Philippines: The Punisher's dirty war on drugs (tags)
He’s been called a demagogue with a foul mouth backed up by bare-knuckle populism. But Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, aka “the Punisher”, has also embarked on a brutal drug war that is drawing international condemnation. Foreign Editor David Pratt reports.
Philippines: The Duterte Phenomenon and out attitude towards it (tags)
Like it or not, Rodrigo Duterte has been leading the presidential polls in successive surveys.
Philippines: Erap Estrada endorses leftist leader Neri Colmenares for senator (tags)
MANILA, Philippines – Former President now Manila Mayor Joseph "Erap" Estrada on Wednesday, September 30, endorsed leftist congressman Neri Colmenares for Philippine senator in the 2016 elections.
Philippines: Unions decry deceptive, vague ‘labor agenda’ of APEC (tags)
ORGANIZED workers sneered at the so-called labor agenda in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila next month by describing it as deceptive and vague, which merely reaffirms APEC’s ideology based on the primacy of corporate power and profits over labor and trade union rights.
Philippine activists start 1,000-km march for climate justice (tags)
MANILA, Philippines-- Climate change advocates from various sectors urged world governments to “walk their climate talk” as they launched the Climate Walk, dubbed as “A People’s Walk for Climate Justice.”
Capture of Philippine fugitive general Jovito Palparan hailed as victory for Aquino (tags)
Philippine security forces yesterday captured a fugitive former army general wanted over the kidnapping of two students, fulfilling a promise by President Benigno Aquino to bring high-profile criminal suspects to justice.
The ‘Asian Century’ and ASEAN integration: contradictions and challenges (tags)
Talk given by Sonny Melencio, Chairperson of Partido Lakas ng Masa-Philippines (PLM), during the Socialist Alliance Conference in Sydney, Australia on June 7, 2014
NDFP hosts celebration of Prof. Sison’s 55 years of service to the Filipino People (tags)
The international office of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is set to celebrate Prof. Jose Maria Sison’s 55 years of service to the Filipino people’s struggle for national and social liberation, and his 75th birthday, with a cultural event on Sunday, 09 February 2014, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Philippines: Where does the FOI campaign go from here? (tags)
Today, we close our people’s campaign for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill in the 15th Congress. We have, to the extent that our capacities and limited resources permitted, exhausted all avenues that we thought were open to us to get positive, decisive action from the leaders of the House of Representatives and from President Aquino no less.
MILF to CPP: Judge not by your way (tags)
Mindanao, Philippines: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been mum on the criticisms hurled against it by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). We know it is not beneficial to both organizations if they are dragged into the verbal tussle. However, it is not good either if the MILF allows the one-way verbal assault continues. There must be a brake to it by way of this explanation.
Philippines: Coalition Clamor for the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill (tags)
Still enough time for FOI – if House leadership supports it. With only nine session days remaining before Congress adjourns for a long election break, members of the Right to Know Right Now Coalition are reminding members of Congress that they still have enough time to pass the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill even without the prodding of Malacanang.
Lessons from Manila floods on climate change, responses (tags)
As the Philippine government dithered and made excuses for its grossly inadequate response to the catastrophic floods — which inundated 80% of the country's capital, Manila — Sonny Melencio was leading a grassroots relief effort that brought the first food supplies in days to some of the poorest and most badly affected communities.
Flood victims in the Philippines need urgent help! (tags)
Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon experienced heavy flooding yesterday after several days of non-stop rains.According to the country's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in this morning's news, 11 were reported dead and 4 others were hurt.
GREAT FLOODS HITS METRO MANILA, SUBURBS (tags)
The whole of greater Manila region and its suburbs were hit by floods as high as one story building, caused by a 36 non – stop hours rain caused by southwest monsoon ( Hanging Habagat) from the south aggravated by three typhoons that brought torrential rains. Millions of people living in the National Capital Region (NCR) were affected. According to the EPCC NEWS, It has been raining non-stop in the Philippines for more than 11 days due to the arrival of three thypoons and the presence of the southwest monsoon. Millions of people were affected in 20 cities and 9 provinces in the main island of Luzon. Electricty and water were cut-off aggravating the situation. According to EPCC-LA Philippine sources, the floods were aggravated by 5 dams (like Angat, La Mesa, Ipo) around Metro Manila remained opened to avoid the dams from breaking. Add the high tide from Manila Bay, flood pronged areas like Malabon,Navotas, Quezon City and Manila became a lake and a part of the bay.
Global May 11 protest vs 'China encroachment' on Philippine territory (tags)
MANILA, Philippines – Organizers of a multi-country protest against Chinese encroachment on Philippine territory are vowing to gather tens of thousands on May 11 in Manila alone, as they announced a roster of prominent Filipino personalities that they said have already pledged to show up in the rallies.
Philippine unions support campaign of workers in Hyatt hotels in US (tags)
TRADE unions and other organizations picketed today the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila in the Malate area to air their support to the global campaign to boycott the Hyatt chain of hotels prompted by the rampant abuses against the workers in several Hyatt hotels in the US, even as they recall the almost similar plight suffered by the workers in the shuttered Hyatt Regency Manila.
