Former logging community in Compostela wary of soldiers in the area

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

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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Photo Essay: A call for a stop to human rights violations in Compostela Valley

According to Karapatan, human-rights violations in Southern Mindanao have increased as Oplan Bantay Laya, aimed at crushing the communist rebellion, is nearing its deadline in 2010. Click here for more pictures


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Women and children in conflict areas tell their stories in Ibon book

Funded by the United Nations children's fund (Unicef), the Ibon book delves into the lives of women and children living in areas under the influence of the New People's Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), hence, the subject of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) operations.

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