The COVID-19 pandemic is being mishandled in the Philippines with political consequences, write Merck Maguddayao and Tony Iltis.
Merck Maguddayao
Public outrage has prevented the release on “good conduct” grounds of former mayor Antonio Sanchez, who was convicted for rape and murder in 1993
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the planned release of Sanchez on August 19, citing a 2013 law that allows for reducing jail time for “good conduct”.
However, according to the same law, “persons charged with heinous crimes”, such as Sanchez, are excluded from jail time reductions.
The Philippines’ labour movement commemorated the first anniversary of the historic Pacific Plaza Towers workers’ strike on August 6.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure Bill on July 26, which seeks to regulate the practice of job contracting (labour hire) in the country, writes Merck Maguddayao.
Workers at Filipino beverage giant Zagu went on strike on June 6, in response to management’s attempts to bust their union and President Rodrigo Duterte’s failure to end contract labour.
Press freedom in the Philippines is under increasing threat following the arrest and prosecution of journalist Maria Ressa, a critic of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, writes Merck Maguddayao.
Oro
Written & directed by Alvin Yapan
Feliz Film Productions, 2016
Oro, the Filipino film written and directed by Alvin Yapan released in December, is based on the 2014 murder of four small-scale miners in Sitio, Lahuy.
For 20 years, Elmer (Joem Bascon) and his men have freely mined in the tiny but gold-rich island of Lahuy Island in the town of Caramoan in Bicol.
Thirty-four students of the Cavite State University (CvSU) in Silang, in the Filipino province of Cavite, have been sued for libel by school administrators. In response, the start of the second semester was met with a mass protest against harassment, irregularities and the deterioration of the educational system.
The Philippines’ Million People March, against the so-called pork barrel system of corruption, is the latest in a series of huge protests worldwide, which exploded with the United States’ Occupy Movement and the Arab Spring of 2011.
The Luneta rally was attended by at least 200,000 people (according to government estimates). However, aerial footage of the event showed attendance was almost certainly higher.
The Luneta rally was part of nationwide and global protests, involving a further 500,000 people in major cities in the Philippines and by Filipino communities worldwide.