Archive - Top Stories

By MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ FOR nearly 20 years, government agencies have tried to come up with a consolidated list of Filipinos with disabilities, but to no avail. An organization of persons with disabilities composed of throat cancer survivors hopes to finally create this national database by working with hundreds of PWD organizations all over the

By PROCOPIO RESABAL JR. TUBIGON, Bohol—Teodoro Sacon was at sea fishing when the 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the island province on Oct. 15. “The water seemed to sizzle and shake,” he said. “This (shaking) damaged the coral reefs where the fish were living.” In the bird sanctuary not too far from where he was, he said

By JOSHUA LANSANGAN, CLTV 36 ANGELES CITY — Former home of giant American military bases, Central Luzon has become almost synonymous with human trafficking, especially for sexual exploitation, for decades. The opening of an international airport at the former US Air Force facility in Clark, Pampanga in recent years has kept anti-trafficking advocates in and out

  By ELLEN TORDESILLAS  WHAT  I’m relating is not a life-and-death matter but it shows why we are lagging behind with some of our Southeast Asian neighbors. When the Jetstar plane I took from Singapore touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport about 10 in the morning yesterday, I realized I haven’t filled up

  By ELLEN TORDESILLAS THIS Mar Roxas-Alfred Romualdez fight is ugly. As ugly as the Juan Ponce-Enrile-Miriam Defensor-Santiago battle. At the hearing of the congressional oversight committee on the Philippine Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 last Monday, a tearful Romualdez related how, he claimed, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas tried to marginalize him in

By YEN BLANCO DELGADO ZAMBOANGA CITY—Human trafficking syndicates are preying on refugees displaced from their communities by the Moro National Liberation Front’s siege on Zamboanga City last September, taking advantage of the poverty and uncertainty that have gripped evacuation centers. Anti-trafficking groups said they have uncovered a prostitution operation within the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Sports

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS Photos from PHILIPPINE DIPLOMATIC VISITS blogspot TWENTY-SEVEN years in prison, a long period of that in darkness and limited access to sunlight, affected the eyesight of world hero Nelson Mandela. One of his requests when he came to the Philippines on a state visit on March 1, 1997 was to have the

Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA PREDATORS are taking advantage of the series of disasters, super typhoon Yolanda being the topmost. They target women and children, the most vulnerable in any natural and/or manmade calamity. A social worker and an official from the United Nations Population Fund (formerly UNFPA) shared this at WomanHealth Philippines’ forum

  By NORMAN SISON Photos  from PILIPINAS 911 WITH wooden office tables for operating tables and flashlights for illumination, a team of American doctors worked feverishly as hundreds of wounded people streamed into a city hall that has been transformed into a makeshift hospital. They were en route to Mexico for a medical mission when

  By PATRICK KING PASCUAL The first day of December is World’s AIDS Day. People observe World’s AIDS Day remembering the people who have lost their lives because of HIV and AIDS. Remembering means learning about the virus and the disease. HIV stands for the human immunodeficiency virus that infects human being and leads to

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS Photos from ABS-CBN video  WHAT has been feared by human rights advocates is now happening in Tacloban: human trafficker vultures are on a prowl preying on the hapless victims of typhoon Yolanda. ANC had a report of a human trafficking attempt in Tacloban. DSWD Assistant Secretary Cheche Cabrera related about two cases

By KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING IT had begun to rain on Balagtas Street, but hundreds of books on jerry-rigged shelves and rickety tables remain on the sidewalk, a free-for-all library found deep within the heart of Makati City. An old man with unusually yellow hair toils over the shelves. With youthful energy, he briskly covers them with

By JULIE ANN MAE B. SILVEDERIO and HAZEL P. VILLA Photos by JULIE B. SILVEDERIO  AJUY, Northern Iloilo – Overshadowed by the devastation in Tacloban, Leyte, victims of Yolanda in this town complain of meager aid and difficulty in rebuilding their lives. “Sa may kabubut-on nga maghatag materyales sa amun, gapangayo kami tani bulig kay

  By JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY GIOLAGON IVY Onida was 3 years old when a flash flood swallowed her home in Ormoc City in 1991. Her father Nilo carried her and 1-year old sister Grace to the safety of a neighbor’s house before the deluge became unnavigable by foot. On Nov. 8, Ivy waited in Cebu for

  By ELLEN TORDESILLAS           MY first person account last Monday on being duped by   a con artist who introduces himself as “Mon Tulfo” elicited responses, two of them from fellow victims. One was retired Marine Col. Ariel Querubin. Remember last August, there was a news report of death threats to Justice Secretary Leila de

 By ELLEN TORDESILLAS    THIS is painful for me to relate because it is embarrassing. My friends and I have been victimized by a scam artist. Mahirap amin na naging tanga kami ngunit ganun na nga. Last Friday, a “Ramon Tulfo” called me up. I did not have doubts that he was Mon Tulfo, the

Text and photos by LUIS LIWANAG NATURAL disasters and extreme weather phenomena have become so routine lately that to hear the impending landfall of another supertyphoon failed to whet my appetite for another adrenaline-charged news coverage. Spending time with family and keeping my word on commitments to friends were at the top of my list

Text and photos by LUIS LIWANAG TACLOBAN CITY—The city government of Tacloban finally buried the dead in a shallow ditch that officials said was just a temporary resting place for those who perished from the wrath of Typhoon Yolanda. Cadavers wrapped in body bags, blankets, mats and even GI sheets collected from all over the