Politics

Congress HR committee looks into extra judicial killings in Mindanao

By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN | Davao Today


A witness takes oath to tell the truth during the public hearing conducted by the House Committee on Human Rights in August. Victims and witnesses from the Mindanao regions presented their accounts on the human rights abuses allegedly committed by the government troops. Rep. Lorenzo Tanada III, chairperson and Rep. Satur Ocampo, House Deputy Minority Leader, were present at the hearing. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

The best deterrent to crime is when the wheels of justice, no matter how slow, really move and convict people who are guilty. This is the statement made by Lorenzo ?Erin? Ta?ada IIII, chair of the House of Representatives' committee on human rights, after a two-day hearing for the Mindanao regions of the ongoing Congressional inquiry on extrajudicial killings.

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MILF says government could not be trusted

By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today

"The peace agreement is dead as far as the government is concerned but the MILF will continue to assert it. If we can't assert it in the national level, then, we're going to assert it internationally," said the MILF's Mohagher Iqbal, vowing to elevate the MILF position to the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

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Former logging community in Compostela wary of soldiers in the area

By CJ KUIZON | Davao Today

Sitio Valma of Barangay Ngan in the municipality of Compostela used to be a thriving logging community in the 1970s up to the 1990s. When the company's timber logging agreement (TLA) expired, Consuelo Valderrama, its owner, chose not to renew the contract, signalling the death of the boom town.

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Martial Law survivors say the past is still in their midst

By GRACE S. UDDIN | Davao Today

He could hear the sound of his footsteps as he ran to escape his captors. His heart beat very fast. He went to their underground house, where they used to hold secret meetings against the Marcos government, to warn other activists to abandon the place. But men in uniforms captured him instead. "It was just like in the movies," recalls Bienvenido Lumbera, the National Artist for Literature, who was once a Martial Law survivor.

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