Features

In his twenties, Ronilo, who requested that his name be withheld for fear of reprisal, is one of the approximately 17,600 long-time contractual employees of Dole Philippines in Cotabato, southern Philippines. Dolefil is a subsidiary of the profitable global giant Dole Food company, but Ronilo only gets the minimum wage amounting to P245 ($5.526 at the current exchange rate of $1=P44.33) a day if he makes the company quota.

In December 2005, British newspaper The Guardian ran an article on Mabey & Johnson Ltd., a British firm "accused of making excessive profits in an aid project, by building what their critics call bridges to nowhere". The Guardian cited Haresco, of the President's Bridges Program, as the Philippine contact of the British firm.

Many party-list groups that have successfully made it to Comelec's accredited list have questionable nominees and strong links to Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said election watchdog Kontra Daya (Against Cheating) and Kabataan (Youth) Party-list. For nominees, these party-list groups teem with millionaires, former government officials, former police and military officials, even incumbent government officials. Many are proven allies of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In fact, based on the investigation of Kontra Daya, some are members of her family, and they include a son and various close relatives.

MANILA -Will your vote count? Can a new president and a new set of officials be credibly elected on May 10? With less than two months before the election, doubts persist as to whether the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is adequately prepared to make the first ever automated elections system (AES) in the Philippines reliable, accurate and trustworthy. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, in a visit to Tacloban City, dismissed as "pure fantasy" these doubts and its possible end result, which is failure of elections.

MANILA - Makabayan senatorial candidates Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza have filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) seeking to disqualify Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel 'Mikey' Arroyo as a nominee of party list group Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP).

OFWs and domestic helpers are still going through the same nightmare that Flor Contemplacion suffered. Many rot in jail. Several have been sentenced to death. Thousands suffer abuse from their employers and neglected by their government. To these OFWs, the Arroyo regime is "chief executioner of the rights and welfare of OFWs."

MANILA - It has been a century since over 100 women from 17 countries representing unions, socialist and communist parties, working women's clubs, and the first women elected to the Finnish parliament gathered in Copenhagen for the second International Conference of Working Women and declared International Women's Day. Next year would mark the 100th year of the first International Women's Day commemoration when more than a million women and men held simultaneous rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland to campaign for women's right to work, vote, be trained, and to hold public office, and for an end to discrimination.

Nangyari ang panayam noong Disyembre ng nakaraang taon (2009) sa isang restaurant sa kahabaan ng Katipunan. Plano ko sana itong ilabas sa pagbukas ng bagong taon, ngunit may ibang mga kahingian sa pag-aaral ko rin ang kinailangan kong harapin. Wala akong ibang pakay sa panayam na ito kundi gusto ko lamang na makarating sa mas nakakarami lalo na sa mga kapwa-Bikolnon at sa iba pang kababayan natin, ang balita ng pagkapanalo ng pelikulang 'Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe' bilang pinakamahusay na pelikulang inilahok sa 33rd Cairo Film Festival, ang ikatlo sa pinakamarangyang film festival sa mundo at ang

MANILA - A 2010 election watchdog group launched yesterday is geared not only to monitor the upcoming elections, but also to rally the public to respond accordingly should the electorate's will be frustrated.

Habang tinatangka kong sumulat ng papel na ito, pumasok ang "bagong balita" sa aking email mula sa isang yahoogroup na hindi man ako aktibong nakikisangkot , bahagi pa rin naman akong maituturing ng pangkat sapagkat patuloy pa rin akong tumatanggap ng mga balita, mensahe at kung anu-ano pang impormasyon na bumabaha sa worldwide web o sa internet.