Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests

Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests

By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A few weeks after American senators had visited Manila, anti-China pronouncements began to ring loud again in Philippine media, coupled with news that the US government is seeking to expand its military presence in the country and in the region.

As it was last year, the reported Chinese ‘bullying’ in the Spratlys is being met by the Philippine government’s efforts to bring into the region ‘the bigger bully,’ as Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño describes the trend.

This, despite the availability of another option that critics said would respect the Philippine sovereignty rather than trample on it, and evade further misunderstanding and confrontation in the region. This option revolves around bilateral and multilateral diplomatic initiatives and negotiations. But instead of pursuing this, the Aquino government has been playing tough against China under the shadow of the US military.

This is dangerous, said Rep. Casiño. He warned the Filipino public against the likely eventual mutually beneficial agreement between the US and China, “with us left out,” much like what the US and Spanish governments had done a century before following a mock battle in Manila Bay.

Wanted: a sovereign posture at foreign relations

There is a glaring need to upgrade the Philippine naval forces and its capability to defend against Chinese intrusions (or others’ intrusions for that matter), but why, peoples organizations asked, does the Aquino government’s “solution” hinge on provoking China and being mendicant to US?

“While we condemn China’s bullying tactics against the Philippines in relation to the disputed Spratly Islands and (while we) recognize the necessity to defend our just claims, there is greater danger in allowing an increased US military presence in our country in the hope of relying on US for help against China,” the progressive labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) said in a statement.

Such danger becomes immediately apparent when the Chinese state media declared recently that China would punish the Philippines for allowing increased US military presence.

“We should brace for further misunderstanding in the region, all because the government chose to sell to the US instead of standing its ground and asserting its sovereignty in resolving the Spratlys issue,” Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Emmi de Jesus said.

The Gabriela solon also said that an “assurance” that the US will not re-establish their bases in Philippine soil is something only government officials willing to be “hoodwinked” would swallow. “Only a puppet, mendicant President will believe this. We know very well that the Visiting Forces Agreement effectively expanded the areas where US military troops can operate and set up base,” said Rep. de Jesus.

US ‘deceptive’ about military basing in the Philippines

For 10 years now, even with an explicit Constitutional ban against foreign military bases, 600 US special operations forces have been stationed in Mindanao, southern island of the Philippines. Reports have placed US troops as participating directly and indirectly in different counter-insurgency operations. They have also been implicated in some cases of human rights violations, the most controversial of which were the rape cases of Nicole and Vanessa and the murder inside a US military facility in Mindanao of Filipino translator Gregan Cardeño.

US troops had been reported to be participating in sensitive domestic military operations against the perceived threats of the Philippine government such as the Bangsamoro rebel army, the communist rebels and groups such as the Abu Sayyaf.

Nancy Gadian, a former navy officer, revealed a few years ago that the US has established “bases” within camps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). She revealed too how the US troops lord it over in those camps even among the Filipino soldiers, treating the Filipinos like “dogs.”.... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/03/progressives-slam-aquino%E2%80%99s-mendicancy-sell-out-to-us-imperial-interests/

Human rights groups 'Trojan horses of the West'

Human rights groups 'Trojan horses of the West'

The Libyan example proves to the world that so-called human rights organizations are really the Trojan horses of Western foreign policy, Middle East expert Sukant Chandan told RT from London.

­Doctors Without Borders recently suspended its mission in Misrata, saying it had to treat patients for injuries sustained during interrogation. Chandan believes that the so-called humans rights organizations like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders traditionally have a Western-centric tinge to everything they do..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/libya-human-rights-exposed-chandan-483/

Hacking off the Feds: Anonymous intercepts FBI conference call about…themselves (AUDIO)

Hacking off the Feds: Anonymous intercepts FBI conference call about…themselves (AUDIO)

In an audio recording made and posted online by the internet hacktivists Anonymous, a number of Federal agents both in the US and the UK can be heard discussing ways to apprehend members of the group.

In an ironic post, the hacktivists made the 20-minute long conversation available online, taunting the Federal Bureau of Investigations with the leak – and the fact that while the agents may only have half-formed plans to arrest Anonymous members, the group itself is making sure to stay one step ahead..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/anonymous-fbi-leaked-conversation-455/

US playing Internet monopoly

US playing Internet monopoly

The US is seeking to control the Internet, which is an instrumental of its foreign policy. Writer and political scientist Igor Panarin believes Syria and Russia have been picked as a testing ground for America’s media intervention doctrine.

