DAVAO CITY — With the upcoming 2007 elections, the region’s youth and students are asking the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to extend the voters’ registration in order to give more young Filipinos to vote and “safeguard their democratic rights.”
Because this innovative approach of new politics has apparently gained popularity, it is loathed by the likes of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez precisely because it can disenfranchise the powers that be by raising the political consciousness of the people. Bereft of visions and programs that address the people’s democratic interests, they trivialize the elections through manipulation, disinformation and the spreading of more myths.
Amancio Carmelo, the secretary-general for Southern Mindanao of the progressive peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, survived an assassination attempt in Tagum City Monday afternoon. According to initial reports, armed…
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.”
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.