatives and give preference to the use of FOSS in institutions," Bahague added.
"However, it will take a strong political will for countries to be independent in software technologies using FOSS. The case of Venezuela should be noted." The Charge d' affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Manuel Perez Iturbe will share their FOSS policies in their country.
Software freedom day kits will be distributed to early participants and the media to introduce them to excellent softwares without the usual restrictions in licensing fees of proprietary software.
Software Freedom Day is a global event organized by more than 133 free and open source (foss) groups spread in more than 90 countries. The local celebration is participated by more than 10 groups including UP Linux Users' Group, UP ACM, International Open Source Network, local linux users' groups and peoples' organizations supported by local companies like Stratpoint Technologies, Q-linux Labs, Morph labs, and Promethost.com. The Advance Science and Technology Institute will be providing facilities for video streaming of the event and video casts of Davao celebrations.
The Computer Professionals' Union is a group of volunteers advocating information technology for the people. CPU has developed free software for use of different peoples organization. It has recently released the human rights monitoring system at code.google.com.
CPU is spearheading the Philippine celebration of Software Freedom Day 2007 on Saturday, September 15 (http://sfd.cp-union.org). This year's celebration will be held at the ASTI Building in UP Diliman Campus.
Students, local software developers, users and enthusiasts are expected to attend the celebration.
Rep. Teddy Casino of Bayan Muna will be present to give updates on the status of FOSS Bill in the Philippine Congress. Bayan Muna filed the Bill last year with mixed reactions from the industry and local foss groups.
"The government will continue to be dependent to proprietary and foreign software technologies unless it actively supports FOSS initiatives and give preference to the use of FOSS in institutions," Bahague added.
"However, it will take a strong political will for countries to be independent in software technologies using FOSS. The case of Venezuela should be noted." The Charge d' affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Manuel Perez Iturbe will share their FOSS policies in their country.
Software freedom day kits will be distributed to early participants and the media to introduce them to excellent softwares without the usual restrictions in licensing fees of proprietary software.
Software Freedom Day is a global event organized by more than 133 free and open source (foss) groups spread in more than 90 countries. The local celebration is participated by more than 10 groups including UP Linux Users' Group, UP ACM, International Open Source Network, local linux users' groups and peoples' organizations supported by local companies like Stratpoint Technologies, Q-linux Labs, Morph labs, and Promethost.com. The Advance Science and Technology Institute will be providing facilities for video streaming of the event and video casts of Davao celebrations.
The Computer Professionals' Union is a group of volunteers advocating information technology for the people. CPU has developed free software for use of different peoples organization. It has recently released the human rights monitoring system at code.google.com.
Bishop Pueblos reiterates call to investigate killings, respect human life
CPCP News
Setptember 13, 2007
Manila, - Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios M. Pueblos reiterated his call for the government to investigate all killings commonly described as "extrajudicial killings," so that its perpetrators be brought to justice.
In an interview with CBCPNews, Bishop Pueblos who also serves Commissioner to the Melo Commission, said the killings have been perpetrated by "vigilantes, " by people out to get even, persons involved in land disputes, partisan politics and groups out to silence political activists.
He said while AFP Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. created five courts martial to attend to soldiers accused of violating Human Rights, they may not have cases to hear as "people may not be able to launch or file complaints."
He said even his fellow Melo Commissioner Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno agreed with his suggestion to improve the government's witness protection program. "However, Commissioner Zuno said improving the Witness Protection program would mean additional funds as one has to deal with not just with a witness to case but his entire family during the court proceedings, " Bishop Pueblos said.
"As a Church, and as a teacher, we have to respect the rights of every person because each one of us is made according to the image of God," Bishop Pueblos said.
He added "every person has that right from God so we have to respect that to the point nobody is allowed to get the life of the other, everybody is encouraged to protect the life of each other."
He said the 6th commandment is clear, "Thou shall not kill." He concluded the Church would continue to play an important role in bringing justice to the afflicted.
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Manila,— The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called for continued search for peace in the face of increasing violence in Southern Philippines.
CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said he would like to see "negotiated" solution to Mindanao conflict to avert further escalation of violence.
Thousands of government troopers were deployed in Sulu and Basilan hunting down Abu Sayyaf extremists accused of killing 14 marines in Basilan last July 10 while searching for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the military to track down the perpetrators.
"The (government) must not make violent moves especially that they don't know who the perpetrators are," said Lagdameo. The CBCP head expressed fears innocent civilians could become involuntary victims of the offensive.
"It was bad enough that Marines suffered. How much more if civilians will suffer?" he asked.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal also expressed strong opposition to the increasing tension in Mindanao particularly in Basilan and Sulu provinces.
"We are definitely against any form of violence," he said. The government, Vidal said, must make every effort to work towards peace, beginning with the rejection of violence.