Philippines: Thousands Power Off (tags)
MANILA, Philippines ? Tens of thousands of Filipino households in 22 cities and provinces in Metro Manila and parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao switched off lights and staged noise barrages to demand lower skyrocketing electricity rates, according to the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) which led the protest action.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Deal with disasters, not blame the masses (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) based in the United States wrote to your newspaper to vehemently condemn the criminal neglect and the breast thumping of the Aquino III?s NDRRMC , the agency and its head, Benito Ramos. The NDRRMC is the agency who is task to mitigate disasters and warn the people of the impending disasters and conduct relief work such as the fury of the Thypoon Pedring and Quiel that hit the Philippines and devastated most of Northern and Central Luzon. Very poor Response And yet with no less than President Benigno C. Aquino in attendance during their televised briefing, there was nothing new on the typhoons and floodings that hit the country recently. Pedring has passed and another storm came in and had passed but still the waters released by the dams still has flooded the whole Metro Manila and Central Luzon.
BANTAY PILIPINAS FORMED IN CALIFORNIA (tags)
The Manila based BANTAY PILIPINAS, a cybernet group that advocated for free, clean and honest elections in the Philippines last May 10 presidential elections - formed the Steering Committee of its LA project last August 29, 2010. In a collective decision to continue the tasks of BANTAY PILIPINAS not only as an election watch dog but also as the premier advocate of good governance and anti graft and corruption campaign in the Philippines - individuals and groups banded together and formed a steering committee in Los Angeles
BANTAY PILIPINAS FORMED IN CALIFORNIA (tags)
The Manila based BANTAY PILIPINAS, a cybernet group that advocated for free, clean and honest elections in the Philippines last May 10 presidential elections - formed the Steering Committee of its LA project last August 15, 2010. In a collective decision to continue the tasks of BANTAY PILIPINAS not only as an election watch dog but also as the premier advocate of good governance and anti graft and corruption campaign in the Philippines - individuals and groups banded together and formed a steering committee in Los Angeles.
La Naval as a Religious Festivity in the Philippines (tags)
After discussing the history of the La Naval De Manila of 1646, we now discuss the La Naval as a religious festivity in the Philippines. According to historians, in 1593, on the death of his father, the Spanish Governor General of the Philipppines, Luis Perez Dasmarinas commissioned Captain Hernando de los Rios Coronel to have a Marian statue sculpted. He wished to give a religious imprint to his regime in the Philippines. Governor Dasmarinas whose name bore one of the plush high class subdivision among the richest in Makati and also was the builder of the famed walls of Intramuros asked a non-Catholic Chinese sculptor to make the statue.
The La Naval De Manila, 1646 (tags)
For Filipino-Americans who are not religious and those who want to know about the “ La Naval De Manila”, we refer to when Spain dueled the Netherlands in the World Cup last July 10, 2010 in South Africa,we have to tell the story of the Battle in Manila Bay in 1646. This is not to glorify our colonial legacy as some Filipino Americans do in their PCN Nights, but this is also to honor the prowess of Filipino seamen who manned the Spanish ships. Until today, the Philippines is the country in the world that sends a lot of seamen into the different oceans. This is also to add to the much glorified pirates story about the Carribean. Shame of Johnny Depp for not including the Filipino pirates and their battles in his films!.
THE EPCC SUPPORTS THE FIGHT FOR SAN ROQUE, CONDEMNS THE NORTH TRIANGLE PARK PROJECT IN MET (tags)
The Echo Park Community Coalition (EPCC) based in the United States condemns the P3 billion Quezon City Central Business District (QCCBD) project of the than World Bank itself. From its early inception WB has sold the idea of QCCBD as the mecca of new and forward looking economic development within Metro Manila area and outlying regions. Generally dubbed as a mixed-use commercial/residential/recreational district - the 250 hectare Triangle Park project will displace 16,000 poor families. Ironically the 37 hectare property where San Roque is nestled belongs to the National Housing Authority of the Philippines and is leased to Robinsons Land Corporation - one of the biggest mall and residential developer in the Philippines.
FAILURE OF ELECTIONS IN THE OFFING? (tags)
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has started fielding more than 7,300 soldiers in Metro Manila even as it declared 10 cities in the capital region as election “hotspots.” These with news filtering to PESANTE NEWS that politicians are arming their forces and deliberately ignoring the gun ban. PESANTE NEWS also learned that the airport are packed with supporters of candidates from LA who are trying to get out of Manila due to the situation. The situation turned to the worst when 78,000 PCOS machines cocked out and and there was a call for manual elections to the COMELEC. PGMA's lawyers have formally called for a postponement of elections for the next two weeks.
Labanan sa Umpisa ng Kampanya sa Eleksyong Presidensyal 2010,Tumitindi. (tags)
Ayon sa mga pinakahuling balita, tabla ang labanang Villar-Aquino sa mga survey. Ayon naman sa isang political analyst sa internet na si Doy Cinco higit na mainit ito sa Metro Manila. Malamang na magiging battle ground ni Noynoy Aquino-Mar Roxas at Villar-Loren ang Kamaynilaan at kung sino ang lalamang, may malaking epekto sa pambansang resulta ng halalan sa kabuuan. “ Ayon kay Cinco, “ Sa kabuuang 50.0 milyong rehistradong botante sa bansa, may 15% nito o mahigit anim (6) na milyon ay matatagpuan sa Kalakhang Manila, Sa anim na milyon botante, kulang sa kalahati (2.8 milyon) ay matatagpuan sa Quezon City (1.2 milyon), Manila (1.0 milyon) at Caloocan (0.7 milyon). Ang Kalakhang Manila ay kinukunsidirang sentrong pampulitika, pang-ekonomya, panlipunan at pangkultura ng Pilipinas. Siya ang pinakamatao, pinaka-konsentrado at pinakamasikip na lugar sa buong bansa
PHILIPPINES; A CAPITALIST CALAMITY (tags)
Filipinos now see more clearly the calamitous state of the system.In the morning of Sept. 26, tropical storm Ondoy (international codename: Ketsana) pounded Metro Manila and the surrounding regions, dumping a month’s worth of rain in just six hours and causing the most massive flooding seen in the last 40 years. A week later, super typhoon Pepeng (Parma) hit Northern Luzon, inundating farmland and causing mudslides in the mountainous mining region of Benguet, including Baguio City, a U.S.-designed community.
