The country’s first automated elec... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY–The country’s first automated elections has left most voters feeling angry and disappointed seven hours after the opening of the polling places here. Carmen Gultiano, a voter in one of the precinct clusters at the Daniel Aguinaldo National High School,...

Foreign observers watch the Davao electi... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY–Foreign observers said they’re aware that Filipinos will be braving bullets and bribes in today’s first ever automated elections but hope that their presence will deter electoral fraud. “I am here to observe, to monitor and to report what I see,” said...

Brownouts getting longer on the eve of t... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY—As if to add to the jitters of the upcoming elections, brownouts in the city is getting longer as political parties approach the tail-end of their campaigns. Power outages in Davao City has lengthened to two and a half to three hours a day on the eve of the May...

Former NUJP chair: Hunt for information ... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY—Twenty-three years after the ratification of the Philippine Constitution that ensured the public’s right to know, the hunt for information in the country remains a deadly game, the former chair of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines...

Power execs warn of longer brown-outs... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY—Top executives of the country’s second biggest power distribution firm warned of much longer brown-outs in Mindanao as the declining water level of Agus and Pulangi rivers further push down Mindanao’s power generation capacity by about half of the island’s...

Malacañang could not wash its hands off... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY—“Malacañang could not wash its hands off the Ampatuan massacre because the state is obliged to prevent such things,” said Lawyer Harry Roque, who represented the 13 widows of journalist victims of the Ampatuan massacre in the filing of cases before the...

Farmers caravan will end up in Malacaña... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY—Farmers belonging to the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) set off on Wednesday for a 10-day caravan that will end up in a long march to Malacanang to mark the 23rd year of the farmers’ massacre in Mendiola. Danilo Ramos, KMP secretary-general, said...

... By GERMELINA LACORTE Davao Today COLUMBIO, SULTAN KUDARAT (davaotoday.com) �The son of Tolyano Dalumatan recalled the first time it happened to his father in 2005: They left home that night to go hunting for frogs. When they got back, they did not know that soldiers were around, so, they (unwittingly)...

Why worry about the OB list?... (second of three parts) First Part : A Pattern to Madness By GERMELINA A. LACORTE Davao Today The mine-rich jungle of Compostela Valley is not only known for its gold. It�s also where the fight between the government troops and the Communist guerillas is at its fiercest. On its website, the military...

A Pattern to Madness... (first of three parts) By GERMELINA A. LACORTE Davao Today First, their groups have been tagged as the legal fronts of the Communist New People’s Army. Then, top military officials make public statements suggesting they’re enemies of the state. Finally, before anyone could stop to consider, they...

Peers of slain doctor worried over colle... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY�Peers of the slain AH1N1 doctor expressed alarm that the extrajudicial killings in the country no longer spare doctors and health workers giving services to the poor. Dr. Jean Lindo, the chair of the doctors� group Rx for Peace, said the death of Dr. Rogelio...

Something reeks in government housing... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE Davao Today Alan Codizar�s family noticed the smell after two months inside their house in Catalunan Grande, a village about five kilometers from downtown Davao. �We thought it was the dog,� recalled Codizar�s wife Lourdes, �So, we moved the doghouse somewhere else but still the smell...

Will Parago appear in a CHR hearing?... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE Davao Today DAVAO CITY—The Commission on Human Rights is thinking of inviting New People�s Army (NPA) leader Kumander Parago in a public inquiry to help shed light on the abduction and killing of his daughter Rebelyn Pitao. �We considered calling him (Parago),� Leila De Lima,...

Dreaming of the dagmay... By Germelina A. LacorteDavao Today Caraga, Davao Oriental� Masandag Diano-Pagsac�s face flushed when she heard another version of the story of the origin of dagmay. �It was not a tamisa (a Mandaya term for an only son) who found it,� she insisted in Mandaya. �It was a maiden taking a bath in the river.� An...

Davao firms to issue warning on closures... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY� Davao companies agreed to send out early warning signals just in case they will have to resort to retrenchments and company shutdown as the impact of the world wide recession will start to be felt in the region. Simeon Marfori, president of the Davao city...

Rice tops Mindanao�s imports last year &... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY—Mindanao, the country’s food basket, is now importing rice. According to the report from the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco), the island�s biggest importation last year consisted of US$138.28 million rice from Vietnam, making up 12...

Moro groups fear renewed military offens... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY�Amidst reports of civilian casualties in the recent fighting in Mindanao, Moro groups fear that renewed government offensives will only displace more people in conflict affected areas during the Ramadhan. Amirah Ali Lidasan, president of Suara Bangsamoro, said...

Japanese-Filipino kids welcome new law o... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY� James Akiyama, 20, has regularly been receiving support money from his Japanese father since he was born. But under the old law of Japan, Japanese Filipino children like him could never become full-fledged Japanese citizens because their parents never...

Arroyo orders all-out offensive vs Drilo... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered an all out offensive against the kidnappers of ABS-CBN senior reporter Ces Drilon, even as she vowed to crush the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) during her term. “We...

NFA pilots rice auction in Davao to brin... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY–The National Food Authority (NFA) is selling its special grade imported Thai rice in commercial markets here to bring down the soaring prices of rice that have gone up to as much as P52 a kilo in the previous weeks. But NFA officials only made the...

Duterte says he won’t allow witchh... By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today DAVAO CITY — Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he will not allow a �witch hunt� against political activists to start in the city even as he ordered a prompt investigation on the killing of a peasant leader here recently. Duterte, who went on a brief visit yesterday to the...

Adonis, other journalists challenge Phil... By GERMELINA LACORTE and CHERYLL D. FIEL | Davao Today DAVAO CITY — Backing up the case of jailed Davao broadcaster Alexander Adonis, journalist groups questioned the country’s libel laws before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, saying that jailing a journalist for libel is a...