April 12th, 2008 — Activism, Baguio, National Affairs
From gmanews.tv
BAGUIO CITY – Celebrated ZTE whistleblower Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada is finally coming to the North, and his visit would be capped by a series of dialogues with religious leaders here from April 15 to 16.
Chie Galvez of the Baguio-based Inter-Faith Gathering for Truth and Accountability said Friday Lozada would be accompanied by the Association of Major Religious Superiors in his talk in the afternoon of April 15 at the Saint Louis University Social Hall.
December 13th, 2007 — Activism, Indigenous World, National Affairs
Is there hope for this country? Of course, but you won’t find it in our “leaders” or in our politicians.
Instead, you will find it in ordinary people like the Higaonon farmers of Sumilao, Bukidnon who walked (and are walking) from Mindanao to Manila.
Why are they doing this? Are they crazy? Of course not. They are doing this historic walk to ask the government to give them titles to their land. Under the agrarian reform law, this land should have been awarded to them years ago.
November 29th, 2007 — National Affairs
I was commenting at Ellen’s blog when it suddenly shut down. I don’t know what the problem is. I’m not sure if its the traffic to her blog that shut it down, or whether she shut it down herself, or whether someone got into her blog to shut it down. No matter the reason, I hope she is doing okay. She’s one of the very few journalists I admire because of her truthtelling.
Here’s her last post before her blog shut down:
November 14th, 2007 — Benguet, Government, National Affairs
Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan:
“Napocor paid P2 million in real estate taxes but that is only a drop in the bucket compared to what the government corporation actually owed the province.”
November 12th, 2007 — Government, Human Rights, Igorot Achievers, Mt. Province, National Affairs
Quote of the Year: “I am an officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and at the same time a lawyer. I will not allow myself to trample upon the rights of the accused gentlemen officers and be a party to the denial of their Constitutional rights. And by these, your Honors, I ask to be excused from these proceedings.” — Major Basilio Pooten
*****
When I first read the story about Major Basilio Pooten (center) and his refusal to be used as a tool for injustice, I wondered if he is from the Cordilleras but I didn’t have the time to check it out.
October 21st, 2007 — Baguio, Benguet, Government, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mt. Province, National Affairs, Politics
Wow. Are Cordillera congressional representatives on a roll or what?
We don’t usually agree with their politics but we must admit that we are impressed that four of them are heading four committees in Congress.
October 15th, 2007 — Government, National Affairs, Politics
What do Cordillera people think about autonomy? Attempts by officials to make the region autonomous was voted down in a plebiscite in Jan. 30, 1990 when the provinces of Kalinga-Apayao, Abra, Benguet, Mountain Province and the City of Baguio voted no with only Ifugao saying yes. The second attempt was also foiled with only Apayao voting yes on March 7, 1998.
What is autonomy? The people must have been right in their decision at the very first and second take. What chances do the third take give? Have the people become wiser, more informed, or they are already wise and informed in the very first place?
September 11th, 2007 — Igorot Achievers, National Affairs
Are you looking for good and interesting reads?
We suggest you check out Ellen Tordesillas’ blog as she has the latest updates on our jailed heroes, Captain Ruben Guinolbay and Captain Dante Langkit. Check it out here. Thanks Ellen for looking after our kailiyans.
Then you should also check out our conversations (i.e., Chyt and I) with Dean Jorge Bocobo on indigenous peoples, the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA), and Igorots. You can read the Dean’s post here and Chyt’s first comment here (if the link doesn’t bring you to Chyt’s comment, just scroll down to the bottom of the page).
August 22nd, 2007 — Benguet, National Affairs
Private First Class Manuel Tayaban is one of our recent heroes who lost his life because of the ongoing conflict in Basilan. He is reportedly from Asin in Tuba, Benguet. His sacrifice and heroism will hopefully help our country find the peace that it deserves.
Our condolences to PFC Tayaban’s family.
August 16th, 2007 — Government, Human Rights, Ifugao, Igorot Achievers, Kalinga, National Affairs
Our thanks to Ellen Tordesillas who sent us these photos of our kailiyans, Capt. Ruben Guinolbay and Capt. Dante Langkit, two gallant military officers who are on trial for their alleged participation in the aborted withdrawal of support from Gloria Arroyo in February 2006. [Edited: We originally stated that they are under trial for the Oakwood mutiny which is not correct. Thanks Ellen.]
We have been blogging about Captain Guinolbay, so we’re sure you already know him. In case you missed our previous posts, you can read them here, here, and here.
We initially didn’t know about Captain Langkit so we haven’t done much blogging about him. In fact we only heard of him during the past elections when his twin brother ran for Congress in Kalinga. Thankfully, Ellen has some information for us:
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