I dare speculate that the Catholic Church used the Hello Garci scandal to wangle concessions from the embattled president, such as the commutation of all death sentences. Because had the Church, as an institution, spoke out against her and called on the public to topple her, Arroyo wouldn?t have lasted in Malacanang this long.
News Analysis
With his charismatic and no-nonsense persona, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has succeeded in pleasing everybody. Why then is he risking his support from the progressive sector and from critics of the Arroyo administration by openly endorsing charter change?
By Marilou N. Aguirre
and Carlos H. Conde
DAVAO CITY (davaotoday.com) ?When Rodrigo Duterte, the feisty mayor of this city, lashed out against the United States some years back for floating the idea of holding a joint U.S.-Philippine military exercise in his city, activists praised him for having the courage to stand up to Uncle Sam.
More recently, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo decreed that protest marches were a threat to national security, Duterte went the opposite route, essentially telling leftists here not to mind the president.
Duterte, in other words, can be an activist?s greatest ally — which is why, to many of them, he can be a vexing problem.
Some mistook it for the dance, many hadn?t heard about it, others were convinced it won?t change things, while several felt some interests are manipulating the public into accepting it.
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By Cheryll D. Fiel
and Germelina A. Lacorte
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DAVAO CITY (davaotoday.com) ? The surveys were emphatic: most Filipinos are not in favor of Charter change. Although the results vary depending on who does the survey, the sentiment nonetheless was clear.
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A Pulse Asia survey in March said that 48 percent of voters approved of Charter Change while 43 percent didn?t. A more recent survey this month by the same pollster indicated that 54 percent of Filipinos didn?t want a shift to a parliamentary system, which is the key amendment being pushed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her critics have warned that she?s using Charter change to perpetuate herself in power by averting another round of impeachment proceedings this year.
Results of a nationwide poll released last week by Ibon Foundation indicated that 76 percent of the respondents who know about Charter change did not approve of it. But given the unpopularity of the Arroyo administration, which is hounded by charges of election fraud and corruption, that is hardly surprising.
By Grace S. Uddin
DAVAO CITY (davaotoday.com) ? It?s easy to get mesmerized by the glitter of a gold ring. But there?s a story behind its allure.
It takes the excavation of 20 tons of soil to produce such a ring. Imagine for a second the toll such a process exacts. Destroyed land. Felled trees. Stripped mountains.
In the context of the Philippine countryside, include these: Displaced communities, dispossessed families, violence, even death.
Such is the havoc large-scale mining has wrought in many communities in the Philippine countryside, anti-mining activists said last week.
DAVAO CITY ? The selection of Davao City as among the Philippines?s most competitive cities for 2005 is a good sign that it is a conducive place for investment, the…