­In the article below, professor Igor Panarin explains his view.­­­­

The mass unrest that destabilized a number of Mideast nations in the spring of 2011 was the first real-life demonstration of how powerful a tool the Internet can be in terms of influencing the internal affairs of a sovereign state. Social networks and blog platforms proved a highly efficient means for dispersing information and dispatching voluntary protesters in order to stage rallies and even riots. The American political elite was quick to recognize the new opportunity and employ it..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/politics/us-internet-facebook-panarin-319/

Farm workers to SC: ‘Junk Cojuangco-Aquinos’s plea, declare decision as final’

Farm workers to SC: ‘Junk Cojuangco-Aquinos’s plea, declare decision as final’

“The high court must act now and stop the decades-old exploitation of farm workers by the Cojuangco-Aquinos.” – Ambala

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Farm workers of the Hacienda Luisita urged the Supreme Court to declare with finality its November 22, 2011 decision ordering the distribution of 4,916 hectares of Hacienda Luisita land to the original 4,296 original farmworker beneficiaries (FWBs).

Through their counsel Jobert Pahilga, the farm workers opposed the motion filed by the Cojuangco-Aquinos last month seeking to increase the amount of compensation and to retain the option between owning stocks or land. In their motion, the Hacienda Luisita Inc. also wants to lift the ten-year prohibition on the sale of the awarded lands.

The Hacienda Luisita land owned by the family of President Benigno S. Aquino III has been placed under the stock distribution option in 1986 to evade land distribution. The Supreme Court decision in November 2011 removed the option to choose between stocks or land, saying that “control over agricultural lands must always be in the hands of the farmers.”

“The issues have already been raised by the HLI in its motion for reconsideration on the July 5, 2011 ruling of the high court. The high court resolved these issues in its Nov. 22 ruling. There is nothing new in their motion. The Cojuangco-Aquinos are only buying time, hoping for a miracle to happen,” Pahilga, executive director of Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (Sentra) told the media before the filing of their comment..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/01/31/farm-workers-to-sc-%E2%80%98junk-cojuangco-aquinos%E2%80%99s-plea-declare-decision-as-final%E2%80%99/

Fil-Am groups call on Aquino to stop deportation of 12,000 Filipinos in Mariana Islands

Fil-Am groups call on Aquino to stop deportation of 12,000 Filipinos in Mariana Islands

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) is calling on President Benigno Aquino III to assist more than 12,000 Filipinos who stand to be deported from the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) this year.

The CNMI is located in the western Pacific Ocean.Based on previous US census counts, Filipinos comprise almost 30 percent of all residents in the islands, surpassing even the total number of the native Chamorro people. There are an estimated 12,000 Filipino workers in CNMI who are now being threatened with deportation despite maintaining legal immigration status.

According to Nafcon spokesperson Rico Foz, most of Filipinos in CNMI were forced out of the Philippines 10 to 30 years ago because of the lack of jobs.

“They were critical in developing CNMI’s economy and it is now their home and the only home their children have known,” he said.

A Filipino worker in CNMI Maria Lourdes Berueco said many of them have lived in CMNI most of their lives and have families there.

“Many of us are anxious about returning to the Philippines because we don’t have anything or anyone to go back to anymore.”

The CNMI’s establishment as a US Commonwealth

In 1976, US President Gerald Ford signed into law the Covenant establishing CNMI as a US Commonwealth having its own constitution and government. As such, the CNMI government had exclusive control over its labor and immigration laws, allowing it to bring in contract guest workers through the enactment of the Nonresident Workers’ Act (NWA) in 1983.

CNMI’s efforts at economy building were centered on the development of a garment industry as well as tourism sector in the late 1980s and 1990s. The practice of recruiting overseas contract workers increased its population to nearly 40,000, with the newly immigrated workers becoming employed in all the growing industries..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/02/fil-am-groups-call-on-aquino-to-stop-deportation-of-12000-filipinos-in-mariana-islands/

CPP orders NPA to hunt down fugitive Palparan By Mario J. Mallari 02/04/2012

CPP orders NPA to hunt down fugitive Palparan

By Mario J. Mallari 02/04/2012

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), to hunt down fugitive retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan as it accused the Aquino administration of coddling the former Army official wanted for the disappearance of two University of the Philippines (UP) students in 2005.

