Human Rights

‘I’m not going to Melo panel; Ermita cannot speak for me’ — Satur

MANILA — House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna President Satur Ocampo
today categorically denied that he has agreed to testify before the
Melo Commission regarding extrajudicial killings of activists,
including 130 members of Bayan Muna.

“I have not made any statement that we are ready to appear before the
Melo Commission. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita is not authorized
to speak for me or Bayan Muna,” said Ocampo.
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Continue Reading‘I’m not going to Melo panel; Ermita cannot speak for me’ — Satur

Philippines welcomes leftist solon’s decision to testify on killings

MANILA — Malacanang welcomed today the move of Rep. Satur Ocampo of the militant party-list Bayan Muna and the Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights (KARAPATAN) to participate in the investigation of the extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations being conducted by the Melo Commission.
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Continue ReadingPhilippines welcomes leftist solon’s decision to testify on killings

Tuition hike blamed on ‘grand conspiracy’ between Arroyo, private schools

According to Kabataan partylist, CHED granted the tuition increase even before consultations in schools for such an increase has yet to be completed. It said the hike came after a meeting between President Arroyo and COCOPEA, the organization of private schools. The CHED's "unilateral and shameless act shows the commission's subservience and capitulation to strong pressure from school owners even at the expense of students."

Continue ReadingTuition hike blamed on ‘grand conspiracy’ between Arroyo, private schools

A child works for education


Argel Kiawan, 14 and an incoming second-year high-school student, does some spade work outside the Magallanes Elementary School, which pays him 100 pesos a day. Kiawan says his family is poor so he needs to find work for his lunch money and daily school allowance. That a minor like him was hired by a public school to do manual labor likewise underscores the problem of child labor in Davao City and the flagrant violation even by government officials of the country's child-labor laws. Click for larger photo (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

Continue ReadingA child works for education