CLAIMS DELAYED, JUSTICE DENIED (tags)
About 18,000 veterans are projected to be filing pension claims under the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund, but a website shows nearly double that number -- or 32,795 applications -- have been received by the Manila Regional Office of the US Department of Veterans Affairs as of October 1, 2009. This could indicate, according to analysts, that there may be spurious or incomplete claims being filed, or that some veterans may be submitting duplicate claims. And these could be slowing down the application process.
PEOPLE’S CORE DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS PROVE SUCCESSFUL (tags)
Congratulations to volunteers and community members who did an amazing job supporting the relief efforts for the campaigns Sagip-Tulong sa Pilipinas (STP) and Operation Metro Manila. Over 100 volunteers gathered to package relief items to be sent to the areas hardest hit by the floods in the Philippines. Students, activist, families, and community members organized by People’s CORE, Alliance Philippines, GABRIELA Network Los Angeles, KmB Pro-People Youth, Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV), UCLA Samahang Pilipino, UCLA Kappa Psi Epsilon, CSULB Pilipino American Coalition, and Search to Involve Pilipino American (SIPA), collected and packed more than 400 bags of material donations for the Typhoon Ondoy victims at SIPA Hall in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles, on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009. Please visit our gallery videos to see a brief news coverage of Saturday's STP Donation Drive entitled "Sagip Tulong sa Pilipinas (STP), People's CORE, Alliance Philippines, Gab-Net and SIPA" or click this link to go there directly: www.peoplescore.net/video_gallery.php
A Disaster Waiting to Happen (tags)
The tremendous outpouring of love, brotherhood and assistance by our compatriots in the United States to all our “kababayans” whose lives have been devastated by Typhoon Ondoy captures the essence of our Bayanihan spirit. True to our Filipino core values, organizations, institutions and individuals of various political persuasions bonded together and in their own unique and creative ways extended immediate assistance to our brothers and sisters and continue their plans for long term relief . Most recently, President Obama expressed his “deep condolences for the loss of life and devastation caused by recent storms in the Philippines”. “As part of this effort, the U.S Agency for International Development, has so far allocated $1.8 million to respond to the disaster.”
ALLIANCE PHILIPPINES: THE US-ARROYO REGIME IS A THE REAL CALAMITY TO THE PEOPLE (tags)
The latest twin disasters that hit the Philippines laid bare the true state of the country and the governance of US-Arroyo Regime: inept, corrupt and inutile. It lacked foresight for the good of the people because it is ruled by rapacity and greed. It favors big imperialist corporations and the heartless ruling class and only exploits and oppresses the people. Just look at its delayed reaction to the storms and its effect on the pole. Instead of conducting a comprehensive rescue, relief and rehabilitation drive in a systemic way what it did was to blame the people, blame the squatters and register all flood victims.
STP/PEOPLES CORE THANKS EVERYONE ON ITS SUCCESSFUL COLLECTION DAY, Oct. 3 (tags)
MARAMING SALAMAT SA INYONG LAHAT! Congratulations to STP/Oplan Metro Manila for the good job! More than 150 volunteers from People”s CORE ,Alliance(AJLPP), GABNET-LA, KmB, JFAV, Samahang Pilipino, CSULB and SIPA collected and packed more than 2 tons or 300 bags ( equivalent to 200 Balikbayan boxes ) for Ondoy victims last Saturday, Oct. 3 in Historic Filipinotown SIPA compound. The donations will be shipped to Manila by the TEAM Pacquaio Foundation through the Alas Cargo and People’s CORE with the REN International.
PEOPLE’S CORE CO-SPONSORS DISASTER RELIEF FOR THE PHILIPPINES FLOOD VICTIMS (tags)
Typhoon Ondoy smashed ashore in the Philippines on Friday, September 25th, killing over 400 people in Manila's worst flooding in generations. More than 80 percent of Manila was under water Sunday. The Philippine authorities are still struggling to help the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the devastating floods of Typhoon Ondoy. Over 240 people have died and the death toll is rising. Thirty-eight people are still missing. Almost 2 million people have been affected by the flooding. More than 380, 000 have reportedly abandoned their homes. Over 450, 000 people have taken refuge in emergency evacuation centers. However, finding shelter has not alleviated the suffering. Food, sanitation, and medical supplies are low. Major relief efforts are underway, yet are not sufficient to support the people’s needs for long. More support is needed. It is our time to help. People’s CORE is a federally recognized non-profit organization locally based in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles (Federal Tax Id Number: 93-1216789). Working in partnership with four other non-profit and community-based organizations, AKAP (Ang Kalusugan para sa Pinoy, Inc.), AJLPP (Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines), KmB Pro-People Youth, and JFAV (Justice for Filipino American Veterans), People’s CORE launched Sagip Tulong sa Pilipinas (STP) Relief Drive on September 27th, 2009. The STP Relief Drive is collecting monetary and material donations such as clothes, shoes, medicines or non-perishable foods such as canned goods, to support the disaster relief efforts in the Philippines. This relief project will support food, sanitation, medical services and supplies for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines.
Philippines - Citizens’ Action is Best Response for Disaster (tags)
Saying that the country needs to unite in order to confront and address the calamities brought about by typhoon Ondoy, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Walden Bello on Monday asked every Filipino here in the Philippines and those overseas to summon their Bayanihan spirit and help the victims in any way possible.
