Archive - News

AS a landmark United Nations treaty to deter enforced disappearances entered into force December 23, Philippine-based Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances called on President Aquino to sign the treaty and work on its ratification without further delay.

SEN. Antonio Trillanes reiterated today his support for President Aquino in his first visit to the Senate since he was elected senator in May 2007.

PRESIDENT Bengino Aquino III on Saturday was urged to order the release of all other political prisoners following his announcement that charges against the "Morong 43" will be withdrawn.

From GMA News online:
MALACAÑANG is not keen on lodging a diplomatic protest against China over its reported building of a lighthouse in a Philippine-claimed area of the Spratly Islands.

THE Department of National Defense yesterday downplayed China’s reported construction of a lighthouse at the Subi reef in the disputed Spratly Islands, saying the structure was probably old, put up eight years ago.

By TESSA JAMANDRE
CHINA has constructed a lighthouse on Subi Reef in the disputed areas in the South China Sea which Chinese troops are occupying but is being claimed by the Philippines and Vietnam.

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
IN the normal cycle of life, a person is born, he lives, he dies. He does not disappear. Yet it happens. People disappear. Jonas Burgos, rural organizer and son of press freedom icon Jose Burgos, Jr., was never seen again after he was picked up by men believed to be members of the military in a Quezon City mall on April 28, 2007.

FORTY-THREE detained health workers began a hunger strike on Friday to press President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to order the withdrawal of criminal charges against them. The health workers, also called the “Morong 43,” were accused of the nonbailable offense of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. They were arrested on Feb. 6 by police and

THE parents of slain botanist Leonardo Co have asked the Department of Justice to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death and those of his two companions when they were allegedly caught in a crossfire between soldiers and communist New People’s Army rebels in Kananga, Leyte on Nov. 15.

MOST Filipinos think the Maguindanao massacre trial is moving slowly, but they also believe there will be justice in the end, according to Pulse Asia’s October survey.

By MYLAH ROQUE
RELATIVES of victims of the year-old Maguindanao massacre on Monday sought the help of the visiting United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression in speeding up prosecution of members of the Ampatuan family and more than a hundred others charged with the multiple killings that have been described as the country’s worst election-related violence.

MINDANEWS, a Mindanao-based news organization, is this year’s recipient of a Peace Award given annually by the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.