(SECOND UPDATE) | The UCCP and progressive groups like Bayan and Bayan Muna have scheduled a noise barrage at noon tomorrow to denounce the abduction of the Rev. Berlin Guerrero. It will be held in front of the offices of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines along EDSA near Quezon Avenue in Quezon City.
Analysis | Mindanao is exploited to the hilt in the commission of electoral fraud not because of its remoteness. A distinct economic, political and cultural structure renders the region vulnerable to state manipulation verily through the use of the state's apparatuses for state terrorism and coerced mandate through fraudulent elections.
The involvement of police officers in the burning of a polling precinct in Taysan, Batangas, which resulted in the death of two teachers, may just be the tip of the iceberg as far as the role of state security forces in electoral fraud and violence is concerned, says an opposition watchdog group.
Commentary | The reports of massive fraud are staring the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the face and Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. and Commissioner Rene Sarmiento still refuse to conduct a thorough investigation and act swiftly to prevent further damage. And they refuse to do so only because there are no witnesses. Perhaps the Comelec is afflicted with a serious illness called Garci.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on Pakistani authorities to urgently investigate and find the person responsible with threatening to kill Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Syed Huma Ali if he attends the IFJ World Congress in Moscow.
(more…)