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By AMER R. AMOR FOR the first time in the history of the University of the Philippines College Admission Test, a visually impaired high school senior will take the entrance exam to the country’s premier university using a test booklet entirely produced using a Braille printer or embosser. While this is not the first time

Text and photos by JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY-GIOLAGON THERE were six of them, all  in their 80s. They walked in a shuffle careful about balance. Accompanied by supporters, they braved the heat of the morning sun, to knock  on the gates of Malacañang Palace, where President Aquino was meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, crying for  justice

By JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY GIOLAGON Photos by MARIO IGNACIO SOME  500  Filipinos staged a protest rally in front of the  Chinese consulate Wednesday in  Makati to express outrage over what has been described as China’s creeping invasion of waters west of the Philippine archipelago. Nobody  in the  consulate, which was closed for “security reasons”  met with

By JONATHAN DE SANTOS THE widows wore red, and not the black of mourning. “This doesn’t mean we are happy,” they said. “This shows we are still brave.” The two were Cipriana Gatchalian and Ramonita Salaysay, both of whom lost their husbands in the infamous Maguindanao Massacre on November 23, 2009. Last Tuesday, they and

  Photos by LUIS LIWANAG and MARIO IGNACIO THERE  are always two SONAs. While the President delivers his report to the people in his yearly State of the Nation Address before members of  Congress at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City, militant groups gather outside to deliver their own version of the state of the

(Conclusion) By Jon Lindley Agustin, Katria Ayanna Alampay, Jhesset Thrina Enano, Elizabeth Escaño and Luis Adrian Hidalgo Within the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus already stand two churches: the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice for Catholics and the Church of the Risen Lord for Protestants. Members of the UP Muslim community advocating for a proper

 By JON LINDLEY AGUSTIN, KATRIA AYANNA ALAMPAY, JHESSET THRINA ENANO, ELIZABETH ESCANO AND LUIS ADRIAN HIDALGO.  (First of two parts) The roughly five-square-meter room at the Institute of Islamic Studies (IIS) in Romulo Hall at the University of Philippines-Diliman is just a storage area. But for two hours around noon every Friday, it transforms into

  By LAURO BAJA, JR. THE proposal  for “increased” access to facilities in Subic and other places to US forces and those of other “allies” is a byproduct of US desire to upgrade their pivot in Asia and of the Philippines necessity to arrest the rampaging actions of China in the West Philippine Sea. The

By MYLAH REYES-ROQUE TIRED of the slow pace of justice, relatives of 14 of the 58 fatalities in the November 2009 Ampatuan massacre had signed an agreement with an “emissary” of the accused to negotiate the settlement of the murder case for P50 million. But no settlement has been reached to date: The “emissary,” identified

By VERA Files Correspondents THE Commission on Elections failed to make the 2013 elections friendly to persons with disabilities, despite its own resolution and a massive civil society campaign to make the elections more inclusive, pro-PWD groups said in their assessment. This led to voter disenfranchisement in some areas, according to the Legal Network for

  BY LAURO BAJA JR. IT is difficult to develop a pattern of action for the incident in Balintang Chanel which happened a month ago. We know what Taiwan wants but we are still at sea on how we have responded and/ or how we will further respond. Taiwan is a province (read: surrogate) of

By MIKHA FLORES PARTY-LISTS are supposed to represent sectoral interests in Congress but when it comes to winning seats, there is nothing like strong regional support or an influential family name to fall back on. This was the case of many party-list winners in the 16th Congress, which banked on the regional and provincial bailiwicks

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DARAPANAN, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao– “Anak ni King.” “Anak ni Idol.” Movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr. is nearly nine years dead but he is still “King” or “Idol” for members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who voted for the first time in their lives on May 13 and whose

By MIKHA FLORES FIRST it was the source code for the PCOS machines they were quarrelling about.  Now former colleagues, Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Jr. and Augusto “Gus” Lagman are squabbling about intelligence funds. Lagman, who served as Comelec commissioner for about a year, revealed on Wednesday that election officials receive intelligence funds

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS MAKASSAR, Indonesia—Former President Fidel V. Ramos has recommended the creation of a neutral investigation on the May 9 encounter between a Philippine patrol ship and Taiwanese fishing vessel in the disputed maritime boundary that resulted in the death of a Taiwanese fisherman and sparked violent protests in Taiwan against the Philippines. Ramos

By VERA Files IN THE clannish provinces of Muslim Mindanao, the Ampatuans remain the political family to beat, with close to 20 members of the clan winning various local positions in Manguindanao in last Monday’s election, based on the Commission on Elections online tally. In contrast, the rival Mangudadatu clan managed to win only nine

By MARK MADRONA FIVE days after the nation trooped to the polls, the Commission on Elections officially wrapped up its canvassing for the 2013 senatorial elections by proclaiming the last three winners in the race on Saturday. The proclamation of San Juan Rep. Joseph Victor Ejercito, re-electionist Gregorio Honasan, and former Las Pinas Rep. Cynthia Villar

By MIKHA FLORES and MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ THE Commission on Elections proclaimed three more senators-elect on Friday amid snowballing protests against the premature announcement of winners based only on a fraction of the results, with one watchdog describing it as “repugnant to the law.” The proclamation of Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, Aquilino Martin “Koko”

By MIKHA FLORES THE Commission on Elections, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, proclaimed on Thursday the top six winning senators — five from Team PNoy and Nancy Binay from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), who snubbed the ceremony. Administration candidates Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Senators Loren Legarda, Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano, and

By HARRY L. ROQUE, JR. Chair, Center for International Law THE recent shooting by the Philippine Coast guard of a lone Taiwanese fisherman illustrates the kind of governmental response that we Filipinos deserve when we ourselves  fall victim to an internationally wrongful act. Under international law, there is state responsibility for an internationally wrongful act

THE delay in the transmission of election canvass reports resulting in the postponement of the Commission on Elections’ proclamation of winning senatorial candidates has sparked talks of possible manipulation of election results. The Comelec on Wednesday deferred proclaiming the winners in the Senate race by a day, citing the slow pace of transmissions from provinces

By YVONNE T. CHUA PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has further strengthened his lock on the House of Representatives with 108 members of the Liberal Party likely to make it to the 16th Congress, official and unofficial counts of Monday’s midterm elections show. The figure is a big leap from the 92 Liberals who make up

By VERA Files  FEWER incidents of election violence this year compared to previous years have prompted the Philippine National Police to declare the May 2013 election more peaceful, but the casualty count this year actually does not differ much from the 2010 national and local elections. The PNP reported 81 incidents that ranged from shootings,

By JONATHAN DE SANTOS DASMARIÑAS CITY, Cavite—Josephine Bae carefully shaded the ovals on the ballot as her mother looked on. When she was done, she eagerly showed her handiwork to the “visitor” at the precinct. It was 22-year-old Bae’s first time to vote on Monday. But unlike other voters, Bae, who has Down Syndrome, was