vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

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hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Asian migrant workers group appeal for ceasefire in Lebanon

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | July 21, 2006 at 12:53 am
Filed under: Civil Society, In the News

AS the conflict between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group in Lebanon entered its ninth day, a regional network of non-government organizations, associations and trade unions of migrant workers, as well as individual advocates of migrant workers’ welfare in Asia, has urged the United Nations to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Concerned over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, the Migrant Forum in Asia echoed the call of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud for an immediate ceasefire, who called Israel’s offensive — which has already killed 300 people and displaced 500,000 — a “massacre,” as reported by the BBC.

MFA likewise condemned the “nonsensical show of brute might” by both the Israeli government and the armed militias of Hezbollah and Hamas for the violence committed against the civilian population of Lebanon and Israel, including the thousands of Asian migrant workers.

The group estimated that more than 200,000 migrant workers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and from countries in the Northern African region are affected by Israel’s “collective punishment” of the people of Lebanon.

MFA also chided Asian governments for not acting fast on repatriating their citizens, saying that the least these countries can do to their migrant workers — whose billions of dollars in remittances have been propping up their economies — is to ensure their safety during crisis such as is happening in Lebanon.

Charitable institutions such as the International Organization for Migration and the International Red Cross and Crescent, it added, can be tapped for assistance by Asian governments that lack financial resources to evacuate their citizens.
Below is MFA’s full statement:

Migrant Forum in Asia, a regional network of more than 260 member-organizations, expresses its deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. We lament the escalating violence committed by the Israeli government and the armed militias of Hezbollah and Hamas against the civilian population of Lebanon and Israel including the thousands of Asian migrant workers in those countries.

MFA condemns in the strongest terms the actions of Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas. Terrorism, in any kind and form, is barbaric, heinous and completely unacceptable. The potential humanitarian crisis is catastrophic if the crisis escalates further. The United Nations (UN) believes that more than 500,000 Lebanese are now internally displaced and scattered in various refugee camps along the borders of Lebanon. All freedom-loving governments and organizations must act now to stop this nonsensical show of brute might. MFA calls on the UN to call for an immediate ceasefire and show the whole world that it will not be intimidated by a superpower whose ‘low-key’ response to the crisis is fuelling Israel’s frenzied and vicious attacks on its neighbours. Continuing apathy and inaction of the international community give Israel the ‘diplomatic license’ to continue its destruction of Lebanon. The UN, through the Security Council, must not allow this to go on. It should, likewise, reinforce security in the region by deploying a multinational peacekeeping force along the Israeli and Lebanese border. It must push for sanctions for all those who are responsible for this conflict.

The collective punishment of the people of Lebanon by Israel affects the more than 200,000 migrant workers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and from countries in the Northern African region. Thousands of migrant workers who wish to return to their respective countries are now trapped in the deadly pit that is Lebanon. We are worried over reports that many domestic migrant workers are left behind by their employers who also took their passports. Many of them are left with no money, food and shelter. We must bear in mind that these migrant workers helped in the reconstruction of Lebanon after the devastating civil war years ago. They surely do not deserve to be treated as commodities only to be abandoned when their services are no longer necessary.

We are also appalled by the slow response of the governments of migrant sending countries to the plight of their people. We cannot understand the delay in the immediate evacuation of those who are willing to leave. After propping up their economies with billions of dollars in remittances the least these countries can do is to ensure the safety of their nationals during crisis such as this. Conflicts do happen and the Asian governments should have seen this one and established an early warning mechanism that will help the migrant workers. As in the 1990 Gulf War and US-led occupation of Iraq, the sending countries seem to be always at a loss on what to do to evacuate their citizens. While it is true that some of the sending countries lack financial resources, there are charitable institutions that can be tapped for assistance such as the International Organization for Migration and the International Red Cross and Crescent. This recent conflict underscores the need for a quick-response mechanism to protect the rights and livelihoods of migrant workers.

MFA recommends that relevant international organizations such as the IOM, Red Cross, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to work with the governments of sending countries and formulate measures that will ensure that the migrant workers are protected from harm and can be evacuated immediately during periods of upheavals and conflicts.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 21st, 2006 and is filed under Civil Society, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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[...] Asian migrant workers group appeal for ceasefire in Lebanon Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Philippines - 1 hour ago than 200,000 migrant workers from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and from Terrorism, in any kind and form, is barbaric, heinous and completely [...]

Global Geopolitics News » Terrorism and Insurgency - Richard A. Boucher -South and Central Asia Update wrote on July 21, 2006 - 2:48 am | Visit Link

food for thought:

according to the tradition, the jews descended from isaac, the arabs from ishmael. both were sons of abraham.

abraham is the descendant of shem, son of noah of the ark.

therefore, both arabs and jews are descendants of shem.

the name shem is the root of the word “semite,” from which terms such as semitic and anti-semitism are taken.

therefore, to call any anti-jewish feeling (like the nazis had) anti-semitism is not completely true… arabs and jews are all semites.

and here they are at each other’s throats.

jester-in-exile wrote on July 21, 2006 - 2:02 pm | Visit Link

Let’s go farther than your illustration, Jester. If you believe in the Bible, all the people on earth are descendants of Adam and Eve. Their son Cain committed the first murder when he killed his brother Abel. Brothers killing brothers go beyond the Arabs and Jews. This has been the norm since the beginning of time.

The conflict that began at the Gaza Strip and has spread to Lebanon today must be seen in two perspectives of the two perpetually warring peoples. The right of the Jewish people to exist in their land in Israel and the determined efforts of their enemies, the Hamas that now govern Palestine, and Syria that supports Hezzbolah, to drive them away to extinction. Caught in the middle are the migrant workers and their appeal for a ceasefire will fall on deaf ears of the warring factions. Only a strong pressure from the UN can.

