By CHERYLL D. FIEL This coastal town in northeastern Mindanao would have been as humdrum and sleepy as any ordinary day but the red letters on the railing of a bridge along the national highway broke the monotony: "Mabuhay ang ika-41 nga anibersaryo sa Partido Komunista sa Pilipinas! (Long live the 41st anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines)."
By CHERYLL D. FIEL Bai Ali Indayla, secretary-general of the Moro human rights group Kawagib, pointed out how slow administration officials moved against the Ampatuans, President Arroyo's close political ally suspected of the carnage of 57 unarmed people that included lawyers and journalists, in Maguindanao.
By CHERYLL D. FIEL Journalists were out to cover the filing of candidacy of a politician who will challenge the reigning clan of the Ampatuans—a close ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—when the convoy made up of the politicians' relatives and supporters were blocked and massacred along the way.
By CHERYLL FIEL As voting will be automated for the first time in 2010, the public policy watchdog Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) foresees the elections as a more difficult process than an easier one.
By CHERYLL FIEL Six months into the probe, and three public inquiries so far, the Commission on Human Rights is nowhere near proving the existence of the Davao Death Squad, let alone, establish a connection with Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.