November | 2006 | Northern Dispatch (nordis) Weekly

Flash Report: Another Cagayan peasant leader killed

November 27, 2006 in Cagayan Valley, general, human rights

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 27) — Another peasant leader in Gonzaga, Cagayan was shot dead today, November 27, while walking to his field with his young son.

Just two weeks after Jose Javier was murdered in Baggao, also in Cagayan, Antony Licyayo, 38, chairperson of Kaguimungan-Cagayan, was shot by an unidentified gunman at around 8:30 AM 50 meters away from his house in sitio Torkia, brgy. Cabiraoan. He was on his way to his field carrying his one and a half year old child Jansen when the gunman shot him once at the back of his head. The bullet exited through his mouth. Jansen was unharmed. Read the rest of this entry →

Baguio reclaims parking lot

November 27, 2006 in Baguio City, general, transport

Protesters stand pat despite “bomb”

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 25) – For at least three consecutive days, Baguio residents and other groups stood their ground reclaiming the Ganza parking area from the control of a private pay-parking firm, here despite a bomb threat on November 23.

An alleged improvised homemade bomb was “detonated” at the Ganza Parking area here by members of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) at around 4:30 PM on Thursday, November 23, or thirty minutes before the citizen’s (group against the Jadewell) planned program to symbolically declare the reclamation of the parking facillity from the Jadewell Parking Corporation, Inc. The bomb was discovered after a reporter of the ABS-CBN Baguio received a message at 3:15 pm that claimed a bomb was planted in the area. Read the rest of this entry →

HR groups hit AFP for blaming activists in political killings

November 27, 2006 in Baguio City, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, general, human rights, Ilocos, NL general

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BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 22) — Human rights advocates are outraged that the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) of the Armed forces of the Philippines (AFP) for spreading lies as it openly accuses activists as the masterminds behind the killings of their colleagues.

Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) Vice-chairperson Beverly Longid said that the NOLCOM statement is a desperate move of the AFP to cover what is apparently its own atrocities. She said it only proves the insincerity of the AFP to bring to justice identified soldiers and military agents involved in the murder of political activists all over the country. Read the rest of this entry →

Call centers boon or bane? (1)

November 27, 2006 in employment, general

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 25) — In major urban centers today like Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, and even Baguio, most every college student has heard about the option of working in a call center. We have have heard much anecdotal stories about the pros and cons of such work.

Thus, when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promised in her last SONA that Northern Luzon was to become a high-tech growth corridor specializing in information-communication technology (ICT), it simply signaled one thing: expect more call centers to be set up. Read the rest of this entry →

Pol Sci studes corner PNP

November 27, 2006 in general, human rights

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 23) — “We are mandated to protect the people and not to kill them,” a highly-placed police officer exclaimed in vehement denial of accusations that government soldiers are behind political killings, arising from questions by students of a private university here in a campus forum.

Reacting to a battery of queries as to whether it was true that the police and military men are behind this senseless killings, or whether political killing is institutionalized or a national policy, Police Dir. Fernando Moyaoen of the Baguio City Police Office, appeared astonished as he answered defensively during a forum on extra-judicial killings arranged by the Political Science Academic Society (POSAS). Read the rest of this entry →

Rafting the Chico River: rafting for sustainable development

November 27, 2006 in Cordillera, general

By MICHAEL UMAMING

Rafting down the Chico to experience the sweet melody of Kalinga’s ullalim (traditional song) and work for a matagu-an (life enhancing) development of the Cordillera people.

The Ullalim Run and Mataguan Run are two whitewater rafting stretches along the Chico River in the province of Kalinga that has been gaining popularity. In year 2005, it attracted 560 people from the youngest allowable age of 13 to a 72 year old grandfather. Read the rest of this entry →

Gov’t supported-mining operations blamed for peasant woes

November 27, 2006 in agriculture, Cordillera, general, mining

MANKAYAN, Benguet (Nov. 20) – Peasants from four towns around the Lepanto Consolidated Minng Company (Lepanto) here blamed the government’s all-out support to the mining industry as they traced the roots of their woes to the destruction wrought by said company on their communities.

In a forum on human rights here, peasants from Mankayan, in Benguet; Quirino and Cervantes in Ilocos Sur; and Tadian in Mountain Province spoke of the effects of the on-going mining operations in the tri-provincial boundary. Read the rest of this entry →

Escalating killings alarm int’l rights groups

November 27, 2006 in general, human rights, international

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 23) — International and local human rights groups are alarmed by the escalating cases of political killings, human rights violations; and, the failure of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration to stop the killings and to bring perpetrators to justice.

One group of Canadian human rights advocates, members of Karapatan and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) conducted an independent fact-finding mission (FFM) here in the Cordillera recently, visiting crime-sites and interviewing relatives of the victims and affected villagers. Read the rest of this entry →

Lepanto peasant forum hits rights violations

November 27, 2006 in Cordillera, general, human rights, Ilocos

MANKAYAN, Benguet (Nov. 20) – Residents of four municipalities in the tri-provincial boundaries of Ilocos Sur, Benguet and Mountain province denounced in strongest terms the state-inflicted human rights violations on the ranks of indigenous peoples and peasants at the close of a forum on human rights.

The Bulalacao Elementary School, here, teemed with people when the people’s organization covering the towns of Quirino and Cervantes, in Ilocos Sur; Mankayan in Benguet; and Tadian in Mountain Province gathered some 250 participants on November 19. Read the rest of this entry →

RP needs skilled labor, not professionals — Noli de Castro

November 27, 2006 in employment, general, national

BAGUIO CITY (November 23, 2006) – We no longer need more lawyers, accountants and other so-called glamor professionals.

Instead, said Vice-president Noli de Castro, during the nationwide development skills competition for public high schools here, the nation needs more plumbers, sewers, welders and other skilled technical-vocational people to meet the needs of a globalizing world. Read the rest of this entry →

Editorial Cartoon: 26 November 2006

November 27, 2006 in columns, general, opinion

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Editorial: Fighting another kind of rape

November 27, 2006 in editorials, general, opinion

Aves de rapina. Ibong mandaragit. Birds of prey.

In the early decades of American rule, patriotic Filipino writers used this image — of a large eagle looming large in the sky, with blood dripping from its sharp beak and claws — to symbolize the US imperialist rape of Inang Bayang Pilipinas, to recall the bloody overthrow of the 1898 Philippine republic, and to protest the continuing suppression of the nationalist movement. Read the rest of this entry →

Advocate's Overview: To the NOLCOM: Stop that propaganda please

November 27, 2006 in columns, general, opinion

By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW

Justice is elusive in this country, particularly in the cases of the more than 700 victims of political killings. While their cases are far from being solved by concerned government agencies, officials of the AFP are involved in systematic propaganda that lead to confusion rather than solution for these political killings. Read the rest of this entry →

Brutally Frank: We either die of hunger or die of political beliefs

November 27, 2006 in columns, general, opinion

By MARY ANN BAYANG

(My column space this week will be taken up by a colleague, Eva Luna. MAB)

According to a SWS survey, 2.9 million Filipinos are hungry (although I believe that there are more hungry Filipinos). Meanwhile, Congress wants to increase its pork barrel from P6.2 billion to P9.1 billion – perhaps they want to feed the hungry with cement.

To this day, I wonder why those tasked with lawmaking are given funds to be used at their discretion for projects that have nothing whatsoever to do with lawmaking. Instead of coming up with legislation to help improve the lives of the poor and hungry, our legislators are either busy with Charter Change or with their pet infrastructure projects. Read the rest of this entry →

Labor Watch: Labor standards on health and safety

November 27, 2006 in columns, general, opinion, workers

By ALDWIN QUITASOL

“Early attempts at preventing industrial accidents focused largely on machine guarding and safety devices, but it was soon realized that mechanical safeguarding alone was not enough and did little to eliminate the root causes of accidents. Gradually, the human element in accident prevention was recognized along with the need for safety education.” International Labor Organization, Accident Prevention (Geneva, 1983) p.1 ff

Countless work-related accidents happen every year, most of them leading to deaths and permanent disabilities. Whether fatal or non-fatal, serious accidents have catastrophic effects on the lives of the worker-victims and their families. Read the rest of this entry →

Weekly Reflections: Promise

November 27, 2006 in columns, general, opinion

By REV. LUNA L. DINGAYAN

“If you will give me victory over the Ammonites, I will burn as an offering the first person that comes out to my house to meet me, when I come back from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice.” — Matthew 6:12

Pacquiao’s victory

Filipinos all over the world are one in celebrating Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Erik Morales in a much-awaited boxing match last November 19 called the Grand Finale. A lot of analyses have already been said and written on why Pacquiao was able to knock out his opponent and win in spite of the fact that he was not feeling well on the day of the fight. But what really struck me was Pacquiao’s claim that it was God who gave him the strength to win and that he was not fighting for himself, for his family or money, but for his country. Read the rest of this entry →

Women's Front: Women’s verdict guilty

November 27, 2006 in columns, general, opinion

By INNABUYOG-GABRIELA

GUILTY! That is the verdict of the Filipino women against the four suspects in the Subic rape case. In a symbolic trial organized by GABRIELA, women gave jail sentences to Smith, Carpentier, Silkwood and Duplantis for the heinous acts they did against Nicole.

Also put on trial in the case are the Philippine and US governments for their participation in the crime. As GABRIELA explained, it’s not enough to merely judge the four US Marines as guilty. We need to judge the US government’s political and military intervention in the Philippines in the form of the Visiting Forces Agreement and the passivity of the Philippine government in Nicole’s quest for justice, as enough evidence of their guilt. Read the rest of this entry →

LTE: An open letter to our friends and allies

November 27, 2006 in general, letters, opinion

It has come to our attention, based on the accounts of our neighbors in Barangay Hillside, Baguio City, that we, Jose Cawiding and Jeannette Ribaya Cawiding, have been under surveillance of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) since the month of September this year. We believe we are being “cased” preparatory to some form of physical assault, like what happened to our colleagues who have fallen victims of the death squads of the Arroyo administration. (Attached is a fact sheet detailing the conduct of the surveillance). Read the rest of this entry →

Balancing Wheel: Safety in biking, competition

November 27, 2006 in general, transport

By TITO SANQUI SR.

Biking is so beneficial to us – health-wise and environment-wise, but there are important things to remember to keep bikers safe on the road.

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Whether we ride the bike for recreation or for sport, the most basic safety measure is to use the proper equipment. Helmets are essential to protect the biker’s head from crash injuries. Padded gloves protect the biker’s hands from blisters, and ensure a tight grip on the handlebars. Bikers should also wear padded shorts, stiff-soled shoes and eye protection. Read the rest of this entry →

Sagawisiw: 26 November 2006

November 27, 2006 in general

By TITO B. SANQUI, JR.

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