DAVAO CITY

Postscript to Cory

by
Aug 17, 2009

On the day Cory was buried, Davao activists saw it fitting to pay tribute by going out to the streets.

Leonardo Ortilano, 60, a jeepney driver parked his jeepney, letting go of the few pesos he could have earned, just to attend the street program. He said it pays to remember the woman who brought home the idea that no dictator will go unopposed. For Ortilano, Cory became the symbol through which people recognized their strength to fight the evils of Martial Law. Read on.

A Pattern to Madness

by
Jul 07, 2009

(first of three parts)

Killed on the feast of San Isidro, the patron saint of peasants, Celso Pojas fell just a few steps from the gate of the KMP office in Maa. (contributed photo)

First, their groups have been tagged as the legal fronts of the Communist New People’s Army. Then, top military officials make public statements suggesting they’re enemies of the state. Finally, before anyone could stop to consider, they are killed.

This pattern emerges in the extrajudicial killings of activists in the country, which have become more pronounced in Davao City and neighboring provinces of Compostela Valley as the government’s 2010 deadline to wipe out the Communist insurgency looms.

After Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo exposed the existence of a military document linking some individuals and civil society groups to the Communist movement, Davao Today finds it urgent to look into the pattern of the killings of activists in this part of the country. Read on.

Nograles scholars pushing Karlo to run?

by
Jul 05, 2009

DAVAO CITY — Scholars of House Speaker Prospero Nograles, the Davao City first district Representative, are worried. When the congressman steps down after his last term in 2010, they fear that funds for the scholarship program “Oplan Kaalam” will also end.

So, when a Nograles staff mentioned this in a May 26 scholars’ orientation program, some scholars suggested letting Karlo Nograles, the son of Prospero Nograles, run for election. Read on.