In a statement, the CPP lambasted the Aquino administration for its failure to capture Palparan two months after an arrest warrant was issued against him by a Bulacan regional trial court for the kidnapping of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan seven years ago. The two remained missing.

“In failing to put General Palparan behind bars, the Aquino regime is making a mockery of its own justice system. The longer General Palparan evades arrest, the more credulous are reports that he is being coddled by high-ranking military and police officers and supported by big bourgeois compradors who have benefited from his brutal suppression of the people’s democratic struggles,” the CPP said..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120204met1.html

Palace’s FoI bill targets SC’s SALNs By Fernan J. Angeles 02/04/2012

Palace’s FoI bill targets SC’s SALNs

By Fernan J. Angeles 02/04/2012

President Aquino wants full public disclosure of the annual statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) of national officials, including the institution that his administration is battling against — the Supreme Court.

At a press briefing, Undersecretary Manolo Quezon of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) yesterday said one of the salient features of Malacañang’s version of the Freedom of Information Act of 2012 is the full disclosure of the SALns of all government officials.

Claiming that their version favors no one, he said national officials from the three branches of the government – Executive, Legislative and Judiciary — will have to publicly post their SALns in a government-designated Web site from where the public may see and scrutinize..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120204hed3.html

Erap: No need to transfer Gloria to regular jail By Pat C. Santos and Fernan J. Angeles 02/04/2012

Erap: No need to transfer Gloria to regular jail

By Pat C. Santos and Fernan J. Angeles 02/04/2012

Showing his compassion for hospital-detained former President and current Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, her predecessor, former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, whom she had charged and convicted for plunder on trumped-up charges, rejected calls for Arroyo to be transferred to a regular jail.

“I think she can continue to be held under hospital arrest. Not because she is a former president because I myself suffered from being incarcerated in a regular prison but because she is a woman. It’s not out of respect for a former president because no one is above the law but maybe we can afford some leniency because she is a woman,” Estrada said.

Estrada was imprisoned for charges of plunder after being ousted from the presidency for six and a half years. He was first held at Camp Crame, then in Sta. Rosa, before being moved to Veterans Hospital after three years of regular imprisonment, and only placed under house arrest during the last two years of his incarceration..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20120204hed5.html

POEA approves total ban on OFWs to Iraq 02/04/2012

POEA approves total ban on OFWs to Iraq

02/04/2012
Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz announced yesterday that the Governing Board of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), which she chairs, has approved a resolution imposing a total ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Iraq, except in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Aside from Secretary Baldoz, POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac, Governing Board vice chairman, Leonardo de Ocampo and Guillermina Gabor, members also signed the resolution.

“The POEA Governing Board issued the resolution after the Office of the President has approved the recommendation of the Department of Foreign Affairs raising the Alert Level in Iraq from Alert Level 2 to Alert Level 3,” Baldoz said in a statement..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120204nat9.html

CBN Asia opens free hotline for OFWs in Hong kong 02/04/2012

CBN Asia opens free hotline for OFWs in Hong kong

02/04/2012
The overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong can now receive encouragement and guidance from Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) Asia Prayer Center in the Philippines through overseas calls free of charge.

The Prayer Center launches its “Hello Hong Kong” hotline for OFWs who need prayers, emotional support, and sound advice by calling (852) 317-54377. The hotline was made possible through Hong Kong-based VOIP service provider “Tawag Tipid.”.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120204nat7.html

Noy promotes DFA exec linked to ‘fund misuse’ By Fernan J. Angeles 02/04/2012

Noy promotes DFA exec linked to ‘fund misuse’

By Fernan J. Angeles 02/04/2012

President Aquino yesterday named Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos as the Philippines’ permanent representative to the World Trade Organization.

Aquino’s appointment of Conejos to the WTO position raises doubt on the administration’s government policy on “Daang Matuwid,” as the former DFA Undersecretary does not appear “clean” just like what Aquino would boast of his government structure..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20120204nat10.html

DoJ eyes Mancao as witness vs Ping’s co-accused By Benjamin B. Pulta 02/04/2012

DoJ eyes Mancao as witness vs Ping’s co-accused

By Benjamin B. Pulta 02/04/2012

The Department of Justice (DoJ) is putting off dropping former police Senior Supt. Cezar Mancao II from the rolls of state witnesses.

