By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte thumbs down initial moves to entice him to run for the Senate under the slate of Lakas-NUCD when his third term as mayor finally ends in 2010.
Author Archives: GERMELINA A. LACORTE
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered no let up against drugs and crime syndicates despite criticisms from international human rights groups and the report by United Nations (UN) rapporteur Philip Alston on extra-judicial killings.
Tortured. Luisito Bustamante shows the burns on his neck and marks of the metal chain on his his feet which were used by his captors to bind him. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
Luisito Bustamante, 22, admitted during a court hearing that he was a member of the Communist New Peoples Army (NPA). He told the court that not even his fingertips was touched when he was in military captivity, belying any possibility of torture. But an hour after the hearing, Luisito told a different story. He showed his mother and friends the burn marks on his neck and back, the scars on his ankles that had been, days before, tied with wires.
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
The journalists trooped to the office of the Mindanao Ombudsman as Sembrano filed a criminal case of grave coercion, grave threats, physical injury, and an administrative case of grave abuse of authority against against the Compostela Valley provincial board member Neri Barte, who allegedly attacked him inside the announcer’s booth at around 6:15 a.m. of October 23.
Show of Support. Colleagues demand justice for Radyo Natin Compostela Broadcaster Roel Sembrano. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
On the night of October 27, 22-year-old Luisito Bustamante and his friends and younger sister Libby were on their way to Malabog to distribute handbills for the approaching barangay elections when they were accosted at a checkpoint by elements of the Task Force Davao. Bustamante was held and has not been found since.
Taken. Bebilita Bustamante, mother of the missing Luisito Bustamante, and Kelly Delgado, secretary general of Karapatan Southern Mindanao, show the petition for the writ of amparo that they filed at the sala of Judge Isaac G. Robillo Jr., Regional Trial Court Branch 13 in Davao City. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
The military continued attacking Muslim communities even during the Ramadan, according to human-rights and Moro groups. “When entire communities get displaced by war, how are you going to celebrate Ramadan?” one of them asked. “Ramadan completely loses its meaning. Foremost in your mind, when you’re in an evacuation center, is how to survive, where to look for food, or to keep yourself from being harassed, or get hit by a bomb.”
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
The KMP said what it proposes will be a better law than the existing CARP, which failed to end the sufferings of farmers after two decades. The new bill will ensure that farmers will no longer lose control of their land. To do that, the proposed bill wll do away with provisions giving the farmers the option to sell their land.
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
Millions of US dollars in funding are now being earmarked by the Asian Development Bank, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and the Australian Agency for International Development as governments from the four Eaga countries — Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines — try to revive interest in the economic subregion.
Palanca Award winner from Davao City writes for the poor
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
The NDF says the arrest of Jose Maria Sison signaled the end of the peace negotiations. And any local peace talks, which the government and the military now favor, would be pointless. The regime will end up talking to itself, said Gregorio Ka Roger Rosal, the communist partys spokesman.
