On Philippine President Aquino's Midterm Year (tags)
Deeper reforms needed to curb inequality
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.
Filipinos Farewell Comrade Jesse Robredo (tags)
Akbayan Party joins the Filipino people in mourning the passing of Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo. The nation just lost a genuine servant of the people. His tragic death is a tremendous loss for our country’s campaign to reform the government.
When Japan surrendered on Aug. 14, 1945, we who had fought as regular army or as guerrillas suddenly became veterans. The terrible war was finally over and everybody looked to picking up the pieces in a regime of peace. From what I read in the papers, the pension is not much. But the feeling among most veterans seems to be that whatever the pension may finally be, it will be better than nothing. The Americans have pummeled the Filipino veterans into submission. He now goes around with a begging bowl in hand. This is the greatest insult and the most pitiful tragedy.
Mammoth electoral fraud in Philippines elections: Padding and shaving (tags)
Nearly three weeks after election day, there are still no definitive results for the Philippine elections to the Senate and House of Representatives. Counting is still continuing and in a number of provinces it has not even begun. This has nothing to do with inefficiency and everything to do with ballot-rigging. The Philippines is one of the most corrupt ‘democracies’ in the world. During the 2004 presidential election, the victory of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was widely attributed to large-scale fraud. A tape was massively circulated of a conversation between the President and Virgilio Garcillano, head of Comelec, the national election commission. Arroyo was heard addressing him familiarly, ‘Hello Garci’, and the election chief proudly assured her that he would guarantee her a million-vote majority.
Political Fiefdoms Dig In (tags)
A look at the election outcome in some of the political turfs would show whether the geopolitical balance of power has changed without necessarily shaking the infrastructures of political dynasties in those areas. The clan of Macapagal-Arroyo has been in power for 58 years, broken only by the Marcos dictatorship. Even if the clan has spun out its political presence in Camarines Sur and Negros, it has a lot of damage control coming up what with the province of Pampanga - considered Mrs. Arroyo's bailiwick and father Diosdado's birthplace - going to a new governor,
2nd Los Angeles Historic Filipinotown Flores De Mayo Festival May 27, 2006- A Success (tags)
The Historic Filipinotown residents and organizations marked the centenary of the Filipino workers migration to the United States in 2006 with a successful 2nd Mayflower Festival (Flores De Mayo) last Saturday, May 27 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles.