“Exposing people to Endosulfan is a crime,” says health NGO

**The following is a HEAD press release.**

“Exposing People to Endosulfan is a Crime” – HEAD

The delayed admission that the sunken Princess of the Stars was carrying 10,000 kilos of the highly lethal pesticide endosulfan has placed thousands of people directly in harm’s way. Somebody should be held criminally liable for this.

GMA, the Asean summit, and Frank

A year and a half ago, the Asean Leaders’ Summit in Cebu was cancelled because a typhoon was coming.
“Our responsibility to the Filipino people also lies in preparing to the best we can for the possible onslaught of another strong typhoon,”, Arroyo was quoted in a news report.
I remember Palace and government officials insisting, as we asked them about terror threats to the Asean summit, that the typhoon was the only reason it had to be reset.
Last week “Frank” hit the Philippines. Hundreds are dead, and the counting is not yet over. But this time Arroyo did not postpone her US trip.

The apathy of the powerless

Once upon a time, or so the story went, the Filipino people had the strength to change, not only their leaders, but the system of government itself, and even the Constitution. And, having been once stripped of their powers, they wanted to make sure they would never be rendered powerless again.

Statements on the June 24 ’08 UP frat rumble

For what they’re worth, here are two statements on the June 24, 2008 rumble between two fraternities in UP, the Beta Sigma and APO.

USC Statement on the AS Walk Rumble

It is unfortunate that fraternity violence, in whatever form, persists despite the high ideals for which fraternities are founded.

Makati RTC dismisses media suit

The Makati Regional Trial Court has dismissed a suit filed by media practitioners over the arrest of reporters who remained inside the Manila Peninsula hotel last November, and covered the incident until the end.

I don’t have the details yet, but Ellen Tordesillas has posted the statement of lawyer Harry Roque on her site.

 

What does citizenship mean?

One by one, the old men and women before me declared they wanted to become Japanese citizens. They were children of Japanese fathers, who died either before or during the war. After years of legal struggle, they were allowed by Japanese courts to become Japanese.

Killing people

I can’t go out right now, I have to kill some people.

Typhoon Frank is out there flooding towns and villages, lashing at the farms, whipping up waves at sea. A ferry sank off Romblon province, and hundreds are missing. As a reporter, it is part of my job to find out how many people are dead, missing, and homeless.

We remain ruled, but by our own brothers

In our Criminal Law I class, we discussed Amy Rossabi’s “The Colonial Roots of Criminal Procedure in the Philippines.” Most of our laws were imposed on us by the Spaniards and then by the Americans, Rossabi said. The Americans improved on the justice system imposed by the Spaniards, but they did not introduce into the Philippines the system of jury trial, which would allow people to be tried by an impartial jury of their peers. One reason was that the Americans did not trust the Filipino public to make what, according to their standards, would be the right decisions.

My OFW friend

His name is Bernie. He works in Quezon City and goes home to Bulacan. He used to go home everyday, but for the past three weeks he has been sleeping in the office four days a week.

“Mahal na ang pamasahe,” he said when I asked why. 

“Para ka nang OFW,” I quipped. “At least madali pa ring umuwi pag kailangan talaga,” he answered.

A dangerous investment

When you have nothing but your life, how do you invest? When your inheritance is a gun and your world is dominated by violence instead of laws, and people who value their guns more than they do your life, how do you prepare for the future?