Int?l campaign kicks off for Sagada 11
An international campaign for the immediate and unconditional release of the 11 "punks" allegedly illegally arrested, detained, and tortured in Benguet is gaining headway with the creation of the Free…
This Week in Bulatlat
Bacolod Bishop to Arroyo: Step Down Now Another Catholic bishop has directly demanded that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo step down from office ? adding his voice to calls earlier made by…
Leaders of Davao Left Included in Rebellion Charge Vs Virador
By Cheryll Fiel
davaotoday.com
DAVAO CITY ? Practically all of this city?s known leaders of progressive groups have been included in the rebellion charges filed against Bayan Muna party-list representative Joel Virador.
Ariel Casilao, Bayan secretary-general for Southern Mindanao, told reporters Tuesday that he and eight other leaders of progressive groups are listed in the case filed against Virador at the Department of Justice on Monday.
According to Casilao, they were cited in the charge sheet for “conspiring to commit rebellion” based, accordingly, on a complaint filed by two police operatives.
(more…)
With Great Power…
Commentary
By Carlos H. Conde
davaotoday.com
MANILA — I was sitting as a panelist at a forum called “Who’s Afraid of Media Freedom?” yesterday at the Ateneo law school in Rockwell when my cellphone went berserk with text messages warning of an impending police raid of the offices of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. I was stunned. Literally, I felt a chill crawling down my spine. Having no experience with media repression on the scale that my elder colleagues went through during the martial law years, I was actually afraid. Is this it? I asked myself silently. Are they really going to arrest Sheila Coronel et. al.? After them, who was going to be next? (Read Sheila’s account of what happened yesterday.)
I was going to speak after ABS-CBN’s Luchi Cruz-Valdez. While listening to her recount her experience covering the first Edsa, a thought crossed mind: Should I deliver my speech? What if the Arroyo regime would think it is subversive or that it might incite people to rebel?
Former vice president Tito Guingona was seated right next to me. A few minutes earlier, he exhorted the audience to “fight on!” Suddenly, I felt deeply ashamed. Here was this old civil libertarian, still at it, raising hell and battling water cannons — and there I was, actually anxious about the possible consequences of what I was going to say.
In end, I decided I was not going to give this regime the pleasure of intimidating me. So I raised a little hell myself.
Following is my short presentation. (You can listen to it here. Incidentally, Conrado de Quiros discussed the subject of my speech in his column today. You can also listen to the brilliant presentation by veteran journalist Vergel Santos of BusinessWorld and the Center for Media Freedom and Resonsibility.)
Blind Bishops
Commentary By Carlos H. Conde davaotoday.com MANILA -- I was disappointed, to say the least, that our Catholic bishops, in a closed-door meeting with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last Friday, did…