AJLPP LAUNCHES SAGIP TULONG SA PILIPINAS (STP) Relief Drive (tags)
The US –Arroyo Regime is guilty of criminal neglect. There are parallels between the hurricane Katrina and typhoon Ondoy specifically how the Philippine governments neglect the basic needs of the people while spending money for civil wars against the NPA and the Moros (MILF), foreign trips and personal profiteering. More than 25 provinces from Nothern Luzon to Bicol were affected by the floods. More than 400,00 people were homeless and hundreds are feared death. For cash and check donations please send it to: People'S CORE, 1610 Beverly Blvd. Suite No. 2 Los Angeles, CA 90026 or call (213) 241-0906 or check our website at peoplescore.net We will announce our drop-off points for material donations such as clothes, foot wears, medicines and others later.
Kin find activist tortured in Army camp in Cagayan province (tags)
Pesante-USA , an environmental and a human rights advocacy group based in Los Angeles learned today through news sources in Manila that relatives and friends of a youth activist who was reported missing for more than a week. They found him in a military camp in Cagayan province, allegedly beaten and tortured into admitting that he was a communist rebel. Noriel Rodriguez, 26, a member of the militant youth group Anakbayan, was held for 10 days in various camps of the Army’s 17th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Masin in Alcala town in Cagayan, according to the Tanggulan Youth Network for Human Rights and Civil Liberties.
Julius Fortuna, An FQS stalwart/ MDP Secretary General, Dies at 60 (tags)
The Kilusang Dekada 70 ( KD70) composed of First Quarter Storm and martial law activists based in the United States pays tribute to Julius Fortuna who passed away last Tuesday, June 23 in the Philippines. He succumbed on Tuesday morning to a massive heart attack at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City where he was rushed after complaining of difficulty in breathing. He would have turned 61 on July 30 this year. He was a member of the national council of the militant Kabataang Makabayan (KM) in the late ’60s and later served as secretary-general of the Movement for a Democratic Philippines, the coordinating body of radical groups that organized the massive demonstrations now collectively known as the First Quarter Storm of 1970.
Rodney Innez, A Hell’s Angels’ Tail In A Small Town (tags)
1st week of November as loads of tourist came to travel Manila, the morning is waft of it’s character so of the awareness of being not a third world. People passed at the vertical and horizon and the day is a bizarre apparition, and idiotic technique to slip the whole day down for another tomorrow, when three tourists from New Zealand came along to visit Manila Bay.
Philippines: Urban poor strongly represented in new socialist party (tags)
Bulacan, Philippines, February 1, 2009 – “We are the bat people, the people who live under bridges in Manila”, explained urban poor organiser Ka Lisa as she took a small group of international observers around a section of an urban poor relocation settlement in Bulacan, about 60 kilometres north of Manila.
ARROYO SNUBBED AGAIN BY OBAMA (tags)
US President Barack Obama is proving to be a very elusive prey for a Philippine President supposedly dogging him for a meeting. Instead Arroyo met withUS State Secretary Clinton. Ms Arroyo briefed Clinton on the government’s refocusing the campaign for peace in Mindanao from the armed groups to dialogues with communities, and that engagement with insurgent groups like the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) would be about “disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation”.
PESANTE SUPPORT ECHANIS FAST (tags)
Filipino Peasant advoccy group based in LA, Pesante-USA fully and militantly support peasant leader Randall Echanis who is holding a protest fast inside the Manila City Jail on Wednesday to mark the first year of what he said was his "very unjust" detention. "Pesante-USA is one and in solidarity with all activist organizations, relatives and sympathizers who also went on a fast and camped out in front of the Supreme Court along Padre Faura Street in Manila to call for the release of 60-year-old Echanis and denounce the Arroyo administration's "fascist stance" against activists." said, Arturo P. Garcia Pesante-USA coordinator
PESANTE SUPPORT ECHANIS FAST (tags)
Filipino Peasant advoccy group based in LA, Pesante-USA fully and militantly support peasant leader Randall Echanis who is holding a protest fast inside the Manila City Jail on Wednesday to mark the first year of what he said was his "very unjust" detention. "Pesante-USA is one and in solidarity with all activist organizations, relatives and sympathizers who also went on a fast and camped out in front of the Supreme Court along Padre Faura Street in Manila to call for the release of 60-year-old Echanis and denounce the Arroyo administration's "fascist stance" against activists." said, Arturo P. Garcia Pesante-USA coordinator
FREE RANDALL ECHANIS AND ALL POLITICAL DETAINEES! (tags)
The recent charades, so called arrest and hospital detention and then the eventual release of Jocjoc Bolante after he was deported back to Manila by US immigration authorities truly reflects the ills of a justice system under rule of the puppet US-Arroyo regime in the Philippines. The Kilusang Dekada 70 vehemently condemns the recent travesty of justice. We ask- why is it so easy for this government play charades and masquaredes in the Congress and in the courts than to listen to the cries for justice coming from victims of enforced disappearance, torture and unjust imprisonme
AJLPP SUPPORTS DEC 12 MASS ACTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) National Coordinator Mario Santos vehemently condemns in the highest terms the GMA schemes to change the constitution by a constituent assembly she controlled, Therefore, the AJLPP based in the United States and the Filipino American community also strongly and militantly supports the mass actions on December 12th against the charter change and against the imperial and fascist presidency of Gloria-Macapagal-Arroyo in Manila and the rest of the Philippines.
