Archive - Focus

IN an unprecedented move, lawyers’ groups and human rights advocates have banded together and agreed to coordinate and pool their resources in providing legal assistance to victims of the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao. Called the Tactical Alliance of Lawyers Against Impunity in Maguindanao (TALIM), the broad alliance consists of the Integrated Bar of the

MARTIAL law will be lifted in Maguindanao at 9 p.m. Saturday,  eight days after it was imposed by President Gloria Arroyo. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo lifted Proclamation No. 1959 on the recommendation of the Cabinet which concluded that the government has met its main objectives in placing Maguindanao under martial rule and suspending

THE Supreme Court will soon introduce the writ of kalikasan to protect the right of Filipinos to a healthy environment. This was announced on Tuesday by Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno during the awarding of grants to advocacy groups by the Karapatan Sa Malikhaing Paraan (KaSaMa) foundation at the University of the Philippines in Diliman,

CHIEF Justice Reynato S. Puno expressed concern over President Arroyo’s declaration of martial law in Maguindanao, saying such a move must remain the “ultimate weapon” in dealing with rebellion. Speaking at the awarding ceremonies of the Karapatan sa Malikhaing Paraan (KaSaMa) Knowledge Forum at the University of the Philippines on Tuesday, the Supreme Court chief

By ROMEL REGALADO BAGARES KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato.—Wilfredo Casumpang, 53, shook his head in resignation when he heard Peruvian forensic anthropologist Jose Pablo Baraybar say it was time to pack up. “Waay na gid (That’s all there is),” the prime mover rig driver said softly in Hiligaynon.  He had come with high hopes that the

BY ELLEN TORDESILLAS THE Supreme Court has belied Malacañang’s claim that the court system in Maguindanao has collapsed and was no longer functioning, one of the bases cited in Proclamation No. 1959 declaring martial law and suspending the writ of habeas corpus in Maguindanao. Midas Marquez, the high court’s deputy administrator and spokesperson, said the

By JOSEPH ARNEL DELIVERIO Sibugay Express and VERA Files THE Court of Appeals, in a dramatic last-minute decision, has ordered Romeo “Jon-Jon” Jalosjos Jr. reinstated as a voter in Ipil town in Zamboanga Sibugay, allowing him to run for a congressional seat in the province’s second district despite his being the incumbent mayor of Tampilisan

By ROMEL REGALADO BAGARESCOTABATO CITY.– The independent forensic team led by Peruvian forensic anthropologist Dr. Jose Pablo Baraybar said Wednesday it is “now almost sure that there is a 58th body” that is yet unaccounted for after his team discovered a partial upper left denture with a metal clasp at the crime scene that did

FORMER President and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada filed Monday, Bonifacio Day, before the Commission of Elections his certificate of candidacy for the presidency in next year’s elections, expressing confidence that he will not be disqualified from running by the poll body and the High Court. Elected president in 1998, Estrada’s six-year term was cut short

By ROMEL REGALADO BAGARES COTABATO CITY.–Peruvian forensic anthropologist Dr. Jose Pablo Baraybar didn’t like what he saw when he visited for the first time Sunday the massacre site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town. “It reminded me of something—it’s just like Rwanda,” said Dr. Baraybar after spending a few hours in the area in the company

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Gloria Arroyo Monday announced that she will be running for the congressional seat in the second district of Pampanga, currently being held by her son Mikey, in the 2010 elections. Arroyo read a prepared message at a government radio station, DYRB:” After much contemplation I realized I am not yet ready

MEDIA groups and journalists are demanding for the creation of an independent commission to investigate the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre that killed 31 members of media. If President Gloria Arroyo fails to deliver justice to the victims of the carnage, the worst in the electoral history of the Philippines, the media group, which has adopted