By Pete Lacaba
Both Manila Ordinance 7780 and House Bill 3305 purport to be anti-obscenity and anti-pornography measures. I’m no legal expert, but it seems to me that both of these measures are really censorship laws and clearly go against Constitution.

By Claire Delfin
It was 1984. Hadja Amina Jed, then 29 years old, packed her things, left Maguindanao in Western Mindanao and sailed north to Manila. “Life was hard. During times when father had no catch, we also had nothing to eat,” says Amina. Amina was determined to change her family’s fortune. Going to Manila and finding work seemed the only option.

By Bong Sarmiento
In this Muslim-dominated region that has seen four wars since the late 1990s, thousands of homes in isolated villages await the return of their owners. For the moment at least, though fighting has flared up to the north of the region in Lanao Del Norte, the guns of war have fallen silent here.

By Carlos H. Conde
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has to rise above crude, often needless, violence. It has to make sure that its forces are above hooliganism. It must offer a humane alternative to the atrocity of the State that compelled the Moros to revolt in the first place. It has to live up to the ideals of a genuine revolutionary movement.

By Benjie Oliveros
So much controversy has surrounded the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on ancestral domain between the Arroyo government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Instead of engendering peace, it has led to the escalation of the conflict; instead of bringing about unity and the community of peoples, it has led to tensions between the MILF and the affected communities of North Cotabato.

By Ronalyn Olea
After a High Court justice branded as “patently illegal” the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain, the U.S. Ambassador was quick to deny any involvement in the aborted signing of the pact. But critics have pointed to the prominent role that the U.S. had played in the GRP-MILF peace negotiations.

In a letter to the Department of Trade and Industry and some lawmakers, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP), an anti-tobacco group, urges an “immediate investigation” and for the Inter-Agency Committee-Tobacco to “take the necessary action to ensure faithful observance and implementation of the provisions of RA 9211 on tobacco sponsorship and advertising.”

“Once again, Philip Morris International has been caught engaging in cigarette marketing that appeals to children in a developing country and that would not be tolerated in the United States and other wealthier nations,” says Matthew L. Myers, president of the US-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

The MOA has conditions that effectively exempt from the ancestral domain and BJE authority the mining, forest, and other resource areas covered by existing laws, executive agreements, and policies in favor of foreign corporations, local landowners, and other non-Muslim stakeholders. Likewise, the central government can always invoke “emergency situation” and “national interest” to exercise authority over energy resources.

Related stories:
Murders of Journalists Mock Government’s Claims: NUJP
CPJ ‘Gravely Concerned’ With Killing of Two Journalists Within a Week
Capiz Broadcaster, Also from RMN, Shot Dead
Mindanao Radio Host Shot, Now in Coma

Dennis Cuesta used to anchor the hard-hitting prime-time radio program “Straight to the Point” on DXMD - General Santos. Apart from tackling corruption on air, he also heard out complaints from residents.

“Ka Tanny’s name became synonymous with freedom, justice and democracy as he stood at the forefront of the struggle against widespread poverty and inequality, corruption and tyranny…. Present-day politicians should emulate the brilliant example of Ka Tanny and his brand of nationalism and tireless engagement in the people’s anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggle.”