AJLPP Blast Pro-Imperialist 2nd GFMD in Manila (tags)
On behalf of the of the Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) we express our militant solidarity for the all the mass actions and protests against the Manila ‘s Second Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). The AJLPP West Coordinator Arturo P. Garcia said: “ The AJLPP and the Filipino American community in the United States strongly condemns the United nations (UN) pro-imperialist and anti-migrant GMFD framework and agenda of the conference in Manila. The agenda of the conference lay bare the exploitative foundation and consequences of so-called neoliberal globalization on the lives of migrants, refugees and their families.
On the 2nd GMFD Conferene in Manila (tags)
On behalf of the of the Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) we express our militantly solidarity for the all the mass actions and protests against the Manila ‘s Second Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD). The AJLPP strongly condemns the pro-imperialist and anti-migrant GMFD framework and agenda of the conference in Manila. The agenda of the conference lay bare the exploitative foundation and consequences of so-called neoliberal globalization on the lives of migrants, refugees and their families.
101 Death Anniversary of Anti-Imperialist Filipino General Makario Sakay (tags)
After 101 years, General Macario Sakay, who led the KKK movement in Tondo against American colonial rule, finally got his proper place in history. The Manila government, led by Mayor Alfredo Lim, on Saturday unveiled a monument in honor of Sakay at Plaza Morga in Tondo.
OCAMPO HITS DOJ, PNP FOR EFYING COURT ORDER ON ECHANIS TRANSFER (tags)
Manila--Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo yesterday denounced the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Philippine National Police for defying a Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) order transferring peasant leader Randall Echanis back to the PNP Custodial Center at Camp Crame. Last Monday, Col. Cesar Magsino, chief custodial group, PNP, a certain Col. Degracia, HQ service and support group, PNP, defied the Manila RTC Branch 32 order by not taking custody of Echanis pursuant to DoJ advice through higher headquarters.
Pesante Hails Transfer of Echanis to PNP Jail- A Tactical Victory (tags)
The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante-USA) hails the transfer of Randal Echanis, yesterday. Echanis, a persecuted leader of KMP, a veterans FQSM student leader and an NDF Peace Consultant PNP was transferred from the Manila City Jail to the PNP Jai. The transfer is a tactical victory in the interest of justice and lasting peace and was a demand of different human rights groups in the Philippines and in the U.S. Pesante Coordinator Arturo Garcia said: “Echanis should not have been transferred to the Manila City Jail from the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, It is just a simple case of persecution and the SOP of the resurging and copycat martial law regime. The US-Marcos regime did the same when they transferred the political prisoners from the detention centers to Muntinglupa National Penitentiary and declared them as “public order violators”
Pesante Hails Transfer of Echanis to PNP Jail- A Tactical Victory (tags)
The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante-USA) hails the transfer of Randal Echanis, yesterday as a victory. Echanis, a persecuted leader of KMP, a veteran FQSM student leader and an NDF Peace Consultant PNP was transferred from the Manila City Jail to the PNP Jai. The transfer is a tactical victory in the interest of justice and lasting peace and was a demand of different human rights groups in the Philippines and in the U.S.
FIGHTING CONTINUES AS RAMADAN BEGINS (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Sunday warned of a full-blown war with the peace process “in purgatory” after the government told the Supreme Court on Friday that a Moro homeland deal had been scrapped. MILF chief negotiator Mohaqher Iqbal told Reuters news agency that the MILF was no longer confident it could strike a final peace agreement under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration.
AJLPP Protests The Arrest of Randall Echanis, KMP Leader and a member of NDFP Peace Panel (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) vehemently condemns the unjust transfer and detention of Kilusan ng Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) deputy secretary-general Randall Echanis to the Manila City Jail (MCJ). The AJLPP comments that Echanis, who has been suffering from hypertension, should not be detained at the MCJ due to his health. ” It is a smack of political persecution and a pattern of repression by the US-Arroyo regime against known NDFP peace consultants It has been the SOP of the US regimes since Dictator Marcos during martial law to lump political detainees with common criminals. The US-Arroyo regime precisely doing this maneuvers. ” said the AJLPP.
Free Filipino Political Prisoner Randall Echanis Now (tags)
The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) and all its allied organizations in North America expresses deep and serious concern over the continued detention of a ranking officer of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)or the Peasant Movement of the Philippines- Randall Echanis and demand his immediate release. On Tuesday, KMP Deputy Secretary for internal affairs Randall Echanis was transferred from the Palo Provincial Jail in Leyte to the Camp Crame Detention Center. An AJLLP coordinator commented that “members are happy that at least he was transferred to Camp Crame in Manila from Hilongos Leyte.” Updates were received that at around 7 a.m., some 30 supporters of Echanis, peasant activists including his wife Erlinda, son Ramill and daughter Amanda, and other relatives and friends, trooped to the EDSA gate of Camp Crame to greet his arrival.” The AJLPP seriously believes that Echanis, was falsely charged for murder in connection with mass graves discovered in Hilongos, Leyte. Like other NDF peace consultants who are languishing in jail, they are being unjustly targeted by the US-Arroyo regime. AJLPP fully supports position of the KMP chair Paeng Mariano and the Echanis family that the imprisonment of Echanis, was meant to “preserve the illegitimate, immoral and evil reign of President Arroyo.”
