NEWS
- Relatives of slain Filipino journalists take their complaints to UN
Families of five journalists killed from 2000 to 2008 have filed a complaint with the United Nations Human Rights Committee after the Philippine..
- US judge orders payment of $7.5M to Marcos victims
U.S. Federal Judge Manuel Real has ordered the payment of $7.5 million to the complainants in a human rights violation case filed against former..
- Landmark UN desaparecidos treaty enter into force
AS a landmark United Nations treaty to deter enforced disappearances entered into force December 23, Philippine-based Asian Federation Against..
- Human rights group urges Aquino to free all other political prisoners
PRESIDENT Bengino Aquino III on Saturday was urged to order the release of all other political prisoners following his announcement that charges..
- 3,000 soldiers, cops face human rights raps; conviction rate ‘dismal’
By CHIT ESTELLA MORE than 3,000 military and police personnel have been accused of human rights violations since 2005, with a “very dismal” rate..
- Iraq beats PHL as 20th signatory to UN ‘desaparecidos’ treaty
By ELLEN TORDESILLAS IN the normal cycle of life, a person is born, he lives, he dies. He does not disappear. Yet it happens. People disappear...
- ‘Morong 23′ health workers go on hunger strike
FORTY-THREE detained health workers began a hunger strike on Friday to press President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to order the withdrawal of..
- Kin of massacre victims explore U.N. help on court case
By MYLAH ROQUERELATIVES of victims of the year-old Maguindanao massacre on Monday sought the help of the visiting United Nations Special Rapporteur..
- Aquino reminded of vow to disband private armies
By AVIGAIL OLARTE NEARLY a year after the Maguindanao massacre, the Aquino administration has yet to make good on its promise to disarm and disband..
- Gov’t support for warlords led to human rights abuses
By CHIT ESTELLAAN international human rights organization said Philippine government support for political warlords was responsible for the..
- Southeast Asian NGOs give ASEAN human rights body a failing mark
BANGKOK, Thailand-- Members of human rights organizations in Southeast Asia have given the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights..
- NGO blames Arroyo for Pampanga human rights violations
CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga.—A human rights group in Central Luzon is blaming former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the increased incidence of..
IN DEPTH
Farmers’ CARP dreams weaken as Teves dynasty strengthens
By KAREN TUASON and RODOLFO DESUASIDOSIXTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD farmer Victoriano Cordero remembers the day in 2008 when Arnie Teves of the powerful Teves clan in Negros Oriental drove him away from the house he had lived in for the past 40 years.
Negros farmers’ despair over unresolved land case
By KAREN TUASON and RODOLFO DESUASIDOTHE land dispute between the powerful Teves clan of Negros Oriental and 30 farmer-beneficiaries has left two persons dead. The killings remain unresolved, but the farmer-beneficiaries say they are agrarian-related.
Tribal leaders to withhold support for Pulangui V
LEADERS of indigenous communities in Bukidnon have refused to engage in any discussion over the planned construction of the Pulangui V Hydroelectric Project (HEP), until dam proponents submit a cultural impact assessment that will detail the damage the dam will cause the..
Farms’ stench still an issue in Pampanga
By HOMER YABUT and RYAN ELBERT GAN ANGELES, Pampanga—The province of Pampanga is known for good cooks, gourmet delights and a thriving meat processing industry. But residents of Porac town and Angeles City pay a price for this culinary pleasure: They live with the stench..
Trafficking takes its toll on women
BY KITT MOLINA and ALETA SANTOSHope for the Youth Foundation and VERA FilesTHIS is a true story about a crime that, despite the existence of a law, has gone unpunished. "Nora," 22, is a victim of human trafficking, one of up to 100,000 Filipino women and children who are..
Cagayan de Oro City farmers regret planting jathropa
By LIEZL P. BUGTAY and VENUS B. BETITA, AFRIM A PROMISE of prosperity turned into a bitter cautionary tale for a community that had pinned its hopes on an alternative energy project in Cagayan de Oro. Rather than benefiting from a much-vaunted government project, the..
Foreign, local firms raid Cagayan for magnetite
MORE than a year since the series of killings of anti-mining activists in Buguey town, Cagayan province, none of the suspects has been identified, and no case has been filed. But environmentalists are blaming big businesses—Filipino, Korean and Chinese—that are mining..
Activists’ murders spur online protest vs mining
THE SOCIAL networking site Facebook is the venue of a quiet protest that has been going on for a year now, where people are venting their concern over magnetite mining in Cagayan province.
‘Conservative’ and ‘sluggish’ PhilHealth misses health care target
The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) has missed the Dec 2010 target mandated by law for it to provide universal health coverage to Filipinos, as health experts say the agency is poorly managed and consequently unable to deliver quality health care to those who..
SMS helpline saves OFWs in distress
By CENTER FOR MEDIA ADVOCACY AFTER years of languishing in jail, some 150 overseas Filipino workers have been granted amnesty by Saudi Arabia King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz and may finally be repatriated by the government. In February last year, the OFWs in Al Hair..
Longest-held political prisoner longs for freedom
By JONAL JAVIER AND ANA RITA SUPANCHRISTMAS is a time for coming home. And so it came as no surprise when most of the health workers belonging to the “Morong 43” were released on Dec. 10, Human Rights Day. Less than two weeks later, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a..
