Landlordism in the Philippines :Hacienda Luisita as large as Makati and Pasig Cities combi (tags)
Pesante NEws reported today through a special report to the Inquirer Daily in the Philippines on a research that Hacienda Luisita is a 6,000-hectare property in Tarlac straddling Tarlac City and the towns of Concepcion and La Paz. It is as large as the cities of Makati (2,986 hectares) and Pasig (3,100 hectares) combined. Hacienda Luisita was originally part of the landholdings of the Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas, or Tabacalera. The estate was named after Luisa, wife of Don Antonio Lopez, who headed Tabacalera when it acquired the estate in 1882. It is now owned by the Aquino Family. Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino is running for president this coming elections.
Lest We Forget: The Martyrs of Martial Law in the Philippines (tags)
The Kilusang Dekada 70 (KD70) commemorates the 26th death anniversary and the assassination of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr on August 21, 1983. Aquino’s martyrdom gains special significance today, August 21 because of two reasons: First, the assassination was not solved though everybody knows who is the mastermind and second because of the rampant abuse of power and corruption under the present US-Arroyo administration. Senator Aquino even during the days before martial law opposed the abuse of power under the US-Marcos dictatorship regime that does not respect democratic rights and treats itself as above the law. His martyrdom gains special significance today as we fight the US- Arroyo regime with a track record of abusing power and dispensing public funds without any concern for accountability.
Troubles in Pakistan: Benazir Bhutto’s Assassination and Its Implications (tags)
“She who rides the tiger ends up in it.” The tragic death by assassination of Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan highlights the failure of American foreign policy. For a person who was cultivated by the personal diplomacy of America and beholden to Anglo-American policy – promising to support the US against al-Qaeda and the unlimited use of Pakistan nuclear power in the service of America, Benazir Bhutto was foremost a willing American puppet. Her political opportunism stemmed from her desire to vindicate herself and to be in power as prime minister for the third time, and underscores the weakness of US diplomacy that was based on personality, populism and charisma