Toro wrote on July 22, 2006 - 8:48 am | Visit Link

[...] In this war, the Lebanese civilians are asking for signatures in their appeal for peace! Let us join them. Click the petition page and sign. [...]

Another Angle » Blog Archive » “Save the Lebanese Civilians Petition” wrote on July 22, 2006 - 10:03 am | Visit Link

It is sad to say, but Lebanon is just paying it’s high price for giving shelter to the Hezbollahs. Needless to mention that there have been numerous and longtime conflicts in the Middle-east for several decades already, that after countless peacetalk attempts, only one thing left for the world to view: the bombing and killings in all fronts: civilians and militia alike! It’s just painful to see civilians being killed and injured, but for the terrorists like the Hezbollahs, who cares? One terrorist killed means one step for peace. The only alarming thing is that there seem to have thousands of them to be toppled yet.

Cecile Impens wrote on July 27, 2006 - 4:43 am | Visit Link

As civilized people, we do not accept what is happening in Lebanon today. The Israelis are civilized people too, but can their enemies call themselves civilized as well? From the standpoint of the Israelis, they are fighting for their own survival. It is a matter of life and death. They are surrounded by vicious enemies who are not content with just defeating them but to wipe them off from the face of the earth. All the Israelis want is just to be left alone to live in peace. From our standpoint, and being civilized about it, we call the Israelis’ military action in Lebanon as barbaric but isn’t their enemies’ determination to wipe the entire Jewish race worse than barbaric? When you live your life in fear 24/7 knowing that you are surrounded by enemies who never stop planning diabolical ways to kill you what else can you do but drop your civility and kill the bastards.

A call to arms has been issued by these mad terrorists to destroy non-Islamic infidels. It is a call for religious fanaticism so they can gain the support of the Muslim world in winning the battles they cannot win and which they hope they can only through a religious fanatical war.

Toro wrote on July 31, 2006 - 10:58 am | Visit Link

Israel has suspended their air raids for 48 hours after the tragedy in Qana, but Hezbollah still doesnt want a ceasefire. May katapusan pa kaya ito?

I say leave these Israelis alone, the Jews have suffered enough. Christians and Muslims dont like them, Hitler didn’t like them, Mel Gibson doesn’t like them,nobody likes them..pero wala rin may gusto ng giyera. Ang natitirang pag-asa na lang, igalang ang anumang kautusan ng UN. Kung nasaan ang UN, doon dapat ang Pilipinas.

scud_1975 wrote on July 31, 2006 - 12:16 pm | Visit Link

The tragedy of Lebanon should not have happened at all. Since two years ago the UN resolution 1559 had urged Lebanon to mobilize and arm itself and drive away any militant organization that will seek shelter in that country. They failed to do that. They encouraged the Hezbolah to grow and gain military strength, mightier than the country’s military might, with the help of Iran and Syria. Now they reap what they sow.

Toro wrote on July 31, 2006 - 2:08 pm | Visit Link

What’s being said that Israel is surrounded by vicious enemies out to destroy her to extinction is not so accurate at the present time. Since the 6-day war of 1967 and the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where Israel was able to capture and occupy up to present Golan Heights by Syria, West bank (formerly of Jordan) and Gaza Strip (formerly of Egypt), the present conflict is about the return of the Occupied Territories (mentioned above) as covered by UN Security Council Resolutions 242 & 338 and the establishment of a Palestinian state under the Oslo Accord. Infact, Israel has already an established diplomatic relation w/ its neighbors primarily Egypt (1978 Camp David Accords) and Jordan (1994 Treaty of Peace) while Syria is still demanding the return of Golan Heights before establishing peaceful relation with Israel.

Hezbollah which is pure Lebanese is fighting for the return of their claimed land, the Shebaa farms and thousands of lebanese prisoners from Israel. Of course, Hezbollah has to be denounced for its rocket attacks on Israel and has to be disarmed to attain peace as per latest UN SC Resolution 1559 (including previous ones starting from resolution 425), a mandate the weak Lebanese govt is just incapable of doing at the moment. Still, there is no justification for a collective punishment applied by Israel to the whole of Lebanon. A ceasefire should be in effect while looking for a permanent solution to the problem rather than continue the killings of innocent civilians on both sides before finding the solution.

But the greatest injustice of all that angers the Arab world is the one happening to the Palestinian people. Despite those UN resolutions and Peace Accords, the world simply has turned a blind eye on the continued sufferings of the Palestinian people from the collective punishments imposed by Israel due to the actions made by Palestinian resistance groups fighting for a Palestinian statehood. That is the continued cause of conflict in the region at the moment and not the aim to destroy Israel a task that is not in the agenda of the Arab world anymore what with Big Brother around and the Western world ready to support Israel from any aggression from its neighbors.

Fact is, both sides, Arabs and Israelis have extremists within them. Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 for the peace treaty with Israel while Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 for making peace with the Palestinians (1993 Oslo Accord).

jr_lad wrote on July 31, 2006 - 4:10 pm | Visit Link

Still, how do we define collective punishment? Both parties, Israel and Hezbollah, are guilty of bombing each other resulting to civilian casualties. Hezbollah has been firing more than a hundred bombs a day. They are in a war, both are being punished.

Who suffers the most? Whos gets the greater injustice? From all angles Israel has been on the defensive, Israel-Arab conflict, Israel-Palestinian, Israel-Hezbollah. Kung walang cross-border raid, hindi sana mangyayari ‘to, Kung walang mga Palestinian suicide bombers tahimik sana, kung walang Islamic mujahideen wala sanang patayan.

scud_1975 wrote on July 31, 2006 - 9:44 pm | Visit Link