Task Force Davao Should Stop Arming Lumads
The human-rights group Karapatan continues its verbal attacks against the military in the wake of the surrender of the suspected leader of the bandit group terrorizing the residents of Paquibato.…
Washington Think Tank Urges Bush to Act Vs. Arroyo?s ?Dictatorial Methods?
But despite ?waning? U.S. support of her, Arroyo not on shaky footing, says analyst
DAVAO CITY ? The United States government should now review how its military aid and security assistance to the Philippines are being spent by the Arroyo administration, a policy analyst of a major American think tank said this week.
Washington should also pressure President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo into ensuring that killers of Filipino journalists are brought to justice, said Dana R. Dillon, a senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, a respected and influential American think tank, in an op-ed piece published last Sunday by Fox News.
Dillon criticized the Arroyo administration for, according to him, resorting ?to the methods many dictators use to silence criticism.? Arroyo, he said, ?appears to have given up on convincing her constituents of her competence.?
?Commander Dante? Surrenders
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By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com
DAVAO CITY ? ?Commander Dante,? the most wanted man in this city who have been blamed for terrorizing residents in Paquibato District the past months, is now in the hands of the authorities.
Police identified ?Commander Dante? as Dante Lumuyod, a 38-year-old resident of Gumitan, a village in Paquibato.
Lumuyod was presented to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte Monday afternoon after he surrendered to the police and the military last Saturday in Paquibato, a hinterland district of the city, known for being the battleground between the military and the communist New People?s Army.
Who Needs the Death Penalty?
I dare speculate that the Catholic Church used the Hello Garci scandal to wangle concessions from the embattled president, such as the commutation of all death sentences. Because had the Church, as an institution, spoke out against her and called on the public to topple her, Arroyo wouldn?t have lasted in Malacanang this long.
How to Bully Councilors and Get Away With It
It is the duty of the City Council to stick its nose into anything that concerns the people. Councilors should not allow one arrogant colonel to redefine what democracy mandates them to do.
DAVAO CITY ? Task Force Davao was created in 2003, in the aftermath of the bombings in this city in April of that year, solely for this purpose: to fight terrorism. Since then, however, it has metamorphosed into something else.
I?m not talking about the fact that the TFD, which is dominated by the military, has practically usurped the functions of the police, or that the ubiquitous presence of TFD troops has made the city look like a garrison. I?m talking about something far more pernicious.