The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) and all its allied organizations in North America expresses deep and serious concern over the continued detention of a ranking officer of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)or the Peasant Movement of the Philippines- Randall Echanis and demand his immediate release. On Tuesday, KMP Deputy Secretary for internal affairs Randall Echanis was transferred from the Palo Provincial Jail in Leyte to the Camp Crame Detention Center. An AJLLP coordinator commented that “members are happy that at least he was transferred to Camp Crame in Manila from Hilongos Leyte.” Updates were received that at around 7 a.m., some 30 supporters of Echanis, peasant activists including his wife Erlinda, son Ramill and daughter Amanda, and other relatives and friends, trooped to the EDSA gate of Camp Crame to greet his arrival.” The AJLPP seriously believes that Echanis, was falsely charged for murder in connection with mass graves discovered in Hilongos, Leyte. Like other NDF peace consultants who are languishing in jail, they are being unjustly targeted by the US-Arroyo regime. AJLPP fully supports position of the KMP chair Paeng Mariano and the Echanis family that the imprisonment of Echanis, was meant to “preserve the illegitimate, immoral and evil reign of President Arroyo.”
Gov’t faces blank wall on KL role in peace talks (tags)
The Government of the Philippines based in Manila has failed to get an assurance from Malaysia that it will continue to broker the peace process between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Malaysia’s role in the peace talks became uncertain as its Foreign Minister Rais Yatim, who met with Philippine officials led by President Arroyo, yesterday in Manila, was non-committal on the request of the Philippine government to continue facilitating the peace negotiations.
Delay in peace talks deliberate, says MILF (tags)
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim separatist rebel group in the country, accused Manila on Wednesday of delaying the peace talks. Manila is negotiating peace with the MILF, an army of about 12,000 rebels with millions of Muslim supporters. Peace talks were stalled after both sides failed to sign an agreement on the Muslim ancestral domain.
AGRARIAN REFORM 29 bishops urge Congress to extend CARP (tags)
Twenty-nine Catholic prelates, including Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, have asked the House of Representatives to immediately extend through legislation the 20-year-old Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The CARP expires on June 10 this year.
PHILLIPINES Transport strike – A SUCCESS! (tags)
The transport strike was a success nationwide. Most major transport groups nationwide joined the called of the militant Pinagkaisang Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston, United Association of Drivers and Operators Nationwide). The AJLPP-USA supported the nationwide transport strike that also called for the ouster of the US-Arroyo regime.
Ermita, 2 Cabinet men ‘spoilers’ of talks — MILF (tags)
he Moro Islamic Libe-ration Front (MILF) has accused the Arroyo administration of being a “spoiler” of the peace negotiations, noting that three Cabinet officials are “steering the talks to an unknown direction,” saying like before the MILF is being tricked. MILF secretariat chair-man Muhammad Ameen, in a statement posted on the group’s Web site, yesterday also doubted President Arroyo’s sincerity in signing a peace agreement before she steps down in 2010. “There are many spoilers of the peace process espe-cially in Mindanao, but all those are secondary, and the main or worst spoilers are those in the govern-ment itself,” he noted.
PHILIPPINES: Kintanar widow to testify against Joma Sison (tags)
Gloria “Joy” Jopson-Kintanar has blamed Sison for the murder of her husband, Romulo Kintanar, on Jan. 23, 2003. She and another widow, Veronica Tabara, filed complaints against Sison early last year that served as grounds for the arrest of the CPP founder in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
GABNET 3 ATTEMPTS TO BOARD PLANES A SUCCESS, DESPITE HARASSMENT FROM IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS (tags)
Dr. Annalisa Enrile and two other GABNet leaders en route to US after harassment from immigration officials at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila
LETTER OF CONCERN ABOUT DR. ANNALISA ENRILE , CHAIRPERSON, GABRIELA NETWORK- U.S.A? (tags)
The Philipine Peasant Support Network(Pesante)-USA, a solidarity and advocacy network since 1991 based in the United States, voice our serious concern about the status of US citizens Dr. Annalisa Enrile and human and women's rights activists Judith Mirkinson, and of US permanent resident Ninotchka Rosca, a writer and novelist. Dr. Enrile was prevented from boarding her return flight from Manila to Los Angeles on August 5th and was informed that she was on a "hold" order from the Philippine Department of Justice.
RP GOV'T TO EVICT 15.000 SQUATTER FAMILIES BY THE END OF GMA TERM (tags)
Before President Arroyo’s term ends or within the next three years, the government intends to evict and relocate some 15,000 poor families occupying road-right-of-ways and waterways in the metropolis. An inventory by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) showed a total of 84,000 families living along waterways and roadways out of the 726,906 squatter families in Metro Manila.
Joma wants terror tag lifted (tags)
xiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison hit the Dutch embassy in Manila and the Philippine government for defying a European Union Court order, which has ruled that his rights were violated when he was included in list of terrorists by the European Union. Sison said the European Union’s Court of Justice has ruled in his favor but the Dutch embassy in Manila and Philippine government have insisted that he remains in the terrorist watch list.
NDFP verifies that Prof. Sison is NDFP chief political consultant and belies GRP claims (tags)
The National Council of the National Democrat Front of the Philippines hereby verifies that Prof. Jose Maria Sison is the NDFP chief political consultant and belies the claim of the Manila government that he is chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and head of the New People’s Army (NPA).
AJLPP SUPPORTS FILIPINOS PROTESTS POLL FRAUDS IN MANILA (tags)
The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace (AJLPP) –USA expresses its militant support and solidarity with the Filipino people's protest in Manila against the US-Arroyo regime, the COMELEC, cheating and violence during the last Philippine elections. This comes as Phillippine media reported that thousands braved strong rains and rallied yesterday near the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), where the national canvassing of votes is being held, to protest what was described as "the Arroyo administration's orchestrated cheating" in the recently-concluded senatorial and local elections.
Only the Debris of War is Left (tags)
Vietnam could not be conquered or defeated - despite all miloitary efforts. Three years after Johnson's ultimate demonstration of power, Nixon used the final exit strategy.. The Vietnamization of the war was Vietnamization of coffins.
