Pimentel Deplores Lack of Solid Development Plans for Philippines

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino ?Nene? Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) today decried the lack of solid plans
for the development of the nation under the leadership
of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo because of her
administration?s tendency to disregard or sacrifice
plans, no matter how beneficial they are to majority
of Filipinos, when they conflict with the interest of
a favored few or the President?s political interest.

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Philippines: Gabriela Gives Comelec Copy of Partylist Memo, Urges Probe

MANILA — Gabriela Women?s Party members today trooped to the Commission on Elections office to give copies of the confidential memo to COMELEC Chairperson Benjamin Abalos while urging the body to conduct a speedy investigation on the alleged hatchet plot using public funds against progressive partylists.

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Virginia Tech: Don?t Politicize the Massacre

By Katherine H.S. Moon

The massacre at Virginia Tech is eliciting a profusion of confusing and off-the-mark public reactions on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Americans seem not to know where to lay the blame, and Koreans in South Korea seem all too eager to bear collective responsibility and shame for the outrageous acts of a total stranger. Labeling and classifying may be ways for people to make sense of irrational things, but playing with identity politics and cultural differences in not the way to clarify a chaotic situation.

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North Korea Nuclear Deal: Better Late than Never!

By Ralph A. Cossa

(More than) a day later, but not a dollar short. That pretty much sums up what to Pyongyang is a perfectly reasonable negotiating position. It will honor its end of the Feb. 13, 2007 “action for action” denuclearization deal, once the money is in the bank. In short, “checkbook diplomacy” still works with North Korea; the “check’s in the mail” diplomacy does not!

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World Copyright Day: Give Journalists Rights to Control Their Work, Says IFJ

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today marked World Copyright Day with a new call for lawmakers and governments to protect journalists? rights to own and control their work.

?Authors? rights are essential to the quality of journalism and to the future of our profession. They provide vital income for a journalist and they help the defence of professional ethics,? said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. ?They play a crucial role in developing and maintaining a free press and democracy.?

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