2006 September- Davao Today

34 Years Since Martial Law, Despotism St...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Extrajudicial Killings, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, History, Human Rights, Latest Posts on 09 16th, 2006 | 1 Comment

The similarities of the atrocities during martial law and today are chilling. Hooded men knocking down doors and dragging out victims in the dead of night. Assassins on motorcycles. Killers shooting victims in cold blood, often in close range. Anguished relatives looking for answers and, most important of...

Diwalwal Lures World’s 5th Largest...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Environment, Latest Posts on 09 16th, 2006 | No Comments

The Inquirer reports today that Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd., reputedly the world’s fifth largest gold mining company and the largest in South Africa, is setting its eyes on Diwalwal, the gold-rush site in Southern Mindanao. Diwalwal is said to have the country’s biggest gold deposit. It is also...

MILF Decries Government ‘Insinceri...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Latest Posts, Peace Process, Terrorism on 09 13th, 2006 | No Comments

Contrary to the Arroyo administration�s claims that the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is progressing, the Moro group today lambasted the government for �offering nothing but rhetoric� in the negotiations. Mohagher Iqbal, the group�s chief negotiator, told...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Business, Labor, Latest Posts on 09 13th, 2006 | No Comments

One of the biggest banana companies in Mindanao recently fired 196 workers. The welfare of their families on the line, the aggrieved workers decided to take to the streets. They�re still there. By Alberto P. Egot Jr. davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — “Trabaho ipadayon, dili separation pay!” At...

Davao’s Guardian of Memory...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Arts & Culture, Davao City, Davao Region, History, Latest Posts, Lifestyle, Profiles on 09 9th, 2006 | 10 Comments

In his new book, award-winning writer and historian Macario Tiu attempts to set straight the myths and inaccuracies of Davao�s history. Why, he asks, should Datu Bago be depicted as a pirate � and not the Basque invader Uyanguren? He remembers the heroic acts of Davaoe�os past and present. “The task is...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Crime & Public Safety, Human Rights, Latest Posts on 09 9th, 2006 | No Comments

DAVAO CITY � The human rights group Karapatan has condemned the murder of an AnakPawis coordinator and pinned the blame on the state. In a statement, the group also noted what it said was an �alarming increase� in human-rights violations in Southern Mindanao. ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Crime & Public Safety, Latest Posts, Press Freedom Watch on 09 9th, 2006 | 1 Comment

Two months after the fatal shooting of Armando Pace, a hard-hitting radio commentator in Digos City, the case remains in limbo. By Cheryll D. Fiel davaotoday.com DIGOS CITY � He was called the �Jun Pala� of Digos, a fire-breathing broadcaster who earned another moniker, �Rakman,� because of the sheer...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in History, Latest Posts on 09 9th, 2006 | 32 Comments

The Philippine government and Japan have no record of the number of neglected Japanese descendants in the country � many of them are in Davao — because their birth certificates show their citizenship as Filipino. Worse, some Japanese fathers refuse to recognize these children as from their blood...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Environment, Health, Latest Posts on 09 9th, 2006 | No Comments

DAVAO CITY � The Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panlegal (Saligan), a national law group, asserts that� there is no law that would be affected by the proposed ordinance banning aerial spraying, a fact that gives the Davao City government a wide space for local legislation. The absence of a national law on...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Human Rights, Latest Posts on 09 9th, 2006 | 1 Comment

A Moro rights group echoes fears that the unabated military operations in Sulu and in other areas of operations of the joint US-RP military will lead to human rights violations against Moro civilians. Ren Jalaluddin Ropeta, vice-chairperson of the Moro-Christian Peoples� Alliance (MCPA), reacted to news...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Human Rights, Latest Posts, Military on 09 9th, 2006 | No Comments

By Fidel V. Agcaoili Chairman, NDFP Human Rights Committee The appointment yesterday of Major General Jovito Palparan as deputy national security adviser is a clear proof that the extrajudicial killings and abduction of legal activists are state policy under the Arroyo regime. Thus, these are committed with...

Toni Galang in Davao...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Arts & Culture, Commentary, Latest Posts on 09 9th, 2006 | No Comments

(Editor�s Note: This column should have appeared weeks ago but did not because it fell through the cracks of our otherwise excellent email system. Our apologies to Ms. Soco and her followers.) DAVAO CITY — Hi, everyone! I�m back and I have here with me the juiciest and latest happening in...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Latest Posts, Politics on 09 9th, 2006 | No Comments

The advocates of constitutional change, most especially former President Fidel Ramos, House speaker Jose De Venecia and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, cannot claim to be sincere adherents of constitutional principles when their track record in governance says otherwise. By the Policy Study, Publications...

Who�s Behind the Bombing Experiment?...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Crime & Public Safety, Human Rights, Latest Posts, Terrorism on 09 9th, 2006 | 2 Comments

This has been the question nagging me for days now as I follow the story of an anti-terror expert who ran an experiment of bringing explosive materials and who passed through the security personnel of an airline carrier and two major airports in the country, airports that had, in the past five years,...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts, Peace Process, Politics on 09 5th, 2006 | No Comments

This week, the country commemorated the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Final Peace Agreement between the government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Many had hoped that the settlement would end the conflict in Mindanao but that, alas, did not happen. What went wrong? In this collection...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts on 09 4th, 2006 | No Comments

Germelina Lacorte, associate editor of Davao Today, was commissioned by Newsbreak magazine to write about the old guards of the Moro National Liberation Front and where they are now. “What has the 10-year-old peace agreement done to the top leaders of the Moro rebellion?” Lacorte’s story...

Tortured, Then Freed...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Human Rights, Latest Posts on 09 2nd, 2006 | No Comments

Sammy Gampong (bottom), one of the three Moros arrested for allegedly trying to bring explosives onto a Superferry ship, shows injuries on his wrist inflicted, according to him, by the military, who allegedly tortured him after he refused to admit that he was a bomber hired by the Moro Islamic Liberation...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Latest Posts on 09 2nd, 2006 | No Comments

By Grace S. Uddin davaotoday.com DAVAO CITY — The ground would shake, like when there�s an earthquake, each time the bombs fell. Miko Corido, a thirty-something Davaoeno who worked as a domestic helper in Lebanon, was traumatized and bruised, literally, by the experienced. Delia Torocio, 24 and also...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Human Rights, Latest Posts on 09 2nd, 2006 | No Comments

We should raise a deafening howl, as a people, as a nation with a collective strength no dictator in the past or present can thwart, not just to condemn the killings and disappearances, not just to lament this political persecution that is so unlike what we have seen in recent history, but to bring brain,...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Human Rights, Latest Posts, Military, Terrorism on 09 2nd, 2006 | No Comments

MANILA — The passage of the anti-terror bill is expected to spur more economic and military aid for the Arroyo government, in exchange for deepening its involvement in the US-led �War on Terror� and protecting America�s economic stake in the Philippines, says independent think-tank IBON Foundation. ...

Posted by DAVAO TODAY in Commentary, Extrajudicial Killings, Human Rights, Latest Posts, News Analysis on 09 2nd, 2006 | 1 Comment

The presidential order forming the commission is widely seen more as a political gimmick rather than as a major step toward stopping the extrajudicial killings. It was meant to mollify public outrage over the killings and clear the constitutionally impaired presidency of possible accountability. By the...