DoJ prosecutors handling the case will now first appeal the recent ruling of the Manila regional trial court (RTC) junking their bid to discharge him as state witness in the Nov. 2000 killings of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

“We have until Monday to file a motion for reconsideration. We can say that the ruling of the RTC is not yet final, so we can’t decide yet on the issue of his exclusion from WPP (Witness Protection Program),” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima told reporters after meeting with the prosecution panel chaired by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Phillip Kimpo and Mancao’s lawyer Ferdinand Topacio..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/metro/20120204met2.html

Rotten people, not system DIE HARD III Herman Tiu Laurel By Herman Tiu Laurel 02/03/2012

Rotten people, not system

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

By Herman Tiu Laurel 02/03/2012

I was happy with Eric Espina’s regular 50-minute GNN (Global News Network) public affairs show last Tuesday, where he had a special and very interesting guest. Former national security adviser Norberto Gonzales appeared for the first time since the end of the Edsa II regime that extended beyond the normal term of an administration. With a self-conscious and put-on soft-spokeness to sound wise and fair, Gonzales commented on what he says are growing ills of society. Playing ostensibly unaware or “dedma” that he was part of nine years of governance that had aggravated those very problems, he seemed to discount any personal responsibility and, in a very deft way, blamed “The System,” saying, “I see a lot of good leaders in the country but they have to accept corruption because of the ‘system.’” He mouthed this as if the “system” would persist if there were no people sustaining or feeding on it.

This column has been a dedicated critic of the “system,” too; but it also recognizes that the rotten system would not have survived one more day if there were no avaricious powerful forces commanding morally and intellectually weak opportunists manning it. What is the system that prevails in this country today? It is one which everybody describes as corrupt; it is one that spawns deep and growing poverty, leading to heightened internal conflict and criminality, and culminates in a decaying society.

By saying that no person is at fault, Gonzales would like to fool the people into thinking that the “system” is an evil computer brain that operates by itself and runs every corrupt operation that is causing government and corporatist corruption, poverty, moral collapse, jueteng, drug smuggling, the passage of corrupt laws (such as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or Epira), or billing power and water consumers with price gouging rates, ad nausea.

By blaming the system, Gonzales is merely entertaining delusions of having no personal responsibility at all — despite being one of the closest and most powerful confidants of Gloria Arroyo, whose nine years of governance were marked by massive swindles — from the Epira, the expanded value added tax (eVAT) expansions, the Impsa/Fertilizer/NBN-ZTE and countless other scams, the 2004 massive election cheating, the first Basilan massacre in 2007, the Angelo Reyes-General Garcia looting of the military’s coffers, the MoA-AD (Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain) deal with the Malaysians and the US, to a litany of grave deeds that resulted in the highest hunger and poverty rates in the country beginning 2006. All these continue to this day and are aggravated by the present Malacañang occupants who have the same policies as Arroyo.

Thus, if we were to go by Gonzales’ logic, even the present BSA III government he criticizes should not be blamed for the many crises now arising.

After all, wouldn’t the “system” be to blame for the Luneta hostage massacre in 2010 and not BSA III himself or the city mayor who treated him to siopao at Emerald Garden while the hostage taker was running amuck?

Or, was it simply a computer glitch that made our GDP (gross domestic product) growth fall to a disastrous 3.7 percent for the whole of 2011? Was it merely a glitch in the system of the PCOS machines in the 2010 elections that prompted UP and Ateneo IT experts to discover extraneous software apparently used in the machine counting and the duplicate sites in transmission?

At the risk of getting too far ahead in history, we only need to go back to Edsa II in 2001 when the Constitution was trashed. Did the Rule of Law go to the trash bin all by itself, leading to the Rule of Force and then of Money, as evidenced by the approval of the Epira and other pro-Big Business laws by Congress?

Voicing real concern for the Filipinos’ travails should not be soft-spoken anymore but an explosive burst of indignation. The rotten system persists because there are rotten people who sustain it by collaborating, abetting, and aiding it in order to attain selfish aspirations of power and opulence amid growing want. One only needs to look at the some military generals’ family, some Nynoy justices, or Congress, who have used power to profit massively; or those who have endorsed manifold evils, like what Lacson did in condoning the 2004 Comelec fraud, or Congress taking pork barrel and corporatist money (for the Epira); or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas pushing unnecessary debt; or the Department of Energy and the Energy Regulatory Commission giving free rein to oil and power companies to plunder consumers massively, ad infinitum.