RP Accepts US offer to help solve killings (tags)
The Philippines police will accept technical assistance from the United States to help solve a wave of political murders targeting mostly leftist dissidents, a senior police official said Wednesday. Malacañang, however, was more guarded on the issue. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters the government wants to be “more deliberate.” Ermita said Philippine and US officials are “in contact with each other” but that no decision has been made. A special United Nations Human Rights Commission rapporteur last week alleged that that some in the Armed Forces—one of the most powerful institutions in the country—were behind the unsolved killings, which human-rights groups have said numbered in the hundreds since 2001.
MILF fighter killed in Taytay raid (tags)
A suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel was killed in a shootout with Marines and police on an island in Laguna de Bay near Metro Manila yesterday. Following the pre-dawn raid, government forces also captured three other suspected MILF fighters in a hideout in Barangay Sta. Ana in Taytay, Rizal near the cities of Pasig and Taguig in Metro Manila. Meanwhile, MILF spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said Mohammad and Sanjali Utto are bandits, not members of the secessionist group. "They are not MILF," he said. "Police are linking them to our organization. We have no members active in Rizal." Kabalu said the police action of linking the captured suspects with the MILF could further delay the resumption of peace talks with the government. "It appears there are certain sectors out to sabotage the talks," he said.
On the 20th anniversary of the Mendiola massacre - Manila (tags)
Protesters clench fists as they march during the anniversary of the Mendiola massacre in Manila January 22, 2007. Demonstrators marked the 20th anniversary of the Mendiola massacre, commemorating 13 protesters who were killed and 80 wounded by a hail of bullets from policemen and soldiers
KADAMAY hit soldiers’ presence in Metro Manila barangays (tags)
News sources said that soliders have been sighted in a number of barangays in Quezon City and parts of Metro Manila, and the deployment is a purported attempt to flush out activist leaders, an urban poor group said. For the past two months, Army troops have camped out at the halls of densely populated barangays in the Metro to “harass” militant leaders there, said Ed Legson of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay).
US- RP Balikatan( Shoulder to Shoulder) War Exercises to resume in February (tags)
The BALIKATAN (Shoulder to Shoulder) joint war exercises between Filipino and American troops will resume in February, an official of the US Embassy in Manila said Monday. "In February we will start again the Balikatan, US " Charges d'Affaires Paul Jones told reporters here after attending a military command conference presided over by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Rally anti-US near the U.S. embassy in Manila - January 8, 2007 (tags)
U.S. Marines Accused of Rape
Anti-USA demonstration in Manila - January 3, 2007 (tags)
Philippines court, minister back transfer of US marine rapist
Philippines - 2006 worst year for rights since Marcos (tags)
Political murders in the Philippines reached their highest level in 2006 since the toppling of dictator Ferdinand Marcos more than 20 years ago, human-rights activists say. More than 180 activists—including journalists, human-rights workers, leftwing politicians, trade unionists and lawyers—were assassinated this year for their criticism of those in power, they say. “An average of three extrajudicial killings are occurring every week in the country,” a Canadian human-rights team concluded recently after a fact-finding mission to the Southeast Asian nation. “A clear pattern of state-perpetrated politically motivated extrajudicial killings” was occurring in the country, the team said.
Rape Victim's Mother Accused Arroyo of Siding with the U.S. (tags)
-- News sources today, quoted rape victim's mother describing her family's continuing fight for justice as a bout between David and Goliath, the mother of rape victim "Nicole" on Monday broke her silence and scored the government for siding with the US on the custody dispute over her daughter's convicted rapist.
AJLPP-USA Statement on the Mass Rally in Manila, (tags)
The Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace(AJLPP-United States, is one and united with the Filipino people and all the religious groups that finally saw the light and now united in converging and expressing their joy in ther tactical victory against the machinations of the US-Arroyo regime to change the constitution through nefarious and blatant means.
December 17 Mass Rally in Manila:Unresolved issues justify protest, say bishops (tags)
AJLPP -USA and Philippine news sources reported today that the December 17 prayer rally in Manila will push through. AN “escalation of crises” that the leaders of the country’s Roman Catholic Church can no longer take sitting down prompted the Church to spearhead tomorrow’s planned huge prayer rally at Manila’s Rizal Park. News reports also confirmed that top officials of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines yesterday rebuffed calls from administration stalwarts for them to abandon the rally at the Quirino Grandstand in the wake of the decision by Ms Arroyo’s allies to scrap plans to convene a constituent assembly. The CBCP secretary general, Msgr. Juanito Figura, said the CBCP could no longer ignore the escalating problems facing the country, including the questions surrounding President Macapagal-Arroyo’s disputed victory in the 2004 elections. Figura specifically cited the “Garci” tapes, which set off the election controversy, the P728-million fertilizer fund scam and the so-called Mayuga report on the alleged involvement of military officials in election fraud as among the issues unresolved to this day. “The Church cannot play blind, deaf and mute to the sufferings that these issues have brought,” Figura said in a press conference.
GRP-MILF talks deadlocked on ancestral domain (tags)
BACKDOOR peace negotiations between the largest separatist rebels and the government continue to be deadlocked over the issue of ancestral domain. Sources close to Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr. said Wednesday that the December 1 meeting between leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and government negotiators in Malaysia failed to break the four-month impasse in the peace parley. “Technically, the deadlock stays because the two panels did not reach any settlement on the territorial domain,” the sources told The Manila Times.
