Gumanoy sisters’ mom maintains daughters were kidnapped (tags)
The mother of two sisters allegedly abducted by the military maintained that her daughters were kidnapped and accused the military of “manipulating” her daughters to “cover up” the incident. In a statement on Friday, Maria Gumanoy, mother of Rose Ann and Fatima and the wife of slain peasant leader Eduardo Gumanoy, said her daughters were only pressured by the military to deny the alleged abduction. Maria also accused the military of “drugging” her daughter Fatima, 17, who was confined at the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City.
Satur Ocampo details UN report on HRVs in Canada speech (tags)
Philippine Rep. Satur C. Ocampo (Party List, Bayan Muna), Deputy Minority Leader in the House of Representatives of the Philippines, appealed to the Canadian government to urge the Philippine Government to seriously consider the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the spate of extrajudicial killings that have been going on at an alarming rate in the Philippines over the past six years. In a speech delivered to the Filipino community at the Carr Hall of St. Michaels College of the University of Toronto, Ocampo spoke about the report submitted by Prof. Philip Alston to the United Nations on November 28, 2007.
Citing the national food summit as a “useless” move to solve the looming rice crisis in the country, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) pushed, instead, for the abolition of the rice cartel and the approval of House Bill 3059 or the genuine agrarian reform bill. “Walang kuwenta ang food summit dahil hindi ito ang solusyon sa krisis ng bigas [The food summit is useless because this is not the solution to the rice crisis],” Ka Tonying Flores, auditor of KMP, said Friday.
2 solons deny part in coup plot, to lead Mendiola march (tags)
Even as they denied participation in any alleged destabilization plot against the Arroyo administration, two left-leaning lawmakers at the House of Representatives vowed to lead the protest rally on January 22 to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the massacre at Mendiola in Manila. “Wala kaming kinalaman sa kung anumang destabilization plot na sinasabi nila [We have nothing to do with any destabilization plot that they are saying]. This rally is a legitimate protest and demand on behalf of the farmers,” Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo said over the phone on Thursday. Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran agreed. “We are not involved in any destabilization plot. We are not participants to any kinds of destabilization move,” he said. Their statements came a day after the arrest of five suspected coup plotters Wednesday.