Who are those rotten people manning the “system?” From Malacañang decision makers to Congress and the Senate, to the top honchos in the judiciary, to the generals in the military and police hierarchy, to the top execs of the Makati Business Club, to the top operators of “civil society,” all these comprise the core of the rotten system. But are there alternatives to these? In other words, are there still good people around to man “a healthy system?”

I can think of countless of them working selflessly, like Mang Naro Lualhati and Jojo Borja among many others in the crusade against electricity plunder; Alan Paguia sacrificing for Rule of Law; Bono Adaza opposing constitutional abuse in the Corona impeachment case; many Freedom from Debt Coalition members who are fighting debt slavery; our Sulo group volunteers; the Tribune; and millions of ordinary Filipinos who ONLY need new, fresh leadership to break through.

Listen again: It’s the rotten people that keep the system rotten.

(Tune in to 1098AM, dwAD, Sulo ng Pilipino/Radyo OpinYon, Monday to Friday, 5 to 6 p.m.; watch Destiny Cable GNN’s HTL edition of Talk News TV, Saturdays, 8:15 to 9 p.m., with replay at 11:15 p.m., on “RP’s geopolitical challenge;” visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com for our articles plus TV and radio archives)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20120203com6.html

Sison talks about impeachment of Corona, other issues

Sison talks about impeachment of Corona, other issues

Revolutionary Joma Sison answers questions about his rumored homecoming and the Aquino govt’s distractions while promised reforms crawl or turn comatose.

Interview with Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International League of Peoples’ Struggle
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
By DL Mondelo

Correspondent, Bulatlat.com

1. Is the report that you are returning to the Philippines soon to take a cabinet position in the Aquino government and that the New People’s Army is going to be integrated with the Armed Forces of the Philippines true? Do you know the source of the report?

JMS: The report is false. It comes from the direction of a group of military officers and politicians loyal to the past Arroyo regime and coordinated by former defense secretary Norberto Gonzales, the butcher general Palparan and Alcover of ANAD. They are engaged in a psywar intrigue related to the sharpening contradictions between the pro-Aquino and pro-Arroyo reactionaries within the military and entire ruling system.
They think Aquino would be discredited if reported as giving to me a cabinet position.
Even if the presidency of the puppet republic was offered to me, I will not accept it because I do not wish to become the chief puppet of the US and chief representative of the exploiting classes of big compradors and landlords, like Aquino.

2. At any rate, what is the status of the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations? Will the negotiating panels of the two sides resume formal talks soon?

JMS: In principle, the GPH-NDFP peace negotiations are still on because no side has yet terminated the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), despite the blatant attempts of the GPH side to undermine and render it useless. It is still unclear whether the GPH will comply with the JASIG and release the JASIG-protected consultants of the NDFP. Thus, it is still unclear when the formal talks of the negotiating panels shall be held.

3. The armed conflict between the GPH and NDFP is intensifying, with the armed forces of the GPH carrying out Oplan Bayanihan and the NPA striving to advance the people’s war from strategic defensive to strategic stalemate? How does the armed conflict affect the peace negotiations?

JMS: Because of the armed conflict, there are peace negotiations. The GPH finds the need for peace negotiations so long as it is failing to suppress the people and the revolutionaries with the current Oplan Bayanihan and so long as the New People’s Army is successful in carrying out an extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare and creating an ever widening and deepening mass base.

4. Is the Aquino regime serious about running after Arroyo and her top colleagues for plunder? Are you satisfied with the pace at which Aquino has been running after them?

JMS: Compared with the speed of Arroyo in jailing Estrada for plunder, Aquino is a sluggard in making Arroyo accountable for plunder. He has jailed her on the charge of electoral sabotage and has reduced the plunder charges to graft charges after gaining control over the office of the Ombudsman. It remains to be seen whether he will push a plunder charge as a result of Senate findings..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/03/on-current-issues-in-the-philippines/

Google starting to censor blogs

Google starting to censor blogs

Following Twitter’s decision last month to begin censoring the messages of users based on restrictions of their respective countries, Google has followed suit and announced that it will begin a similar practice with its own blogging service.