PHOTOS - U.S. Marines Accused of Rape in Philippines (tags)
U.S. Marine convicted in Philippines rape case 21-year-old gets 40 years in prison; case has tested U.S.-Philippines ties
Tight security ring thrown around six detained colonels (tags)
-The military threw a tight security ring around the six Marine colonels involved in the failed February coup attempt following reports of sympathizers planning to free them. The six colonels—Ariel Querubin, Orlando de Leon, Januario Caringal, Armando Banez, Custodio Parcon and Achilles Segumalian—were currently being detained at a Marine base in Manila. They are among 13 Marine officers and 25 Army officers, including a brigadier general, detained for their alleged involvement in a plot with communist insurgents and opposition figures to bring down the government in February.
Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the October 24th Movement of 1966 (tags)
The First Quarter Storm Network-USA (FQSN) militantly commemorate the forty years anniversary of the October 24 Movement of 1966. We pay the highest homage to that movement participants living or departed that shook the foundations of the rotten and anti-people system in the Philippines that supported the US aggression in Vietnam and other parts of the world.
Philippine troops, block farmers in Anti-GMA –Pro Peasant caravan in Pampanga, Central Luz (tags)
The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesnte) -USA in solidarity with the peasant organizations in the Philippines, strongly condemns the military and police harrasment of the peasant caravan from Central Luzon in Pampanga, going to Manila in protest over the agrarian reform month in the Philippines. Media souces reported today that 500 militant farmers taking part in a Central Luzon-wide caravan against political killings and American war games were stopped on Thursday by about 200 government soldiers and residents in the Pampanga capital of San Fernando and blocked four times by policemen on their way to this ecozone and Manila. Pesante-USA vehemently protest such military harrasments that used their civilian supporters to coerce and harass peasant protesting GMA's bogus land reform and fascist attacks against the people especially the KMP and other progressive groups.
RP Govt moves to revive peace talks with MILF (tags)
--The Philippine government is determined to break a deadlock in talks with Muslim separatist rebels to prevent an outbreak of violence, an adviser to President Arroyo said Monday.
Get Filipino OFW’s Out of Lebanon, (tags)
Up to now, less than 2,000 out of the 30,000 have returned to the Philippines. The President’s promise to “evacuate all Filipinos out of Lebanon” is just another empty promise that she is fond of making to endear herself to the country but to no avail. What we see now is the slow pace of evacuation being done by the government. There is no serious plan on the part of the Manila government to get the majority of Filipino OFW’s out of harm’s way.
2 activists, 1 media man killed in 3 hours (tags)
THE latest wave of activist and media killings on Monday hit three regions, including Metro Manila, within a span of three hours, claiming three lives. The first killing happened about 6 a.m. at a bus terminal in Zone 2, Bulan town in Sorsogon, where Rei Mon Guran, a 21-year-old 2nd-year political science student was gunned down. Guran was the local spokesman for the League of Filipino Students and a student of Aquinas University of Legazpi City. In the Cordillera region, the Bayanmuna Kalinga chapter chairman, Dr. Constancio Claver, and his wife Alice Claver, a coordinator for the same group, were ambushed about 7 a.m. Monday by heavily armed men in a black Delica van. The attack killed Claver’s wife, who died while undergoing treatment at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital. She suffered bullet wounds in the head and neck. In Metro Manila Tanod tabloid photojournalist Vic Melendres was gunned down about 8:45 a.m. near his home inside the Gozun Compound in Letre, Malabon, while on his way to work.
Anti-Cha-cha protests mark Independence Day (tags)
AJLPP reprinted the news on the mass actions in Manila and the rest of the Philippines against Charter Change and the escalating human rights violations and attacks against personages and members of the people's organizations and party-list leaders and members in the Philippines. Several thousands of protesters joined the protests against Charter change, June 12. In Manila, about 10,000 protesters participated in an Inter-Faith prayer rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio. Members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and its allied organizations marched from two assembly points – Welcome Rotunda and Quirino avenue corner Taft avenue --toward the Liwasang Bonifacio, 4 pm. Former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., National Artist for Literature Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, Senator Jamby Madrigal, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, Manila Vice Mayor Danny Lacuña were among the personalities who attended the rites.
FARMERS, FISHERMEN, OTHERS WANT ARROYO OUT (tags)
Protesters carrying effigies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, US President Bush, former Philippines Agriculture Secretary Luisito Lorenzo and Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes blocked Quezon Avenue in Manila, causing a traffic jam Thursday afternoon. "Hunger is spreading like wildfire. There is massive corruption in all agencies of the government and genuine land reform has not been implemented," said Danilo Ramos of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
Hunger Striker Ernest Barraquias Jr., now on his 36th day of fasting but still no actions (tags)
Hunger Strike announcement of the discoverer & whistle-blower of seized drugs distribution by high-ranking police generals & drug lords in the Philippines. They used his company. Assasination attempts on him. Richswaze, his nephew-dependent, now 10 held virtual hostage.
CIA - Faked Terror Machine. (tags)
CIA AGENT MICHAEL MEIRING BLEW HIS OWN LEGS OFF WHILE PLANTING A TERRORIST BOMB American Treasure Hunter Michael Meiring is nearly killed in a fiery explosion in his hotel room in the Philippines! Arrest warrents have been issued for him and California based partners after his escape to USA.
The White Collar Migration - Part 1 (tags)
As Economy Gains, Outsourcing Surges
did CIA fake terror bombings i philippines? (tags)
remember lavon affair in 1954? Has US done something similar here?
Orwell's words are still fresh. . .
Proof Bush knew about Targets!!! (tags)
This proves the Bush adminastration knew of the targets, but they allowed it to happen because of the profits to be made by carlyle group etc... in which the Bush family has a large stake...