In Focus (A Semestral Human Rights Situationer)

Issue No. 6 July-December 2007

Introduction

In a Coercive Environment

Despite official pronouncements that the human rights (HR) problem of the country was being “looked into,” the HR record of the Arroyo administration hardly improved during the second half of 2007.

There was a seemingly serious attempt to solve and bring to a stop the appalling series of extrajudicial executions and cases of forced disappearances that have claimed the lives of journalists, lawyers, church workers, labor leaders, and other activists. But the cases remained unsolved, and new killings continued to occur.

read the full introduction. . .

Nursing a Culture of Fear and Breeding Tolerance to Impunity

By * renato g. mabunga

THe 2007 human rights situation was characterized by a combination of political gimmickry and sincerity; of alarm and a stubbornness to rectify; and of a sharp contrast between policy pronouncements and implementation. It was a show-off of concerns to end impunity at various levels, from mere palliatives and political gimmickry on the part of the executive, sincere resolve and ‘activism’ on the part of the Supreme Court and confusing signals for justice to victims and civilian populace. Yet at the end of the year, despite the pronouncements, the coercive environment remained. This environment nursed a culture of fear among civilians and human rights victims, and bred tolerance to impunity even amidst ‘mechanisms’ purportedly to resolve it.

read the full article. . .

 

A Semester of Scandals in Education

By rhoda viajar

ON the second half of 2007, a multi-billion peso project of the Department of Education was suspended after it came under fire amidst investigations of the controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corp. of China.

Allegations of bribery and irregularities surrounded the approval of the Cyber Education Project and the NBN deal, prompting one legislator, Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez, to call both projects the “twin sisters of anomaly.”

read the full article. . .

 

Failing Healthcare

By CANDY DIEZ

LAst July 2007, in her State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo highlighted four main achievements of her government in relation to its obligation to promote and protect the health and well-being of the people. According to President Arroyo, the government successfully reduced the price of medicines by half of their 2001 prices through its Botika ng Baranggay program and by promoting parallel drug importation. The president also showed off the establishment of a national health insurance program, upgrading of hospitals, and instituting a hunger mitigation campaign, which aims to end malnutrition and reduce hunger incidence.

read the full article. . .

 

Hunger as Highlight

By roel a. andag

 

Hooray! The Philippine economy posted a 7.5% growth
in its gross domestic product for the second quarter of
2007. The country has defied analysts’ projections and governments’ own targets. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was incandescent when she announced the good news. After all, the economy appears to be the one bright spot in her beleaguered presidency.

It was reported that the mining and business process outsourcing sectors – stimuli that are argued too difficult to sustain – led the growth. While these sectors grew robustly, agriculture registered a point one percentage (.1%) growth compared to its performance in the same period in 2006.

read the full article. . .

 

The Labor Situation in the Philippines

By felipe hernandez

 

“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804 – 1881) Lothair

THE labor situation in the past years varies only in the degree of exploitation and supplied statistics but the conditions are no better than before. As Renato Magtubo, former party-list representative and chair of Partido Manggagawa (PM), sees it, the labor movement is relatively weak, disorganized, and divided, largely compromising their defenses against the abuses of the owners of capital.

Except for some workers who are unionized and are enjoying collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and those employed by conscientious employers who adhere to the mandated general labor standards, workers in general receive starvation wages and do not have enough benefits—if they get anything at all. Quite a number are employed as contractual workers, and in their situation, security of tenure is practically non-existent.

read the full article. . .

 

Homeless Despite the Housing Boom

By jm villero

 

HERe’s a seeming paradox that can only be spawned in an impoverished country: there is a housing and real estate boom, yet the number of homeless people and slum dwellers is ever increasing.

For several years now, those in the housing and real estate sector have been happily reporting impressive growth. And the outlook – at least for the medium term – is optimistic, analysts say. Gonzalo Bongolan, president of the state-owned Home Guarantee Corp. (HGC), projects that the housing sector would remain strong in the next three years, unaffected by the housing debacle that has pulled the US economy to the pits.

read the full article. . .

• InFocus Issue No.1 January-June 2007

• In Focus Issue No. 4 July - December 2006

• In Focus Issue No. 3 January - June 2006

• In Focus Issue No. 2 July - December 2005

• In Focus Issue No. 1 January - June 2005