Blogger, the web-log service run by Internet giant Google, will begin censoring the personal posts of its users in order to comply with local laws rather than encouraging an internationally open Internet. While the company has previously allowed users of the World Wide Web to post wide-open opinions on its Blogger site, it will now allow individual jurisdictions to govern what can and can’t be posted on the Web..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/google-starts-censoring-blogs-375/

Identity vs. integration: Radical Islamist group ‘freaks out’ Belgian community (w/ Video)

Identity vs. integration: Radical Islamist group ‘freaks out’ Belgian community

The Islamic fundamentalist group Shariah4Belgium has been criticized for its aggressive stance and lack of inter-religious tolerance. Belgian Muslims say they feel threatened by the group’s ideology, which they fear scares people away from Islam.

­Shariah4Belgium came under the spotlight after it opened the country’s first Sharia court, a move which put it on a collision course with the country’s nationalists. The Belgian far-right Vlaams Belang party opposes the Muslim courts, maintaining that all legal disputes should be addressed in the country’s civil judicial system. Leading member Filip Dewinter claims Shariah4Belgium’s leadership said he should be killed for expressing his views..... MORE
Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/radical-islamists-sharia-belgium-407/

Police fire tear gas at outraged Cairo protesters (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Police fire tear gas at outraged Cairo protesters (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

New clashes have broken out in Egypt over Wednesday’s football riot and stampede in Port Said in which 79 died. Two further deaths occurred on Thursday after police opened fire on an angry crowd which tried to storm a police station.

A 3,000-strong mob, furious at the failure of security forces to prevent Wednesday’s tragedy, attacked policemen in the Mediterranean city of Suez..... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/news/egypt-police-protesters-football-385/

Anti-HIV pill to cause AIDS epidemic?

Anti-HIV pill to cause AIDS epidemic?

It has been proven to drastically decrease the chances of contracting HIV before one is even exposed to the virus: Truvada is considered a medical breakthrough by some, yet others fear the once-a-day prevention pill could spur a deadly AIDS epidemic.

The drug — a small, blue pill ingested orally — is currently awaiting FDA approval. Its manufacturer, Gilead, argues that Truvada would reduce the risk of risk of contracting HIV in as many as three-quarters of cases and has been proven so in tests already. AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein is weary of how people will use the pill, however, and warns, "I believe that this could be catastrophic in terms of HIV prevention.”.... MORE

Source:  RT.com

URL: http://rt.com/usa/news/drug-aids-hiv-truvada-207/

Tillers reject Aquino plans to take over coco levy funds

Tillers reject Aquino plans to take over coco levy funds

Return the coco levy funds to the coconut farmers.

This remains the call of the farmers organization Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in the wake of reports that President Benigno Aquino III has plans to utilize the coco levy funds instead of releasing it to the coconut farmers. The group warned that if the Aquino government is allowed to proceed with its plans, small coconut farmers will continue to be denied of their rightful ownership of the funds.

Recently, reports came out that the Aquino administration intends to put the multi-billion coco levy fund in a trust fund to be managed by an inter-agency team composed of Department of Agriculture and Department of Finance officials along with bankers and supposed farmers’ groups and their members. Reports also quoted Euclides Forbes, administrator of the Philippine Coconut Authority (Philcoa), as saying that the fastest means way to revive the industry would be to use the coco levy funds to build a multi-agency trust fund. It was also reported that Aquino might also issue an executive order to set up the mechanism for the proposed agency.

KMP deputy secretary general Willy Marbella said coco farmers stand against these plans being hatched by the Aquino administration, saying that the latter only intends to use the funds for self-serving purposes that will in no way genuinely benefit farmers.

Marbella is a farmer who hails from Bicol and he still has in his possession father’s stock certificates from the coconut oil mills established through the coco levy funds.

(Photo courtesy of Agriculture.ph Blog / bulatlat.com)

“With this scheme, we fear that the money that was stolen from coconut farmers would be stolen yet again. The coco levy funds would only change hands, from one Cojuangco to another Cojuangco,” Marbella warned. The “theft” of the coco levy funds, Marbella said, was done by former Marcos crony, presidential uncle and current San Miguel Corp. (SMC) chair Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco Jr.

The peasant leader insisted that small coconut farmers cannot entrust their money to agriculture officials who have been previously involved in the notorious fertilizer fund scam during the previous Macapagal-Arroyo administration..... MORE

Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/02/02/tillers-thumb-down-aquino-plans-take-over-coco-levy-funds/