At the height of the military operation, dozens of soldiers were either killed or wounded when clashes erupted again in at least three tows in Sulu.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez earlier said that instead of attacking the rebels, the government should find ways to ease the tension in Mindanao.
In an interview with CBCPNews, Bishop Pueblos who also serves Commissioner to the Melo Commission, said the killings have been perpetrated by "vigilantes, " by people out to get even, persons involved in land disputes, partisan politics and groups out to silence political activists.
He said while AFP Chief of Staff General Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. created five courts martial to attend to soldiers accused of violating Human Rights, they may not have cases to hear as "people may not be able to launch or file complaints."
He said even his fellow Melo Commissioner Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno agreed with his suggestion to improve the government's witness protection program. "However, Commissioner Zuno said improving the Witness Protection program would mean additional funds as one has to deal with not just with a witness to case but his entire family during the court proceedings, " Bishop Pueblos said.
"As a Church, and as a teacher, we have to respect the rights of every person because each one of us is made according to the image of God," Bishop Pueblos said.
He added "every person has that right from God so we have to respect that to the point nobody is allowed to get the life of the other, everybody is encouraged to protect the life of each other."
He said the 6th commandment is clear, "Thou shall not kill." He concluded the Church would continue to play an important role in bringing justice to the afflicted.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Church rejects military offensive
Manila,— The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called for continued search for peace in the face of increasing violence in Southern Philippines.
CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said he would like to see "negotiated" solution to Mindanao conflict to avert further escalation of violence.
Thousands of government troopers were deployed in Sulu and Basilan hunting down Abu Sayyaf extremists accused of killing 14 marines in Basilan last July 10 while searching for kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the military to track down the perpetrators.
"The (government) must not make violent moves especially that they don't know who the perpetrators are," said Lagdameo. The CBCP head expressed fears innocent civilians could become involuntary victims of the offensive.
"It was bad enough that Marines suffered. How much more if civilians will suffer?" he asked.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal also expressed strong opposition to the increasing tension in Mindanao particularly in Basilan and Sulu provinces.
"We are definitely against any form of violence," he said. The government, Vidal said, must make every effort to work towards peace, beginning with the rejection of violence.
At the height of the military operation, dozens of soldiers were either killed or wounded when clashes erupted again in at least three tows in Sulu.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez earlier said that instead of attacking the rebels, the government should find ways to ease the tension in Mindanao.
TOTAL LOST REVENUES FROM JPEPA COULD PAY FOR SALARIES OF RP NURSES
Sonny Africa (IBON research head)
September 13, 2007
The Philippine government could actually keep Filipino nurses from going abroad by utilizing revenues it would otherwise have foregone under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
The average monthly salary of a nurse in the public sector is some P10,000. Government employs around 20,000 nurses, and even if we increase their salaries to P50,000, it would only cost the government P1 billion. This is less than one-tenth of the estimated P10.6 billion in tariff revenues foregone annually with the target tariff eliminations for the Philippines under JPEPA.
Low salaries are the reasons why the country has become the leading exporter of nurses globally with 85% of all employed Filipino nurses actually working abroad. But this exodus of health workers has taken its toll on the health system, with 200 hospitals closing and 800 more partially closing in recent years due to lack of nurses.
The tariff revenues foregone under JPEPA could potentially go far in improving the salaries of public sector nurses and in the hiring of new ones. These would go a long way in improving the shortage of nursing care in the country.
The average monthly salary of a nurse in the public sector is some P10,000. Government employs around 20,000 nurses, and even if we increase their salaries to P50,000, it would only cost the government P1 billion. This is less than one-tenth of the estimated P10.6 billion in tariff revenues foregone annually with the target tariff eliminations for the Philippines under JPEPA.
Low salaries are the reasons why the country has become the leading exporter of nurses globally with 85% of all employed Filipino nurses actually working abroad. But this exodus of health workers has taken its toll on the health system, with 200 hospitals closing and 800 more partially closing in recent years due to lack of nurses.
The tariff revenues foregone under JPEPA could potentially go far in improving the salaries of public sector nurses and in the hiring of new ones. These would go a long way in improving the shortage of nursing care in the country.
ERAP GUILTY OF PLUNDER
THE VERDICT: Erap guilty of plunder, Jinggoy cleared
Penalty: Reclusion Perpetua or 40 years imprisonment
Video3 (Courtesy of GMA7): GUILTY OF PLUNDER
Video2 (Courtesy of GMA7): NOT GUILTY OF PERJURY
Video1 (Courtesy of GMA7): SANDIGANBAYAN JUSTICES
Video4: (Courtesy of GMA7) Interview with
Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio
RELATED STORIES:
Estrada guilty of plunder; perjury rap dropped
Estrada son, lawyer not guilty of plunder
Sandigan verdict: Erap guilty of plunder, cleared of perjury
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