Jailed Philippines Lawmaker Eyes Freedom on May 1

MANILA — Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin Beltran today expressed hope that he will be released on bail before May 1, International Labor Day, just in time for Anakpawis Party-List’s miting de avance at the Liwasang Bonifacio. He has been under detention since February 25, 2006 on charges of inciting to sedition and rebellion. He has consistently denied both charges and accused the government of illegal and unlawful arrest using a 22-year old warrant.
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Philippines: MNLF-OIC Dialogue Urged to Ease Sulu Tension

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino ?Nene? Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged the Arroyo government to
work out with the Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) and Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)
the holding of a tripartite meeting as soon as
possible to review the implementation of the 1996
peace agreement.
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A Davao Mountaineer?s Final Adventure


Ian’s Last Climb. Ian Caasi on the peak of Mount Apo on April 5. A few hours after this photo was taken, he drowned in Lake Venado. (Photo courtesy of Alexander Caasi)

The beauty and majesty of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, have a way of enchanting young people like 23-year-old Alexandrous Ian Caasi. On Maundy Thursday, hours after reaching the peak, Ian went for a swim in the mountain’s freezing but beguiling lake. Minutes later, he was dead.

By Angely Pamila M. Chi
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — The skies were beginning to dim over Lake Venado at past five that afternoon of Maundy Thursday. Inside their tent, MJ Lapi?a and Alexandrous Ian Caasi were sipping coffee.

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Comelec should not stand by as Philippines’s party-list system is manipulated, bastardized — Beltran

MANILA — Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin Beltran today said that the Commission on Elections is being bureaucratic when it justifies its refusal to investigate the allegations that the Arroyo government is funding several party-lists running in the May 14 elections by saying that no one has filed any official complaint.

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