ELUSIVE JUSTICE. On Jan. 22, 1987, government security forces opened fire on farmers and peasants protesting at the historic Mendiola, the site of many anti-government demonstrations. Thirteen people were killed and dozens of others were injured.
In the wake of the signing earlier this month of an Asean Convention on Counter-Terrorism, the Arroyo administration has been pushing for the passage of the anti-terrorism bill now pending in the Philippine Senate, arguing that it would strengthen the country’s war against terror and would serve as a model for other Asean nations. But Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. argues that Senate Bill No. 2137 (pdf) is “the most terrifying piece of legislation ever submitted for the consideration of the Senate.”
MANILA — Remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have become the country’s biggest source of dollars, and this has made the country among the most dependent on such inflows in the world. This was revealed during independent think-tank IBON Foundation’s Birdtalk, the organization’s year-end economic and political briefing.
If the accusation that the Arroyo administration was behind the bombings in Mindanao earlier this month turns out to be true, then this has got to be the worst scenario ever cooked up by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s military intelligence experts to justify their agenda of convincing the public of a need to pass an anti-terror measure.
TAGUM CITY — Former Davao del Norte governor Rodolfo del Rosario, who is President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo?s adviser on New Government Centers, has said there are two big-ticket infrastructure projects in Davao del Norte that have been funded for their implementation.
Del Rosario said last week that the two ?mega-projects? are the Talaingod-Bukidnon road, which was allocated 1.2 billion pesos and the Saug River Development Project, which was given an appropriation of 700 million pesos.