Author: GRACE S. UDDIN

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Who is Danilo Santiago?

DAVAO CITY---The name Danilo Santiago first appeared in the media on June 14 last year, a day after a man by that name was killed in Tagum, Davao del Norte. When the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) conducted a public inquiry on the killing of Kumander Parago?s daughter Rebelyn Pitao in April this year, the name Danilo Santiago again cropped up. But who was Danilo Santiago? How was his death related to the death of Rebelyn Pitao? Commissioner Leila De Lima had asked Helvin Bitang, a Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) personnel, if he knew the man. Read on.

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Is the police helpless in the face of abductions?

Given the fact that reports on the abduction of her daughter reached first the police station of Talomo before it reached her, Evangeline Pitao, Rebelyn?s mother, asked if the police could have done any better? Could the police have blocked all the possible exit routes of the van and rescued Rebelyn that night? ?We cannot guard all the exits,? said police Supt. Querubin Manalang, Jr., the regional spokesperson of the Philippine National Police. ?Imagine how many passageways and roads there are in Davao city compared to the number of police personnel we have. That is not the only job of the police,? he said. Read on

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Ka Oris: Global financial crisis will strengthen Communist Party


George ?Ka Oris? Madlos, the Mindanao spokesperson of the National Democratic Front.(davaotoday.com photo)


By Grace S. Uddin
Davao Today

Communists in Mindanao say the deep economic crisis of capitalist countries like the US is a ?favorable opportunity? to strengthen the Communist Party and to raise the people's struggle to a ?higher level.?

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Martial Law survivors say the past is still in their midst

By GRACE S. UDDIN | Davao Today

He could hear the sound of his footsteps as he ran to escape his captors. His heart beat very fast. He went to their underground house, where they used to hold secret meetings against the Marcos government, to warn other activists to abandon the place. But men in uniforms captured him instead. "It was just like in the movies," recalls Bienvenido Lumbera, the National Artist for Literature, who was once a Martial Law survivor.

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Lumad leader fears for his life

By GRACE S. UDDIN | Davao Today

Lumad leader Kerlan Fanagel is surprised to see his picture on a poster of the wanted list of Communist rebels displayed in public areas in Compostela town, Compostela Valley Province. Fanagel figured in the fight against the militarization of Lumad communities in Compostela. His Lumad group Pasaka points to the 28th IB of the Philippine Army as the people behind those posters, an accusation that the Philippine Army denies. (davaotoday.com photo by Jonald Mahinay)

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